ASICS

Infobox_company
company_name = ASICS Ltd.
company_
company_type = Limited
slogan = Sound Mind, Sound Body
foundation=1949
founder = Kihachiro Onitsuka
location = flagicon|Japan Chūō-ku, Kobe, Japan
area_served = Worldwide
key_people= Kiyomi Wada
(Chairman)
Motoi Oyama
(President)
industry = Sportswear
Sports Equipment
products = Athletic shoes
Apparel
Sports equipment
num_employees = (March 2007) 23,972
market c

revenue=
operating_income =
net_income=
assets =
equity =
homepage = [http://www.asics.com/index.html Asics.com] nihongo|ASICS|株式会社アシックス|Kabushiki-gaisha Ashikkusu (tyo|7936) is an athletic equipment company that started in 1949 when Kihachiro Onitsuka began manufacturing sports shoes at his home in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. Asics produces shoes designed for football, running, tennis, squash,martial arts, cricket, golf, wrestling, track & field, cross-training, volleyball, cheerleading, lacrosse, and for many other sports.

Initially the company was known as Onitsuka Tiger, and was famous for their Mexico 66 line of shoes and their distinctive stripes. In 1977, Onitsuka Tiger merged with GTO and JELENK to form ASICS Corporation. Despite the name change, a vintage range of Asics shoes are still produced and sold internationally under the Onitsuka Tiger label.

The name of the company "ASICS" is an acronym of the Latin phrase "anima sana in corpore sano" which translates to "a healthy soul in a healthy body" or "a sound mind in a sound body". [cite web | title = Asics Corporate Social Responsibility | url = http://www.asics.com/csr.html | accessdate = 2007-12-31 ] Since 2007 there has been a larger emphasis placed on this acronym.

2006

In its 2006 fiscal year, ASICS generated 171 billion Yen in net sales and 13 billion yen in net income. Sixty-six percent of the company's income comes from the sale of sports shoes, 24 percent from sportswear, and 10 percent from sports equipment. 49 percent of the company's sales are in Japan, 18 percent in North America, and 29 percent in Europe. Currently, the company has 3800 employees.

ponsorship

Asics sponsors many nationally ranked NAIA and NCAA men’s and women’s teams, as well as the national teams of: Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Italy, Japan, Puerto Rico, Spain, and Sweden. The company also sponsors individuals and teams that compete in the sports of volleyball, football, netball, athletics, cricket, tennis, triathlon, and wrestling. Recently ASICS was the official apparel sponsor of the 2006 Winter Olympics. Asics also supplied apparel to the Italian, Dutch, Irish, Korean and Australian teams that competed at the 2007 World Athletic Championships in Osaka, Japan.

During the early to late 1990s, ASICS supplied kit for a number of British football teams, including Coventry City, Blackburn Rovers, Newcastle United, Leeds United, Aston Villa, and Bradford City.

Among the football users of ASICS are:
* David Suazo (F.C. Internazionale Milano)
* Júlio César Soares Espíndola (F.C. Internazionale Milano)
* Noel Valladares (Club Deportivo Olimpia)
* Shinji Ono (VfL Bochum)
* Fabio Grosso (Olympique Lyon)

Some of the football teams, sponsored by Asics (incomplete):

Teams

* Lecce
* Empoli
*flagicon|Italy Genoa
* Brescia
* Triestina
* Lokomotiv Sofia
* FC Svilengrad 1921
* Vissel Kobe
* Kawasaki Frontale
* Sliema Wanderers

National Teams

*flagicon|MAD Madagascar national football team
Nissan Table Tennis

Tokyo Art Table Tennis

Citizen Micro Human Tech Table Tennis

Individual Tennis Players

* Jarkko Nieminen
* Julien Benneteau
* Florent Serra
* Oscar Hernandez
* Werner Eschauer
*flagicon|Netherlands Jesse Huta Galung
* Katarina Srebotnik
* Virginie Razzano

References

External links

* [http://www.asics.com/ ASICS Worldwide]
* [http://www.asicseurope.com/ ASICS Europe website]
* [http://www.asicsamerica.com/ ASICS America website]
* [http://www.asics.com/ir/index.html Fiscal Reports]