Abstract
The birth of the first low earth orbit satellite network for packet switched data, was received with
much enthusiasm. This enthusiasm was quickly dampened as solution developers went into Chapter 11
(protected liquidation in the USA) and faded away because the introduction of new technology to the market
has not been so obvious - the aspects of commercialisation was not taken care off with the necessary caution.
The basis of this study is to establish and assess reasons why commercialisation has been so difficult
for solution developers using low earth orbit satellite communication in the high technology market, while it has
been such a long awaited technology in the remote monitoring and telemetry fields
In today's economy, the marketing of innovative technologies is of critical importance. Innovations
succeed or fail in the marketplace based not just on the soundness of the technology, but also on a company's
skills at bringing that technology to market and getting it adopted by customers. Unfortunately, traditional
approaches to consumer or industrial marketing often prove inadequate when it comes to the introduction of
new products in domains such as telecommunications.
This study concentrates on and defines the additional aspects surrounding the commercialisation of
discontinuous high technology products in new industrial markets.
Keywords: Commercialisation, product life cycle, crossing the chasm, product development, market
development, sales cycle, discontinuous innovation.
Prof. L. Pretorius