There has been a significant decrease in the surf wear industry. Nowadays, the industry that was once seen as counter-cultural rebels are now in the brink of their failure. Famous brands such as Rip Curl and Quicksilver are experiencing a decline in sales such as Billabong, one of the world’s best-known surf brand, reported a 12.5% decrease in sales and an annual loss of $773 million. Quicksilver has also been hit hard with a quarterly loss of $32 million. They are not fashion-leaders anymore as they are competing (and losing to) more fashion-forward retailers such as Topshop, Zara and H&M.

I believe the surf wear industry is at their Decline state of the Product Life Cycle. This is the final stage of the product life cycle, whereby sales and profit of the product decline. The decrease in demand for surf wears could be the result of failure to adapt to changing customer demands: changing taste and fashion. Businesses must be flexible and alert in order to survive the market nowadays. They can also survive by extending their product life cycle. Some common extension strategies are to redesign the product, revise promotional activities and re-launch the brand.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/billabong-demise-surfwear-2013-11