From Forbes:
Adidas AG. expects China to become its second-most important market from next year, chief executive Herbert Hainer told Stuttgarter Nachrichten.
‘I also expect that we will reach more than 1 billion euros annual sales in China for the first time no later than 2010,’ Hainer told the newspaper in an interview to be published tomorrow.
China’s sporting goods market will likely surpass Japan’s next year and become the second-most important market after the United States, the newspaper cited Hainer as saying.
Additionally, the U.S. Commercial Service anticipates that China will become the largest sporting goods market by 2010, surpassing even the United States.
According to a report by the China General Administration of Sport, China is anticipated to become the largest retail market for sporting goods by 2010. As more of the population becomes involved in watching and participating in sports, the demand for high quality athletic products and equipment has skyrocketed.
The Chinese sporting goods market surpassed US$1.2B in sales in 2001 and was worth over $US2B in 2006. Annual growth rate is estimated to be 12 to 15 percent, slightly faster than the overall growth rate for the Chinese economy as a whole.
While the demand for professional sporting goods is undoubtedly on the rise, enthusiasm about sports among ordinary people is surprisingly increasing as the entire nation prepares for realizing its century-old dream of hosting the first Olympic Games in history in 2008. The increasing popularity of sports such as basketball, soccer, hiking and swimming, along with the growing overall interest in U.S. brands is a significant trend.
