MOSTINNOVATIVECOMPANIES2025

InDisruptiveTimes,theResilientWin

June2025

ByJustinManly,AmyMacDougall,JohannHarnoss,KetilGjerstad,WendiBackler,MichaelWahlen,SatoshiHirashita,CorneliaErnst,BethViner,andRyojiKimura

Contents

03

TheMovingTargetofInnovationExcellence

08

RisingtotheDigitalInnovationChallenge

13

AC-SuiteInnovationAgendaforTurbulentTimes

TheMovingTargetofInnovationExcellence

Successfulcompaniesaresuccessfulinnovators.Whetheryou’realeaderseekingtoextendyourlead,anincumbentcommittedtonavigatingdisruption,oranupstarthopingtochangethegame,

innovationexcellence

isessentialtotransformaspirationsintoresults.AndareviewofBCG’s

twodecadesofinnovationresearchandrecommendationsshowsthatwhilesomethingsareevergreen,innovation

excellenceisamovingtarget.

Particularlyintimesofuncertaintyandturbulence,

organizationsthatcaninnovaterapidlyandeffectivelyhaveanedge.Weareinsuchamomentnow.RapidadvancesinAIareacceleratingthepaceofdigitaldisruption,andrisinggeopoliticaltensionsarethreateningtotransformthe

economicassumptionsthatshapedtheinnovationsystemsandsupplychainsofglobalcompanies.

Thisyear’sMostInnovativeCompaniesreportlooksback

inordertolookforward.Ratherthanfocusingonwhat’sonthemindofinnovationleaderstoday,weexploreinsights,trends,andconcernsthatemergeacrossthe

18editions

ofthereportthatwe’vepublishedoverthepasttwo

decades.ThefirstchapterfocusesonsomeenduringtruthsaboutinnovationandexploresthechallengesthatconfrontEuropeaninnovators.Inlaterchapterswediscusshow

digitalcontinuestochangethegameforinnovators,and

weofferaperspectiveonhowinnovationleaderscanbuildadvantageamidgeopoliticaluncertainty.

InnovationIsEssential—andChallenging

Becausecompaniesneedtodeliverprofitablegrowthandtotalshareholderreturn(TSR),innovationhasconsistentlyrankedasatopcorporatepriorityovertwodecades.Yearinandyearout,astrongmajorityofcompanieshave

vieweditasatop-threepriority,showingonlyrelatively

smallfluctuationseveninthefaceofsignificanteconomicshockssuchastheGreatRecessionortheonsetofthe

COVID-19pandemic.

(SeeExhibit1.)

Thishasbeentrueacrossallregions,butChinastandsoutwith95%ofits

respondentsreportinginnovationasatopthreepriorityin2024—themostofanyregionapartfromIndia,whichalsocameinat95%.AndChinahasrankedeitherhighestor

second-highestinprioritizinginnovationineachofoursixmostrecentreports.

Buttranslatingaspirationsintoresultsishard.First,you

havetobackupaspirationwithinvestment—andfortwo

decades,mostinnovationleadershavedonethat,witha

substantialmajorityeachyearreportingtheirintentionto

increasespendingoninnovation,andtypicallylessthan10%intendingtoreducespending.EveninthemidstoftheGreatRecession,58%plannedtoboostinnovationinvestment.

Butspending,howevernecessaryitmaybe,isinsufficient.

ThereisnodiscernablecorrelationbetweenR&Dspending

andTSR.Youhavetospenditontherightinitiatives,andyouhavetobuildaninnovationsystemandculturethatrapidly

andefficientlymovesthemostpromisingideasinaportfolioofprojectsfromconcepttooffering—whilealsosystematicallyshuttingdowneffortsthatprovelesspromising.Andyouhavetobeabletodothisoverandoveragain.

BOSTONCONSULTINGGROUPINDISRUPTIVETIMES,THERESILIENTWIN3

BOSTONCONSULTINGGROUPINDISRUPTIVETIMES,THERESILIENTWIN4

EXHIBIT1

InnovationHasRemainedaPriorityEveninChallengingEconomicTimes

Wheredoesinnovation/R&D/productdevelopmentrankamongyourcompany’spriorities?

