Black Diamond is a company that has a wide array of products spanning an equally wide array of outdoor activities, because of this finding a direct competitor whose product mix closely parallels that of Black Diamond is difficult.
In order to look at competitors we have to break down their product mix into 3 segments similar to the product segments (see products page) and each segment has a set of competitors.
In a statement taken from Black Diamonds 2015 Annual Report as it speaks to the companies competition.
“We compete with niche, privately-owned companies as well as a number of brands owned by large multinational companies, such as those set forth below.
Climb: Out climbing products and accessories, such as belay devices, carabiners, and harnesses, compete with products from companies such as Arc’Teryx, Petzl, CAMP, EDELRID, and Mummut.
Ski: Our skiing apparel, equipment and accessories, such as technical apparel, skis, ski bindings, poles, and transceivers, compete with products from competitors such as Arc’Teryx, Backcountry Access, Dynafit (Salewa), Dynastar (Lange), K2, Market, Nordica, Ortovox, Salomon, Scarpa, Scott, and Volkl.
Mountain: Our mountaineering products, such as backpacks, trekking poles, headlamps, and tents, compete with products from companies such as Petzl, Mammut, Deuter, Leki, Komperdell, Marmot, Mountain Hardwear, Osprey, Dakine, Sierra Designs, and The North Face.
In addition, we compete with certain of our large wholesale customers who focus on the outdoor market, such as REI, Mountain Equipment Co-op and Decathlon, which manufacture, market and distribute their own climbing, mountaineering, and skiing products under their own private labels.”
Due to the fact that Black Diamond competes in such a complicated market where its nearest competitors are privately owned it is hard to determine their success or failure based on the performance of their competitors. What we can discern from this statement is that the outdoor industry is a strong and growing industry that is likely to grow each year. This growth opens opportunities for companies to take hold of more customers each year, so it is important to maintain consistent in one’s product offering and quality.