Adidas Lags Nike In Most Markets, But Is Catching Up In China

by MR Magazine Staff

By most key metrics, Germany’s sportswear giant Adidas falls well short of its surging US rival Nike. Its share of the US athletic footwear market barely tops 6%, compared to about 68% for Nike, according to Euromonitor. And even in its home market of Western Europe, Adidas has fallen behind Nike in sales growth, according to the Financial Times. But Adidas can take heart in one important metric: the speed of its market share growth in the Greater China region (which includes Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan). There, at least, Adidas has outperformed Nike—and significantly closed the gap. From the beginning of 2011 to the start of 2015, Adidas improved from 8.5% to 13.8% of market share, compared to 11.2% to 14.3% for Nike, according to Euromonitor. Read more at Quartz.