More and more exercise walkers, Nordic walkers and runners want to measure their performance, and the growing use of pedometers for this purpose has led Silva, a Swedish company specializing in sports-related instruments, to enjoy heady growth. Sales of these devices started taking off five years ago and they now make up the largest part of Silva’s business, which was originally built on compasses and headlamps.
With global sales of about 520,000 units last year, Silva has become one of the largest European suppliers of pedometers. Compasses now make up just 20 percent of Silva’s sales, which reached about 350 million Swedish kronor (€37.5m-$45.6m) last year, and its headlamps business is smaller still.
The UK, where Silva has received an order for 109,000 units from the National Health Service, is one of the fastest-growing European markets for pedometers. Sales there began to rocket last year after a television program on the health of British parlamentarians, in which one of them boasted about his regular walks around the Houses of Parliament in London, proudly displaying his Silva pedometer.
Sales are growing faster still in Finland, thanks to the on-going expansion of Nordic Walking in that country. Increasing numbers of Nordic walkers practice the sport with a pedometer to check their level of activity. Silva is trying to innovate constantly, for example by producing pedometers with integrated music players.
Perhaps encouraged by the health of their company, the family that founded Silva, the Tilnanders, sold out their majority stake last year to Amplico, a Swedish pension funds, while retaining a minority stake in the company.
Silva is still producing parts of its compasses in Sollentuna, where it employs about 100 people. Managers are striving to set up production in China and acquired a building in China to this end. However, it remains uncertain when the plant and employees will be ready to start up production, and the Swedish plant will continue to make some of the most intricate parts for the years to come.