Priority(%)

GDPchange(%)

Great

COVID-19

Recession

10

100

83

82

79

77

79

76

80

75

75

75

7677

71

72

66

65

5

666664

60

48

46

47

42

42

47

32

57

53

53

455253

42

47

434339

40

0

20

35

35

40

33

33

30

33

262424

23

23

22

22

19

232325

–5

0

2018

2016

2005

2014

2019202020212022

201020122013

2023

2015

2024

2006200720082009

GDPchange(%)1ToppriorityTopthreepriority

Sources:BCGGlobalInnovationSurvey,2005–2024;BCGanalysis;WorldBank.

1AnnualpercentagegrowthrateofGDPatmarketprices,basedonconstantlocalcurrency.Aggregatesarebasedonconstant2015pricesandexpressedinUSdollars.

Unfortunately,toofewcompanies’innovationsystemsareuptothetask.From2021to2024,theproportionof

executiveswhosaidthattheyseetheirorganizationsas

eitheraglobalinnovationleaderoranindustryinnovationleaderfellby24percentagepoints.Andobjectivedata

confirmedtheirfeelings:innovationreadiness—as

measuredbyBCG’sproprietary

InnovationtoImpact

(i2i)benchmark

—fellprecipitouslyduringthesame

period.Our

2021report

foundthatjust20%ofcompanieswerereadytotranslateambitionintoresults.Bythe

2024

edition

,ascant3%ofcompaniesscoredintheready

zone.SomeofthisdeclineundoubtedlyreflectstheimpactofCOVID-19,whichthrewawrenchintoglobalinnovationsystems.Butitalsostemmedfromthefactthatmost

companieslackedthecultureandprocessesnecessarytomakesharpdecisionsinthefaceofaccelerating

technologicalprogressandincreasinguncertainty.

Nevertheless,long-terminnovationexcellenceispossible.From2005to2023,BCG’sinnovationreportsincludeda

rankingoftheyear’s50mostinnovativecompanies—

determinedthroughanalgorithmthattookintoaccount

theviewsofglobalinnovationexecutivesandselect

financialmetrics.Overthoseyears,178uniquecompaniesearnedaplaceonthelistatleastonce.Double-clickingonthosecompaniesrevealsthat14%were“serialinnovators,”earningaplaceintherankingintenormoreyears,and

just3%appearedintherankingeveryyear.

Serialinnovationishardbecauseinnovationexcellencehasalwaysbeenamovingtarget,withnewchallenges

constantlyarisinginthestrategiclandscape:newrivals,newtechnologies,and(possiblynow)newrules.

Challenge:NewRivals

Innovationisacompetitivegameinwhichtheobjectiveistolaunchnewofferingsandcontinuouslyimproveexistingonestostrengthenyouradvantageinattractingand

retainingthemostattractivecustomers.

Inindustryafterindustry,we’veseennewrivalsemergetocompetewithtraditionalplayers.Whetherthese

challengersaredisruptiveupstartsorlower-costrivalsfromrapidlydevelopingeconomies,theplayingfieldhasbecomemorecrowded.

Onemajormegatrendoverthepast20yearshasbeentheriseofChina.In2005,notasingleChinesecompanyearnedaplaceinourtop50ranking,butby2023Chinesecompanieshadcaptured8ofthe50slots.

(SeeExhibit2.)

Since2009,whenthefirstonemadethelist,atotalof13Chinese

companieshaveranked.Althoughonlyoneofthese—

telecomgiantHuawei—hasemergedasaserialinnovator,Chinesecompaniesmaybemoreconsistentinnovatorsthancompaniesfromothereconomicregions,as85%oftheir

rankedcompaniesearnedaplaceintherankingsatleasttwice,comparedwith70%forthefullsample.

EXHIBIT2

BOSTONCONSULTINGGROUPINDISRUPTIVETIMES,THERESILIENTWIN5

ChineseInnovatorsHaveGainedGlobalProminenceoverthePastTwoDecades

SlotscapturedonBCG’sMostInnovativeCompaniestop50list,byyearandregion

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

2

6

1

1

3

6

4

2

5

6

4

4

4

7

4

8

4

7

6

10

8

8

8

10

15

13

11

11

15

15

8

10

17

12

13

14

11

13

16

27

25

32

30

36

32

26

23

23

22

25

28

34

28

26

25

27

1

5

5

2

4

3

2

3

2

5

5

7

8

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

ChinaNorthAmericaEuropeAsia-Paci?c1IndiaOther

Source:BCGGlobalInnovationSurvey,2005–2023.1ExcludingChinaandIndia.

