Posts by Phil Latz
Giant Profit!
The global Covid-induced bike boom has seen Giant Group’s net profit grow by almost half in 2020. Net profit for 2020 was up 46.7% over 2019. It reached NT$4.95 billion (A$228 million). This was based upon total sales for 2020 of NT$70 billion (A$3.22 billion) meaning that the net profit percentage rate was still a quite modest 7.1%. Giant said all its…
Australian Bicycle Imports Smash All-Time Records
We’ve now received the bicycle import data for January and February 2021 and the record-breaking run of monthly imports started in 2020 has continued. In January a total of 146,706 bicycles were imported consisting of 40,492 kids bikes and 106,214 adult bikes. That total made it the all-time record in January by over 50% compared to the previous record high of 97,440 units…
How Bicycle Frames Could Become Batteries
One of the downsides of electric bicycles is that they’re heavier than conventional bikes. But imagine if the bicycle frame itself could also be the battery. We’re not just talking about existing technology where batteries are now hidden inside the frame, sometimes with an exposed surface that blends in with the frame tube’s profile, but new technology where the…
Volvo Partners with The Classics Gran Fondo Series
These days motor vehicle companies are becoming increasingly keen to associated with cycling. An example of this was Volvo’s collaboration in a major research and safety campaign with Swedish helmet company POC, and more recently when Volvo launched the world’s first cyclist and pedestrian detection and collision avoidance system. Volvo Car Australia recently formalized a two-year partnership with Bicycling Australia,…
Shimano Launches Global Anti-counterfeiting Program
Shimano is launching a program to curb the sale of counterfeit products, which includes promises to work with criminal investigations and file civil suits against manufacturers and distributors of counterfeit Shimano gear. The company also said it is creating packaging technology that is difficult to counterfeit and adding QR code labels to packaging. A smartphone…
Two Bike Shop Related Software Businesses Recently Acquired
Point of sale company Vend has recently been acquired by a competitor in this marketplace, Lightspeed. We recently posted a company feature about Vend which you can read here. The Auckland-based independent company has an office in Melbourne and a significant user base of bike shops in both Australia and New Zealand. Lightspeed is also well…
UK and French Sales Both Up Strongly
Recently further evidence was released showing the global reach of the pandemic induced bike boom. The UK cycling market was valued at £2.31 billion (A$4.2 billion) in 2020, an increase of 45% vs 2019. Within this, total ebike sales grew by 67% in volume to 160,000 units and by 96% in value to £280 million (A$509 million). The Bicycle Association is predicting only a 5% reduction in sales for 2021…
Branding
Your Brand is So Much More Than Just Your Logo. Successful businesses understand the importance of branding. They respect key laws of branding and build their ‘brand equity’, that is, the value of their brand. Brands can be worth many billions of dollars. Think of the Golden Arches or Flying Kangaroo. Your logo’s ultimate power…
Introduction to our Marketing Series
Welcome to the Big Bold World of Marketing! When you ask many business people what they think marketing means, they’ll say ‘Advertising’. But advertising is just one aspect of marketing. In fact, Advertising will be one of only 11 specific aspects of marketing that we’ll be examining in more detail through Series Three. In this…
