How Google use disruptive innovation

I recently wrote about the topic of Google and disruptive innovation — this post serves as a summary of a few key points.

What is disruptive innovation?

Clay Christensen, a Harvard professor in business, coined the term ‘disruptive innovation’ in his book The Innovator’s Dilemma.

In a nutshell, disruptive innovation is the process of understanding where a market is being overserved. We often think of innovation as incremental or radical improvements to a product or service. However, typically in innovation we tend to offer what the highest paying customers with the highest needs want.

Over time, our product can become packed with extras — some of which the everyday consumer will use, but the majority of which they won’t. The majority of consumers are becoming overserved. Disruptive innovation is a process of stripping back the product to one that is viable to the vast majority of the market, even if there’s a few users who are now not served as they were using the advanced features. And to sweeten the deal, the price level will drop, often dramatically.

Applying this to Google

Google have been utilising disruptive innovation in their technology for years. Two recent developments are shining examples of this:

Google Chromebook

Windows and Apple are intent on providing more features, turning tiny little netbooks into miniature powerhouses. The same can be said for the OS, with their laptops coming packed with extras that you’ll likely never use.

The vast majority of consumers just want to browse the internet, write up a few documents, and have something that does these tasks quickly and efficiently without being prone to viruses.

The Chromebook does exactly this. It’s no frills, but it’s fast and efficient at what it does. And what it does will serve the vast majority of consumers. Indeed, I can do about 85% of my tasks on it. And the price point? In the UK, they start at around £150.

Google Cardboard

Google Cardboard is fascinating because it’s disruptive innovation in a tech space that doesn’t actually exist as a market yet. Every major player is involved. Oculus Rift from Facebook, Hololens from Microsoft, Samsung Gear, Sony’s Morpheus… and Google released Cardboard.

By taking a screen you likely already own — your smartphone — and a little cardboard box contraption that looks more like a 1980s kid’s toy than a VR device, Google are already changing the game. Place your phone into Cardboard and run the relevant apps, and tada — a passable VR experience. Your phone is the screen, it features motion sensors already, and thus this isn’t a far cry from some of those more advanced headsets.

And again, the price point is about £10. So low that even the least interested in VR will contemplate buying Cardboard.

For a fuller explanation of disruptive innovation and Google, as well as tips on how you can think about disruptive innovation, head to my article on Google and disruptive innovation.