Product Life

Product Life-cycle Strategies

The Product Life Cycle (PLC) is used to map the lifespan of a product.

There are generally four stages in the life of a product. These four stages are the product development, the Introduction stage, the Growth stage, the Maturity stage and the Decline stage.

Product development begins when the company finds and develops a new product idea. During product development, sales are zero and the company’s investment costs mount.

The introduction phase is when the public first sees or hears about a product. The product appears in stores for the first time, and people start seeing print and television ads

Introduction is a period of slow sales growth as the product is introduced in the market. Profits are nonexistent in this stage because of the heavy expenses of product introduction.

The growth phase is when sales and profits for the new product start rising.

Maturity is a period of slowdown in sales growth because the product has achieved acceptance by most potential buyers. Profits level off or decline because of increased marketing outlays to defend the product against competition.

Decline is the period when sales fall off and profits drop.

Demand for the product will eventually wane as newer technologies are introduced. Hence, companies can either maintain the product, sell it at heavily reduced prices or discontinue the product. A company that maintains the product may continue increasing sales by finding new uses for the product.

I have chosen to take the Google Glass as an example of the product development phase.

Google Glass is an attempt to free data from desktop computers and portable devices like phones and tablets, and place it right in front of your eyes.

Essentially, Google Glass is a camera, display, touchpad, battery and microphone built into spectacle frames so that you can perch a display in your field of vision, film, take pictures, search and translate on the go.

A final release date has...