photo from www.Zimbio.com
Nike announced Monday that it will be exiting the elite swimwear market. While they’ll still provide swimwear to college programs and sell to the traditional retail markets, Nike has chosen not to compete against giants such as Speedo in the elite swimwear market, insisting that they instead stick to their key segments. Through a statement, Nike said “We will not invest in next-generation swim innovation, which is not in line with our stated category growth strategy.” Their key categories are basketball, running, soccer, men’s training, women’s training, and sportswear.
Nike is a distant third in the performance swimwear market controlling just 13% of the market, trailing leader Speedo who controls 60% and is aligned with Michael Phelps, the sport’s biggest star. It has been speculated that Speedo’s dominance at the Olympics has had a great deal to do with Nike recent decision, although Nike has denied it. Adding to the swim leader’s success, Speedo released their innovative LZR suit in February. Swimmers wearing the LZR suit have been responsible for 72 of the 77 world records that have been broken in that time.