b.cognosco

Pfizer plays gin rummy

Oligopolies collect brands like gin rummy players collect good cards; they want to put together the right combination of winners in the right categories. But they also discard brands, which get picked up by other players. (Actually, they act more like players in the old-fashioned gin-related game of canasta, where players can hold as many cards as they can pick up.)

The discards come from two reasons: a product doesn't fit into the strategy of the oligopoly, or a merger when regulators demand that brands/products be spun off to maintain some level of competition in specific categories or subcategories. Their discards are usually picked up by another oligopoly. [...] [Oligopoly Watch]