The sales of Shimano fall and confirm a general trend
The cycling market is on the decline, a fact that confirms the significant drop in sales that a giant like Shimano has suffered so far this year. Something that, on the other hand, was expected after the boom recorded during the pandemic years and having recorded record figures last year. However, everything seems to point to the fact that the world of cycling is facing a period of lean times.
Concern in the cycling market after the results of Shimano in the third quarter were revealed.
The cycling market continues on a roller coaster ride of unpredictable destiny that began with the arrival of the pandemic. First, there were bottlenecks in the supply from Asia due to mobility restrictions, then the boom after the end of the lockdowns; the market suffered again with the start of the war in Ukraine to rebound to a fantastic year. Now, it is trending downward again as revealed by the 25% drop in sales suffered by Shimano, who presented the results for the third quarter of 2023.
A drop in sales that has already seriously affected some major online retailers and that a few days ago translated into the announcement of suspension of quotations by Signa Sports Group, the parent company that includes major stores like Chain Reaction Cycles and Wiggle.
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It never rains but it pours at Shimano, which a month ago had to admit the recurrent problems in its Dura-Ace and Ultegra cranks, being forced to withdraw 760,000 cranksets. To this, we must add the difficult global financial situation with central banks around the world raising interest rates as a measure to curb the runaway inflation generated by the conflict in Ukraine.
In any case, it should be noted that this drop in sales comes from a 2022 in which Shimano recorded record sales and it was already anticipated that those figures were temporary and associated with the end of the pandemic and the reestablishment of distribution chains, and the brand has continued to launch products with the usual excellent reception such as the case of the new GRX groups for gravel which incorporate 12-speed changes.
It is expected that this drop in sales will continue and Shimano already assumes that in Europe, its main market, sales will drop by a whopping 50% by the end of the year. Without a doubt, a tremendous setback.
Now the main concern is that this is the beginning of a trend and that we are really entering a crisis in the cycling market. Although Shimano is just one of the players in this market, the reality is that it is such a large company and present in absolutely every aspect of the market that what happens to it is usually indicative of what the rest of the players will suffer sooner or later.