Target Then Ignore

An AntiPattern used by dubious large companies to kill off competition so that they can later slack and profit. Sometimes this practice is known as "dumping".

For example, a large company that sells multiple products may decide to corner market X using TargetThenIgnore. They do this by first copying most of the favorite features of the competitor(s) product. They have an army of designers and/or programmers due to their size, allowing them to toss in at least as many features as the competitors.

Then they sell at a steep discount, willing to take a loss for a few years. Buyers shopping market X are pretty much forced to choose the large company's product because they get mostly the same features at a clear discount. After a while all the competitors in market X are gone. They cannot compete with a loss-taking venture and fold. The large company lives off of their other products (AKA "cash cows") in order to live at a loss in market X, but a small company rarely can afford this wait.

Then the large company raises the prices and kicks back. Their product stagnates because their competitors are dead and thus have little incentive to improve it. If by chance a new competitor pops up it's head, they either bring back the discounts, and/or add in the new features.

It's then nearly impossible for a small company to enter the X market (barring some grand patent). Only a big company can do it, but they often don't bother because it would just result in a long and costly price war.