In general, the business models associated with ancillary markets can serve to complement main strategies. However, they may be appropriate and viable as a basic strategy in markets with little competition or with differentiation or specialisation requirements.
Hardware
The ancillary market of hardware may prove valid for exploiting markets that require a product specialisation, such as integrated services, high performance or lower purchasing costs for customers, i.e. markets in which proprietary systems may have no interest and free software can constitute a significant difference for customers.
The main disadvantages relate to the ability to bear the costs of production and development if the target market is limited or there is strong price competition. The difficulty in recovering the initial investment may sometimes make this market unsuitable for small and medium enterprises.
Other markets
Ancillary markets such as the sale of books or merchandising may be competitively equivalent to their proprietary software counterparts given the special features of free software, such as complementarities with the original product or the dissemination of ethical values.