Callaway Business Case Study

Résumé ou Introduction

According to the National Golf Foundation ("NGF"), there are approximately 49 million golfers worldwide, including approximately 25 million in the U.S. In 2005, golfers in the U.S. played an estimated 547 million rounds of golf and are estimated to have spent $5.8 billion on golf equipment, which includes clubs, balls, bags, carts and accessories, including apparel, footwear, gloves, tees, and training devices for putting and driving. While this is positive growth over 2004, the NGF report foresees potential sand traps. The decreasing number of core golfers is hurting the industry, seen specifically in decreases in the number of rounds played, the slowdown in new golf course openings and a stagnant market for golf clubs. Of the 25 million U.S. golfers, about 5.2 million, characterized by the NGF as "avid golfers," play over 25 rounds of golf per year. Avid golfers are the first to seek out performance-oriented golf equipment and generally drive golf club product trends. The leaders in the market consist of: Callaway Golf Company, Fortune Brands Inc., TaylorMade-adidas Golf, Bridgestone Sports (USA), Adams Golf, Inc., Table 3-1 Karsten Manufacturing Corporation Product Line, Mizuno USA Inc., Nike Inc., Roger Cleveland Golf Company, Inc., Carbite Inc., Graphite Design International Inc., Aldila Inc., Royal Precision Inc. . In the golf equipment industry, sales to retailers are generally seasonal due to lower demand in the retail market in the cold weather months covered by the fourth and first quarters.