New product development is a systematic process through which a company identifies a market opportunity, develops a product idea, transforms it into a marketable product, and introduces it to customers. In a competitive market, continuous development of new products is essential because customer needs, technology, competition, and market conditions keep changing. A successful new product can increase sales, profitability, market share, and brand image, while an unsuccessful product can result in substantial financial losses. The new product development process therefore requires careful planning, research, evaluation, and coordination among different functional areas of an organisation. The first stage of new product development is idea generation. At this stage, a company searches for new product ideas from various internal and external sources. Internal sources include employees, salespersons, research and development departments, managers, and customer service personnel. External sources include customers, competitors, distributors, suppliers, market research agencies, technological developments, and trade publications. Customers are particularly important because their changing needs and complaints can provide valuable ideas for new products. Companies may also analyse competitors' products and identify opportunities for improvement. Brainstorming, surveys, focus groups and suggestion systems are commonly used for generating ideas. The second stage is idea screening. A company may generate a large number of ideas, but not every idea is suitable for commercial development. Idea screening involves evaluating potential ideas according to factors such as market demand, company objectives, technical feasibility, production capacity, expected profitability, investment requirements, competition, and legal considerations. Ideas that do not fit the company's resources or strategic objectives are eliminated. The purpose of screening is to reduce the risk of investing resources in unsuitable products. The third stage is concept development and testing. A product idea is a broad possibility, whereas a product concept is a detailed description of the proposed product in terms that are meaningful to consumers. The company identifies the target customers, major benefits, features, positioning and possible uses of the product. Different product concepts may be developed from the same basic idea. These concepts are then presented to potential customers through descriptions, illustrations, models, prototypes or demonstrations. Consumer reactions are studied to determine whether the concept satisfies a genuine need and whether customers perceive sufficient value in it. The fourth stage is the development of a marketing strategy. Once a promising product concept has been identified, the company prepares a preliminary marketing strategy. This involves defining the target market, product positioning, expected sales, market share, pricing approach, distribution strategy and promotional programme. The company decides how the product will be differentiated from competing products. The marketing strategy provides direction for subsequent development and commercialisation activities. The fifth stage is business analysis. At this stage, the company examines whether the proposed product is financially and commercially viable. Expected sales volume, costs, investment, price, cash flows, profit margins and break-even levels are estimated. The company may prepare different forecasts based on optimistic, realistic and pessimistic assumptions. If the expected returns are inadequate compared with the risks and investment required, the