Click image for details On March 1, US time, Monster Beverage released its Q4 and full-year 2016 financial results. The data showed that global net sales for 2016 were $3 billion, up 12% from the previous year; gross margin was 63.7%, up 3.7 percentage points. Q4 net sales were $849 million, up 16.8% year-over-year. Subsequently, Monster Beverage CEO Rodney Sacks provided further analysis of global market sales during the conference call. Rodney Sacks said: "Our cooperation with Coca-Cola bottlers worldwide has made good progress. We have reached agreements with Coca-Cola bottlers in Europe, the Middle East, Latin America, and other regions to distribute Monster." According to Rodney Sacks, in the Asia-Pacific region, Monster launched in the Maldives during Q4, and India has obtained production approval, with an expected launch later in 2017. In September 2016, Monster was first launched in Beijing and Shanghai under the Chinese brand name "Mazhua" (魔爪), and entered the Hunan market in October. Currently, "Mazhua" is also available in Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhanjiang, and other cities. Rodney Sacks stated that "Mazhua" will be launched in more regions of China in 2017. Currently, "Mazhua" is mainly available in convenience stores and small shops in the Chinese market, and within the first two months of launch, it had entered 50,000 retail outlets. During the Q3 2016 conference call, Rodney Sacks had said that by the end of 2016, "Mazhua" would cover about 18% of the population and could occupy roughly 30%-33% of the functional beverage market. However, in the conference call that ended just a few hours ago, Rodney Sacks did not give a clear indication of "Mazhua's" market share in China. Nevertheless, Rodney Sacks did mention: "We are satisfied with our international performance, especially in China, one of the world's largest functional beverage markets, and we are very optimistic about its prospects." According to statistics, the largest consumers of functional beverages are the US, China, and the UK. In 2015, China's functional beverage consumption grew by over 20% year-over-year, making it the fastest-growing country globally. Recently, Monster's performance in its home market, the US, has been less than ideal. According to Nielsen, in the four weeks ending February 18, 2017, in convenience store and gas station channels, Monster's sales declined 0.9% year-over-year, while Red Bull's sales increased 5.7%. In Canada, in the 12 weeks ending January 17, 2017, Monster's sales increased 1% year-over-year, with market share up 1.8 percentage points to 30%; Red Bull's sales declined 2%, with market share up 0.9 percentage points to 38.2%. In contrast to its mediocre performance in the US, Monster has shown strong growth internationally. In Europe, in many regions such as France, Germany, and Italy, Monster's retail market share has increased. The Asia-Pacific region performed particularly well, with Q4 2016 net sales up 53.1% year-over-year, or 41.1% in local currency. Additionally, Monster's retail market share in South Korea rose from 13.3% in the same period last year to 23.7%; in Japan's convenience store channel, Monster's market share increased from 38.6% to 43.3%. Rodney Sacks said that in the Chinese market, the company took a break from early January until the end of the Chinese New Year, and did not invest heavily in product promotion. After the Chinese New Year, the company gradually began full preparations for the summer season. Earlier, at the launch of "Mazhua," the company identified males aged 18-34 as the core target group and formulated display and pricing strategies such as "focus display adjacent to Red Bull" and "retail price consistent with Red Bull." In marketing, "Mazhua" adopted the theme "Release the Wild," favoring extreme sports. In China, "Mazhua" has already sponsored e-sports, racing, and other events. It is worth noting that "Mazhua" is launched as a carbonated functional beverage in China, while Red Bull's parent company, Huabin Group, also launched a PET-packaged carbonated functional beverage called "Zhanma" at the end of last year to expand its product line, and recommended it to distributors as the star product at ordering conferences. As the weather warms up, the peak sales season for beverages is approaching. How "Mazhua" will perform under the pincer attack from Red Bull and "Zhanma" is worth watching. -END-