Can technology monopoly bring competitiveness to firms? The Western views argue that technology monopoly can bring competitiveness to a firm. However, in the context of China’s emphasis on the win-win cooperation, it is difficult to explain some current economic phenomena. The paper argues that enterprises should adhere to the innovation strategy of “core controllability and value co-creation”. Using a sample of Chinese listed companies from 2007 to 2022, the empirical study finds an inverted U-shaped relationship between corporate technology monopoly and firm performance; this relationship is reinforced by the firm-level market orientation and the industry-level competition intensity. The conclusion reveals that blindly pursuing technology monopoly only becomes a catalyst for firms and adds relevant theoretical insights.