Question

How does Under Armour’s competitive strength compare against that of Nike and The adidas Group? Do a weighted competitive strength assessment using the methodology presented in Table 4.4 in Chapter 4 to support your answer. Based on your assessment and calculations, does Under Armour have a net competitive advantage or disadvantage in competing against Nike and The Adidas Group?

Answer 1

Under armour is considered as one of the best companies in sports apparel industry. Their advance technology in developing fabric development and their moisture wicking fabric is there any competitive advantage in the market. But main problem is with the cost which is relatively high as well as under armour is limited to specific markets rather than expanding it to a global scale.
All of the three companies invest huge amount of money in resources for research and development of their production. Under armour has relatively very small market share as compared to Nike and Adidas even after putting in much amount in development of the specific products. Under armour does have an a specific product range which is considerably doing good in the football shoe department but other companies including Nike and Adidas provide shoes for basketball and other major sports wear under armour Falls back as the product range does not comply with the standards or not available for the specific sport segment. Under armour has diversity of products but they do not specifically target women, men and children or different outdoor activities like Adidas and Nike provide their products.

Cost is also one of the most important factors which is relatively higher than its competitors. Is pricing strategy has reduced it's Market by a huge margin as under armour is relatively price in higher segments which is not accessible by most of the customers. Under armour's Relative cost is not as strong as Nike and Adidas as well as they operate in a greater regulated country and their labour cost is also relatively high. Number of products which is manufactured in Asia which is comparatively low expense manufacturing market is lower than Nike and Adidas which directly increases its higher labour cost.

Also Nike and Adidas have a very good brand image across the globe and have a global identity but under armour is not globally recognised as a brand. This is specific term directly reduces its overall market position and provides less mouth to mouth promotion which reduces its overall sales in different market segments.