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INTRODUCTION

Adidas was founded in Germany in 1920.it became an important supplier of footwear after Second World War. Later, it expanded its footwear line to include fringe sports. While Nike is the global leader in athletic shoe market, Adidas is nothing more than the second place in that market because it started its business in the field of soccer shoe market. So, Adidas could not handle the whole athletic shoe market. Later on, Adidas wanted to expand its capability on the shoe market. In order to satisfy the market’s need in depth, Adidas also went for the basketball market.

However, Adidas found that marketing is much more important because shoe is in the “shopping goods” category. It means that products from different brands have high homogeneity. Adidas must have a good marketing strategy if they don’t want to be in a price war. So, Adidas outsources its production and focus on marketing in the 1990s.

Auditor’s Report

We have audited the consolidated financial statements prepared by adidas AG, Herzogenaurach, comprising the statement of financial position, income statement, statement of comprehensive income, statement of changes in equity, statement of cash flows and the notes, together with the management report of the Company and the Group for the business year from January 1 to December 31, 2011. The preparation of the consolidated financial statements and the Group management report in accordance with IFRS, as adopted by the EU, and the additional requirements of German commercial law pursuant to § 315a (1) HGB (Handelsgesetzbuch – “German Commercial Code”) is the responsibility of the company’s Executive Board. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the consolidated financial statements and on the Group management report based on our audit.

We conducted our audit of the consolidated financial statements in accordance with § 317 HGB and German generally accepted standards for the audit of financial statements promulgated by the...