PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE:Like human beings, products also have their own life-cycle. From birth to death human beings pass through various stages e.g. birth, growth, maturity, decline and death. A similar life-cycle is seen in the case of products. The product life cycle goes through multiple phases, involves many professional disciplines, and requires many skills, tools and processes. Product life cycle (PLC) has to do with the life of a product in the market with respect to business/commercial costs and sales measures. To say that a product has a life cycle is to assert four things:

Products have a limited life. Product sales pass through distinct stages, each posing different challenges

opportunities and problems to the seller. Profits rise and fall at different stages of product life cycle. Products require different marketing, financial, manufacturing, purchasing,

and human resource strategies in each life cycle stage.

STAGES OF PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE:

INTRODUCTION STAGE:

1. Costs are high.2. Slow sales volumes to start.3. Little or no competition.4. Demand has to be created.5. Customers have to be prompted to try the product.6. Makes no money at this stage.

GROWTH STAGE:

1. Costs reduced due to economies of scale.2. Sales volume increases significantly.3. Profitability begins to rise.4. Public awareness increases.5. Competition begins to increase with a few new players in establishing

market.6. Increased competition leads to price decreases.

MATURITY STAGE:

1. Costs are lowered as a result of production volumes increasing and experience curve effects.

2. Sales volume peaks and market saturation is reached.3. Increase in competitors entering the market.4. Prices tend to drop due to the proliferation of competing products.5. Brand differentiation and feature diversification is emphasized to

maintain or increase market share.6. Industrial profits go down.

DECLINE:

1. Costs become counter-optimal.2. Sales volume decline or stabilize.3. Prices, profitability diminish.4. Profit becomes more a challenge of production/distribution efficiency

than increased sales.

GRAPHICAL REPRESENTATION OF THE STAGES OF PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE (PLC):

MOST PLC CYCLES ARE BELL-SHAPED

THE THRE BASIC COMMON ALTERNATE PATTERNS ARE:

1. GROWTH-SLUMP-MATURITY-PATTERN:

Sales grow rapidly when the product is first introduced and then fall to a petrified level that is sustained by late adopters buying the product for the first time and early adopters replacing it.

2. CYCLE-RECYCLE PATTERN:

In the first stage the product is aggressively promoted, later the sales start declining and another promotional push is given to the product by the company producing it, which produces a second cycle (basically of smaller magnitude and duration).

3. SCALLOPED PLC

In this sales pass through a succession of life cycles based on discovery of new products characteristics, uses, or users that continue to be discovered over time.

STYLE, FASHION AND FAD CYCLES:-

STYLE:

A basic and distinctive mode of expression appearing in the field of human endeavor.

It appears in homes (colonial, ranch, cape, cod); clothing (formal, casual, funky); and art (realistic, surrealistic, abstract).

A style can last for generations and can go in and out for vogue.

Fashion:

A currently accepted or popular style in a given field is fashion. It passes through 4 stages:

1. Distinctiveness2. Emulation 3. Mass fashion 4. Decline

The length of fashion cycle is hard to predict. Fashion ends because they represent a purchase compromise, and consumer start looking at the missing attributes.

If too many consumers adopt the fashion, it results in turning others away.

Length of particular fashion cycle depends on the extent to which the fashion meets a genuine need.

Fad:

Fashions that come quickly in to public view are adopted with great zeal, peak early and decline very fast.

Their acceptance cycle is short, and it tends to attract only a limited following who are searching for excitement or want to distinguish themselves from others.

It fails to survive because they don’t normally satisfy a strong need.

Those who recognize fads early and leverage them in to products with staying power are winners in market.

We can all identify products that have changed from their original form and/or content. And, with today's rapid changes in technology, almost every product will undergo some sort of modification during its lifetime.

This idea is demonstrated by the Product Life Cycle concept, which shows the path a typical new product takes from its inception to its discontinuation. To be precise, it describes the stages a product goes through from its introduction, through its growth until it is mature and then finally its decline. Moreover, it’s associated with changes in the marketing situation, thus impacting the marketing strategy & the marketing mix as well. Knowledge of the product’s life cycle can provide valuable insights into ways the product can be managed to enhance sales and profitability. Marketing activities are heavily dependent on the stage in the product life cycle.Products do not last forever. A typical cycle for a product is as follows:

First a product will be developed. The prototype will be tested & market research carried out before it is launched onto the market. There will be no sales at this time.