China’sriseonthelisthasbeenlargelyattheexpenseof

NorthAmerica,whichhasfallenfromahighofclaimingnearlythree-quartersoftheslotsonthelistin2007tooccupying

abouthalfofthemin2023.Ontheotherhand,North

Americancompanieshavedemonstratedthemoststayingpower,accountingfortwo-thirdsofourserialinnovators.

Europe’sshareofthetop50hasseenonlyslight

expansionsandcontractionsoverthepasttwodecades,

butitfacesotherchallenges.

(Seethesidebar“Europe’s

InnovationChallenge.”)

Challenge:NewTechnologies

Inadditiontotheinfluxofnewcompetitors,thepast20

yearshaveseentheriseofaseriesofnewtechnologies

thatcouldincreasetheefficiencyandeffectivenessoftheinnovationprocessandenablenewkindsofcustomer

offerings.Innovatorshavehadtoexploreandembrace—wherestrategicallyappropriate—mobile,platforms(and

theirrelatedecosystems),bigdata,theInternetofThings(IoT),andnowtheevolvingflavorsofAI.Thenextchapterofthisreportdistillslessonsfromhowthebestcompanieshavenavigateddigitalprogress—andtheimplicationsofthosesuccessesforthequestionofhowtosurfthe

generativeandagenticAIwaves.

EmergingChallenge:NewRules

Digitalisonesourceofdisruption,butit’snottheonlyone.Currently,manylong-heldassumptionsaboutglobalizationandtradethatwerefoundationaltocompanies’global

innovationsystemsarecomingintoquestion.Although

leadersareunderstandablyfocusingnowonsourcingandsupplychainconcerns,innovationwillbeessentialto

navigatinguncertaintyinboththeshorttermandthelongterm.Consequently,innovationmustmoveuponthe

C-suiteagenda.Thethirdandfinalchapterlaysoutwhatcompaniesneedtodonowtorethinkinnovationfora

potentiallynewgeopoliticalera.

BOSTONCONSULTINGGROUPINDISRUPTIVETIMES,THERESILIENTWIN6

Europe’sInnovationChallenge

ThegoodnewsisthatEurope’s31%shareofranked

companiesexceedsitsshareofglobalGDP—butEurope

knowsthatitfacesaninnovationchallenge.TheEU’s2024

DraghireportonEuropeancompetitiveness

couldnotbecleareronthispoint:“thereisnoEUcompanywitha

marketcapitalizationover€100billionthathasbeensetupfromscratchinthelastfiftyyears,whileallsixUS

companieswithavaluationabove€1trillionhavebeencreatedinthisperiod.”

Alookatthe55Europeancompaniesthatearnedatleastonespotonourtop50listsoverthelast20yearssuggeststhattheregion’sindustryfocusispartlyresponsible.

(See

theexhibit.)

Only9%oftheregion’stopinnovatorswereintechnologyhardwareorsoftware—incontrastto18%forNorthAmerica,31%forChina,and19%fortherestof

Asia-Pacific(whichcomplementsitscommitmenttotechwithastrongshowinginindustrials).

Moreover,Europe’stopinnovatorshaveshownless

persistencethaninnovatorselsewhere,as36%ofthem

haveearnedarankinginonlyoneyear,thehighestofanyregion.Europecanclaimjust4serialinnovatorsofthe25companiesthatqualifyforthatstatusglobally:BMW,

Daimler,Philips,andSiemens.

Europe’stopinnovatorstendedtoearnlowerpositionsonthelist,too.Just4%ofEurope'srankingcompaniesmadethetop10,comparedwith17%forChina,25%forNorthAmerica,and30%fortherestofAsia-Pacific.TheheavierregionalemphasisonindustrialsectorsthanontechandsoftwareinEuropecouldbeadriverofthisdisparity.

Beyondthesethreeelements,manyobserverspointto

Europeancompanies’moreconservativeengineering

cultures,theregion’srelativelybureaucraticregimes,andtheEU’shigherregulatoryburdentoexplainEurope’s

underperformance.ButEuropeancompaniesalso

underspendoninnovation,relativetocompanies

elsewhere.From2005to2024,whileNorthAmericanfirmsincreasedtheirR&Dintensityrelativetotheirindustry

peersby9%,Europeancompaniesdecreaseditby4.3percentagepoints.

Today’sgeopoliticaluncertaintymaypresentasignificantopportunityforEurope.Traditionally,theUShasbeenaglobalmagnetforthebestacademicandtechtalent.

