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@article{195478,
        author = {Wali I. Mondal},
        title = {Product Life Cycle Theory Revisited – Do Products Decline Automatically?},
        journal = {International Journal of Innovative Research in Technology},
        year = {2026},
        volume = {12},
        number = {11},
        pages = {1507-1513},
        issn = {2349-6002},
        url = {https://ijirt.org/article?manuscript=195478},
        abstract = {In 1966, Raymond Vernon published a seminal paper titled "International Investment and International Trade in the Product Cycle." Deviating from the Heckscher-Ohlin theorem, which was based on two products, two countries and two factors, commonly referred to as 2x2x2 model, Vernon explained the life cycle of a product originating in a single country and passing through three stages. The Vernon model was elucidated in three stages, namely, location of new product, the maturing product and the standardized product. However, subsequent studies interpreted the life cycle of a product in four stages: introduction, growth, maturity and decline. Some studies decomposed the decline phase in two stages, namely, saturation and abandonment.  The Vernon model was a significant contribution to the international trade theory, which until then explicitly or tacitly assumed that developed countries would produce, specialize and export capital-intensive goods to less developed countries which, in return, produce, specialize and export labor-intensive goods to developed countries. Vernon’s explanation of the phases or cycles from introduction to decline gained traction as the Product Life Cycle. In recent years, wholesale and retail trade acquire products which are produced in both developed and less developed countries and brand them with a unique name identified by the seller. Even though some of these wholesale and retail trade firms decline and ultimately vanish, many products sold by them find home in a successful wholesale or retail trade. The “decline” cycle for these products is unclear. In this paper, we analyze the development of a unique group of products sold under the banner of Kirkland by a wholesale trade, namely Costco, and compare them to three other wholesale and retail trade. We conclude that the product cycle does not follow the stages elucidated by Vernon for this group of products, and likely similar groups of products. In doing so, we will present statistical evidence about the growth and maturity of a product based on the fundamental principle of profit maximization and consumer choice which was not considered by Vernon.},
        keywords = {Product Life Cycle, International Trade, Comparative Advantage, Factor Endowment, 2X2X2 model},
        month = {April},
        }