Otdfbt

When a company launches a new product do they "come out" with a new product or do they "come up" with a new product?

To come up with something is to invent it, think of it, or create it.

"That's a great idea, how did you come up with it?"

To come out with something, in that context (others are quite different) is to announce it. For the product to come out is for it to be released.

Acme Co surprised everyone when they came out with their latest offering, dehydrated tornadoes.

Super Zombie Nazi Killfest comes out on the 30th of February.

Both could apply depending on context. To "come up with" a new product implies that you have created or invented a new thing, regardless of whether it's actually available for purchase.

The engineers at Wilson Widgets have come up with a new kind of widget that should make them millions once it's finished.

To "come out with" a new product means that the product has been released and is available for people to buy.

Wilson Widgets has finally come out with their new widget. It's available in three colors: green, red, and puce.

Unfortunately, English is a language of obfuscation and prepositions. While the prepositions purport to clarify, the clarification is only to the natives!

A short story might help:

Chuck's sister came up with the idea of having a surprise party at the lake, but, being a secret from Chuck, we couldn't come out with it, until we had the party!

Here's an example that I tangled with last month that might give an idea of the full scope of the problem of multi-meaning prepositions. Merriam Webster's Dictionary, the on-line version of what many of us grew up with in Tulsa Public Schools, says, about the preposition "Down":

down preposition

Definition of down (Entry 2 of 9)

: down (see DOWN entry 1) along, around, through, toward, in, into, or on

• fell down the stairs


• write down the phone number


• down the years


• grew up down the block from each other


• pacing up and down the room

My annotations:

down preposition

Definition of down (Entry 2 of 9)

: down (see DOWN entry 1) along, around, through, toward, in, into, or on [Omits down, descending as preposition definition.] [Omits down, engraved in concrete.]

• fell down the stairs [bad example, because stairs go down, an omitted definition.] [Joe had a cavity, so his dentist pointed out that Joe fell down brushing his teeth. Meaning "through." Begs whether "fell" or "fail" is meant in spoken English.]




• write down the phone number [Uses omitted definition.]
  down the years [The phrase I've always heard is "down through," so perhaps this is a newer definition.]




• grew up down the block from each other [Good. Meaning "around."]



• pacing up and down the room [Good. Meaning "through."]

I'm a native speaker with the advantage of hearing little but very good English at home for my first ten years. So I'm very sympathetic to the problem. But, perhaps, not much help!

Perhaps Merriam-Webster will either chime in with what they are thinking, or update the on-line Dictionary!

In most scenarios like this, "come out with" is reserved for occasions when the product is released into the open market. "Come up with" is usually when something is discovered/invented. For example, Disney came up with the idea for their movie "The Incredibles 2" long before they came out with it (released it).