* In the introduction stage the product is launched in the market. The firm will create product awareness & develop a market for the product. No profits

are made at this time as development costs have not yet been covered. Iris-based personal identity cards are in the introduction stage of the product life cycle. It may take some products a substantial amount of time to catch on in the market before they enter their growth phases. These products have been referred to as "high learning products." These products often are complex to understand or use, may be extremely expensive, may not be easy to sample before committing to purchase, or may not be compatible with existing social values. The result is that the product’s rate of acceptance in the market is slowed. The impact on the marketing mix is as follows:

a) Product- branding & quality level is established, and intellectual property protection such as patents & trademarks are obtained (if it’s a new product).b) Price- Price skimming may be used if the product is a new development & there are no competitors. Or pricing may be low penetration pricing to build market share rapidly.c) Promotion- Informative advertising is used until the product becomes known. Promotion is aimed at innovators & early adopters.d) Place- Limited product availability in few outlets/locations.

* In the growth stage sales start to grow rapidly. Profits start to be made as more and more customers buy the product. But competitors see the opportunity and enter the market. Some just copy the most successful product, or try to improve it to compete better. Others try to refine their offerings to do a better job of appealing to some target markets. The new entries result in much product variety. The Internet, more specifically the World Wide Web component of the Internet, is probably in the growth phase of its life cycle. The advantages of the Internet have resulted in its very rapid acceptance in consumer and business markets. Furthermore, iPod (portable digital music player) is also in the growth stage of its life cycle. The impact on the marketing mix is as follows:

a) Product- product quality is maintained & additional features & support services may be added.b) Price- is reduced a little as new competitors have entered.c) Promotion- advertising is focused on building brand. Advertising is changed to persuasive advertising to encourage brand loyalty.d) Place- distribution channels are added as demand increases & customers accept the product.* In the Maturity stage competition gets tougher as aggressive competitors

have entered the race for profits. Industry profits continue to go down during maturity because promotion costs rise and competitors continue to cut prices to attract more business. During the maturity phase, less efficient firms can't compete with the increasing pressure on prices and drop out of the market. The maturity phase of the life cycle is the longest phase for most products. Sales grow at a decreasing rate and then stabilize. Price wars and intense competition occur. At this point the market reaches saturation. Producers begin to leave the market due to poor margins. Refrigerators illustrate a product that has hovered at maturity for decades. Moreover, refrigerators will continue to remain in the mature stage of the PLC until a new technology emerges that fills the same need. The impact on the marketing mix is as follows:

a) Product- features may be enhanced to differentiate the product from that of competitors.b) Price- competitive pricing or promotional pricing is used & there are a lot of price wars.c) Place- distribution becomes more intensive & incentives may be offered to encourage preference over competing products.d) Promotion- emphasizes product differentiation. A lot of persuasive advertising is done. Many different approaches are used as appropriate to the product. Sales promotion tools like premiums, discounts, coupons, cash rebates, "free" goods, specialty advertising, and demonstrations are used.

* In the Decline stage, new products replace the old. Price competition from dying products becomes more vigorous, but firms with strong brands may make profits until the end because they successfully differentiated their products. They may also keep some sales by appealing to the most loyal customers or those who are slow to try new ideas. Costs, because competition is still intense, continue to rise. Profits, as expected, continue to erode during this stage with little hope of recovery. Typewriters are in the decline stage of the product life cycle.As sales decline, the firm has several options:a) Maintain the product- possibly rejuvenating it by adding new features & finding new uses.b) Harvest the product- reduce costs & continue to offer it, probably to a loyal niche segment.c) Discontinue the product- liquidating remaining inventory or selling to another firm that is willing to continue the product.

When the product reaches the end of maturity stage (i.e. the saturation stage) of its product life cycle, the firm may stop sales starting to fall by adopting extension strategies. These are ways that sales may be given a boost. Some possible ways businesses might extend the life cycle of their product are as follows:

1) Introduce new variations of the original product, e.g. a children’s version2) Uses a new advertising campaign3) Sell into new markets, e.g. export the product to another country4) Introduce a new, improved version of the product5) Sell through additional, different retail outlets

6) Modify the 'augmented product'. Services can be added where none existed before -- adding free set-up and delivery are good examples.

