But with increasing competition and a lack of new products, the industry has gone into a slump.

Taking money from research and development would hurt the drug companies, which are already suffering from a lack of new products, the analysts said.

But a bigger problem, analysts and retailers say, is a lack of new products to excite golfers.

Franchisees were annoyed by changes in Burger King's advertising and a lack of new products.

Additional survey results revealed that a lack of newer products was discouraging consumers from visiting the chain.

Their overhead had become bloated and research efforts had been misdirected, resulting in a lack of new products.

Further, there is a serious lack of new products offered quarter to quarter or even year to year, retail analysts say.

Merck, once seen as a growth company among the drug makers, has fallen on harder times because of a lack of new products flowing from its laboratories.

The European technology industry is in deep trouble, its stagnant revenue, lack of new products and need for billions in government subsidies evident even before the recession.

It has also been hit by the lack of new products to draw shoppers into its stores and the failure of satellite TV to take off as hoped.

Lack of new products, price cuts and lower personal computer sales hurt electronics retailers, said Jack D. Seibald, a retail analyst with Blackford Securities.

The reason people are not buying cars, particularly in Japan and Europe, has little to do with a lack of new products and a lot to do with the economy.

By the 1990s, sales began to fall as Block Drug's products began to age and face new competition, and the problem was exacerbated by a lack of new products.

Due to increasing competition in the market for fertilizers and the lack of new products, company revenue fell from 570 million DM in 1985 to 370 million DM.

The company said the earnings shortfall came primarily from United States footwear operations, where lack of new products in the basketball category, pricing and repositioning of the casual shoe line resulted in lower revenues.

While the acquisition would quintuple sales for Steris, which is expected to post revenue this year of about $90 million, analysts said they were worried about Amsco's stagnant sales and lack of new products.

Rising costs and falling profits, exacerbated by the lack of new products in 1988 and technical issues with its MS-DOS products, caused Activision finally to pull the plug on Infocom in 1989.

To reverse what had been a slow but steady decline, Mr. Brennan concluded years ago that the problem was a lack of new products and that he needed to introduce nationally known brands like Sony and Panasonic.

But Mr. Desai said that a bid of $110 a share or more would not be justified in view of "American Cyanamid's aging product line, an uncertain outlook for its vaccine business and lack of new products in its research pipeline."