The long march to catch-up: A history-friendly model of China’s mobile communications industry

•A simulation model is developed to explain the process of catch-up by latecomer firms.•The explanation resides in a certain combination of market and technological regimes.•Segmented markets provide latecomers with a nurturing ground in their infant age.•Technological changes open windows of opportunities in new product segments.•Latecomers cannot catch up if technological changes are fully competence-destroying.