The Barriers and Innovations of Instant Messaging Firms in Internationalization

New information communication technologies and innovation have largely changed the way of internationalization in some Internet based service firms. Instant messaging (IM) is an international service that has developed rapidly since it was launched in the market a few years ago. However, due to the newness of the technology, little research has been conducted on the internationalization of IM firms. This study aims to address this gap by reviewing the innovation related theories and examining five cases: AIM, MSN Messenger, Google Talk, Skype, and QQ. The key findings indicate that: (1) IM industry is confronting the regulatory barriers, culture barriers (in terms of diversified language options), standardization or customization barriers, which similarly with the conventional services industries; (2) Economic barriers seldom appear in the internationalization since the products and services provided by IM firms are totally free or affordable; (3) IM firms should keep on innovation, not only their products and services, but also the way of developing a new market.