industry

Definition

Horizontal segmentation of production firms on the basis of their primary generic product (such as automobiles, energy, food), sub-primary generic product (such as trucks, oil, grains), or sub-sub primary generic product (such as pickups, gasoline, wheat) ... and so on. Firms in the same industry are on the same side of the market, produce goods which are close substitutes, and compete for the same customers. For statistical purposes, industries are categorized generally according a uniform classification code such as Standard Industrial Classification (SIC).