Coca-Cola saw sharply declining earnings from 1998 to 2001, reducing its key earnings growth objectives from 15-20% to just 6-8%. This was due to low growth in the soft drink market and Coca-Cola being under-represented in faster growing sectors like bottled water and sports drinks. Additionally, Coca-Cola had a poor track record of new product introductions and was reluctant to make acquisitions that could boost earnings. The issues facing Coca-Cola included slow market growth, over-reliance on profits from bottling companies, an inability to successfully launch new products, and an unwillingness to make strategic acquisitions.