Product cycle theory and the television industry of the United States

Roymond Vernon (1966) and Seev Hirsch (1967) systematically put forth the product cycle approach in an effort to increase understanding of trade theory and introduce dynamics into trade. One of the model's major premises is that a country which has a strong competitive position in a particular industry at a given point in time may well lose this position when the industry enters into a new phase. This approach has been accepted as an established theory though it still remains inadequately tested. The television industry is the largest segment of the consumer electronics industry which has been frequently cited as an evidence to support the product cycle theory. The whole life of monochrome television in the United States was nicely explained by the product cycle theory. But it seems that the development of color television does not tell the same story.