Yao will be a marketing wonder...getting products he endorsers of the shelves faster than you can say HOTCAKES If nike decides to make him their major pitchman like VC KG or even the great ONE .....what would they call Yao's shoe Reebok has the ANSWER (Iverson), adidas has T-Mac(McGrady) nike has Air Jordan and now ........Air Dynasty?
Just because there are a billion people in China does't mean that all of them can afford to buy the sneakers. Truth is that most of them are just poor peasant farmers who barely make enough to survive.
How do you know that most of Chinese are poor peasant farmers? How is that the truth? Truth is that there are more Chineses who can afford to buy sports shoes than Amercians.
I'm sorry if what I wrote offended you. OK most Chinese may not be farmers, but overall they don't have that much money to spend on non-essentials. Yes, it's probably true that there are more Chineses in China who can afford to buy sports shoes than Americans, but compared to the whole population of China the percentage isn't that great and its not anywhere near a billion.
Prices are adjusted to sell in the market it is sold. What SMART businessman is going to try to sell a product in an area where it is not affordable. Sneakers sell for $130 over here because they CAN sell. Do you honestly think prices will be that high in China for the latest and greatest Nikes? You must think that it literally costs $75 or more to make each shoe. LOL Since you apparently don't know asians, they tend to be proud of what they buy and they only buy the good NAME-BRAND stuff. Even in the poorest countries, you will see most people saving up to buy JAPANESE MADE VEHICLES when they could buy the korean-made or even chinese-made products. Yes a lot of Nikes are made in asia. Yes they will sell a lot of shoes there. Yes they will be cheaper. It's simple economics/common sense.
Please don't pretend to know what you're talking about. They cost the same over there. I just went back last June, and had they really been cheaper, i woulda stocked up.
I don't know about sneakers but I do know that the prices for fast food like McDonalds and KFC are about the same there as they are here. At least they were when I last went there about ten years ago.
Well, you may not know the New York City drug dealers donate sneakers to the street African American boys whose families may also not have that much money to spend on "non-essentials". No offense but no bias either.
Actually the combo meals in comparisson actually cost more over their for the same amount of food you get in the U.S. Shoes are like about 5 to 10 percent cheaper then hear depending on where you look. You have to go to those specialty shops for the best prices and also their is no tax so it may seem cheaper.
How about "happy lucky good good shoes"? And a fortune in each shoe pocket "ala" Kangaroos? Sorry, couldn't help myself.
Now who's pretending to know what they are talking about? Frankly, you looked in the wrong places. Shoes are cheaper in China, I didn't say half price, but cheaper. You think Nike was selling Jordans in Africa for $150 US? With exchange rates what they are I don't think the shoe companies can expect much sales abroad if they charge full US prices especially when most Nikes are made in asia and the overhead is low to distribute them locally. Check the tags on your Nikes and it probably says South Korea or Indonesia. Simple Economics.
A pair of Good/Latest NIKE shoes cost about $70-$100 in China. However, a pair of very good quality sneakers of other brand cost about $20-$30 in China. I've bought a reboek for about $26. Appearant, SOME Nike shows can be had for about $40. The premium on NIKEs in China is so high that fake NIKEs have their own markets. A pair of NIKE shoes cost about $5-$7 come out of China. It's $13 when it goes through the distribution center in Hongkong. It costs no more than $20 when it reach the coast of the U.S. Most of the costs in NIKE occurs in the U.S.--R&D, promotion, commercial, endorsements of athlete (yes, that includes Yao). In fact, Nikes are a bit cheaper in the U.S. if you buy at the outlets. A lot of people bring NIKE back to China when they go back, since they make good gifts because authentic NIKES claim such high premium in China. So why do they sell so high a price in CHINA you ask? (1) NIKE needs to cover the non-production cost, which is the major component of the costs. But that still doesn't make the price that high. (2) NIKE is sold as the LUXURIOUS GOOD in China. Since other good quality brand are available cheaper. It doesn't do NIKE much good if they sell it cheaper. (3) To Maintain the BRAND image of NIKE. Since NIKE has created for itself a unique brand image and market niche for its sneakers, lowering the price too much would actually hurt the NIKE brand image in CHINA. It would be harder to differentiate NIKE with other brands in China. See, ECONOMICS is not THAT simple.
