CFOs Expect to Increase Product Development Budgets

While many aspects of the global economy are still struggling to recover from the recession, a new survey of chief financial officers suggests companies are expecting to increase their budgets for new product development.

According to the KPMG's annual Consumer CFO survey, more than two-thirds of responding financial executives said they expected to expand their budgets for new product development in order to aid market expansion.

Additionally, more than 80 percent of respondents said they think middle class customers in high-growth markets will be a key audience to market toward for long-term success.

"The strategies companies pursue depends on the maturity of a given market," Willy Kruh, global head of consumer markets for KPMG, said in a release. "We're seeing that in emerging markets, product innovation has the most potential as a growth strategy. Most importantly, as many of our respondents have remarked, it's always critical to determine how well an opportunity aligns with a company's core competencies and if there's willingness to wait for the ROI."

According to ITWeb, 44 percent of responding U.S. CFOs added that mobile technology was critical to maximizing sales.