adidas Is Quickly Encroaching Onto Nike's Reign of the Sneaker Game

Up until recently, adidas‘s prospects looked bleak. It was dethroned from its second place spot in North American sales by Under Armour just last year, and battling Nike for the throne seemed almost impossible. However, the German sportswear giant has seriously stepped up its game since then. It’s not far-fetched to say that the majority of hyped sneakers that have released these past two years are adidas kicks (for example, the Yeezy, NMD and UltraBOOST), coupled with the brand’s designer collaborations (from Y-3, White Mountaineering, Raf Simons and Rick Owens).

These efforts are working — adidas ended Q1 with $877.6 million USD in the United States and $4.8 billion USD globally. On the other hand, Nike logged in revenue of $3.74 billion USD stateside and $9 billion worldwide. While adidas still has a long way to go, it’s definitely making progress. While Under Armour toppled adidas from second place in North America, it’s not doing all that well this year. UA’s projected growth failed to meet expectations, but the sales still grew from $239 million USD in 2012 to $1 billion USD in 2016. However, its faltering stock price of 60 percent allowed the Three Stripes to regain the number two spot.

adidas Originals and adidas Running sales saw a 60 percent increase (thanks to the NMD and the UltraBOOST), while investors can’t deny that the hyped limited edition kicks adidas regularly pushes out is good for the brand by generating buzz and awareness. It’s impossible to tell when or whether adidas will dethrone Nike, but it’s definitely on the right path. What do you think of adidas’s impending domination?