Product Platform & Product Family

Meyer and Utterback (1993) give the following
definitions of Product Platform and Product Family. A
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product platform encompasses the design and components
shared by a set of products. An effective platform is the core
of a successful product family, and serves as the foundation
for a series of closely related products. Products that share a
common platform but have specific features and functionality
required by different sets of customers form a product family.
A product family typically addresses a market segment, while
specific products within the family target niches within that
segment.