In spite of solid gains in bicycles and fitness equipment and the meteoric rise of GoPro, the major sports equipment companies booked a small increase of only 2.5 percent in their combined sales in 2014 to a total of $69.1 billion. Sales increased at the same rate in the U.S., which represented 43 percent of the total market, and the rest of the world, with a minimal impact from changes in the major currency exchange rates, with the exception of the Japanese yen.
Last year’s growth rate was slightly lower than the 2.9 percent increase registered in 2013. It was dragged down by the meltdown of the firearms market in the U.S., a big drop in the U.S. golf market and poor snow conditions in Europe.
Our annual study of the branded sports equipment market lists the turnover of the major companies in the sector, excluding apparel and footwear wherever it is possible. Published on the next page, our data come generally from corporate statements and, in some cases, from members of the management. All the figures are translated into U.S. dollars at the average exchange rate calculated by the OECD for each year.
We have added this time Scott Sports Group to the list, but we have eliminated Derby Cycle, as we could not obtain its figures this time. The German company has been taken over by the secretive Pon group, whose bicycle division is estimated to generate annual sales of more than $500 million.
Shimano remained the biggest supplier of sports equipment, but the Japanese company represented only 4.55 percent of the total market. It was followed by the Outdoor Solutions segment of Jarden Corp. and the sports equipment business of the Adidas Group and Amer Sports. The top 30 players grew collectively by 3.5 percent, controlling about 45 percent of the total market, which is more fragmented than the sports footwear and sports apparel markets. In footwear, Nike and Adidas own together 47 percent of the market. In activewear, 55 percent of the market is controlled by 25 companies.
The bicycle market rose by 9 percent to $8.1 billion at wholesale last year if we take the combined sales of Shimano, Giant, Accell Group, Trek, Dorel’s recreational sector, Scott and Fox Factory. In fitness equipment, Life Fitness, Icon Health & Fitness, Johnson Health Tech and Nautilus produced a total turnover of $2.4 billion, up by 8 percent from the previous year. Basically flat sales of $5.9 billion were booked by the major companies in the outdoor and winter sports market: Jarden, Amer, Johnson Outdoors and Rossignol.
Five major suppliers of golf equipment – the Adidas Group, Nike, Acushnet, Callaway and Mizuno – recorded 2 percent lower sales of $6.2 billion. The three major suppliers of firearms, which are an important segment of the sports equipment market in the U.S., suffered a sales decline of 21 percent to $2.0 billion. They are the Freedom Group, Smith & Wesson and Sturm, Ruger.
