Third-party apps (TPAs) and software platform performance: The moderating role of competitive entry

Noting the increasing importance of software platform, this article examines the effects of third-party apps (TPAs) on platform performance (PP) and how such effects differ before versus after competitive entry. The authors validate the hypotheses using data from the web browser market. The results show that the quantity of new TPAs leads to higher PP before than after competitive entry, whereas the quantity of TPA updates contributes a higher PP after than before competitive entry. In addition, the quality is more important and diversity is less important to PP after than before competitive entry.