Product development strategies for mature products

Summary form only given. In the worldwide market, a great variety of products exist at the maturity stage. Moreover, the introductory stage and the growth stage of new entry products are shortened because of shorter product life cycles. In other words, the speed for a new product to reach the maturity stage from introduction is accelerated. After a new product is introduced to the target market, following competitors promptly develop similar products and introduce them to the same market. In addition, consumers purchase them at any time as these similar products are introduced into the market. This situation leads the product to reach the maturity stage in a short time. In this situation, it is necessary for companies to develop new products strategically in order to continually supply products to the market effectively. This research shows four strategies to be adopted at the maturity stage. Two factors, "ability of product development" and "degree of product competitiveness" of the product in the current market are considered. Moreover, the relations among the "product feature", "ability of product development", "marketing information", and "degree of product competitiveness" are analyzed. Furthermore, it demonstrates that the results can be applied to the product positioning as product development management as in the case of actual product development.