I suspect vertical integration is more efficient and wins out, so long as you accurately read the market and don't throw your advantage away. IBM didn't bring

I suspect vertical integration is more efficient and wins out, so long as you accurately read the market and don't throw your advantage away. IBM didn't bring the personal computer to market early enough, which left the door open to Apple, Commodore and others. Then they signed the MS-DOS licensing deal... and the rest is history. In other words, until apple makes a stupid mistake, they're unstoppable.