Asics

WorldBrand briefing

AI supplement

Original synthesis to sit alongside the encyclopedia article below. Not part of Wikipedia; verify facts on Wikipedia when precision matters.

Asics is a Japanese multinational athletic goods manufacturer, best known for its high-performance running shoes, sportswear, and sports equipment. Its brand name is an acronym for the Latin phrase "Anima Sana In Corpore Sano", meaning "a healthy mind in a healthy body".

Key moments

1949Founded by Kihachiro Onitsuka as Onitsuka Tiger Co., Ltd. in Kobe, Japan
1977Merged with GTO and Jelenk to form ASICS Corporation
1993Listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange
2007Acquired women's fitness brand Ryka
2022Launched the GEL-NIMBUS 24 running shoe series

Asics competes in the global athletic footwear and apparel market against several major players. Its core competitors include Nike, Adidas, Brooks Sports, Saucony, and New Balance. Compared to broader lifestyle-focused brands like Nike and Adidas, Asics has a stronger specialization in professional running footwear, with a loyal customer base among serious runners and athletes. The brand differentiates itself through proprietary technologies such as the GEL cushioning system and FlyteFoam lightweight materials, and it has a long-standing reputation for technical precision in athletic shoe design. In recent years, Asics has expanded its lifestyle apparel and casual wear lines to broaden its market appeal, competing more directly with mainstream sportswear brands while retaining its core identity as a performance-focused athletic brand.

Core competitors: Nike, Adidas, Brooks, Saucony, New Balance
Specializes in high-performance running footwear with patented cushioning and lightweight materials
Strong brand loyalty within the professional running and athletic community
Expanded lifestyle product lines to attract casual consumers
Sponsors elite athletes across multiple sports including tennis, track and field, and triathlon

Asics is a long-standing Japanese athletic brand with well-established brand equity built on its niche focus on high-performance running gear. Its distinct positioning as a technical, precision-driven manufacturer for serious runners gives it a clear competitive edge against larger mass-market sportswear brands, supported by a loyal core customer base that drives consistent demand. The brand’s core identity, rooted in its founding motto of "a healthy mind in a healthy body", aligns strongly with growing global consumer interest in health, wellness, and authentic athletic performance, supporting sustained brand relevance across markets.

While Asics trails global market leaders Nike and Adidas in overall athletic goods market share, it holds a commanding position in the premium running footwear segment, outperforming most mid-tier competitors in customer satisfaction among dedicated runners. Its recent expansion into casual and lifestyle apparel lines has helped it capture new consumer segments beyond core athletic users, strengthening its overall brand footprint without significantly diluting its performance-focused identity. Proprietary technologies such as GEL cushioning and FlyteFoam have become recognizable, trusted brand assets that reinforce its reputation for innovation in athletic product design.

Brand leadership

Score: 72/100

Asics holds strong niche leadership in the global premium performance running footwear segment, though it does not lead the overall broader athletic goods market dominated by larger mass-market rivals. Its reputation for technical quality and innovation keeps it the preferred choice for many competitive and dedicated recreational runners, giving it clear differentiated leadership amid crowded industry competition.

Brand-consumer interaction

Score: 68/100

Asics maintains active, engaged connections with core running communities through sponsorships of major marathons, elite athletes, and local running clubs, building strong loyalty among its core audience. It has expanded social media and digital engagement to reach younger consumers interested in both performance and casual sportswear, though overall interaction levels remain lower than mass-market lifestyle brands that invest heavily in global influencer and entertainment partnerships.

Brand growth momentum

Score: 75/100

Driven by rising global consumer interest in running and wellness activity, Asics has posted consistent revenue growth in recent years, supported by expansion into lifestyle product lines and fast-growing emerging markets. Ongoing innovation in sustainable manufacturing and footwear materials has helped the brand attract new, younger consumers, keeping its growth momentum strong relative to many established mid-tier peers in the athletic goods space.

Brand stability

Score: 82/100

As a publicly traded company with more than 75 years of operating history, Asics enjoys strong financial stability and a consistent, well-defined brand identity that has not shifted dramatically over decades. Its loyal core customer base provides a steady revenue stream that insulates the brand from significant market volatility, supporting consistent brand positioning and sustained long-term investment in product development.

Brand legacy

Score: 85/100

Originally founded in 1949, Asics has over 75 years of brand history in the global athletic goods industry. This long legacy has allowed the brand to build deep, enduring trust among consumers, with its founding mission and commitment to performance becoming ingrained in its brand identity that is widely recognized and respected within global running communities.

Industry profile

Score: 78/100

Asics holds a highly respected profile in the global athletic footwear and apparel industry, known for driving technical innovation in running shoe design that has influenced industry-wide standards for cushioning, lightweight performance, and injury prevention. It is widely cited as a benchmark for quality in niche performance athletic gear, balancing specialist appeal with growing mainstream visibility across consumer markets.

