The Product Life Cycle (PLC) By: Calvin Merritt.

What is PLC? Product Life Cycle (Or P.L.C) are the

stages that a product goes through Examples:Examples: Introduction Growth Maturity Decline

Stage 1 – Introduction When Product Life Cycle is based on sales volume,

Introduction and growth usually become one stage.

It can also be a very expensive stage for the companies also because the size of the market is small so meaning that the sales are low but eventually the sales will increase.

The cost of things needed to launch the product can be very high especially if it’s a competitive sector.

Example: 3 – D Tv’s

Stage 2 – Growth Stage. This stage is described as a strong

growth in sales and profits. This makes it possible for

businesses to invest more money in the promotional activity to increase the potential of this growth stage.

Example: Blue Ray discs/dvr

Stage 3 – Maturity Stage During the maturity stage the product is created

and the manufacturer is aiming to keep the market share up.

It’s the most competitive time for most products, and businesses need to invest wisely in any marketing they try out.

The company also has to make some final adjustments to their product which could give them a competitive advantage.

Example: DVD’s

Stage 4 – Decline Stage Eventually a product will die out to make way for a new

product, and this is what's known as the decline stage. The reason for this could be due to the market becoming

“dried outdried out” (I.e., all the customers who will buy the product have already purchased it), or maybe it’s that the customer decided to switch to another product,.

This decline may be decided, doesn’t mean that the company can’t make any money, because if they wanted to they could switch to a cheaper production methods and markets.

Example: VHS