Bike Orders Off!

Bicycle Retailer and Industry News reports that there is a significant reduction in the amount of bikes that Taiwan has shipped to the world and especially to the United States.  To wit:

 

AUGUST 15, 2006 -- TAICHUNG, Taiwan—Taiwan’s bike shipments to the world, and particularly to its single biggest customer, the United States, were off by double digits through May, but the president of leading bike maker Giant Manufacturing is at least outwardly staying calm.
Some industry observers are asking whether Chinese manufacturers are nibbling away at what once was Taiwan’s exclusive buffet, the high-end road and mountain bike market. Giant president Tony Lo, however, attributes much of the drop—12 percent globally, 7 percent to the European Union and an eye-popping 42 percent to the United States compared with the first five months of last year—to over-ordering and an overdue inventory adjustment.

 

Who wants to bet that Lance Armstrong’s retirement and the current drug scandal crushed sales more than over ordering did?