Adidas
Adidas AG (German pronunciation: [ˈʔadiˌdas] ⓘ; stylized in all lowercase since 1949)[4] is a German athletic apparel and footwear corporation headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, Germany. It is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe, and the second largest in the world, after Nike.[5][6] It is the holding company for the Adidas Group, which also owns an 8.33% stake of the football club Bayern München,[7] and Runtastic, an Austrian fitness technology company. Adidas's revenue for 2018 was listed at €21.915 billion.[3]
This article is about the company. For other uses, see Adidas (disambiguation).Formerly
Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik (1924–1949)
July 1924 in Herzogenaurach, Germany (as Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik)
18 August 1949 (as Adidas)[1]
Worldwide
€2.368 billion (2018)[3]
€1.702 billion (2018)[3]
€15.612 billion (2018)[3]
€6.364 billion (2018)[3]
57,016 (2018)[3]
- Adidas Runtastic
- Matix
The company was started by Adolf Dassler in his mother's house. He was joined by his elder brother Rudolf in 1924 under the name Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik ("Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory"). Dassler assisted in the development of spiked running shoes (spikes) for multiple athletic events. To enhance the quality of spiked athletic footwear, he transitioned from a previous model of heavy metal spikes to utilising canvas and rubber. Dassler persuaded U.S. sprinter Jesse Owens to use his handmade spikes at the 1936 Summer Olympics. In 1949, following a breakdown in the relationship between the brothers, Adolf created Adidas and Rudolf established Puma, which became Adidas's business rival.[1]
The three stripes are Adidas's identity mark, having been used on the company's clothing and shoe designs as a marketing aid. The branding, which Adidas bought in 1952 from Finnish sports company Karhu Sports for the equivalent of €1,600 and two bottles of whiskey,[8][9] became so successful that Dassler described Adidas as "The three stripes company".[8][9]
Corporate affairs
Business trends
The key trends for Adidas are (as at the financial year ending December 31):[48]
Products
Apparel
Adidas manufactures a range of clothing items, varying from men's and women's t-shirts, jackets, hoodies, pants and leggings.[54]
The first Adidas item of apparel was the Franz Beckenbauer tracksuit created in 1967.[1] Adidas AG is the largest manufacturer of sports bras in Europe, and the second largest manufacturer in the world.[55]
IP protection
In 2016, Adidas filed lawsuits against Skechers for making a duplicate Stan Smith design and for Adidas replicas such as "Springblade".[115]