Traditionally, the black-box approach in buyer-supplier relationships does not require knowledge exchanges between the actors, since the purchased module is autonomously developed by the supplier. However, the purpose of the article is to demonstrate that in high-tech sectors, despite the presence of black-box approaches, the OEM can achieve higher market performance if it develops in-house competences on purchased modules. To measure OEM component knowledge, a content analysis of patents in the smartphone industry is performed. The results show the importance for OEMs to accumulate both general and specific component knowledge, although modules are outsourced.

传统上，买方-供应商关系中的黑盒方法不需要参与者之间的知识交流，因为购买的模块是由供应商自主开发的。然而，本文的目的是证明在高科技领域，尽管存在黑盒方法，但如果 OEM 在购买的模块上发展内部能力，则可以实现更高的市场绩效。为了衡量 OEM 组件知识，对智能手机行业的专利进行了内容分析。结果表明 OEM 积累通用和特定组件知识的重要性，尽管模块是外包的。