CouldEuropepursuearadicalambitiontobecomea

software-firstleaderinresponsibleAI,perhaps—as

proposedintheDraghireport—throughcontinued

investmentincomputinginfrastructureandregulations

thatencourageenhancedAIcollaborationwithin

industries?That,togetherwiththeregion’svisapolicies

andintra-bordermobility,couldsignificantlyenhanceits

valuepropositiontoworld-classtalent.AndEurope’shighproportionofprivatelyheldcompanies,whichfaceless

pressuretodrivequarterlyresults,puttheregioninagoodpositiontoshiftitsfocustolong-termvaluecreation.

BOSTONCONSULTINGGROUPINDISRUPTIVETIMES,THERESILIENTWIN7

Europe’sInnovationChallengeasReflectedinOurAnnualRankingsoftheYear’sMostInnovativeCompanies,2005–2023

PRODUCT

Europe’sinnovatorsskewmoreindustrialthanhightech

DistributionofcompaniesintheMostInnovativeCompaniestop50listbyregionandindustry(%)1

100%

N=55N=86N=21N=13

8

8

16

31

7

29

14

4

4

14

13

54

10

56

29

5

14

55

31

9

45

9

EuropeNorthAmericaAsia-Paci?c2China

Automobile

Pharmaceuticalsandmedtech

Softwareandservices

Durablegoods

Other3

Technologyhardware

Industrialgoods/manufacturing

PERSISTENCE

Europe’sinnovatorsaremorelikelytohaveappearedonthelistonlyonce

Distributionofcompaniesbyregionandfrequencyofappearance(%)1

100%

N=55N=86N=21N=13

14

56

77

36

15

67

52

19

28

20

8

7

EuropeNorthAmericaAsia-Paci?c2China

10ormoretimes2–9timesOnce

POSITION

Europe’sinnovatorshavetypicallyrankedloweronthelist

Distributionofrankings(%)1

100%

N=211N=469N=114N=52

25

23

18

17

17

30

25

15

19

11

17

8

27

17

31

4

14

26

27

28

EuropeNorthAmericaAsia-Paci?c2China

Top1011–2021–3031–4041–50(bottomten)

Source:BCGGlobalInnovationSurvey,2005–2023.

Note:TheProductchartidentifiestheindustrysectordistributionofindividualcompanies(byregion)includedonBCGIslistsofthe50MostInnovative

Companiesfrom2005to2023.ThePositioncharttrackstherankinginstancesandpositionsofindividualcompanies(byregion)includedonthosecharts.

ThePersistencechartidentifiesthenumberoftimesindividualcompanies(byregion)rankedonthoselists.Becauseofrounding,notallbarsegmenttotalsaddupto100%.

1Africa,theMiddleEast,andCentralandSouthAmericaareexcludedbecauseonlythreecompaniesfromthoseregionswererankedduring2005–2023.2ExcludingChina.

3"Other"includeschemicals;consumergoods;durablegoods;energy;financialinstitutions;insurance;materials;media;retail;telecommunications;transportation;andtravel,tourism,andhospitality.

BOSTONCONSULTINGGROUPINDISRUPTIVETIMES,THERESILIENTWIN8

RisingtotheDigitalInnovationChallenge

Today,theworld’sleadinginnovatorsaredigitalinnovators.Althoughtheirproducts,services,andbusinessmodels

maynotbeprimarilydigital,digitaltoolshaveinevitablyplayedakeyroleinshapingandspeedingtheirpathfrominitialconcepttosuccessfulcommercialoffering.AndinthetwodecadesthatBCGhasbeenpublishingitsannualMostInnovativeCompaniesresearch,thetablestakesfordigitalexcellenceininnovationhaveevolveddramatically.

Theworddigitaldidnotevenappearinthefirsteditionof

thereport,whichwaspublishedin2005.Wehadseentheriseoftheinternet,buttheimperativefortraditional

businessestoembracedigitalbeyondhavingawebsitewasnotyetobvious.Amazon,onesurvivoroftheburstingof

thedot-combubble,hadjustintroducedPrime—butitsinitialcommercialcloudofferingswerestillayearaway.

Andalthoughinnovatorswerestartingtocontendwiththeimplicationsofmobilefortheirofferingsandprocesses,theiPhonewouldnotdebutforanothertwoyears.Few

innovationexecutivesin2005wouldhaveimaginedthatby2025mobilewouldbetablestakes,cloudcomputingwouldbeubiquitous,andGenAIwouldbeamajornew

competitivefrontier.

