Nike, Inc's basketball franchise recently topped 90% share of the category. I'm struggling to find any franchise in any consumer industry in the world that is as dominant, but I come up dry.

In answer to the question How high can your market share go? Phil Knight was in print years ago with the answer 100% . In pouring through the share statistics on my previous post about the state of share change in the industry, I was reminded how simply dominant Nike's basketball franchise is, and how prophetic that seemingly impossible statement turned out to be.

Here's an amazing statistic for you. Adding up market share in basketball for the Nike Brand, Brand Jordan, and Converse, Nike Inc owns 92% of the category. If you ex out basketball shoes under $80, Nike's share goes to about 98%. I don't know about anyone else out there, but I cannot think of any consumer product in any category in any part of the globe that commands this kind of share. (Shoot me an email if you think of one).