디지털 상품 생태계에서의 상품결합에 대한 경쟁법적 분석

초록

Firms increasingly build ecosystems through the expansion of product categories and the extension of product lines. In digital industries in particular, the technological and network-based characteristics of markets may cause the competitive effects of diversification strategies to differ from those observed in traditional industries. These industry-specific features call for analytical approaches that depart from conventional competition law frameworks. Digital markets are expanding into broader ecosystems through the integration of products and services, and portfolio differentiation based on the combination of complementary goods may generate consumption synergies. However, the complex interaction among platform users and the complementarities between bundled products make market definition more challenging when assessing the competitive constraints faced by potentially dominant firms. Traditional approaches to market definition, which largely rely on price-based mechanisms, reveal limitations when applied to product ecosystems composed of interrelated complementary goods. In this context, it becomes necessary to extend the analysis of the relevant product market to the perspective of multi-sided markets and ecosystem competition, taking into account both the functional integration of components and the competitive constraints between systems. Against this background, this paper examines the factors that should be considered in defining relevant markets in digital product markets. It analyses different approaches to market definition depending on the degree of functional and technological interconnection within an ecosystem, as well as the patterns of competitive constraints arising from varying levels of complementarity. In addition, the paper explores product differentiation and bundling practices associated with envelopment strategies, and seeks to propose directions for market analysis suitable for assessing complementarities within digital product ecosystems.

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