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## Product Development and Design 

## PUMA’s Product Philosophy 

PUMA’s independent and unique product philosophy enables it to adapt and respond to new challenges. Through the successful interplay of creative influences from the world of sports, lifestyle and fashion, PUMA inspires a broad range of consumers in the sports arena, at the club, or on the street. Innovation, design and product development go hand in hand. 

Product development centers are located in Herzogenaurach /Germany, Boston/USA, Taiwan and, since mid-2004, London/UK. The PUMA team is supplemented by external know-how through cooperative relationships with well-known designers such as 

## Higher Investments in Product Development and Design 

Product development and design are of growing importance for ensuring PUMA’s sustained success and profitability and for satisfying consumer requirements on a permanent basis. 

Investments for product development and design increased faster than sales at 23.3%, rising from € 29.9 million to € 36.9 million. 

The team was expanded. At the end of 2004, the product development and design area had 344 employees, a 20.7% increase over the previous year’s level of 258 employees. 

<img src='content_image/40273.jpg'>

Yasuhiro Mihara, Philippe Starck, Neil Barrett, Jil Sander and Christy Turlington, who are primarily engaged in developing product concepts in the higher-priced segment. The main challenge for our designers and product developers is to successfully track trends and continuously create unique product concepts. 

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