Anta Brand CEO Xu Yang has resigned, a move that signals the end of an aggressive retail strategy that failed to meet growth targets. The Anta Group confirmed on Thursday that Xu Yang stepped down for family reasons and will be reassigned within the company. Executive Director and Co-CEO Lai Shixian will serve as interim CEO of the Anta brand, with the company emphasizing that its long-term strategy remains unchanged.
Xu Yang, a former 4A advertising professional, joined Anta in 2006 and rose through the ranks to lead the basketball division before making a name for himself as the general manager of Arc'teryx Greater China. During his tenure from 2019 to 2023, he grew Arc'teryx's China revenue from about 800 million yuan to nearly 3 billion yuan and expanded its membership from 14,000 to 1.7 million. In early 2023, he returned to Anta as brand CEO, tasked with revitalizing the core brand.
A Missed Target and a Slowing Growth
At the 2023 Investor Day, Xu Yang set an ambitious target: annual compound revenue growth of 10%-15% from 2023 to 2026. He even predicted that Anta would surpass Nike in China within three years. However, reality fell short. In 2024, Anta brand revenue grew 10.6% to 33.52 billion yuan, barely hitting the lower end of the target. By 2025, revenue growth slowed to 3.7%, with gross margin and operating margin declining by 0.9 and 0.3 percentage points respectively. In the first quarter of 2026, growth was only in the "high single digits," making the original goal nearly impossible to achieve.
Retail Experiments and Their Struggles
Xu Yang's strategy focused on "making Anta smaller" by separating online and offline channels. Online would sell basic products, while offline stores would break the "one-size-fits-all" model with new formats. He closed low-efficiency stores, pushed for an average ticket price above 800 yuan, and launched multiple new store types and sub-brands, including Anta Champion, Super Anta, SV, ARENA & PALACE, and Anta Zero. He publicly accepted short-term losses for these experiments.
But the experiments struggled. According to previous reports, the SV unit was dismantled and merged into the sportswear division. Super Anta will stop rapid expansion in 2026 and maintain its current scale. Anta Champion opened far fewer stores than expected, and some have reverted to general stores. ARENA & PALACE, a high-end concept, has low sales per square meter and remains unviable for replication. Anta Zero, a carbon-neutral concept, contributed little to revenue. Employees noted that most new formats are still in a high-investment, low-cash-flow phase, with SV and Super Anta being particularly problematic due to low efficiency and cannibalization of regular stores.
Basketball and Dealer Relations
Basketball, a key focus for Xu Yang, failed to deliver. He signed NBA star Kyrie Irving and pushed for overseas expansion, but the Kyrie 1 product launch was rushed due to supply chain issues, resulting in mediocre sales. Only two flagship products have been released, with limited impact. A potential deal for Stephen Curry, reportedly worth $70 million, was canceled by Anta's chairman Ding Shizhong amid the basketball division's decline. In Q3 2025, Anta basketball shoe sales were only about 50 million yuan, far below running shoes and casual shoes, and declining faster than the industry average.
Xu Yang's approach also clashed with Anta's dealer network. He was not adept at building close relationships with distributors, making it difficult to implement reforms. For example, Super Anta faced a lack of new management and suitable products. Employees acknowledged that innovation was needed but risky, and Xu Yang was the first to attempt store innovation in years.
Return to Efficiency
With Xu Yang's departure, Anta is expected to shift back to its core strengths: channel depth, supply chain efficiency, and dealer network stability. The group, which generates over 80 billion yuan in annual revenue, has proven its capabilities in efficiency and global expansion through brands like Arc'teryx and Descente. However, the Anta brand itself faces the same fundamental challenge: balancing scale growth with brand elevation and navigating between dealer-driven distribution and direct retail innovation.