Factors Affecting Under Armour

An event such as the Olympic Games is an opportunity for manufacturers such as Under Armour to sponsor the national team from where the company is founded. In this case, Under Armour got the contract of developing the suits for the U.S. National Speed Skating Team. While companies such as Adidas could potentially provide the suits, Under Armour has the advantage of being an American company. While Nike is a direct competitor, speed skating is not something is commonly attracted to masses other than when the Olympic Games are underway and this was an opportunity Under Armour took.

Threats-Tax increases placing additional financial burdens on under armour could be a threat. The financial burden of increasing interest rates could be a threat to under armour. Changes in the way consumers shop and spend and other changing consumer patterns could be a threat to under armour’s performance. The actions of a competitor could be a major threat against under armour for instance it they bring in new technology or increase their workforce to meet demand. Substitute products available on the market present a major threat to under armour. Hard competition from companies such as nike and adidas. Recession may impact the sale of company. Low price importers can fetch market share. Male dominated focus.

a. Under Armour’s products are sold worldwide, in over 13 countries. The company has stores in the US, Europe, Japan, Canada, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. The vast majority of UA’s business, however, comes from US sales.

company has been in existence for a little over 15 years and has made huge strides in the textile,

a. Under Armour’s approach towards innovation is very unique, they think and plan out their projects thoroughly in order to create a one of a kind product that could be appealing to their consumers. The company has been extremely progressive throughout the years in order to stay ahead of the other competitive companies in their targeted industry. By constantly updating and coming up with different product lines, such as compression shirts and cleats, Under Armour is able to compete with other top athletic wear company’s in their market. If

Under Armour has proven year over year that they are indeed a growth company. As their brand recognition and product availability increases so do their revenues. Under Armour achieved a growth in net revenue by over 18 percent, increased net income by 22 percent (suggesting financial discipline) all leading to their ability to sustain growth year over year (Under Armour 10K, 2009). This considerable increase in net revenue is attributed to an increase in apparel and the introduction of footwear in the first quarter of 2009 (2009). Although Under Armour has only been around 14 years they have only been traded publicly since 2005 (2009).

Under Armour began as a vision of former University of Maryland football player Kevin Plank in 1996 for athletic wear made with more durable and practical material (“The Business of Under Armour”). The Fortune 500 company (Glassdoor) “...has been known to mainly act ethical especially since on Indeed.com they were given four out of five stars for job work/life balance (Indeed.com, 2014)” (Dinerstein). I believe Glassdoor to be trustworthy, as it is a website created to help prospective employees how the experience is at many companies, based on reviews and ratings. While Carl Dinerstein is not very reliable, considering the website is a blog for an ethics class, he does cite many sources, showing that there is some merit to his work. To expand exponentially as Under Armour did, it would not be surprising if there were many shortcuts taken for the sake of profit. Athleticwear brand Under Armour has been historically comparably socially conscious; however, there are still many flaws within the company in regards to child labor and

Under Armour sponsors lot of basketball events and competitions, UA Association (UAA) is the biggest event related to basketball. The UAA is focused to develop young talented kids by organizing professional competition between them. They also organized Stephen Curry camp, UA-All American Camp, and sponsored some charity games in China.

Under Armour is in the Textile- Apparel Clothing industry, in the consumer goods sector. The market has been driven by economic recovery, new product offerings and a

Since the evolution of the company, Under Armour rapidly expands their business while some internal problems still exist. For example, unprotected intellectual property right issue and supplier relationship management. Also, the current business strategy was focusing on marketing, international expansion, product differentiation, and other expenses while they have weak financial management. These will certainly pose future problems to the company.

Under Armour is an existing firm that has taken large steps to become a major disrupter in the athletic apparel and footwear market. As this will primarily focus on the footwear segment of this company, it is vital to understand that the entire makeup and beginnings were due to the apparel aspect of their venture.

The corporate tax rate has just decreased from 35% to 21% which is good news for UA but not as much as companies that do more business in the US and also for a company that has significantly less debt than the highly leveraged Under Armour has (The Economist, 2018). Social factors are quite important for the retail industry and in 2017 a large demographic for clothing sales, teens, spent less overall and claimed Under Armour a brand they did not wear and athleisure in general to not be preferred attire anymore (Reagan, 2017). Thus, Under Armour’s demographics changed just in the last year with teenagers claiming to not be wearers of the brand, and also the trend of athleisure coming to an end. Technology is an external environmental factor that affects Under Armour, but not as much its competitors in the industry. When fitness bands were introduced the company also came out with their own line of bands that proved unsuccessful and were discontinued (Booton, 2017). Under Armour maintained their fitness apps however and they are able to have an edge over their competitors by having all of this information

For years, Nike has been sourcing from factories that seek to meet the company 's minimum standards for good labor performance. The policy of Nike is to evaluate potential contracted factories before they enter the supply chain. Throughout their business relationship with Nike to assess compliance with high standards of social and environmental performance, including country-related risk for issues including forced labor, human trafficking and slavery Nike (n.d).

Under Armour is currently one of the leading companies in the sports apparel industry whose mission is to “Make all athletes better through passion, science, and the relentless pursuit of innovation”.1 When Under Armour first broke into the sports apparel industry it was a disruptive pioneer that initially made the two giants, Nike and Adidas, a little weary. Under Armour revolutionized the sports apparel industry by creating apparel that used synthetic materials as an alternative to natural fibers, such as cotton, or other materials, such as polyester. This all-important switch to these materials resulted in a 2“shirt that provided compression and wicked perspiration off your skin rather than absorb it. A

Nike and Adidas have led the market in the athletic footwear industry but other companies are increasing their market share in the industry. Puma, Skechers, and Under Armour are a few of the companies that are trying to increase their strength in the athletic footwear industry. Each of these companies currently has significant market shares in China and most of Europe. Everyone is looking for the next country to introduce their product. Unlike some of its competitors Under Armour does not have a significant presence in all the BRIC and N11 countries. Egypt and India are two countries that Under Armour should consider expanding into. I will compare the two countries and make a recommendation on which one Under Armour will expand to.