Coopetition is cooperation between firms that also compete. They work together to create value none could create alone, such as a shared standard or platform, while still fighting over customers and the profits that value brings.
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Types of coopetition
- Cooperation-dominated: the firms mainly work together and compete on only a few points.
- Equal: cooperation and competition carry similar weight, so the tie needs close and constant management.
- Competition-dominated: the firms are mainly rivals and cooperate in one narrow area, such as a shared standard.
Key factors
- Engineered trust. Rivals rarely cooperate on goodwill alone. Clear rules, shared systems and transparency make cooperation safe.
- Who runs the shared asset. A partner that controls a service others depend on can favour its own offer. Check what data and influence it gains.
- Today’s standard, tomorrow’s power. Joint work on standards writes the future rules, and the firm whose design wins can later orchestrate the market.
- Coopetition capability. A survey of 365 sellers on a large marketplace found that skill at handling cooperation and competition at once mattered most. The exact balance between the two mattered less.
Examples
Tesla. In 2023 General Motors and most other carmakers selling in North America agreed to adopt Tesla’s charging connector in exchange for access to its Supercharger network. SAE International then began standardising the design as J3400. The firms cooperate on one narrow point and compete on everything else, the competition-dominated type.
Volkswagen. Volkswagen and Ford compete for car buyers in Europe. Under their alliance, Ford began building its electric Explorer on Volkswagen’s MEB platform in Cologne in June 2024, while Ford builds commercial vehicles for Volkswagen. The two share technology and keep separate brands, prices and sales, closer to the equal type.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between coopetition and platform competition?
Platform competition is rivalry between platforms for users and partners. Coopetition needs a cooperative tie between the same firms that compete, such as a shared standard or a joint supply deal.
Is coopetition legal under competition law?
Usually, when rivals cooperate on research, standards or production and do not fix prices, share out markets or swap sensitive commercial data. EU and UK competition authorities publish guidance on which agreements between competitors are allowed.
Why do competitors cooperate at all?
Because some value needs scale or skills no single firm has, such as a charging network, a safety standard or costly basic research. Sharing that cost leaves each firm free to compete on the rest.
What are the risks of working with a competitor?
A partner can learn your know-how, see your customer data or use a shared standard to take control later. Clear limits on what is shared, and on who governs the joint asset, reduce those risks.
Full guide: Coopetition business model