life cycle

1. The course of developmental changes through which an organism passes from its inception as a fertilized zygote to the mature state in which another zygote may be produced.
2. A progression through a series of differing stages of development.

The course of events that brings a new product into existence and follows its growth into a mature product and into eventual critical mass and decline. The most common steps in the life cycle of a product include the following phases:

• - Includes market analysis, product design, conception, and testing

• - Initial release of the product, usually marked with high levels of advertising

• - Sales growth begins to accelerate, characterized with increasing sales year over year. As production levels increase, gross margins should steadily decline, making the product less profitable on a per-unit basis. An increase in competition is probable.

• - The product will reach the upper bounds of its demand cycle and further spending on advertising will have little to no effect on increasing demand.

• - This is where a product has reached or passed its point of highest demand. At this point, demand will either remain steady or slowly decline as a newer product makes it obsolete.

Investopedia Says:
It is important for investors to understand a company's product life cycle. Firms that are predominately in the development phase will likely be characterized with small levels of sales and are more speculative in nature than firms in the growth or maturity phase.

When a firm reaches the maturity stage, it does not mean that a product is no longer a growing income source for the company, as there may still be further margin improvements and innovations. Furthermore, a more mature firm with mature products may be more likely to issue dividends than firms in the other phases.

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Most common usage refers to an individual's progression from cradle to grave and the assumption that the choice of appropriate investments changes. Term also applies to the life of a product or of a business, consisting of inception, development, growth, expansion, maturity, and decline (or change). Recently, the term has entered into the vocabulary of the family-owned business, referring to generations of management. The post-World War II baby boom produced entrepreneurs who built businesses that now approach a juncture where a second generation either takes over management or sells out.

Period of time during which a positive reaction to advertising is noticeable. An advertisement or an advertising campaign is said to have a life cycle that begins with the introduction of the advertising and ends when the advertising is worn out and no longer elicits a positive response.

That period of time over which a building or piece of equipment can be reasonably expected to carry out its intended function.

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(DOD) The total phases through which an item passes from the time it is initially developed until the time it is either consumed in use or disposed of as being excess to all known materiel requirements.

Look up life cycle in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Life cycle may refer to:

• Biological life cycle
• Enterprise Life Cycle
• New product development
• Product life cycle management
• LIFECYCLE Fundraising
• Software life cycle
• Systems Development Life Cycle
• Adobe LifeCycle
• SOA Lifecycle

See also

• Honey bee life cycle

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