Adidas 2003 Annual Report Download - page 80

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RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
adidas-Salomon COMMITMENT TO R&D /// adidas-Salomon
believes that innovation and design leadership are critical to
the sustained success of the Group. As a result, we invest
considerable resources into continuously developing techno-
logical innovations and contemporizing our design philosophy
to best unite the needs of our consumers and our brand
values. The design and development process is driven by
in-house teams of designers, product developers and
experts for biomechanics, materials technology, product and
process engineering and similar disciplines. At year-end 2003,
adidas-Salomon employed 985 people in research and devel-
opment activities. This represents an increase of 11% from
the prior year’s level of 886.
MULTI-NATIONAL R&D ACTIVITIES AT adidas-Salomon ///
Forbrand adidas, the majority of our research and develop-
ment activities are located in Herzogenaurach, Germany, and
Portland/Oregon, USA. For Salomon and TaylorMade-adidas
Golf, the research and development of products is located at
each segment’s respective headquarters in Annecy, France
and Carlsbad/California, USA.
R&D EXPENDITURE INCREASES SLIGHTLY IN 2003 /// In
2003, expenditures for research and development increased
by 1% to € 86 million, compared to € 85 million in 2002 due
to higher personnel expenses associated with additional
employees in 2003. In addition, market research and analysis
was incurred as part of the Group’s operating expenses.
76 REPORTING GROUP MANAGEMENT REPORT /// RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
adidas SPORT PERFORMANCE ///
PREDATORPULSE™ X-TRX SG
FOOTBALL BOOT
REVOLUTIONARY TECHNOLOGIES DRIVE 2003 /// In 2003,
adidas-Salomon brought several new technologies as well as
major enhancements of existing technologies to the market.
In the football category, for example, adidas introduced the
Roteiro™ match ball with an innovative thermal-bonding
production technique and a new Power Balance Technology.
Major evolutions of existing technologies include ClimaCool
®
2
footwear and apparel and a3®Twin Strike footwear as well as
PowerPulse™ technology for the seventh Predator®genera-
tion. With the new PowerPulse™ technology, an increased
power
transfer of 3% is achieved in every kick. At
TaylorMade-adidas Golf, examples of the new technologies
include the Miscela golf club set and HT irons. Miscela is a
new set of golf clubs created to meet the specific needs of
female golfers. The HT irons are a new addition to the
RAC family of irons, the RAC HT, which deliver a higher level
of performance at average clubhead speeds. At Salomon,
new technologies were the ERA
®
snowboard technology, a
construction which adjusts automatically to the specific
needs of the individual snowboarder, as well as the hollow
carbon-reinforced S Core construction for surfboards.
Each of
these technologies is patented and trademark-protected.