Three-way battle of the giants
Puma wants to give Nike and Adidas a run for their money
Sporting goods manufacturer Puma wants to catch up in the competition with industry giants Adidas and Nike - especially in the USA. "We are the global number three and the gap between us and the two larger companies is shrinking," Puma CEO Arne Freundt told "Welt am Sonntag" (WamS). "We had a difficult year in the USA and are currently number eight, which cannot and will not stay that way."
The USA is not only a very important market, American athletes and artists influence people all over the world." Puma has therefore opened a design and development center in Hollywood.
Freundt is dissatisfied with the development of the Puma share price, which fell by up to 40 percent from mid-2023 to the beginning of 2024 and has since recovered slightly to 42 euros. The man in his mid-forties, who succeeded Bjørn Gulden, who surprisingly moved to "neighbor" Adidas, at the helm of Puma in 2023, also blames himself. "We have to recognize that I am a new face on the capital market. Trust in a CEO has to be built up over time. I am sure that we have the right strategy." Adidas and Puma are both based in Herzogenaurach near Nuremberg.
Austrian supplier
Freundt has no opinion on the sensational planned switch of the German Football Association's kit supplier from Adidas to Nike. "For me, it's emotionless," he told the newspaper. "There was obviously a substantially better offer." At the European Men's Football Championship in Germany, Puma is represented as a supplier for Austria, for example. "We have to be present at the international tournaments. But the players and club teams actually have a higher priority for us."
Sales weaker than the giants
The sports outfitter, which generated a total turnover of 8.602 billion euros in 2023 (Adidas: 21.427 billion euros, Nike: the equivalent of 48.032 billion euros), is also counting on the impact of the Olympic Games in Paris this summer. Freundt told WamS that this was also due to the company's strong presence in athletics. The company wants to further expand its market position in the running sector.
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