What is product life cycle? What are its stages?

What is product life cycle? What are its stages?

A product passes through several phases since its inception till the time of its exit from the market.This is known as product life cycle.It can be divided into 4 stages:

a.Introduction: the product is new to the market. Sales is low and costs are high.

b.Growth: the product tries to grab the maximum market share and grows rapidly resulting in lesser costs and greater profits.

c.Maturity: Here the product reaches its peak sales, earning maximum profits.

d.Decline: here the product sales and profits decline due to many reasons like the product becoming obsolete, better products offered by competitors etc.