Enterprises can not expect his best-selling product forever, because a product on the market in sales and profitability is not immutable, but with the passage of time changes, this change has experienced the birth of products, growth Mature and the process of recession, as the life history of the same, so as product life cycle. Is the product life cycle from market access to products from the market experienced by the market life cycle process, into the cycle and get out of the market marks the beginning and end.

A typical product life cycle in general can be divided into four stages: the introduction period, growing, maturity and decline.

1. The product life cycle at all stages
(1) The introduction period. New products to market, we entered a period of introduction. At this time customers do not understand the products, except for a small number of customers in the pursuit of novelty, almost no one actually buy the product. At this stage of small batch production, high manufacturing costs, product selling prices high, sales are very limited, usually can not profit enterprises.
(2) Growing. When introducing products into the period, sales success, then entered a growing. This is the stage of growth in demand, a rapid increase in demand and sales, production costs dropped substantially, the rapid growth of profits.
(3) Maturity. After growing, with the increase in the number of people buy products, the market demand for more saturated, products have entered a mature stage. At this point, the slow pace of sales growth until the turn decline, as competition intensifies, leading to further increase advertising costs, lower profits.
(4) Period of decline. With the development of technology, new products and the emergence of substitutes and changes in consumption habits and other factors, product sales and profits continued to drop, products and people into a recession. Product demand and rapidly declining sales, while appearing on the market alternatives and new products, so that customer's spending habits change. At this time the cost will be higher because of unprofitable enterprises and gradually stop the production, the life cycle of these products will be ended, and the last full withdrawal from the market.

2. How to evaluate the life cycle stage products in
Correct judgement products in which life cycle stage is very important for the enterprises to formulate the corresponding marketing strategy. The most commonly used business judgement product life-cycle stage are the following two methods:
(1) Analogy, which is based on past market similar to product life-cycle changes in the data to determine which market their products in what stage of the life cycle. To judge the color television market, you can use similar products such as black-and-white TV sets based on the information for comparative analysis, to determine.
(2) Growth rate; the method is to a certain period of time and the growth rate of sales growth to determine the ratio of product life-cycle stage in which the market approach.