adidas Catches up to Nike in China
The German brand scores a win in the Sneaker Wars.
As far as the Sneaker Wars go, adidas is lagging behind its Beaverton-based rival, Nike, in most key metrics and markets, including America and the Three Stripes’ native Western Europe. But the Trefoil may find solace in one crucial area of the world: Quartz reports that the German brand has effectively closed the gap and outperformed the Swoosh in China. According to Euromonitor, “adidas improved from 8.5% to 13.8% of market share, compared to 11.2% to 14.3% for Nike,” while the brand’s sales grew a marked 18.4% in Greater China during the first nine months of last year compared to 2014.
This information is crucial for the German brand, primarily due to the sheer size of China’s sportswear market; the People’s Republic ranks second behind only the United States in sportswear consumers and it dwarfs the next three markets (Japan, Brazil and Germany) down the list. Marketing forecasters have pinned the Three Stripes’ success on its widening range of womenswear and lifestyle goods.
So adidas may have a lot of work to do on its home turf and America alike, but things are looking up in the East.
