Market Study in Synthetics-based Sports Shoes
To: Mr. Philip Watson
Director
Sales and Marketing Department
From: Ernest Hong
Sales Representative
Krypton Plastics
Date: , 2005 ( or : 12 Dec. 2005)
Contents
Contents 页码
Abstract 页码
Terms of Reference 页码
I. Findings 页码
1. Methodology 页码
2. The sports shoe market 页码
3. Sports shoes in synthetic materials 页码
4. Trends in the use of synthetic materials 页码
5. Potential of APC material in the sports shoe market 页码
6. Competition between APC products 页码
II. Conclusion 页码
III. Recommendations 页码
Appendix: List of customers visited 页码
1. Lung Hang Sports Co. Ltd.
2. Stella Sports Manufacturing Co. Ltd.
3. Wah Sing Plastic Fty
4. Chan Wai Ming Mfg. Ltd.
5. Milano Sport-wear Ltd.
6. Fiarrino Ltd.
7. Richmond Development Co. Ltd.
8. Outstanding Shoes Ltd.
Abstract
This report investigates the potential of APC materials in the production and sale of
sports shoes in the Hong Kong SAR. The report shows that currently the majority of
sports shoes manufactured in Hong Kong are made of PVC, However. We illustrate
that APC has a number of advantages over PVC in terms of quality, durability and
appearance.
Although price is higher, in the period of economic stagnation which has hit Hong
Kong, it may be advantageous to manufacturers to consider reducing production and
switching to APC.
Terms of Reference
The purpose of this report is to investigate the nature of the market for sports shoes
manufactured in a range of natural and synthetic materials.
It is also our aim to stimulate plastic raw material sales in the sports shoe market, and
to seek potential customers within the sports shoe market who might be interested in
using Krypton's newly developed APC raw material in the manufacture of their
products.
I Findings
1. Methodology
Before this market study could be undertaken, information about manufacturers of
sports shoes had to be collected. We derived a list of manufacturers by referring to the
Yellow Pages and the list produced by the Hong Kong Council for the Development
of Trade (HKCDT).
These two sources, however, did not distinguish between manufacturers using leather
and those using synthetic materials. This was achieved with a number of telephone
calls to manufacturers.
These calls were then followed up with personal interviews. A total of fifteen
manufacturers were visited between January and March of this year. In order to meet
our objectives precisely, we focused our visits mostly on manufacturers of sports
shoes using predominantly synthetic materials. Other manufacturers were followed up
with telephone calls.
2. The Sports Shoe Market
Sports Shoes are a major export item in Hong Kong, reaping a good reward for Hong
Kong s traders and manufacturers, and, in turn, spurring the prosperity of Hong Kong.
The market size for sports shoes comprises some 165 manufacturers and traders.
Basically, there are three categories of sports shoe in the market. These are real
leather, artificial leather and plastic. The largest share of production in 1999 was held
by sports shoes manufactured from plastic (50% of production). This was followed by
artificial leather (40% of production) and real leather (10%). However, these
production statistics are very changeable because the market is extremely sensitive to
fashion trends. For the past few years, though, the market has been dominated by
synthetic materials, mainly because they enable sports shoes to follow fashion trends,
they are able to be printed on, and they can be made colourful, bright and fluorescent
(see Table 1)
1999
Total no. of pairs of sports shoes produces in HK
million
Material % Market Share
Real leather 10
Artificial Leather:
PVC
PA
23
17
Plastic:
PVC
PA
APC
3. Sports Shoes in Synthetic Materials
In the sports shoe market, PVC, PA and APC are the major plastic raw materials. The
majority of sports shoes are made of PVC, which is cheaper, easier to screen print and
easier to colour. All these factors create an attractively finished product with a
competitive low price.
APC and PA are classified as higher quality materials used in high quality products
with a high price. In comparison with APC, PA is a higher quality but more expensive
material.
For the time being, the sports shoe market is demanding colourful, bright and
fluorescent patterns. Only PVC can satisfy these requirements with low production
costs (see Table 2). Consequently, most manufacturers are continuing to use PVC as
the major material for sports shoes, in Order to survive in the severely c0mpetitive
sports shoe market.
Material Price Ease of
Prod'n
Durability Colour
Range
Cost of
Pigment
PVC low easy low good low
APC Medium average average average high
PA high average high average high
Table 2
4. Trends in the Use of Synthetic Materials
Sports shoes are no longer considered simply shoes which are used for playing sports
in. Sports shoes are now, and will probably continue to be, a major item of fashion
wear.
Consumers seem to be prepared to pay an ever-increasing price for high fashion
sports shoes, and increasingly, sports shoes are entering the medium end product
segment of the market.
As people appear to be willing to pay more for products, higher quality APC and PA
plastic raw material will probably have a growing potential in the sports shoe market.
5. Potential of APC Material in the Sports Shoe Market
APC is more durable than PVC. In other words, there are less aging problems
associated with APC. Secondly, the quality of finish of APC products is higher than
that of PVC products. As sports shoes become more fashionable, this consideration
will become more important.
Lastly, APC is better looking, and stays looking better for longer. It should be
remarked here that if there were no price difference, many manufacturers would be
willing to try APC material in producing sports shoes because they realise that if they
market a better quality product, they can avoid the severe competition at me tow end
of the market, which yields lower profit margins.
6. Competition between APC products
There are few APC materials supplied in Hong Kong. Krypton, Hammond Industries,
and Nichimachi are the major suppliers in Hong Kong. In the market, Nichimachi's
IC51 from Japan is the major competitor with Krypton's KR6600 (see Table 3).
Krypton KR6600 Nichimachi IC51
Origin USA Japan
Unit
Price(HK$)
Product Quality Softer Harder
Screen printing
problems?
Yes Yes
Supply Good Poor
Table 3
However, as mentioned before, the majority of the synthetic material used for sports
shoe production is PVC. Therefore, the degree of competition among APC materials
in the sports shoe market is still low, as APC is at an early stage of its market
life-cycle.
II. Conclusions
It is concluded that the majority of sports shoes are made of PVC. The highest quality
material is PA, followed by APC and PVC. APC material is still at a very early stage
of its product life-cycle.
The future of APC as a material suitable for sports shoes is very dependent on trends
in the sports/fashion market. At present, there are several reasons why APC is not
very popular in this market.
(i) We are passing through a slack period in Hong Kong's economy. Loss of a
number of overseas orders has discouraged new developments in high quality
products.
(ii) Prices, due to the dumping of plastic raw materials, have maintained the use of
PVC in the market.
In the coming year, it is forecast that the Hong Kong economy will pass through a
period of stagnation. In the long run, this would be a good time for Hong Kong
manufacturers to move away from the low end, low quality market, towards higher
quality products made from APC material.
III. Recommendations
In view of the comments above, we should recommend selecting a certain number of
higher potential customers for further development. It is also imperative that we
gather further market information. We should also suggest that the Company test the
market with selected APC products in order to recognize whether the market will
fully
accept APC as an enhancement over PVC.
Ernest Hong
Ernest Hong
Sales Representative
Appendix: List of customers visited
1. Lung Hang Sports Co. Ltd.
2. Stella Sports Manufacturing Co. Ltd.
3. Wah Sing Plastic Fty
4. Chan Wai Ming Mfg. Ltd.
5. Milano Sport-wear Ltd.
6. Fiarrino Ltd.
7. Richmond Development Co. Ltd.
8. Outstanding Shoes Ltd.
2023 年 6 月 27 日星期二 13:06:09
:0613:06: 时 6 分 1 时 6 分 9 秒
Jun. 27, 2327 June 20231:06:09 PM13:06:09
