Oakley Inc. Case Study

Company Background

Oakley Inc. is a manufacturer of consumer products that specializes in high end sports eyewear, sunglasses, apparel, and accessories. They also focus on design and development of new advancements in technology for sports optical. Headquartered in Orange County, California, they aim to provide the best product for professional and amateur athletes (Oakley.com). The majority of their product is sold in optical stores, sunglass retailers and specialty sports stores, and department stores throughout the United States and in over 100 other countries (Mergent Online). Oakley’s sunglasses and clear prescription eyewear can be fitted with any prescription from the consumer and they offer 19 different colors for the lenses. In 2003 the firm released 535 different apparel styles and accessories (Mergent Online). In addition to eyewear they also produce footwear, analog watch products, goggles for motocross, and hockey gloves (MarketLine Online).

Oakley hold many patents for sunglass and goggle technology to better enhance those involved in demanding sports such as skiing and cycling (Marketline Online). A statement from the company’s website: “It’s in our DNA to identify problems, create inventions, and wrap those inventions in art. And simply to make things better than anyone thought possible” (Oakley.com) shows that it is their goal to continue with new developments that go beyond what is available in the market today. Over the past ten years they have acquired several divisions and distributors throughout and the world and most recently in 2006 acquired