For the last three years the licensing industry saw declining numbers, see here and here.
So what will happen in the future? We see two trends, favoring licensing:
- Open Innovation
- Right Sizing
You can find a little bit about Open Innovation at Wikipedia.
Of course, you have to fight the “Wasn’t invented here Syndrome”. P&G is an example of a company actively promoting Open Innovation.
Right-Sizing means, focusing on what you do best and what is essential.
In the past, that meant to close divisions or sell them off. Today, more and more companies look for licensing as a better solution.
So does Philips for example with its TV business. And Unilever stopped divesting brands and is looking to license them instead.
The more popular these two concepts become, the more licensing business we will see.