Innovation Strategy and Entrepreneurship: Airbus A380
Innovation Strategy & Entrepreneurship
Professor Ron Adner
4i Framework
Airbus A380 – Big enough for Innovation?
•
Do Young KIM
•
Guillaume RIGOIGNE
•
Jacky LU
•
Jae Sung CHOI
•
Ji Won LEE
•
Sampo VEHKAOJA
Introduction
Airbus decided in December 2000 to proceed with 555-seat super-jumbo jets in head-to-head competition with Boeing’s 747 for the first time. Before the A380 project, both Airbus and Boeing had focused on cornering the Very Large Aircraft or VLA market. Airbus and Boeing had worked together on a study investigating a 600+ seat aircraft, but this cooperation did not last long. Boeing and Airbus decided to enter the new 600-seat market separately.
Boeing initially had the upper hand. The company decided to create a stretched version of the 747-400 called the 747X, which would have carried 525 passengers but it failed to sell the idea to airliners. Airbus could not do the same with its A340-600, Airbus' largest jet, and so development of the A3XX began in the mid-90s. In 2001 it was re-branded to the A380, with the announcement of Singapore Airlines as the launch customer.
Industry Analysis
The global aircraft manufacturing market has been dominated by 2 giant players: Airbus and Boeing. In the early 2000, Airbus controls 46% of the whole market and Boeing the rest. Airbus was formed in the
1970’s as a consortium of European aerospace firms, and was integrated into a single company in 2001.
The airline industry was in a downturn in the early 2000s, but both Airbus and Boeing had an extensive backlog. The market for jumbo aircraft had grown up significantly since Boeing had introduced its 747 model in 1966, which revolutionized the concept of air travel due to its large size, and ushered in the era of mass travel through the hub-spoke system. Boeing was well fit to this system because of its wide range of aircraft from the single-aisle 737, the medium-long size and range 767 and 777, and jumbo size
747. Boeing had sold over 1,300 747
Professor Ron Adner
4i Framework
Airbus A380 – Big enough for Innovation?
•
Do Young KIM
•
Guillaume RIGOIGNE
•
Jacky LU
•
Jae Sung CHOI
•
Ji Won LEE
•
Sampo VEHKAOJA
Introduction
Airbus decided in December 2000 to proceed with 555-seat super-jumbo jets in head-to-head competition with Boeing’s 747 for the first time. Before the A380 project, both Airbus and Boeing had focused on cornering the Very Large Aircraft or VLA market. Airbus and Boeing had worked together on a study investigating a 600+ seat aircraft, but this cooperation did not last long. Boeing and Airbus decided to enter the new 600-seat market separately.
Boeing initially had the upper hand. The company decided to create a stretched version of the 747-400 called the 747X, which would have carried 525 passengers but it failed to sell the idea to airliners. Airbus could not do the same with its A340-600, Airbus' largest jet, and so development of the A3XX began in the mid-90s. In 2001 it was re-branded to the A380, with the announcement of Singapore Airlines as the launch customer.
Industry Analysis
The global aircraft manufacturing market has been dominated by 2 giant players: Airbus and Boeing. In the early 2000, Airbus controls 46% of the whole market and Boeing the rest. Airbus was formed in the
1970’s as a consortium of European aerospace firms, and was integrated into a single company in 2001.
The airline industry was in a downturn in the early 2000s, but both Airbus and Boeing had an extensive backlog. The market for jumbo aircraft had grown up significantly since Boeing had introduced its 747 model in 1966, which revolutionized the concept of air travel due to its large size, and ushered in the era of mass travel through the hub-spoke system. Boeing was well fit to this system because of its wide range of aircraft from the single-aisle 737, the medium-long size and range 767 and 777, and jumbo size
747. Boeing had sold over 1,300 747