I recently read a blog post, written by Tim Blonk, that described the product life cycle of a band. This blog post was creative because bands aren’t generally considered products that have a growth, maturity and decline stage. Not surprisingly, this innovative post was linked by Pierre Schiffler, who pushed the product life cycle idea further by applying it to a specific genre of music, the relatively recent dubstep. By using the ideas generated by these two bloggers, I would like to apply the product life cycle idea to another complex product, 3D movie technology.
At this point in the 3D technology cycle, many would assume that the product is in the growth stage. Recently, the rate of adoption has been quick for 3D technology since a 3D movie is only a few dollars more than a regular ticket, therefore increasing its trialability. Movies with complex settings, such as in Avatar, benefit from the use of 3D because the images appear to surround the viewer, giving it a relative advantage. The complexity of 3D technology is low, since all it requires for the audience member is to wear a pair of glasses.
However, 3D movies have been appearing in movie theaters since the 1950’s, which means that 3D technology has actually reached the maturity stage. Movie theaters have recently been able to extend the product life cycle with a few key strategies. They have changed the product design of the glasses, moving from the blue and red lenses to black and changing from paper to plastic. Even a helmet version of 3D glasses was created to appeal to Transformers 3 audiences. 3D is now available on home television screens, rather than just in theatres.
In an earlier blog post, I suggested that 3D movies are most likely a passing fad. After further research, it seems that popularity of 3D grows then declines every 15-20 years. Just like Pierre’s description of the life cycle of dubstep, I believe that people are going to eventually tire of 3D graphics within the next 5 years. However, unlike the dubstep cycle, 3D movies are likely to become popular again in the future.