Question

Question 3/ 350 words:

a) Describe all stages of the product life cycle.

b) Give an example of a real company’s behavior in one of the life cycle stages of your choice

Answer 1

Introduction

​​​​​​Philip KOTLER “ The product life cycle is an attempt to recognise distinct stages in sales history of the product.” PLC concerns with the study of degree of product acceptance by the market overtime. It includes major raises & falls of sales during its life.

Product Life Cycle Stages

The products life cycle is the course of a product’s sales and profits over its lifetime. The cycle has five distinct stages that include product development, introduction, growth, maturity, and decline. Even though there are 5 stages, not all products go through every stage. It depends on the product and its popularity

1 .Product development is when the idea for the product is developed. During this stage there are no sales for the product, just investment costs.

.2  INTRODUCTION STAGE:

• Hugeselling & promotion cost are required to increase awareness of the customers.
• Price is kept high to recover high development, production & marketing cost
• Marketerhas to tackle technical and production problems
• Salesare low and increasing at a lower rate And There is loss or negligible profit
• There is no competition.

Introduction stage is when the product is first introduced and consists of low sales that might increase. There is usually no profit during this stage because all of the sales are going towards costs of launching the product.

3.Growth stage is when there is an increase in sales and profits. The company can also invest more in promotions to keep the product strong.

Sales increase rapidly as a result of consumer acceptance of the products.

Company can earn maximum profits.

Competitors enter the market due to attractive profits

• Price is reduced to attract more customers

• Distribution network is widened and improved

• Necessary primary changes are made in products to remove defects and Company enters the new segments and channels are selected.

4.Maturity stage is when the product is established and the company works to keep the product steady. Most individuals are aware or already own the product during this stage.

Maturity Shows sales increase at decreasing rate Profits starts declining Marginal competitors leave the market Customer retention is given more emphasis Product, market & marketing mix modifications are undertaken.

5.Decline stage is when sales fall and profits drop. This can occur because individuals who want the product own it, from alternative products, or even advances in technology. During this stage the company must decide what they want to do with the product. They can either maintain, harvest, or drop the product

• Product modification is adopted
• Gradually, company prefers to shift resources to new products.
• Most of the sellers withdraw from the market Promotional expenses are reduced to realise a little profit.

Product Life Cycle Examples
However, the key to successful manufacturing is not just understanding, this life cycle, but also proactively
managing products throughout their lifetime, applying
the appropriate resources and sales and marketing
strategies, depending on what stage products are at in
the cycle.
SAMSUNG
Samsung was founded in 1938 by Lee-Byung and was
originally called Samsung Sanhoe. It has risen to
become the world‘s largest electronics company, and
now the largest manufacturer of mobile phones. The
company headquarters are located in Seoul and
worldwide Samsung employ 200,000 plus workers.
For Samsung Electronics, 2003 was a watershed year. It successfully positioned itself as one of the world‘s best mobile phone manufacturers and its products were featured all over the media.

Samsung Telecommunication Business is a Business unit which deals with telecommunication. The parent of Samsung is Samsung Electronics. The president of Samsung is Geesung Choi. The products Samsung manufactures mobile phones, smart phones, telecommunications systems, MP3 Players, Laptop computers etc.
SAMSUNG SMART PHONE
A Smartphone (or smart phone) is a mobile phone with an advanced mobile operating system which combines features of a personal computer operating system with other features useful for mobile or handheld use.
Most Smartphone can access the Internet, have
a touchscreen user interface, can run third-
party apps, music players and are camera phones. In
November 2009, the Bada operating system for
smartphones was announced by Samsung. The first
Bada-based phone was the Samsung Wave S8500,
released in June 2010. Samsung shipped 4.5 million
phones running Bada in Q2 of 2011. Most Smartphones produced from 2012 onwards also have high-speed mobile broadband 4G LTE internet, motion sensors, and mobile payment mechanisms. In 2013, Bada merged with a similar platform called Tizen. In 2014, sales of smartphones worldwide topped 1.2 billion, which was up 28% from 2013.
Example : Samsung Galaxy
The Samsung Galaxy, known as Samsung GT-I7500 in
some countries, is a mobile phone manufactured by Samsung that used the open source Android operating system. It was announced on 27 April 2009. It is succeeded by the Samsung i5700 SamsungGalaxy former logo used from 2010 until 2015. It is used as of release of Samsung Galaxy J1, A8 ,Galaxy Grand, Ace, Samsung Galaxy S series, Mega, Mini, Young, Phablet, smartphones, Tablets etc, with Android asOperating system along with touch screen and stylus as
input.

PLC of Samsung Smart Phone
Stages Time Duration

​​Introduction -2001-2006
Growth - 2006-2011
Maturity - 2011- till now

Step I: Introduction( 2001 – 2006)
Example: Samsung R220
a) Product
Entered India in 2001
Launched very few models due to lesser demand &
innovation And  Launched 1st model Samsung R220 with Simple blue display. Competed with the then market leader Motorola‘ and Nokia.
b) Price
Followed -Penetration Pricing‘ strategy
Launched Samsung R220 of Rs.9000/- (apx.)
Launched phones in the range of Rs. 8000 to 20000
c) Place :-

South Korea -- mother warehouse Delhi -- Subdistributor all state --Samsung dealer & organised retailer --Customer

d) Promotion
Samsung follow discounting policy. (as par mobile
phone) Offered a good amount of backend profit to retailers And Advertisement in Print Media

Step II: Growth Stage (2006-2011)
Step III: Growth Rate 14.80%
a) Product
Launched phones without external antenna
Had better features like games,alarm ergonomic
keypad, display etcW

Widerange of simple or Dual sim mobile marked beginning of growth stage (GURU)

Launched wide range of touch screen mobile phones to compete nokia

b) Price
Followed -Price penetration‘ strategy in beginning of
growth stage‘
Launch simple mobiles with price of Rs. 2000 –
4000 ,Touch screen ( 9000 – 22000)
c) Place:- same

d) Promotion
pre-paid connections(Idea, airtel, vodafone) were
given free with select any samsung models
Gifts ( Kitchen ware)
Dealers & retailers got a large amount of ‗backend
profit‘ to increase the sales & drive growth
TVC, Sales promotion , Print media

Step IV:Maturity Stage (2011- till now)
Growth rate 67%
a) Product
Launched Smart phones with android

Galaxy series :-Launched Windows phones to compete Nokia

Windows mobile Focussed on Galaxy S series phones to compete with All the competitors
b) Price

Price penetration‘ strategy to sustain growing competition Launched models ranging from Rs. 1000 to Rs. 30000 And Frequently reduced prices of popular & low end models to compete with Micromax, Samsung, LG, etc.

c) Place :- same in introduction stage .
d) Promotion
Special Offers on Credit card payment for
above price of Rs. 20000
TVC for Galaxy Series And  Discount Coupons

Conclusion:-

Samsung's is actually having great response from this target market as noted earlier in the response of the data analysis, the highest number of respondents owning Samsung smartphones are between the ages of 20 years to 40 years who are known to be the generation ―Y

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