'Superstacks' Spreading Throughout Mobility, Enterprise and Consumer Electronics Markets

Mobility, enterprise computing and consumer electronics companies in the high-tech industry are being heavily impacted by a new business model called "superstacks," according to new Accenture /quotes/zigman/565535/quotes/nls/acn ACN -0.15% innovation. Accenture defines a superstack as a more extensive and cohesive integration of operating systems, semiconductor chips, devices, applications and end-user services than the industry has traditionally achieved. The research as well revealed that the primary driver of superstacks will be the mobility market, particularly in the smartphone arena where superstack-based products have already been made commercially available. The research as well found that more mergers and acquisitions will occur as superstacks continue to coalesce in the digital ecosystem.

The technology findings

The technology findings, based on interviews with high-tech executives globally and interactions with customers, are summarized in a new report, Competing in a High-Tech Industry "Superstack." The innovation examined whether industry executives were aware of the superstack trend and its impact on their businesses, just as smartphones and tablets, data centers and the cloud, and the digital home.

The new report summarizes results of phone interviews with 30 executives of large high-tech companies including chief executive officers and vice presidents of strategy and business units. An overwhelming majority of the respondents said they have been or are being impacted by superstacks. Seventy-one percent said they have formalized their superstack strategies and set priorities just as owning critical intellectual property assets, fostering collaborative cultures across the stack, and managing strategic initiatives. Virtually all said superstacks bring their companies more opportunities than threats.

"Competing in the superstack arena is a matter of survival as the high-tech industry moves full-throttle in this direction," said Mitch Cline, managing director of Accenture's Electronics & High-Tech business. "Some high-tech sectors are already there, just as mobile handsets, digital media services and connected TVs. Other sectors may take longer to adapt because they're not as far along in this superstack evolution."

When survey participants were asked which industry forces they expect would have the biggest financial impacts on the high-tech industry over the straightway three years, more than two-thirds cited mobility. Cloud computing and consumerization of IT in enterprises followed with 50 and 43 percent, respectively.

"Fueling new business models in healthcare, financial services and retail, mobility is by a long shot the most powerful and biggest game-changer creating the need for superstacks," Cline added. "With mobility superstack battles now spreading to enterprise and consumer markets, the implications are profound for all high-tech players."

The following industries

Participants included representatives from the following industries: communications research, consumer innovation, enterprise innovation, semiconductors, and software. The geographic breakdown of respondents was: Europe, North America, Asia Pacific; of these 30, six were done with emerging market players. Eighty percent of the respondents work for companies with annual earnings of US$2 billion or more. For a copy of the report, visit www.accenture.com/superstack .

Accenture is a global management consulting, innovation services and outsourcing company, with more than 246,000 people serving customers in more than 120 countries. Combining unique experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive innovation on the world's most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with customers to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. The company generated net earnings of US$25.5 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2011. Its home page is www.accenture.com .