The articles (and books/papers they reference) have copious examples. Here are just a few:
Search Engines
Top four market share: 98.5%
Major companies:
Google: 64.1%
Yahoo: 18.0%
Microsoft: 13.6%
Arcade, Food & Entertainment
Complexes
Top four market share: 96.2%
Major companies:
CEC: 52.2%
Dave & Buster’s: 35.0%
Soda Production
Top four market share: 93.7%
Major companies:
The Coca-Cola Company: 41.2%
PepsiCo: 33.6%
Dr Pepper Snapple Group: 15.4%
Lighting & Bulb Manufacturing
Top four market share: 91.9%
Major companies:
General Electric Company: 32.9%
Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV: 31.7%
Siemens AG: 27.3%
Major Household Appliance
Manufacturing
Top four market share: 90.0%
Major companies:
Whirpool Corporation: 43.8%
AB Electrolux: 20.7%
General Electric Company: 17.1%
LG Electronics: 9.2%
Market concentration
Mobile OSes (iOS and Android) are another, even if no
one can make money on the software itself anymore.
Banking software (FIS, Fiserv, Jack Henry, and D+H): 96% total
Internet service providers (a few large players, with a smattering of regional ones. Some areas are served only by a single company.)
Wireless providers (AT&T, Sprint, Verizon and T-Mobile) have roughly 80% of the market.
This is not to say that this applies to every market. There are competitive markets without clear winners (in some of the above cases, the markets are competitive oligopolies - but that doesn't help the "I just want to make a nice living as a small player" idea - you still need to be huge in those cases.) However, with the increase in mass communication, economies of scale, picked low hanging fruit, clustering effects, and concentration of talent/capital/connections, the trend has been towards winner-take-all (either through pure domination, like search, or industry consolidation, like health insurance.) Eking out a living at the margins is possible, but as I stated in the other comment, has its own set of attendant risks.
Search Engines Top four market share: 98.5% Major companies: Google: 64.1% Yahoo: 18.0% Microsoft: 13.6%
Arcade, Food & Entertainment Complexes Top four market share: 96.2% Major companies: CEC: 52.2% Dave & Buster’s: 35.0%
Soda Production Top four market share: 93.7% Major companies: The Coca-Cola Company: 41.2% PepsiCo: 33.6% Dr Pepper Snapple Group: 15.4%
Lighting & Bulb Manufacturing Top four market share: 91.9% Major companies: General Electric Company: 32.9% Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV: 31.7% Siemens AG: 27.3%
Major Household Appliance Manufacturing Top four market share: 90.0% Major companies: Whirpool Corporation: 43.8% AB Electrolux: 20.7% General Electric Company: 17.1% LG Electronics: 9.2% Market concentration
Mobile OSes (iOS and Android) are another, even if no one can make money on the software itself anymore.
Banking software (FIS, Fiserv, Jack Henry, and D+H): 96% total
Internet service providers (a few large players, with a smattering of regional ones. Some areas are served only by a single company.)
Wireless providers (AT&T, Sprint, Verizon and T-Mobile) have roughly 80% of the market.
Here's a nice infographic:
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2013/04/the-char...
This is not to say that this applies to every market. There are competitive markets without clear winners (in some of the above cases, the markets are competitive oligopolies - but that doesn't help the "I just want to make a nice living as a small player" idea - you still need to be huge in those cases.) However, with the increase in mass communication, economies of scale, picked low hanging fruit, clustering effects, and concentration of talent/capital/connections, the trend has been towards winner-take-all (either through pure domination, like search, or industry consolidation, like health insurance.) Eking out a living at the margins is possible, but as I stated in the other comment, has its own set of attendant risks.