Global market penetration

Score: 65/100

Asics distributes its products in more than 100 countries worldwide, with a strong established presence in North America, Europe, and its home market of Japan, and growing operational footprints in emerging Southeast Asian and Latin American markets. However, its global brand awareness and penetration remain lower than that of the largest mass-market sportswear brands, as it has historically prioritized product depth over broad, universal global marketing reach.

AI can support preliminary reasoning around Asics' brand value, but any generated figures are illustrative only. For a fully audited, official brand value assessment for Asics, please contact the World Brand Lab directly.

Overview

ASICS Corporation

native name	株式会社アシックス
romanized name	Kabushiki gaisha Ashikkusu
type	Public (K.K)
traded as	tyo: 7936
industry	Sports equipment, textile
foundation	September 1, 1949 (as Onitsuka Tiger) 1977 (renamed to Asics)
founder	Kihachiro Onitsuka

History

location country	Japan

area served	Worldwide

key people	Motoi Oyama (Chairman and CEO)‡R1R‡

locations	≈ 1,900 outlet stores worldwide (2017)‡R2R‡

products	Footwear, apparel, sports equipment

revenue	(2023)

operating income	(2023)

net income	(2023)

num employees	≈ 8,900 (2023)

brands	Onitsuka Tiger

subsid	* Race Roster * Runkeeper

homepage	asics.com

Asics began as Onitsuka Co., Ltd. on January 1, 1949.[4] Founder Kihachiro Onitsuka began manufacturing basketball shoes in his hometown of Kobe in Hyōgo Prefecture. The range of sports activities serviced by the company expanded to a variety of Olympic styles used since the 1950s by athletes worldwide. Onitsuka became particularly known for the Mexico 66 design,[5] in which the distinctive crossed stripes (now synonymous with the company as the Tiger Stripes) were featured for the first time; martial artist Bruce Lee helped popularize the shoe. Onitsuka Tiger merged with fishing and sporting goods company GTO and athletic uniform maker Jelenk to form ASICS Corporation in 1977;[4] Onitsuka was named president of the new company. Despite the name change, a vintage wide range of Asics shoes are still produced and sold internationally under the Onitsuka Tiger label.[6] In 2015, Asics launched its Asics Tiger lifestyle brand to market sportswear inspired by the company's designs of the 1970s to 1990s.[7]

Asics bought the Swedish outdoor brand Haglöfs for ¥11.4 billion ($128.7 million) on July 12, 2010.[8] In February 2016, Asics acquired the fitness app Runkeeper.[9][10] LionRock Capital Limited acquired a 100% interest in Haglöfs from Asics on December 18, 2023.[11]

Asics generated ¥570.4 billion in net sales and ¥35.2 billion in net income in fiscal year 2023. 50% of the company's income came from the sale of performance running shoes, 33% from other shoes, 6% from apparel and equipment, and 11% from Onitsuka Tiger. 16% of the company's sales were in Japan, 21% in North America, 27% in Europe, 14% in China and 21% in other regions.[12]

In January 2016, the operator of Asics stores in the US, Windsor Financial Group LLC, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection amid an ongoing dispute with the Asics company.[13]

In March 2021, Asics launched Unoha (ウノハ), a brand geared towards women.[14] The brand mainly sells its products online and does not use physical locations other than temporary pop-ups that appear around Japan.[15] Apart from being a female-focused clothing brand, it also pledged to use organic and environmentally-friendly materials in its products. Unoha's first brand ambassador was Harumi Sato.[16] On July 1, 2024, Asics announced that it had discontinued the brand the previous month after only 3 years of existence.[17]

Relationship with Nike

Nike, Inc. (originally known as Blue Ribbon Sports) was founded to sell Onitsuka Tiger shoes in the U.S. When Phil Knight visited Japan in 1963, shortly after graduating from Stanford University, he was impressed by the company's shoes, and immediately visited the Onitsuka Tiger office and asked to be their U.S. sales agent. After a number of years, the relationship crumbled and both companies sued each other, with Nike retaining the naming rights to several shoes.[18]

Sponsorships

Asics sponsors a variety of sports associations, teams and individuals; sponsorships include World Athletics, the Los Angeles Marathon, the Brazilian Paralympic Committee, as well as individual athletes such as volleyball player Ran Takahashi, footballer Takehiro Tomiyasu, basketball player Yuki Kawamura, and tennis players Novak Djokovic, Alex de Minaur, Beatriz Haddad Maia, Laura Pigossi and Jasmine Paolini.[19][20] The company announced on October 4, 2011, that it would be the new official kit manufacturer for the Australia national cricket team, replacing German manufacturer Adidas.[21] Asics is also the official sportswear partner of the Japanese Olympic Committee.

Working conditions

In March 2017, employees assembling Asics products in Cambodia fainted due to thick smoke present in the factory where they were working. The company responded to this by saying that it, along with the factory in question, would "address specific measures, with a focus on workers' awareness and health and safety training, as well as including an improved air ventilation system".[22]

In March 2021, while several Western clothing brands expressed concern over allegations of forced Uyghur labor involved in Xinjiang cotton production, Asics also announced that the Australian Olympic team uniform would not contain cotton sourced from Xinjiang.[23]