Adidas has just released yet another 3D-printed shoe design, but are they going about this in the wrong way?
The company was one of the first to get on the now-exploding 3D-printed shoe market many years ago. Back then, the introduction of a new model was an event of a sort, due to the rarity of 3D-printed shoes in general.
Because of that rarity, and the fact that 3D printing is quite a bit slower than traditional manufacturing, it meant that there were not many units produced of these models.
It all fits: rare product, few available to buy, high premium price.
Since those early days of 3D-printed footwear, things have changed substantially. Now there are many different manufacturers producing 3D-printed shoes. Some even offer customized prints, where the buyer provides geometry data for their feet, and the manufacturer prints shoes that will fit perfectly. The prices of these 3D-printed shoes range from well under US$100 to US$300 or so. In other words, they are easily affordable.
Then last week, Adidas launched a new 3D-printed shoe, the BB.01, billed as their first “performance basketball shoe” from their “Radical Athlete Perception” project.
That’s all good, and I am sure the BB.01 is a fantastic shoe. But what bothers me is the quantities: only a mere 169 pairs will be produced. Even worse, 50 pairs will be sold at their Las Vegas store, 30 in China somewhere, and the remaining 89 will be sold via the Adidas app.
The price of these shoes is US$250. That’s a bit high on the current 3D-printed footwear market, but on par with many other commonly available products.
Only 169 pairs? What is Adidas thinking here? These will be scooped up immediately.
Why didn’t they price these shoes much, much higher? If there are so few pairs, they could have demanded a much higher price — it would become a collectible rather than something you’d actually wear.
Is Adidas really committed to producing 3D-printed shoes? The minor production volume of the BB.01 suggests they still treat the technology as a PR stunt rather than a proper manufacturing option.
They could get away with that in the past when few others were producing 3D-printed shoes, but not now: many other operations are producing far more shoes.
I’m hoping that Adidas changes its strategy and simply makes 3D-printed shoes as a normal course of business.
Via Adidas