Newtechnologieshavethepotentialtosignificantlyalterbusinesseconomicsandpowerfreshofferingsand

businessmodels.Noteverynewtechnologyhasstrategicvalueforeverycompany,butcompaniesneedtostudy

everynewtechnologyandembraceitifitcanhelp.

Critically,wavesofnewtechnologycanbuildonone

anotherandmakecatchingthenextwaveeasier.Thus,forexample,organizationsthathadexperiencewithbigdataadaptedmoreeasilytomachinelearning,andthosewithmachinelearningexpertisehadanedgeinexploringAI.

TherestofthischapterreviewsthekeytechnologywavesofthepasttwodecadesandofferssomethoughtsonhowtoridethecurrentGenAIwave.

BOSTONCONSULTINGGROUPINDISRUPTIVETIMES,THERESILIENTWIN9

InnovationAcrossMultiple

WavesofTechnologicalProgress

Overthepasttwodecades,innovatorshavehadtonavigateaseriesoftechnologicalrapids.

First,mobileandappsenablednewwaystoconnectwith

andcollectdataoncustomers,challengingnearlyall

companiestouptheirsoftwaregame.Socialplatforms

offerednewpossibilitiesforcustomerinsightand

crowdsourcedinnovation.IoTenablednewbusinessmodels(suchassellingoutcomesratherthanproducts)andofferedinsightsonhowtoimproveproductsandprocessesvia

real-worlddatagatheredfromconnecteddevices.

Thenthecloudcameintobeing,givinginnovatorsaccesstounparalleledcomputingpoweranywhere,alongwith

opportunitiestocreaterapid,scalableprototypesofnew

offerings.Roboticsenablednewflexiblemanufacturing

techniques.AImadepossiblemoredata-drivenR&D

decisionsanddynamicnewvaluepropositionssuchas

personalization.AndGenAIanditslatestmanifestation,

agenticAI,promisetoturbochargeideationandtransformthetalentmodelforinnovation.Allofthesedevelopmentshaveredefinedthestateoftheartforinnovationanalytics.

(Seethesidebar“TheExpandingPossibilitiesof

InnovationAnalytics.”)

Ananalysisoftrendsinventurecapitalinvestmentacrossthesekeytechnologiesisilluminating.

(SeeExhibit3.)

Afterall,today’sventureinvestmentswillshapetomorrow’sbreakthroughtechnologies.Atthebeginningoftheperiod,companiesinvolvedinIoTcapturednearlyhalfofthe

investmenttotal,butbytheendoftheperiod,AIandGenAIwerecapturingnearlyallofit.

Ifyoubuildit,theywillcome—andorganizationsarehardatworkbuildinguptheirdigitalinnovationcapabilities.Theshareofcompaniesthatmentioneddigitalinconnection

withinnovationintheircorporateearningscallsdoubledfrom2005to2024,andthebestinnovatorsareextendingtheirlead.Today,allinnovatorsdiscussdigitalinnovationmorethantheydidinthepast,butserialinnovatorsaredoingsonearlyfourtimesasmuchasothercompanies.

(SeeExhibit4.)

Thepointisn’ttoadopteverytechnologybutrathertogodeepontheonesthatgiveyouastrategicedge.Andsincetechnologiesevolveandoftenbuildononeanother,it’s

essentialtomovequicklytobuildorganizationalliteracyintechnologiesthatmightmatter,insteadoftakingawait-

and-seeattitudetowardthem.ThenextsectionfocusesonNintendo’sdigitalinnovationjourney.

EXHIBIT3

WavesofDigitalProgressAreEvidentinVentureCapitalCommitments

Relativeshareofventurefundingforsevenkeytechnologies(%)

100

80

60

40

20

0

20052010

InternetofThingsMobile/applications

2015

PlatformsCloud

2020

RoboticsAI/machinelearning

2025

Q1GenAI

Sources:TracxnFundingDatabase;BCGanalysis.

Note:DatacapturesallrecordedventurecapitalfundingroundsintheTracxndatabasewiththesetaggedtechnologies.

BOSTONCONSULTINGGROUPINDISRUPTIVETIMES,THERESILIENTWIN10

TheExpandingPossibilitiesofInnovationAnalytics

Overthepast20years,successivewavesofdigitalprogresshavetransformedthedisciplineofinnovationanalytics.

