EBIKE Trader 2024

Peter Chu From the Publisher Compared with the two consecutive years of growth in Taiwan’s bike export volumes during the pandemic period in 2021 and 2022, due to the im- pact of high inflation, high interest rates, Rus- sian-Ukrainian war and Israel-Hamas war and oth- er geopolitical conflicts, and the overstocking issue in bike industry, Taiwan’s bike export volumes and values decreased in the first three quarters of 2023. First of all, take the largest bike chain supplier in the world, Kuei Meng which is Taiwan’s listed company as an example, first half of the year reve- nue decreased by 34%. The first half of the year revenue of Transart, Sun Race,Lee Chi and other Taiwanese companies have declined 31.7%,44.7%,60% respectively. In addition, the world's largest bicycle gear- box manufacturer - Japan's SHIMANO recently announced its financial report, the first half of 2023 revenue decreased by approximately 13% annual- ly. VanMoof, headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, with "the most beautiful electric bicycle" title, announced insolvency on July 18, thus dragging down Taiwan's supply chain. One of a bicycle companies said VanMoof's financial crisis was caused by its rapid expansion and high cost pressure, which coincided with the cycling industry's economic cycle. Benefiting from the recovery of global demand for commodities in 2024, which will drive the growth of glob- al trade. According to the forecast by International Monetary Fund (IMF), the annual growth rate of global trade in 2024 will increase from 0.9% in 2023 to 3.5%. In addition, it is expected that economic inflation will gradually slow down in 2024, and the U.S. Fed will also reduce interest rates, and in the long term, e-bikes are showing a positive growth trend. Therefore, 2023 can be said to be the winter of the bicycle industry, but the industry gen- erally predicts that the inventory supply will gradually return to normal in 2024, and rebound from the bottom. 2024 The premier ebike & parts buyer’s guide