---
id: "entity-nikon"
type: "entity"
source_timestamps: ["§ The Commitment Paradox"]
tags: ["diversified-firm", "lithography"]
related: ["entity-asml"]
entityType: "organization"
canonicalName: "Nikon"
aliases: ["Nikon Corporation"]
sources: ["tail1"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-tail1"
originDay: 1
articleStem: "hbr-tail-116-winner-take-all-diversification"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2026/04/in-winner-take-all-markets-diversification-is-a-liability"
sourceTitle: "In Winner-Take-All Markets, Diversification Is a Liability"
---
# Nikon

## Nikon

**Type:** diversified firm — a **cautionary example**.

A Japanese diversified optics and imaging company (cameras, industrial equipment) that lost its dominance in the **lithography** market to [[entity-asml]] in the 1990s. Nikon serves as an example of how diversification can be a liability against a highly focused competitor — the diversified incumbent side of the [[concept-commitment-paradox]]. Its broader camera/optics portfolio gave it exactly the redeployment options ([[concept-resource-redeployability]]) that undercut its perceived commitment to lithography.