cannibalize

(UK also cannibalise)

/ˈkænɪbəlaɪz/ verb [T]

Definition

› MARKETING, COMMERCE to cause a reduction in the sales of an existing product or service by starting to sell a new product or service: They hope to sell 5 million of their new game machines, but those sales will cannibalize the sales of their last product.

› PRODUCTION to take parts from a machine or vehicle to make or repair another machine or vehicle: Trucks have been cannibalized to keep others running.

cannibalization (UK also cannibalisation) noun [U] › All newspapers today suffer from cannibalization, whereby sales of physical copies are undermined by their own online versions.

(Definition of cannibalize verb from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)