As a result, ambitious projects that might produce hit products were avoided, to the company's long-term detriment.

They quickly realized that they had stumbled onto a hit product; sales in 1996 rose by 469%.

AS a general rule, trying to create a new hit product by combining two older ones is a recipe for failure.

Thursday's results also highlighted Sony's other big challenge, finding hit products, analysts said.

In other words, Palm turned the electronic organiser into a hit product, but was not so good at breaking ground.

It also gave Sony a hit product that is helping to pay for its acquisition spree.

The industry desperately needs a new hit product to fuel growth, but no obvious candidate is in the pipeline.

Computer industry analysts said that Apple had again introduced what could become a hit product.

Making a hit product, wherever it may fall on the spectrum of utility, is really, really hard.

The designers knew they had a hit product when reports of these uses came in.