Industry Life Cycle Analysis

"Circle of life" stuff. You're born, grow up, have kids (well, maybe...you’re not sure it’s the right time, given your career situation right now), get old, and (finally) die.

Industries go through a similar cycle. The study of this phenomenon is called industry life cycle analysis. Generally, the steps in an industry's development go like this: startup, then growth, followed by shakeout (where a few big competitors take over the market), on to maturity, and (finally) decline.

Think: the chain mail production industry for medieval knights. Once there was a booming IPO market for those guys. Or the telegraph pole polishing industry. There was probably a time when a few big pole polishers bought out all the small one-rag competitors. But eventually, the industry declines.

Smartphone app production seems like it will go on forever. But eventually, we’ll just plug our mind-pulse into the great central hive-brain and receive direct instructions for serotonin release. At that point, Candy Crush will become unnecessary.