Purpose – Deregulation of key industries in Asian countries has had a significant impact on competitive activities and corporate performance. This article examines the relationship between firms’ heterogeneous competitive actions and their sales performance in deregulated industries. Based on the secondary-data from the telecommunication industry of Hong Kong, the empirical results indicate a U-shaped association between heterogeneous competitive actions and sales performance, in which competitive positioning plays a mediating role. In addition, on the demand side at the macro level, market munificence positively moderates the main effect. On the demand side at the micro level, user network size positively moderates the main effect, but user network coverage negatively moderates the main effect. The conclusion provides theoretical guidance for improving internal governance on the supply side (firm) and formulating matching strategies on the demand side (user), firms need to manage the amplification effect of demand-side factors on the effects of their competitive actions.