In reality very few products follow such a prescriptive cycle. The length of each stage varies enormously. The decisions of marketers can change the stage, for example from maturity to decline by price-cutting. Not all products go through each stage. Some go from introduction to decline. It is not easy to tell which stage the product is in. Remember that PLC is like all other tools. Use it to inform your gut feeling.

Strengths – The product life cycle is considered as both straightforward and powerful model. By using the model as guidance, effective and timely marketing will take the product through each stage and can be planned in advance. The product life cycle can also be use to alert the marketer, when the product is in the stages of growth and maturity, to integrate extension strategies during this period to maintain the high profit level.

Weaknesses – It is hard to tell which stage the product is in, as there are constant short-term fluctuations due to external factors, consequently marketing actions could be taken too early or too late.

By failing recognize the stage of product in the product life cycle model; it can cause business failure for especially a small business.

In conclusion, it is fair to say that the model can only be used to help identify the symptoms of each stage. Each product will spend different lengths of time in each stage and there is no physical way of showing this on the product life cycle model. However, the better your financial control, the more you will be able to track individual product.

EXAMPLE OF A PRODUCT: (NOKIA)

LIFE CYCLE THINKING

Our product creation is guided by life cycle thinking. It helps us continuously improve the environmental aspects of our products and processes in each phase of the product life cycle, from raw material acquisition till the end of life of the product.

We use life cycle assessment (LCA) for calculating the environmental impact, energy usage, and greenhouse gas emissions of our products and processes.

By identifying the largest sources of emissions and energy use over the lifecycle, we have already been able to take action in minimizing the environmental impact of our mobile devices.

To learn more about the improvements we have already implemented, please explore the life cycle demonstration below with your mouse pointer.

Environmental impact:

Over the years, we have been able to reduce the environmental impact of our products significantly. For example, the environmental impact of the Nokia X2 and similar recently launched devices is just a third of the impact of the Nokia 3310 which was launched a decade ago.

Today, many manufacturers report the environmental footprint of their products. At Nokia we use life cycle assessment (LCA) for calculating the environmental impact of our products and processes. Our calculations include the entire mobile device life cycle, from raw material acquisition to the end of the product life. Our life cycle assessment method has been externally audited.

The pictures below visualize the average environmental impact of a Nokia mobile device. The impact is reported in terms of energy use and greenhouse gas emissions, and is split between the different device life cycle phases. The total energy consumption for creating, using and recycling a typical Nokia mobile device is 220MJ and the total emissions are 26kg C02e. This equals to driving 167km in a typical family car.

From June 2010 onwards, we will provide an estimated environmental impact of all our new products. This information is available via each product’s Eco profile.

The environmental impact of a device varies according to its weight and the functionalities it offers. The mobile phones with just basic functionalities have typically smaller environmental impact than the devices with wide range of features. However, more capable devices (with, for example, an excellent camera, music player, navigation, web browser and other features) provide you with the opportunity to reduce your personal environmental footprint. Instead of buying, using and charging multiple devices for different purposes, you can have all these functionalities in one Nokia device. Making sustainable choices in your daily life will further reduce your personal footprint: with your Nokia mobile device, it’s easy to be green!

Devices and accessories

Our approach is to continuously improve the environmental sustainability of all our products. Rather than introducing one-off green devices, we focus on rolling out sustainable innovations across our product range.

Our environmental activities are based on lifecycle thinking. We are focusing on:

using approved, tested and sustainable materials and substances in our products

improving the energy efficiency of our devices, applications and enhancements including chargers

developing smaller and smarter packaging for our products engaging people who use our devices via eco software and services and

recycling

Our recently launched devices Nokia N8, Nokia E7, Nokia C6-01, and Nokia C7 come with many of the latest sustainable and energy-saving features.

For example, they have been constructed using recycled and environmentally-friendly materials; include features like Power Save mode, OLED display, an 'Unplug charger' reminder, and an in-device e-guide (allowing us to supply reduced ‘quick guides’ in sales packages); and use the latest high efficiency chargers.