Whatstartedaslaboriouslycreatedsnapshotsofspecific

setsofhighlycurateddatahasevolvedintoadynamic

disciplinethatcanperformreal-timeanalysisofmultiple

sourcesofunstructureddata.Thefieldhasevolvedinthreephases,allenhanced—andsomeenabled—by

technologicalprogress.

Landscaping.Thefieldbeganhere,leveragingnetwork

analyticsandnaturallanguageprocessingtoreveal

patternsinselectedlargedatasets.Forexample,exploringlargedatabasesofpatentsmightenableacompanyto

accomplishanumberofvaluableobjectives:

?Identifyunexpectedandattractiveadjacentgrowthopportunitiesbymappingthecitationnetworksfortheirpatents.

?Discoverpotentialpartnersoracquisitiontargetsby

seeingwhichcompanies’patentsaremostattractiveinstrategicallyimportanttechnologydomains.

?Findthebestplacestolocateaninnovationcenteronthebasisofproximitytokeyresearchersand

technologytalent.

Sensing.Thenextphaseofinnovationanalyticsbroughttheabilitytomonitorrelevantdataflowsforinsight,

openingthewayforstrategicactivitiessuchasthese:

?Minesocialmediastreamstomapevolvingcustomersentiment.

?Studyeventtranscripts,newswires,blogs,websites,and

otheronlinesourcestospotsentimentshiftsinstakeholderssuchasinvestors,employees,andpolicymakers.

?Examineventurecapitalflowsandearningscall

transcriptsforcluestochangesinthefocusandstrategicintentofcompetitors.

PredictingandAdvising.Theriseofbigdata,machinelearning,andAIenabledthenextphaseofinnovation

analytics.Today,AIagentscanmonitortrendsindataandprovidereal-timealertstoinnovationteams.Tomorrow,

theymaybeabletoscourapharmaceuticalcompany’spasteffortsinordertomakerecommendationsaboutwhichcompoundswithinitsresearchportfoliohavethegreatestpotential,ortohelpanequipmentcompany

identifywhitespacesfornewproductsandservicesbyexploringdataandcausesforcustomerdowntime.

BOSTONCONSULTINGGROUPINDISRUPTIVETIMES,THERESILIENTWIN11

EXHIBIT4

OverthePastTwoDecades,DiscussionofDigitalInnovationinEarningsCallsHasRisenSignificantly,ParticularlyAmongSerialInnovators

Shareofearningscallparagraphsmentioningdigitaltopicsininnovation(%)

4

3

2

1

0

3.5

3.1

1.0

0.9

0.7

0.5

0.4

0.2

2005–20092010–20142015–20192020–2024

Serialinnovators1Othercompanies2

Sources:BCGMarketSensing(2005-2025);BCGanalysis.

Note:NearlyallUSlistedfirmshaveearningscalls,butfewerEuropeanandAsiancompaniesdoearningscallsifnotengagedwithUSmarkets.

1CompaniesthathaverankedintheMostInnovativeCompaniestop50fortenormoreyears(excludingHuawei,whichconductednoearningscalls).2Includesallglobal,publiclylistedfirmsthatconductearningscalls.

SurfingtheWaves:Nintendo’s

SwitchinTime

Intheearly2000s,Nintendo’sleadershipinthevideogameindustry—builtonitsGameCubeconsole,itsGameBoy

portables,andlegendarygamessuchasSuperMarioandPokémon—facedachallengefromabove.New,high-end,higher-pricedconsolesleveragedadvancesincomputingpowerandtheriseoftheinternettooffernovelvalue

propositions.Sony’sPlayStation2wasfasterandfeaturedDVD-qualityvideo,andMicrosoft’sXboxshowcasedhigh-endgraphicsandonlinegamingviaXboxLive.

Nintendorespondedbydeployingthesesametechnologiesinadifferentway,creatingequallyrevolutionarynew

productsatlowerpricesandsignificantlyoutsellingthe

competition.In2005,NintendoreleasedtheDS,thefirstportablegamingdevicethatleveragedWi-Fitosupport

onlinegamingawayfromhome—featuringdualscreensandinnovativetouchscreencontrolsunlikeanythingthenavailablefromrivalproducts.Andthefollowingyear,

Nintendo’sWiiconsoleintroducedmotion-sensingtechnologytoenhanceplayers’gamingexperience,eventuallysellingmorethan100millionunits.

Thenextwaveoftechnology—mobileandsmartphones—presentedadifferentchallenge,thistimefrombelow.Asmobile-nativegamessuchasClashofClansgained

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