Asics, Hoka, and New Balance Are Filling the Void Nike Left Behind

In an era when running crews along the Han River have become part of daily life, the shoes on runners' feet tell you everything about where the market is heading. Five years ago, Nike was the undisputed king of the sneaker world. Today, in running communities, it's practically gospel: 'real runners wear Asics or New Balance.' This shift is no passing trend — it's written all over stock charts and earnings reports worth trillions of won.

A ₩1 Trillion Market — And a Gap Has Opened Up

Korea's running shoe market crossed the ₩1 trillion threshold for the first time in 2025. The post-COVID running boom has evolved from a passing fad into an embedded lifestyle — pulling the total sneaker market to ₩4 trillion. The brands capturing that growth, however, are not Nike.

According to resale platform StockX, Nike/Jordan sales fell 21% year-over-year in H1 2024, while Asics surged 600% and Adidas jumped 90%. The numbers tell a clear story: Nike's lost demand didn't evaporate — it migrated directly to competitors' revenue.

Nike's Crisis — Five Self-Inflicted Wounds

Nike's decline doesn't have a single cause. It is the result of strategy, inventory, product, geopolitics, and management philosophy going wrong simultaneously.

① The D2C Backfire. During COVID, Nike slashed relationships with wholesale partners — multi-brand retailers, Amazon — to cut out the middleman and own customer data. Early margins improved. But Nike failed to account for the fact that retail shelves function as permanent advertising. The inbound pipeline of new customers who discover the brand by trying on shoes in a store was effectively severed.

② Inventory Explosion. With wholesalers no longer absorbing supply, Nike's inventory surged 44%. The resulting wave of discounting to clear the backlog destroyed the premium image from the inside. The perception that 'only suckers pay full price' became entrenched — and the Jordan and Dunk resale market collapsed along with it.

③ Product Erosion. This is the most painful part. Nike doubled down on colorways and collaborations around classics like Jordan, Dunk, and Air Force 1 — and in doing so, lost the plot as a performance sports brand. Meanwhile, Hoka, On Running, and Brooks rapidly absorbed performance running demand. This is how 'Nike is for fashion, Asics is for running' became a settled fact.

④ China Collapse. The Xinjiang cotton boycott triggered a consumer backlash, and local brands Anta and Li-Ning quickly filled the vacuum. Q4 2025 China revenue fell 20% year-over-year.

⑤ Short-Termism. The root cause underlying all four above. Management's fixation on near-term profit metrics at the expense of long-term R&D and infrastructure was the decisive strategic mistake.

The new CEO has pivoted toward rebuilding wholesale distribution and increasing the share of performance products. The Street's read: 'right direction, but it takes time.' The brand's underlying strength is intact. Getting back the trust of runners who have moved on is a different problem.

Asics: +700% in Five Years — The Return of the Performance Running Shoe

Asics' turnaround is best told by its stock chart. On the Tokyo Stock Exchange (7936), Asics has more than 7x'd over the past five years. As of April 2026, shares trade around ¥4,487, with a 52-week high of ¥5,460. While running shoe stocks broadly have faced headwinds, Asics has been running solo — and analysts are taking notice.

The formula: a return to performance. The Gel-Kayano cushioning line has become the go-to shoe for marathon finishers — commanding secondary market prices of ₩200,000–₩300,000. The 2025 Boston Marathon winner wearing Asics locked in the 'shoe that serious athletes run in' image. Asics Korea's 2025 revenue hit ₩186.5B, up 30% year-over-year, with operating profit jumping nearly 40% to ₩34.3B.

While Nike poured energy into fashion collaborations, Asics quietly refined its midsole technology. That difference compounded into a 7x return over five years.

Hoka: ₩3T in Annual Revenue — A New Entrant Into the Big Five

Hoka is the fastest-moving brand in the space. Parent company Deckers (NYSE: DECK) reported Hoka's fiscal 2025 global revenue at .2 billion (~₩3.25T), up 23.6% year-over-year. Industry analysts consider it a confirmed entry into the running shoe Big Five — alongside Nike, New Balance, Asics, and Adidas.

In Korea, Hoka's local business tripled from ₩10.5B in 2023 to ₩30.6B in 2024. But early 2026 brought turbulence: distributor Joyworks & Co.'s owner-risk issues forced a distribution restructuring. Musinsa, Shinsegae International, E·Land World, and LF are all competing for the next exclusive distribution deal — making the partner swap a pivotal variable for Hoka's next growth phase in Korea.

New Balance — Private Company, Public-Company Growth

New Balance is not a public company. But its revenue trajectory would be the envy of any listed sports brand. New Balance Korea — operated under license by E·Land World — doubled from ₩600B in 2021 to over ₩1.2 trillion by 2025, sustaining a 20% year-over-year growth rate throughout.

New Balance's formula is a precise blend of heritage and performance. The FuelCell SC Trainer v3 launch drew a line of 500 shoppers on opening day, and the brand took the top sport performance award at the Fashion Biz Awards for two consecutive years in 2025. Where Asics targets the serious runner, New Balance has captured a broader base with a shoe that works equally well for the track and the street.

Performance Wins

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What's happening in the sneaker market right now isn't just a product competition. It's a reconfirmation of a fundamental principle: brands that stay committed to performance survive, and brands that lean on fashion wobble. While Nike chased collaborations and colorways for five years, Asics refined its midsole, Hoka perfected maximal cushioning, and New Balance polished its FuelCell platform. The stock charts and revenue figures tell the rest.

The shelf space Nike left behind still exists. But someone else's name is already on it.