ARE PRODUCT LIFE-CYCLES REALLY GETTING SHORTER

This article takes a close look at the conventional wisdom which holds that product life cycles are getting shorter over time. Barry Bayus reviews several empirical studies directly or indirectly related to this phenomenon and discusses some empirical examples of life cycles for various products and brands in rapidly evolving categories. Generally speaking, he finds no strong empirical support for shrinking product life cycles at the industry, product category, product technology, or product model level. The article explores several implications of this finding and discusses various speculations on the rationale underlying this widespread assertion.