Pierre Ferragu, an analyst at New Street Research, shared a video where Richard Bowles, the regional sales director for Southeast Asia at Arianespace, had dismissed SpaceX as a mere dream seller in the space industry.
What Happened: The 2013 video shared by Ferragu features Bowles downplaying SpaceX’s ambitions, stating that the company was primarily selling a dream.
He expressed skepticism about SpaceX’s vision of building reusable rockets and launching 100 times a year — goals that seemed unattainable at the time.
While sharing the video, Ferragu drew parallels between the dismissal of SpaceX and the underestimation of innovators like Nokia and BlackBerry, warning companies not to underestimate underdog innovators.
“The arrogance of the disrupted incumbent. Reminds me [of] discussions with the management of Nokia, of BlackBerry, of Ericsson, and many others. Not so long ago with an Inmarsat executive, about Starlink…,” he stated.
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Why It Matters: Founded in 2002, SpaceX’s first launch in 2006 failed, but by late 2008, after two more attempts, it achieved success.
Last year, SpaceX completed 96 launches, a 57% year-over-year increase, excluding two Starship test flights. Launches grew from 26 in 2020 to 31 in 2021, and 61 in 2022.
By mid-2024, SpaceX had already completed 67 missions and is on track for 144 launches by year-end, averaging twelve per month.
Last year, SpaceX brokered an agreement with the European Space Agency after it faced delays in its Ariane rocket programs. Musk’s company acquired several European missions that were originally assigned to Arianespace, a key competitor in the space industry.
Meanwhile, Nokia and BlackBerry had a different trajectory.
Nokia dominated the mobile phone market, holding a significant percentage of the global market share by 2007.
However, its decline started when it failed to anticipate the smartphone and app-driven ecosystem shift introduced by Apple’s iPhone the same year.
Similarly, BlackBerry, formerly Research In Motion, was initially successful due to its secure email services and physical keyboard design, appealing primarily to business users.
However, after the iPhone’s release, BlackBerry’s leadership failed to recognize the potential of touchscreens and app ecosystems.
Photo Courtesy: Shutterstock
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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