Many of these environmental innovations are being gradually deployed across our product range to maximize their impact and help people make more sustainable choices.

Nokia Fast Charger AC-8, Nokia Fast Micro-USB Charger AC-10 and Nokia Fast Charger AC-15 let you charge your device with a clear conscience. They use just 0.03W in no-load mode (the amount the charger uses if you forget to unplug it from socket when the phone is fully charged). This is 90-95% less than what typical chargers can waste. AC-8 and AC-15 feature standard Nokia 2 mm charging plug, AC-10 provides an energy efficient option for micro-USB charging.

Many of our customers have compatible charger at home already when purchasing a new Nokia device. By leaving the charger out from the device sales box completely, we are able to reduce significantly the box size. This saves raw materials, reduces energy consumption and transportation impact. Today, we have the Nokia 6700 slide available without a charger in UK and Portugal. By choosing this charger less variant instead of the standard package you also choose a device that comes with 25 % smaller environmental footprint.

Materials and substances:

The materials used in Nokia products and processes must be safe to people and the environment. Meeting health and environmental regulatory requirements is a priority and a basic requirement for us. Nokia is an industry leader in substance management.

We aspire to go beyond legislation and compliance, and proactively drive the development and efficient use of more sustainable materials. We promote innovative and sustainable material choices, and work on this in close collaboration with our suppliers. We’ve introduced renewable materials first in 2007 in the Nokia 3110 Evolve; 50 percent of the plastics in its cover were bio plastics. Since then, we have continued to research and implement bio plastics when those are a viable and optimal solution for a given part and product. Our recent product launches Nokia C7 and Nokia C6-01 both introduce innovations in sustainable use of materials. Nokia C7 is the industry first to use bio paints, and the Nokia C6-01 to use recycled metals. We aim to broaden our approach in years to come.

Naturally we're also using more recycled and reusable materials in our packaging and reducing its volume. More than 95% of our packaging is made of renewable, paper-based materials, of which up to 60 % is recycled content. Our packaging is 100 % recyclable.

All of the materials in Nokia devices can be used again to make new products or generate energy, so nothing is wasted.

Energy efficiency

We're making our phones and chargers more energy efficient. But did you know that if your charger is plugged in and connected to your phone it's still consuming a small amount of energy, even if your battery is full?

We call this the no-load mode. Typically two thirds of the energy that goes into a phone during its usage is lost in this way. We've been investigating and implementing ways to reduce this and overall energy consumption of our devices.

Over the last decade we've reduced the amount of energy our best in class chargers use in no-load mode by 95 percent. Our newest chargers go beyond the energy targets of US Environmental Protection Agency, using up to 90 percent less power in no-load mode than the Energy Star requires, and also meet the highest European Union standards.

In May 2007 we became the first mobile manufacturer to put alerts into phones encouraging people to unplug their chargers. Today, the alerts are rolled out across the product range, and the entire industry has joined implementing the alerts broadly.

The energy that could be saved globally if all Nokia phone users unplugged their chargers when their phones are full is equivalent to the amount needed to power 100,000 average-sized European homes. So pledge to unplug!

Our devices have a power-saving standby mode and a range of energy saving settings. We've also introduced a new Power Save mode in our 2009 devices, and plan to implement this to many of our new products to come. You can manually activate the Power Save mode from the Power menu of the device.

We're also looking at the best way to use new sources of energy such as solar and fuel cells.

In addition to company activities, Nokia is driving energy efficiency in cooperation with our industry. Nokia is part of the European Union's Code of Conduct focusing on energy consumption on no-load of mobile phone chargers. We were among the first mobile phone manufacturers to sign the Energy Star agreement with the US Environmental Protection Agency.

ABOVE GIVEN SOME OF THE LATEST MOBILES OF NOKIA THE PRODUCT LIFE OF A NOKIA IS GOOD WHEN COMPARED TO OTHER MOBILE PHONES THUS IT IS THE LEADER IN SELLING ITS PHONES AND ITS PHONES ARE IN GREAT DEMAND AS IT BRINGS FRQUENT CHANGES IN ITS PHONES