In the new global economy, new product development has become a central issue not only for multinational companies but also for small multinational companies. One of the major challenges for SMEs is therefore to prevent their products from quickly reaching the decline phase of the product life cycle. This essay will first critically analyze the challenges of international NPD and product life cycles in relation to SMEs, then it will closely examine the relationship between the two issues and finally the essay will focus on marketing strategies for SMEs to address these two problems. . Therefore, the essay critically analyzes and illustrates marketing strategies for SMEs to successfully overcome the challenges of international NPD and product life cycles. Over the past three decades, since the 1980s, the NPD process has evolved rapidly, which is well illustrated in Figure . 1. One of the main reasons for this change in the NPD process is globalization and rapid development of technology (Crawford and Benedetto, 2008). In addition, the global NPD process, which started with simple elements such as NPD process and NPD strategy, later incorporated new elements such as global trend and global business, global innovation (NPD strategy). harmonization) and global product strategy (standardization and adaptation) (Fig.2).The evolution of the international product life cycle is also responsible for this changing process of Global NPD. Moreover, this evolution of IPLCs has also been one of the major challenges faced by SMEs while developing new products. Majaro (1986) states that in the past, when a product reached the decline stage, companies would immediately export it to another country, thereby helping the product to remain...... middle of paper ..... .vercome the two challenges.Fig.7 Framework forming the foundation of all international NPD strategies; regarding multinationals and SMEs. Adapted from Brentani, Kleinschmidt & Salomo, 2010, p.146. To conclude, this essay has critically addressed two important issues related to the evolution of IPLCs and the costly but essential process of NPD in relation to SMEs, making it clear that the two issues are interrelated. Subsequently, four strategies are recommended from which SMEs can choose any strategy in order to successfully solve both problems, but they need to develop these strategies on the basic framework. Overall, the evidence provided in the essay clearly indicates that the recommended strategies along with the foundation framework will help SMEs not only overcome the challenges but also help them gain a competitive advantage over their competitors..