real-time sales data and make inventory adjustments accordingly. Li Ning launched fast-response products that could easily be ordered in between trade fairs in response to changes in market trends. It also redesigned product lines and changed Pricing based ori the needs of its target customers, which bad not been clearly defined before. The new management team at Li Ning believed that there was a big market between the higher-end Nike and adidas, on the one hand, and most of the lose-end • local brands, on the other. New products with a wider price range would be launched to capture the consumer in the "middle." Li Ning's transformation is nonetheless costly: revenue in 2012 declined by a whopping 25 percent to $1 billion (versus $26 billion for Nike and $20 billion for adidas). Li Ning's market share ranking in China has dropped to number four from number three,(noyf held by a local competitor, Anta). To avoid banViuRey'Li Ning had to ask for another round of liquidity injection by its recent backers. Li Ning's problem of overexpansion is not unique. Slowing sales and high inventories have burdened other sportswear brands in China, including Nike and adidas. The two global brands have gained back their market shares, presumably at Li Ning's expense. Nike and adidas were faster in responding to changes in the market environment. They also further differentiated themselves from the pack through continued innovation and sophisticated marketing. For example, adidas introduced fashionable sportswear such as high-heeled sports shoes in China. The only sportswear brand in China to post positive growth in 2012 was adidas, and it seems best positioned to gain from the country's S24 billior