Giant Just Suffered a Massive Sales Slump—but the World's Biggest Bicycle Brand Should Rebound
Taiwanese bicycling mega-brand Giant Group reported a significant drop in year-over-year sales for 2023.
With 2023 sales of NT$76.95 billion in 2023—or about $2.43 billion USD at the time of this writing—Giant Group was down 16.4 percent from the full-year sales totals of 2022. The company reports its earnings in its local currency, Taiwan New Dollars.
The group suffered a dismal fourth quarter, with a massive November 2023 sales drop-off of 28.1 percent. December rebounded slightly, with a drop-off of nearly 26 percent from the previous year. Overall, the group saw an overall decline of 39.9 percent in the year’s fourth quarter from 2022, owing in large part to a reduction in orders from OEM customers.
This news comes after the company saw a growth in sales over 2022, followed by a slight decline in the first half of 2023.
Thanks to the successes of e-bikes and high-end bike sales, Giant Group’s revenues were up 12.5 percent over the year in 2022 according to Bicycle Retailer and Industry News, despite the fact that, by that time, the worldwide bike boom (and subsequent international parts shortage) had mostly stabilized.
According to the company, a “corrective mechanism” was put in place to reduce low- and mid-range inventory, which surged once supply caught up with demand and the boom cooled down.
However, in early August of last year, it was reported by Bicycle Retailer and Industry News that the company’s first-half revenues were only down by 5.4 percent, a dip that was salvaged by a 70 percent sales increase in China over that period. Conversely, over that time, Giant sales in the United States dropped by 44 percent. Sales in Europe were down 12 percent over the same span. However, e-bike sales remained strong around the world, supplying upwards of 35 percent of the brand’s revenue during stretches of last year.
The second half of the year proved a more precipitous drop off, with the company seeing a 26.9 percent year-over-year decline in that timeframe.
Founded in 1972 in Dajia, Taiwan by King Liu as a frame manufacturing subcontractor, Giant has grown to become the world’s largest bicycle brand, with their products covering everything from low-end commuters and kids’ bikes to e-bikes and high-four- and low-to-mid-five-figure road and mountain bikes.
The company has often been at the forefront of bicycle evolution, most notably with its introduction of the CADEX bike, which, unveiled in 1987, was the first high-production carbon bike available on the market. A decade later, Giant rolled out its revolutionary “compact geometry,” which featured a sloping top tube and a smaller rear triangle. Such geometry became the norm in many cases across the bicycling industry.
In 2008, Giant made another significant move when they started the Liv brand aimed at the women's cycling market.
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