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11/1/20262 min read
From July to September, adidas booked about $1.31 billion (β¬1,138 million) of sales in Greater China, while Nike's latest quarter there, June to August, came to $1.18 billion (company filings). Even at last year's exchange rates, adidas would still come out ahead, and as far as I can tell no quarter since at least 2020 has looked like this one; over twelve months, Nike still leads by about 16%.
The bigger story sits in the company's own accounts: what China is now worth to adidas, measured in sales, growth and profit.
πππ₯ππ¬: Greater China, which includes Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, made up 15.7% of group sales in the first nine months of 2026, or roughly one euro in six, up from 14.6% in 2025 but still below the 23.6% of 2020.
ππ«π¨π°ππ‘: sales there rose 13% at constant exchange rates in the third quarter, a 14th straight quarter of growth, and China added β¬191 million, about 30% of the group's increase in euros, while Europe shrank 4%.
ππ«π¨ππ’π: in 2025, Greater China earned a regional operating margin of 22.1%, the highest of the group's six regions and double North America's 10.7%, so it delivered 17% of regional profit from 15% of regional sales (Annual Report 2025).
It has not always been this profitable: in 2020, China brought 37% of regional profit, but in 2022, as sales there fell 36% at constant exchange rates, its margin dropped to 10%.
On the results call, the chief executive, BjΓΈrn Gulden, explained that products designed, made and marketed locally take less time to develop, need less inventory and support margins, and that prices on them have not gone up. Reuters quoted him saying, "We see that other companies are struggling (in China)", and in the same quarter, the Anta brand and FILA both reported falling retail sales.
Use adidas as a benchmark, not a template, and put three numbers side by side for your own China operation: its share of your worldwide sales, of your growth and of your profit; if the profit share sits below the sales share, ask what a local team would need to change it.
#ChinaRetail #Adidas #Nike #Sportswear #RetailStrategy
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