different stages in a product life cycle

The different stages in a product life cycle are:

1. Market introduction stage

   • cost high
   • sales volume low
   • no/little competition - competitive manufacturers watch for acceptance/segment growth losses
   • demand has to be created
   • customers have to be prompted to try the product

2. Growth stage

   • costs reduced due to economies of scale and
   • sales volume increases significantly
   • profitability
   • public awareness
   • competition begins to increase with a few new players in establishing market
   • prices to maximize market share

3. Mature stage

   • Costs are very low as you are well established in market & no need for publicity.
   • sales volume peaks
   • increase in competitive offerings
   • prices tend to drop due to the proliferation of competing products
   • brand differentiation, feature diversification, as each player seeks to differentiate from competition with "how much product" is offered
   • Industrial profits go down

4. Saturation and decline stage

   • costs become counter-optimal
   • sales volume decline or stabilize
   • prices, profitability diminish
   • profit becomes more a challenge of production/distribution efficiency than increased sales