Published August 21, 2006
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Football Cleats Helping Under
Armour Land Market Share Gains |
Under Armour “has overtaken” Reebok and adidas in the T-shirt and football cleat
categories and “is taking aim at Nike,” according to Helen Jung of the Portland
OREGONIAN. Footwear analyst Matt Powell said that Under Armour “jumped the rest
of the industry by launching its cleat in June — well ahead of the traditional
selling period.” That “helped boost the company’s market share to 26[%] as of
Aug. 13 — at the expense of Nike, Adidas and Reebok, which all showed declines.”
Nike “disputes that it lost share, saying its cleat sales are up.” Powell countered
that the “overall market has increased, which explains Nike’s higher sales.” Reebok
and adidas declined to comment. Powell said that as competitors “release their
newest cleats in the weeks ahead, Under Armour’s share will decline, ... but the
company will still end up with [15-20%] of the market in its first year –-‘a stunning
number.’” Jung noted Under Armour “has no plans to stop with football cleats.”
MLBers “are wearing its cleats and getting attention on broadcasts in advance
of a consumer launch next year.” Under Armour Founder & CEO Kevin Plank said,
“You don’t get into the footwear business to build football cleats. You build
football cleats to get into the footwear business. ... Will we make basketball
footwear someday? Absolutely” (
Portland
OREGONIAN, 8/20).
