Lining Is Eager To Surpass Nike.

According to foreign media reports,

The new executive vice president said Lining's goal in the next two years would be to increase China's market share by 40%.

As a Chinese brand, Lining once longed to surpass Nike, but is now undergoing major reform.

But this ambition is now experiencing a very difficult period for Lining's management: since the chief executive left office in July, Lining has introduced four new company executives.

In the first half of the year, profits fell by 85%, and revenue dropped by 10% to 3 billion 880 million yuan (about $621 million 600 thousand).

The company has closed nearly 1000 stores this year, and its share price has fallen by 35% over the same period.

Now, after reducing the plan to try to dominate the global sports shoes and sportswear market, the brand is embarking on a three year pformation plan with a view to win a larger share and improve profitability in the domestic market.

Executive director and executive vice president of Li Ning Co

(Jin-Goon Kim) said that in the next few years, Lining plans to increase the market share from the current 10% to 14%.

To this end, Lining will completely pform the retail outlets to enhance the image (after a large backlog of inventory, many retail stores have to clear up sale), adjust the "too high or too low" price.

In July of this year, Jin Jin Jun, TPG Group, a private equity fund from a private acquisition company, joined Lining to lead Li Ning Co out of the doldrums.

Jin Zhenjun said the Li Ning Co based in Beijing aims to win the mass market in China by targeting consumers from rural areas to big cities.

Jin Zhenjun said, we want to become China's leading brand, not just the leading brands in Beijing and overseas.

He said that Lining aimed at the 70% Chinese consumers who did not buy Nike or Adidas (Adidas) brand made sports shoes.

Jin Zhenjun said, I don't think we will try to compete with Nike.

Lining, who specializes in sports equipment such as badminton shoes and basketball shoes, has been on sale at a discount for the purpose of emptying the shelves.

Lining has signed a famous spokesperson such as Shaquille O (Neal) to enter the US market in a big way.

The backlog of inventory was produced many years ago, when Lining predicted that China would launch a campaign after the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

Consumption frenzy.

But consumers are turning to some brands that have just entered the market, such as the Swedish brand H&M (Hennes &Mauritz AB) and the Spanish brand Inditex.

The latter is the owner of fashion brand Zara.

After the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, other sportswear enterprises also faced similar surplus problems, such as Nike and Adidas.

According to data from Euromonitor International, the two companies share the first and second share in the Chinese market.

But Nike, Adidas, and even other Chinese brands have recovered faster. Christopher Leung, an analyst at HSBC, said that this is because they have more direct management of stores and fewer dealers.

He estimates that Nike controls 75% of inventory, while Lining controls only 50%.

At the end of 2011, Lining had about 8250 stores in China and 90% stores.

Lining has been reducing the number of stores.

As of June 30th, the number of stores has decreased to 7303, a net decrease of 952, according to a spokesman for the company.

Jin Zhenjun refused to disclose details of closing and reforming the store plan.

He said Lining intends to win market share through retail sales. The specific way is to analyze sales data to understand product preferences in different regions.

Jin Zhenjun said Lining will also develop innovative products, such as lighter running equipment and antibacterial and deodorant tennis shoes.

Analysts said that with the increase of disposable income of Chinese residents and the purchase of brands such as Nike, Lining had a tough battle on pricing.

According to estimates by Barclays Capital, online shoppers can find low-end Nike shoes priced at only about 19% of the price of the same kind of Lining shoes.

Competitors' products tend to be more innovative.

The "Nike Plus" basketball shoes launched in China this summer are equipped with an electronic sensor that can be synchronized with iPhone, which can measure how high and how high the wearers jump.

Jin Zhenjun said Lining might lower the price of basketball shoes to attract younger athletes.

He said, we believe that the growth market is in the middle end.

Jin Zhenjun said that in order to make his image new, Lining has made some changes.

This autumn, it finalized a five year cooperation agreement with the Chinese Basketball Association and signed a contract with NBA Miami Miami defender Wade (Dwyane Wade) to launch the Wade signature version of the "Dynasty" series.

This is equivalent to the Nike version of Nike Air Jordan, which has been popular for many years.

Jin Zhenjun said, "we are trying to understand the brand DNA that consumers want to get, which is not very good in the past.

Cavender, a senior analyst at China Market Research Group, said that a big part of Lining's problem lies in her ambiguous position, whether it's a high-end brand or a low-end brand.

But he said business strategy is more important than brand positioning.

Cavender said that in the final analysis, whether or not Lining will succeed depends on whether it can improve operational efficiency, inventory management and product upgrading. They need to put the products that consumers want to buy into stores immediately.