The forces of consolidation are reshaping industry after industry. Once-stable markets like banking are shedding weaker players and coalescing around a small number of powerful consolidators. Meanwhile, traditionally volatile emerging industries such as software are experiencing faster and more intense shakeouts, even as their overall sales continue to grow. The personal computer industry, which shrank from 832 to 435 companies in the late 1980s, may soon be reduced to as few as 5 long-term winners.
A version of this article appeared in the March–April 1997 issue of Harvard Business Review.
