Yi, er! Yi, er! Lodge near a Chinese school and you may find yourself awoken before dawn by yells of “One, two!” as bleary-eyed youngsters are cajoled through their morning exercises. Universities feature weekly mandatory runs: students shuffle around sports tracks, attired in regular day wear from jeans to denim skirts.
一,二!一,二!如果你租住在一所中国学校旁边,天不亮你就会被一群还睡眼惺忪,被劝导着进行晨练的孩子们“一,二”的叫喊声吵醒。在大学里,每周都有必须参加的跑步运动:学生们在跑道上拖着脚跑,身着从牛仔裤到牛仔短裙的日常服饰。
China wants to develop its sports industry, starting with its youth. Even if they do not all change into tracksuits and trainers to exercise, the sports apparel market will grow. Last year, retail sales of sportswear in the US reached $91bn, Euromonitor says. In China, they were around a quarter of that. The market researcher expects Chinese growth of nearly one-tenth per annum between 2014-2019, twice the rate forecast for the US.
中国想要发展运动产业,从青少年开始。即使他们锻炼的时候并没有都换上运动服和运动鞋,运动装市场将迎来增长。据欧睿(Euromonitor)的说法,去年美国运动装零售销售额达到910亿美元。中国则约为前者的四分之一。这家市场研究公司预计,在2014年到2019年间,中国市场的年增长率将达到近十分之一,是美国增长率预期的两倍。
While the expanding pie should allow most participants to grow, some are likely to gain greater heft than others. In the year to May, Nike’s China sales rose to $3bn, up by nearly one-fifth and the fastest growth of any geography. Thus, according to Euromonitor, Nike leads the market with 14 per cent share; rival foreign brand Adidas has a similar portion.
尽管蛋糕变大也让更多参与者得以增长,但一些参与者可能将收获更大份额。截至今年5月的1年里,耐克(Nike)在华销售额升至30亿美元,增长了近五分之一,是所有地区中增长最快的。因此,据欧睿说法,耐克以14%的市场份额引领中国市场;其外国竞争品牌阿迪达斯(Adidas)也拥有相近的份额。
There is a local contender: Hong Kong-listed Anta Sports. The company has one-tenth of the market and has also been growing rapidly. In the first half, announced last month, the top line rose by a quarter.
还有一个本土竞争对手——在香港上市的安踏(Anta Sports)。这家公司拥有十分之一的市场份额,也一直在快速增长。据上月公布的数据,安踏今年上半年收入增长了四分之一。
Anta has some advantages, including a strong presence in second- and third- tier cities, where retail growth is strongest, according to consultant Bain. It has also learned from the mistakes of former market darling Li Ning, which tried to take its brand up market, resulting in several poor years. Anta’s high-end foray is focused on its Fila brand, which has been doing well.
安踏拥有一些优势,包括在二三线城市的强势地位,据咨询公司贝恩(Bain & Co)的说法,这些地区的零售增长最为强劲。安踏还从之前的市场宠儿李宁(Li Ning)的失误中吸取教训,李宁曾试图进军高端市场,结果度过了惨淡的几年。安踏主要依靠旗下斐乐(Fila)品牌进军高端市场,该品牌一直表现不错。
But Anta’s biggest advantage is that it leads the mid-market segment. Attractive goods, then, for poor students. And for high spenders in an uncertain environment, when belt-tightening begins.
但安踏的最大优势是,它引领了中端细分市场。因此,安踏不仅为那些不那么富有的学生,也为那些在不确定环境下开始紧缩开支的高消费者提供有吸引力的产品。