What Sport Drives China Growth for Nike? (NKE 1Q06 Conf Call Quotes)

Nike (ticker: NKE) CFO Don Blair and Co-President Nike Brand Charlie Denson had the following to say during management's Q1 2006 earnings results conference call:

....In the Asia-Pacific region, revenues increased 13% in the first quarter. Excluding currency effects, footwear reported 5% growth while apparel grew 16% and equipment advanced 15%. China was the primary driver of the region's growth.

....we continue to see the China business grow at a fast pace.

....basketball....it drives the biggest market in the world, the USA, and it also drives the fastest-growing market in the world, China.

....I think China and basketball are going to be a great opportunity for us as a brand and certainly gives us a chance to do some things outside of the U.S. with basketball that we may not have talked about the past.

....It just continues to amaze me at the metabolism of that marketplace and its ability to grow. I think you are going to see a shift in China over the next couple of years as it becomes material to everybody's business. I think that is an exciting opportunity for us and one quite frankly we are gearing up for.

(Quotes are from the CCBN StreetEvents transcript.)

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