How tangible products, be it in electronic, garments-fragrance, automobiles or even consumable forms, move across different parts of the world during their life cycle? Generally, while assessing life cycle for any products, four broad-spectrum terminologies strikes- introduction, growth, maturity and decline. Is this the only pattern that products could be exhibited by during their life cycle? Or are there any other fundamentals which could be enlightened to evaluate a product life cycle at international arena.

Let’s examine a model, which could possibly dissect the life cycle for products, strictly focusing on factors like production, consumption, import, export and related variables. Basically, the global economy comprises of three forms of economies including advanced, developed and developing. Now, under this international model of product’s cycle, let’s assume that an advanced nation innovate a product and eventually starts to market the same in the domestic economy. Generally, the innovators have first advantage in terms of profitability and market share. Now, after some time, but during the initial stages of life cycle, as the developing countries are acquainted with the product, they start to produce the same goods, following Greenfield investment, following extensive Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs).

The core attributes encouraging companies and economies to go for Greenfields in most of the cases would always be lowered production cost via reduced labor cost, rent, insurance and other factors of production. As the developed economies provide competitive advantage to the advanced economies amidst reduced cost for factors of production, the production process gradually shifts from the advanced economies to the developed economies.

Now, what about developing economies? Obviously, developing economies offer cheap factors of production, land, labor and capital. Also, going along, they facilitate economies of scale in the long run. But, despite the manufacturing companies from advanced economies, having moved to developed economies, eventually opts for developing economies for production. The products, in the meantime are mostly on their late introduction period.

Here comes the most interesting and important part of the theory. Advanced economies, who were the initiators and exporters, ultimately, become the importers, as they can’t afford to compete with the manufacturers from developed or developing economies. But, despite the shift from exporter status to importer, the domestic markets of advanced economies are always better-off in term of timely usage-innovators and quality.