<Tr> <Td> 4 . Saturation and decline stage </Td> <Td> In this stage, the profit as well as the sales of the product has started to decline because of the deletion of the product from the market . The market for the product in this stage, started to show negative rate of growth and corroding cash flows . The product, at this stage may be kept but there should be less adverts . <Ol> <Li> costs become counter-optimal </Li> <Li> sales volume decline </Li> <Li> prices, profitability diminish </Li> <Li> profit becomes more a challenge of production / distribution efficiency than increased sales </Li> </Ol> <P> Note: Product termination is usually not the end of the business cycle, only the end of a single entrant within the larger scope of an ongoing business program . </P> </Td> </Tr> <Ol> <Li> costs become counter-optimal </Li> <Li> sales volume decline </Li> <Li> prices, profitability diminish </Li> <Li> profit becomes more a challenge of production / distribution efficiency than increased sales </Li> </Ol> <Li> costs become counter-optimal </Li> <Li> sales volume decline </Li>

Discuss briefly the four major stages of the product life cylce