This activity is defined according the stages that a product goes through from inception to when it no longer is produced. The stages are: Development, Introduction, Growth, Maturity, and Decline. The reasons that a company wants to manage these stages are:
- The competitive landscape and how a company becomes successful varies over the product life cycle (PLC), so the marketing mix (pricing, product, promotion, and distribution) will need to change over a product’s life to remain successful.
- Sales volume varies widely over the PLC.
- Profitability is greatest in the Growth and Maturity Stages.
- To assure the long-term viability of a company—want, a mix of products in various stages of the PLC is desirable (e.g., don’t want all products in the Introductory Stage or Decline Stage).
- Stages of the PLC should not be viewed as fixed because they can be extended by the efforts of a company. To read more about extending the PLC, click here.
- Product Life Cycle example/case study
- Life cycle analysis links