TaylorMade's Innovation Test

When TaylorMade Golf's R9 hits retailers in March, it will be the 45th new metal driver the company has produced since 2003. Thanks to that torrent of product introductions, the Adidas subsidiary has more than doubled its annual revenue, to $1.3 billion, catching up with once-larger rivals Callaway Golf (ELY) and Acushnet and rising to the top in sales of drivers, the game's priciest clubs.

Chief Executive Officer Mark King calls the company's lickety-split rollout schedule "relentless innovation." It's an idea he imported from Japan, where, during a 2000 business trip, he saw how Japanese golf-equipment manufacturers were trouncing leisurely paced American leaders by turning out new products much more often. Before yearend, he hired an executive from United Parcel Service UPS to revamp TaylorMade's supply chain so it could step up operations. Within five years, he doubled the money spent on marketing. All the effort paid off: Customers eager for that latest club paid prices that were as much as $100 more than what rivals charged.