Products like people move through life cycles, and a firm’s marketing strategy must be modified in response to changes in the product life cycle. Studies of a variety of products form their introduction until they reach maturity and death suggests that sales and profits follow definite patterns during the product life cycle of introduction, growth, maturity and decline.
Certainly not all products go through exactly the same life cycle. There are variations in the time it takes for products to go through particulars stages of the cycle. For example, microwave ovens went through a very long introductory stage before moving into the growth stage. However, electronic electronic calculators went almost immediately in to a growth stage.
The product life cycle is a key marketing planning tool because the relative importance of various elements of the marketing mix will shift at different stages in the life cycle. Price is often more important during the maturity stage than during the introduction stage. Communicating the availability and features of a new product through awareness during the maturity stage is essential in achieving buyer awareness during the early stages of the life cycles.
