I think that we can stop this debate about whether innovation will necessarily lead to success (financially) or not. I might have one case to against you. One case in Asia: the biggest online gaming company in Vietnam (and also in South-East Asia) called VNG bought license of one game from the Chinese Kingsoft, rebranded it, customized the UI, distributed in Vietnam and now they have $60M in revenue. The key success factor is that the market is so ripe and so ready for online gaming, and the game VNG sells in VN just "works" for those customers, they keep paying for the company for the virtual goods and monthly subscription. nobody cares the originality of the game.
The innovation doesn't need to occur in product development. The business model, distribution, or any other aspect are also open to new techniques, even when the product is decidedly un-innovative.
Yes, making money is not innovation. Innovative things are usually financially successful, however.
