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Case study for Chapter 8: Product life cycle for the iPod

Target CLOs: CLO4

Total marks: 3 points
Submission: Due date Thursday (Nov 4 at 5pm)
Submit in Blackboard using SafeAssign. ANSWER ONLY. Do not include the question.

You are given the actual sales volume for iPod, what used to be one of Apple’s popular
electronic products. The data covers 12 years of sales data, from 2002 until 2014. Your task is to
create a product life cycle graph for the iPod as shown on page 295 of the textbook. The
product lifecycle is also available in the lecture slides for Chapter 9.
Your life cycle graph should clearly identify the introduction, growth, maturity and declining
stages for the iPod. You should show the unit sales in the vertical axis and the calendar years
(i.e., time) in the horizontal axis. Once you create the product life cycle graph, answer the
following questions:
1. In which years did the introduction stage occurred for the iPod? Explain your reasons in
one paragraph of three to five sentences long.
2. In which years did the growth stage occurred for the iPod? Explain your reasons in one
paragraph of three to five sentences long.
3. In which years did the maturity stage occurred for the iPod? Explain your reasons in one
paragraph of three to five sentences long.
4. In which years did the decline stage occurred for the iPod? Explain your reasons in one
paragraph of three to five sentences long.
5. Finally, explain why the iPod declined. You can use online sources to answer this
questions. Again your answer should not be more that one paragraph of three to five
sentences.
Table1 : iPod unit sales data from 2002 until 2014
Calendar year Unit sales
2002 0.4 million units
2003 0.9 million units
2004 4.4 million units
2005 22.5 million units
2006 39.4 million units
2007 51.6 million units
2008 54.8 million units
2009 54.1 million units
2010 50.3 million units
2011 42.6 million units
2012 35.2 million units
2013 26.4 million units
2014 14.4 million units