Nike’s longtime reign atop the sports shoe and apparel industry has grown increasingly wobbly the past few years as both Adidas and Under Armour have been continuously nipping at their heels in terms of both sales and market presence. With quarterly sales on the decline and annual projections for next year looking bleak, the company announced in June that it would cut approximately 2 percent of its staff, with another massive round of layoffs set for September.
The sluggish growth for the Oregon-based shoe giant has been something of a canary in the coal mine for the industry as whole as overall sales have plateaued in recent years and have been slow to recover. Yet one of the big three companies seems to be doing something right.
According to Matt Powell, a sports analyst for the market research company NPD Group, Adidas is now the second-leading sports shoe company in America, having recently surpassed Jordan Brand for that distinction.
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It’s hard to predict exactly what the future will hold for Nike or whether this trend will hold. The company should see a boost, however, with its new partnership with the NBA to become their official uniform provider starting next season. Nike held a prime-time television event last Friday to debut their new-look jerseys for all 30 teams, which will bring an additional revenue stream moving forward.
Still, it’s clear that Nike is no longer the untouchable sports apparel juggernaut that it used to be. Fortunately for them, complacency has never really been their forte, and it’s going to take some creativity on their part if they don’t want to surrender the throne to the enemies at their gates.
