should a product be entirely retired the company will stop generating support for it and will entirely phase out marketing endeavors alternatively the company may decide to revamp the product or introduce a next generation completely overhauled model if the upgrade is substantial enough the company may choose to re enter the product life cycle by introducing the new version to the market 
the stage of a product s life cycle impacts the way in which it is marketed to consumers a new product needs to be explained while a mature product needs to be differentiated from its competitors advantages of using the product life cyclethe product life cycle better allows marketers and business developers to better understand how each product or brand sits with a company s portfolio this enables the company to internally shift resources to specific products based on those products positioning within the product life cycle for example a company may decide to reallocate market staff time to products entering the introduction or growth stages alternatively it may need to invest more cost of labor in engineers or customer service technicians as the product matures the product life cycle naturally tends to have a positive impact on economic growth as it promotes innovation and discourages supporting outdated products as products move through the life cycle stages companies that use the product life cycle can realize the need to make their products more effective safer efficient faster cheaper or better suited to client needs limitations of using the product life cycledespite its utility for planning and analysis the product life cycle doesn t pertain to every industry and doesn t work consistently across all products consider popular beverage lines whose primary products have been in the maturity stage for decades while spin offs or variations of these drinks from the same company have failed the product life cycle also may be artificial in industries with legal or trademark restrictions consider the new patent term of 20 years from which the application for the patent was filed in the united states 1 though a drug may be just entering their growth stage it may be adversely impacted by competition when its patent ends regardless of which stage it is in another unfortunate side effect of the product life cycle is prospective planned obsolescence when a product enters the maturity stage a company may be tempted to begin planning its replacement this may be the case even if the existing product still holds many benefits for customers and still has a long shelf life for producers who tend to introduce new products every few years this may lead to product waste and inefficient use of product development resources notification messages such as microsoft s alert that windows 8 1 will sunset on january 2023 is an example of decline 2 due to obsolescence of the operating system microsoft is choosing to no longer support the product and instead focus resources on newer technologies product life cycle vs bcg matrixa similar analytical tool to determine the market positioning of a product is the boston consulting group bcg matrix this four square table defines products based on their market growth and market share although there is no direct relationship between the matrix and the product life cycle concept both analyze a product s market growth and saturation however the bcg matrix does not traditionally communicate the direction in which a product will move for example a product that has entered the maturity stage of the product life cycle will likely experience decline next the bcg matrix does not communicate this product flow in its visual depiction introduction and maturity special considerationscompanies that have a good handle on all four stages can increase profitability and maximize their returns those that aren t able to may experience an increase in their marketing and production costs ultimately leading to the limited shelf life for their product s back in 1965 theodore levitt a marketing professor wrote in the harvard business review that the innovator is the one with the most to lose because so many truly new products fail at the first phase of their life cycle the introductory stage the failure comes only after the investment of substantial money and time into research development and production this fact prevents many companies from even trying anything really new instead he said they wait for someone else to succeed and then clone the success 3to cite an established and still thriving industry television program distribution has related products in all stages of the product life cycle oled tvs are in the mature phase programming on demand is in the growth stage dvds are in decline and the videocassette is extinct many of the most successful products on earth are suspended in the mature stage for as long as possible undergoing minor updates and redesigns to keep them differentiated examples include apple computers and iphones ford s best selling trucks and starbucks coffee all of which undergo minor changes accompanied by marketing efforts are designed to keep them feeling unique and special in the eyes of consumers examples of product life cyclesmany brands that were american icons have dwindled and died better management of product life cycles might have saved some of them or perhaps their time had just come oldsmobile began producing cars in 1897 after merging with general motors in 1908 the company used the first v 8 engine in 1916 by 1935 the one millionth oldsmobile had been built in 1984 oldsmobile sales peaked selling more cars in that year than any other year by 2000 general motors announced it would phase out the automobile and on april 29th 2004 the last oldsmobile was built 4in 1905 frank winfield woolworth incorporated f w woolworth co a general merchandise retail store by 1929 woolworth had about 2 250 outlet stores across the united states and britain decades later due to increased competition from other discount retailors woolworth closed the last of its variety stores in the united states in 1997 to increasingly focus on sporting goods 5on april 23 1985 coca cola announced a new formula for its popular beverage referred to as new coke coca cola s market share lead had been decreasing over the past 15 years and the company decided to launch a new recipe in hopes of reinvigorating product interest after its launch coca cola s phone line began receiving 1 500 calls per day many of which were to complain about the change protest groups recruited 100 000 individuals to support their cause of bringing old coke back 6a stunning 79 days after its launch new coke s full product life cycle was complete though the product didn t experience much growth or maturity its introduction to the market was met with heavy protest less than three months after it announced its new recipe coca cola announced it would revert its product back to the original recipe 