Focused for decades on things as diverse as tools for oil and gas drillers, highpowered lasers and state$-$of$-$the$-$art speaker systems, the De Beers scientists at Element Six have moved into new territory in recent months as the company sets its sights on a lucrative market it traditionally shunned: the production of synthetic jewelry stones. Alongside its high$-$pressure, high$-$temperature operations, Element Six is using a newer process known as C$.$V$.$D$.,$ or chemical vapor deposition, which uses low pressure in a vacuum filled with gases that react to create layers of carbon that gradually consolidate into a single stone. The new method is cheaper and easier to monitor than the older one and hence capable of being scalable as a jewelry business. "Synthetics will never be as big as our natural business, and our investments into the space are dwarfed by those elsewhere," Mr$.$ Cleaver said. "But we have a massive advantage over everyone else, given the know$-$how and infrastructure provided by Element Six. So it's something we have decided to be very serious about." $($A $$94$ million plant that De Beers is building in Gresham, Ore., is expected to generate half a million rough carats a year after its completion in $2020.)$

De Beers itself has been "growing" diamonds at Element Six for $50$ years, gradually producing stones from a hydrocarbon gas mixture in a high$-$pressure, hightemperature reactor. This statement, along with Mr$.$ Cleaver's assertion that their information and infrastructure gives De Beers a massive advantage, reflects which element of Porter's $5$ Forces?

Bargaining power of buyers

Rivalry among existing competitors

Threats of new entrants

Bargaining power of suppliers

Threat of substitutes