All innovative products implemented by enterprises can be classified into two categories: radical innovation or improvements. If the first category is almost exclusively the result of breakthrough scientific research, then the second is a consequence of management actions to further improve previous innovative products. Improvements, in contrast to radical innovations, are a relatively less studied direction. In most cases, the moment the radical innovations enter the market is difficult to predict. However, the introduction of improvements to the market is determined by management. At the same time, management, making a decision on introducing an innovative product to the market, focuses on internal and external factors. Internal factors are organizational readiness to introduce an innovative product, and external factors are market necessity. The latter implies, if possible, a reaction to the actions of competitors, who also introduce innovations. The problematic question remains relevant: how do various external and internal factors determine the choice of the moment the innovation is brought to the market. What has a decisive influence on such a strategic choice? The purpose of this study was to investigate how competing and complementary technological events in the environment affect an enterprise’s launch of innovative products on the market. The study was carried out based on the analysis of scientific publications on the economics of innovation and publications on competitive rivalry. The main conclusion: strategies for improvements, as a rule, become less focused on the internal determinants of bringing innovations to the market as market concentration increases, and at the same time, they are increasingly reacting both to competitors’ innovations and innovations in additional technologies. Thus competitive pressure in the industry is an important determinant of the strategic choice to bring innovation to the market. 

innovation management, new product development, innovation firm