Under Armour’s “Speedier” sneakers due out early next year are definitely weird to look at, but telling as to how the athletic wear maker plans to grow its footwear business in the years ahead. The Speedtire, which TheStreet got its hands on ahead of a scheduled February 1, 2017 release date, is a shoe meant for weekend trail enthusiasts or those ripping up Tough Mudder-like obstacle course events. Developed in concert with tire maker Michelin, the shoes will cost about $125. TheStreet has also learned that Under Armour plans to launch at least three smart shoes next year under a line called “Europa.” The introductions follow the UA SpeedForm Gemini 2 Record Equipped, a smart shoe Under Armour launched earlier this year. Meanwhile, Under Armour recently entered the lifestyle sneaker market. The UA Primo line, which is constructed from premium leather and waxed canvas, debuted on Nov. 1 at select boutiques nationwide for about $150 a pair. The raft of new footwear offerings bring Under Armour into fresh categories beyond its traditional running and basketball businesses. That expansion into new footwear categories — along with gaining acceptance by consumers — is critical if Under Armour is to achieve its lofty footwear ambitions. That is in addition to continuing to have success with Stephen Curry basketball sneakers. Under Armour sees growing its footwear business to $1.7 billion in annual sales by 2018 from $678 million in 2015.
Source: Under Armour’s Bizarre New Sneakers Gives Peek into Brand’s Footwear Future [Video] – NASDAQ.com
There is a video at the source link above where the information above came from. I honestly didn’t have any words to add to this. I wanted to share this shoe. I just wrote this article questioning Under Armour’s direction and then as soon as I write that post, I see these things.
You can’t keep pulling a Chef Curry and think that people are going to ride with you. I get that this shoe is a niche item and for Tough Mudders, but this isn’t a play to build confidence with investors; not when there is such fantastic product coming from other brands. I mean the shoe isn’t horrible, but the design team didn’t realize that a lot of these elements are so clearly biting from other brands that it lacks a clear separation. The knob looks like the Pump tech from Reebok, the ankle is a direct copy of the various Primeknit, Flyknit, Puma Evoknit tech (which is okay since everyone is doing it right?
This thing looks like a Reebok Crossfit shoe which would be okay, but even adidas is writing down Reebok and attempting to revamp it due to losses, so again, why UA?
That’s probably a quick and inexpensive way to compete with Nike’s self-lacing super expensive shoes.
I don’t know about that one… This is a very niche segment and it’s tech that doesn’t translate well to everyday wear. Casual and retro is in and this is neither. It’s a bad decision I think.
Under Armour stresses improving athletic performance first then lifestyle. If Nike’s hyper duhicky is a running shoe then is it a bad move on their part?
The Nike Hyperadapt was a test to see how a DTC shoe release would perform. The tech was for models that have not been implemented yet. Nike sold out of the HyperAdapt in less than two hours. The shoe now resells at over 1500 a pair. That’s a success. Business is about selling shoes.
Under Armour hasn’t created this shoe yet, but performance footwear is not on trend and they should really be focusing on a less performance based shoe and marketing. It’s not bad to create tech, but for a company that has seen a 70% drop in share prices this is definitely a bad move for their shareholders because it does not inspire investment which means that it doesn’t make money.
This looks like another version of the boca lace system
Note that the shoe was released in two versions with zero marketing. Also note that the shoe hasn’t sold out in any size on their own platform for sales: https://www.underarmour.com/en-us/mens-ua-fat-tire-ascent-mid-running-shoes/pid1289139-076