172  Blockchain

Successful products like Ethereum, Hyper ledger, R3 Corda,

Consensys Quorum and IBM Blockchain have established themselves

on a global scale, so it would be difficult for new entrants to sig-

nificantly challenge them. However, there are many start-ups provid-

ing a product and platform utilising the open-source products like

Ethereum and Hyper ledger. These entrants in the future might create

a challenge to the established blockchain solution providers due to

their unique features, simplicity, low cost and so on.

Also, once a common protocol and framework to provide interop-

erability between different blockchain products has been adopted in

production/mainstream use cases, it would be easy for companies to

use multiple products as per their use cases. This would make it easier

for buyers to switch to a similar substitute easily.

• Rivalry among existing competitors: High for Blockchain products:

How many competitors are in the market with similar capabilities?

Too many competitors with similar products can provide bargain-

ing power and switching capabilities to the buyers and suppliers. The

opposite is true if there is a player with unique capability that is dif-

ficult to replicate. An industry is attractive and profitable if there are

few strong suppliers and less substitutes and it is difficult or expensive

for new players to enter the market.

As there is a lack of blockchain common standards, every blockchain

product provider is trying to increase the footprint in the market hop-

ing to monopolise the standards and footprint of their own product.

For instance, R3 Corda is increasing the footprint in financial and

other markets to establish themselves. IBM Blockchain and ConsenSys

are also increasing their customer base to win more business. In sum-

mary, there is heavy competition and rivalry between a small number

of large-scale blockchain products and solution providers. Blockchain

is still going through a maturity journey for mainstream use cases. As

the blockchain interoperability improves through common protocols,

frameworks and standards, there will be more choices to the buyers and

suppliers. This will reduce the rivalry amongst existing competitors.

Multiple new entrants are inventing products and services based

on open-source products. They are differentiating themselves through

unique features, simplicity and interoperability. This will significantly

reduce the rivalry between existing competitors as there will be a vari-

ety of products for niche use cases.

Summary

As mentioned before, there has not been a single successful player yet, who can

convince customers to adopt their blockchain product. There are high numbers

of competitors fighting for a share of consumers. This rivalry will go on for

another few years until a few players convince the customers to adopt to their

products by producing common standards and simple and seamless blockchain

product deployment with unique functionalities with a value proposition.