Abstract:   Domestic substitution of critical components by specialized, refined, distinctive, and innovative (SRDI) enterprises is pivotal for the supply chain reinforcement. Low market adoption rates hinder domestic components from achieving iterative optimization through positive supply-demand feedback loops, resulting ‘cold-start paradox’ in domestic substitution. Currently, host manufacturers exhibit a collaboration gap in driving the iterative optimization of domestic components. There is an urgent need to explore how SDRI enterprises can play a proactive role in fostering a supply-demand virtuous cycle. This study employed the systematic methodology of extenics to construct an action framework of ‘context identification-barrier analysis-strategy generation’, aiming to explore pathways for resolving this paradox. The key findings are as follows: (1) The logic underlying the resolution of the ‘cold-start paradox’ in domestic substitution of critical components differs from that observed in complex product systems. The former is fundamentally a logic of market-driven performance optimization, while the latter is a logic of state-orchestrated original innovation driven by top-down institutional design. (2) Guided by the extenics logic of ‘contextual adaptation-barrier decoupling-targeted intervention’ to resolve the paradox, different contexts must be dynamically identified. Based on two dimensions: the stage of host-supplier co-evolution and the state of knowledge power, three archetypal contexts are identified: ‘niche integration-passive compliance’ ‘complementary following-proactive negotiation’ ‘innovation collaboration-equal consultation’. (3) Addressing the above contexts requires overcoming three core barriers: activating trial willingness, confirming reuse decisions, and sustaining adoption routines. Extension models are constructed to target the core issues of inadequate perceived value, unmet organizational satisfaction, and imbalanced benefit distribution. Applying extension analysis and transformations enables targeted breakthroughs against these three barriers. This research will provide SRDI enterprises with a universally applicable solution for resolving the ‘cold-start paradox’ in domestic substitution, which integrates theory with practice.

Key words: SRDI enterprise, critical component, domestic substitution, cold start paradox, extension theory