Competition of business platforms in software markets

The role of software and operating systems in facilitating hardware performance is undeniable. The markets for selling software as well as the hardware that supports them are vast and highly productive. At the beginning of the advent of software as well as operating systems, the goal was only to expand efficiency and provide new services to users, but over time, this goal changed to facilitate efficiency, and also provide services to all consumers consisting of a wide range of social status. Operating systems similarly to software have undergone dramatic changes over time. In the contemporary market, software is categorized as open-sourced and proprietary-sourced, which has different characteristics, legal context and user environment. In the market, there is a close competition between these two categories. In this thesis, we examined all factors in software’s competition, a historical review of software and their types and characteristics, competition and factors affecting competition and retail market and consumer preferences, and scrutinized research conducted by other researchers. In the outcome, we conducted a scientific study on the factors affecting the customers' preferences for the smartphone's purchase, based on selected criteria, extracted from previous studies with the help of using the Rough_DEMATEL methodology. In conclusion, we have proposed explications to improve competition in the market as well as services for consumers.