Login
SatBench Logo

Exploring Weather, Waves, and Weird Projects

Unbundling

Last updated: 2025-07-25 05:23:34

Unbundling

Unbundling is the process of breaking up packages of products and services that were previously offered as a group, possibly even free.[1][2][3] Unbundling has been called "the great disruptor".[4] Unbundling prices and extending choice are generally processes seen as favourable to customers.[5]

In the context of mergers and acquisitions, unbundling refers to the "process by which a large company with several different lines of business retains one or more core businesses and sells off the remaining assets, product/service lines, divisions or subsidiaries".[6]

Etymology

"Unbundling" means the "process of breaking apart something into smaller parts".[7]

Examples

  • Massive open online courses are "part of a trend towards the unbundling of higher education"[8] by providing access to recorded lectures, online tests, and digital documents as a complement to traditional classroom instruction.[3] Online program management providers are also increasingly unbundling services in higher education, which some argue "reflects increasing sophistication—and capacity—of colleges and universities as they launch new online programs."[9]
  • Software unbundling:[2] some IBM computer software "products" were once distributed "free" (no charge for the software itself, a common practice early in the industry). The term "Program Product" was used by IBM to denote that it is a chargeable item.[2]
  • Harvard Business Review writer Anthony Tjan refers to law firms offering itemised billing instead of quoting a single bundled price.[5]
  • Pandora Radio
  • The addition of Maryland and Rutgers to the Big Ten Conference was described as part of a larger trend towards the unbundling of each university's broadcast rights to maintain profitability.[10]
  • The CEO of Mashable predicted that unbundled news contents' "microcontent sharing" via software like Flipboard[11] (Android and iOS), Zite and Spun (iPhone) would be a major trend in 2013.[12]
  • LinkedIn has embraced a multi-app strategy and now has a family of six separate apps, the LinkedIn "Mothership" app and 'satellite' apps ranging from job search to tailored news [13]
  • The customers that live in large apartment complexes and multiple dwelling units can be unbundled in a way that allows multiple service providers to reach each of the different units.[14]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Watters, Audrey (September 5, 2012). "Unbundling and Unmooring: Technology and the Higher Ed Tsunami". educause.edu. Retrieved November 25, 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 https://groups.google.com/d/topic/alt.folklore.computers/RZA6FD27Tc0 a discussion group: OS/360: Forty years
  3. 1 2 Chatfield, Tom (23 November 2012). "Can schools survive in the age of the web?". bbc.com.
  4. ↑ Pakman, David (April 15, 2011). "The Unbundling of Media". Retrieved 19 Dec 2012.
  5. 1 2 Tjan, A., The Pros and Cons of Bundled Pricing, Harvard Business Review, published on 26 February 2010, accessed on 22 JUne 2025
  6. ↑ "Unbundling". investopedia. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
  7. ↑ "Unbundling". businessdictionary.com. Retrieved 19 Dec 2012.
  8. ↑ "Not what it used to be: American universities represent declining value for money to their students". economist.com. Dec 1, 2012.
  9. ↑ "Backward Innovation: The Great Unbundling of Higher Ed's Online Service Providers". edsurge.com. May 4, 2016. Retrieved 2018-01-01.
  10. ↑ "The great unbundling". informationarbitrage.com. November 24, 2012. Retrieved 19 Dec 2012.
  11. ↑ Richmond, Shane (August 4, 2010). "Flipboard: The Closest Thing I've Seen to the Future of Magazines". The Daily Telegraph (London). Retrieved March 4, 2012.
  12. ↑ Cashmore, Pete (December 11, 2012). "Big Idea 2013: Unbundling Media". linkedin.com.
  13. ↑ Kapko, Matt (August 26, 2014). "An Inside Look at LinkedIn's 'Unbundling' Mobile Strategy". CIO Magazine.
  14. ↑ Ryan, Patrick S; Zwart, Breanna; Whitt, Richard S; Goldburg, Marc; Cerf, Vinton G (2015-08-04). "The Problem of Exclusive Arrangements in Multiple Dwelling Units: Unlocking Broadband Growth in Indonesia and the Global South". The 7th Indonesia International Conference on Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Small Business (IICIES 2015): 1–16. SSRN 2637654. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)

View original on Wikipedia