Product Assessment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Product Assessment - Essay Example Fax machines had been very popular in offices and at home for transmitting messages anywhere for some time. According to coupon. chili.com website, an environmentalist group, there are about 46.3 million fax machines in the world, most of which are held in the United States, Japan, Germany, France and UK (in that order) . This group is worried on the environmental effect of the staggering amount of paper consumed by the operation which they presumed to reach 853 miles of paper or approx. 1.373 kilometers and an impact to 2 million trees used for paper. It was once an important piece of technology that is attached to a telephone. However it is now considered by several analysts as an outdated technology that has many flaws. In the office setting, it is considered as a security risk for information and one that consumes a lot of money and materials. Due to other available means of communication, the fax machine is now suffering from a steady decline. For instance, as cited by Nick Staf feiri (April 9, 2010), law firms in Philadelphia have decreased its facsimile usage by about 55 to 70% from previous years due to electronic preference of documents than paper. A survey done by Linkedin to 7,000 professionals in 17 countries around the globe showed that it is one of the products that is slowly losing its appeal and would disappear by 2017 (Vivian Gang. Sept 25, 2012). So it is closer to an end, and by this time manufacturers in the US should have developed a strategy to avert this closure. Recommendations Businesses have a product cycle of growth, maturity and decline. In each stage businesses have to adjust strategies to complement the needs of the market and environment. In the declining stage, businesses will notice a decline in sales of the product or service. a. When a product reaches declining stage, it is about time that the company does strategic actions to resuscitate the dying business. At this point, company should look into foreign markets that have need for the fax machine. Wagner, K. (May 15, 2013), a reporter of the CNN, argued that in some markets, fax machines refused to die. This is the case in Japan wherein the popularity of fax machines has grown roots into the Japanese society. Old folks have developed attachment to the fax machine that they found it hard to replace regardless of the modern technology. Taking this as a cue, manufacturers of fax machine should take the market opportunity of developing third world countries. Statistics compiled by the Nation Master website showed that there are more users of fax machine in Japan aside from US, than in any other countries while fewer users are shown for African and Asian countries. This is an opportune time to develop these regions and introduce the product. b. It is also about time that manufacturers of fax machines upgrade their product to cope up with the advent of new technology. In order for the fax system to expand, it will be necessary to bring into it developments of multiple functions of the information system. But of course, this will be a tall order that will cause its reinvention and would incur a lot of new investments. Adding new features would be a risky investment where return of investment is not sure. c. Reduce marketing expenses such as advertisements and promotions. These are overhead expenses that could reduce operating cost and help preserve the business, and if sales do not improve, manufacturer