Product Life Cycle

Business

Product Lifecycle

The Product Life Cycle is based upon the biological life cycle. For example, a seed is planted (introduction); it begins to sprout (growth); it shoots out leaves and puts down roots as it becomes an adult (maturity); after a long period as an adult the plant begins to shrink and die out (decline).

In theory it's the same for a product. After a period of development it is introduced or launched into the market; it gains more and more customers as it grows; eventually the market stabilises and the product becomes mature; then after a period of time the product is overtaken by development and the introduction of superior competitors, it goes into decline and is eventually withdrawn.

However, most products fail in the introduction phase. Others have very cyclical maturity phases where declines see the product promoted to regain customers.

Introduction.

The need for immediate profit is not a pressure. The product is promoted to create awareness. If the product has no or few competitors, a skimming price strategy is employed. Limited numbers of product are available in few channels of distribution.

Growth.

Competitors are attracted into the market with very similar offerings. Products become more profitable and companies form alliances, joint ventures and take each other over. Advertising spend is high and focuses upon building brand. Market share tends to stabilise.

Maturity.

Those products that survive the earlier stages tend to spend longest in this phase. Sales grow at a decreasing rate and then stabilise. Producers attempt to differentiate products and brands are key to this. Price wars and intense competition occur. At this point the market reaches saturation. Producers begin to leave the market due to poor margins. Promotion becomes ...

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Growth.

Maturity.

Those products that survive the earlier stages tend to spend longest in this phase. Sales grow at a decreasing rate and then stabilise. Producers attempt to differentiate products and brands are key to this. Price wars and intense competition occur. At this point the market reaches saturation. Producers begin to leave the market due to poor margins. Promotion becomes more widespread and use a greater variety of media.

Decline.

At this point there is a downturn in the market. For example more innovative products are introduced or consumer tastes have changed. There is intense price-cutting and many more products are withdrawn from the market. Profits can be improved by reducing marketing spend and cost cutting.

MY Product Lifecycle

My business will change. With the passage of time, my company will go through various stages of the business life cycle. I need to know upcoming focuses, challenges and financing sources to succeed.

A business goes through stages of development similar to the cycle of life for the human race. Parenting strategies that work for your toddler can not be applied to your teenager. The same goes my business. It will be faced with a different cycle throughout its life. What I focus on today will change and require different approaches to be successful.

My product is a mobile phone so the first stage is development, this means the product has to be developed and be prepared for the introduction stage.

After development stage I will reach the introduction stage in which I will introduce my product to the public or customers. This is will be most important stage of my business because it is all about introduction and customer attraction if I fail to show the customers a good product probably my business will go down in the beginning stage.

The next stage after introduction is the growth stage the process of this stage will depend on the previous stage which is the introduction stage. If my products growth goes high it means that I developed and introduced the product good.

The stage after growth is maturity stage, in this stage my product will remain for long time in normal condition then.

The saturation will be the starting point of your business’s falling, the sales will go down slowly and it will reach the decline stage. This happens to every product.

The last stage which is the decline stage will the end of my products sales it is because people area bored with that product and they are waiting for a new product.

The thing that I should to save my product for little more time is to do some changes like discounts to the price of my product, giving more features with the product.

The best way to save my business for a little time is to begin by setting up my finances securely.

I need to boost up the advertisement on TVs, radios, buses to catch more customers to buy my product.

I can also save my products lifecycle is also to change the appearance of my product and give it a good design for specific people like youngsters.

By doing these I can save my product for sometime so it will increase the profit of my business and then I will think for a new product to develop.

In reality very few products follow such a prescriptive cycle. The length of each stage varies enormously. The decisions of marketers can change the stage, for example from maturity to decline by price-cutting. Not all products go through each stage. Some go from introduction to decline. It is not easy to tell which stage the product is in.