Name: U.S. vs. China: The Tech Behind Nike's LeBron 19 and Anta's KT7 Shoes | WSJ
Uploaded: 2022-04-21T13:41:45.000Z
Duration: 7 min 47 s
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Nike and china's homegrown sportswear brand and to have ruled out a lot of sneakers

Adverbs of manner

and the shoes from the chinese company have made appearances alongside Nike not only at the

In 2021 the company's released their latest signature basketball shoes,

which showcased the two brands flagship mid soles that are designed for pro athletes.

So we compare the high performance technology from both companies to see how antes design is

one part of its plan to go global and gain ground on the world's biggest sports brand.

Nike has nearly 30 years on Anta and was founded by people who love to

run a track and field coach and a middle distance runner.

from its early days focused on designing shoes for professional athletes and on the other

was set up in 1991 by a father and his two sons to manufacture shoes for other brands.

the company decided to focus on creating its own shoes,

Runs a video channel about basketball shoes on the Chinese equivalent of YouTube and he spoke to

us about anti sneakers which are among the more than 500 Paris he's purchased over the past five

anta is china's top domestic sportswear brand,

selling not just sneakers but also close and as part of its ambition to go global,

the company has acquired a slew of international brands.

All this has helped make an to the world's fourth largest athletic apparel company by market

So to take on more established brands and has been rolling out signature basketball shoes

each sneaker is named after an NBA player.

Lebron is for Lebron James who is considered one of the best players in NBA history,

winning four championships and this is his 19th pair of shoes with Nike

a three time NBA champion with the Golden State Warriors who's famous for his three point shooting.

And this is his seventh edition from his partnership with anta because the sneakers are designed for

There are three main parts to the shoe and this is where one of the most important feature

What the mid sole will do is prevent injuries.

Zack thomas is a podiatrist based in pennsylvania

and he told us about the sneakers that he's bought and sliced in half for his Youtube channel.

There's a combination of spring back forgiveness and a little bit of support and

stiffness will just make your foot more efficient will make your foot work as more of one unit instead

And that's especially important when playing basketball because sudden stops can shock the joints.

The Mitzel also gives rebound which allows players to jump higher.

both anta and Nike have chosen the same ingredient nitrogen but the two companies are

Nike is focusing on the inert gas itself,

it's pumped into the middle of the Lebron 19 sneaker,

which is made up of two air units in the forefoot and rear foot.

The air max is made from polyurethane and filled with highly pressurized nitrogen that the company

The zoom air is also a pressurized unit and packed with tensile fibers.

this helps the wear spring upwards after pushing down on it.

And in between these two units is a chamber that connects both so the air flows back and

So when you compress the four ft down here,

that air will shoot back into the heel and vice versa.

And what that does is it evens out the shoe,

And so it's going to keep you a little more even.

But also it's going to produce a little more rebound in the areas of the shoe

where you would need it and to is also looking to create better rebound,

but it's using nitrogen to build a different kind of structure.

The company calls it nitrogen technology and first introduced it with the seventh edition of the

So the missile is made up of a lot of miniature bubbles of nitrogen that are glued together.

The company says when pressure is applied,

giving the wearer both cushioning and rebound.

but because it's not contained in a pod like Nike's air units.

Zhang says the phone can easily lose shape,

john and thomas both agree that the two missiles perform well on courts and that's because the

shoes were specifically designed for professional athletes.

But that also means these shoes aren't meant for everyone.

And ultimately it's about making the technology go mainstream and having ordinary people buy

it's pretty easy to to reverse engineering for another sport.

You just have to then figure out where to put it in the shoe and doing this well has helped Nike

maintain a large slice of the sportswear market.

Since the invention of the air max in the late 19 eighties,

Nike has plugged it into a wide range of sneakers from training shoes that cost around

$80 to basketball shoes that go for $200.

And Nike has developed a fleet of other technologies,

a really thick Mitzel with a carbon fiber plate inside that has helped runners break records.

But it's also sparked controversies about whether the technology provides athletes with an unfair

And Nike also has a lightweight thread material that the company says gives wears a secure

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U.S. vs. China: The Tech Behind Nike's LeBron 19 and Anta's KT7 Shoes | WSJ

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