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number of basketballs

Discussion in 'BBS Hangout' started by yipengzhao, Aug 10, 2004.

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  1. yipengzhao

    yipengzhao Member

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    i was asked this case question in an interview today... estimate the number of basketballs sold in the US per year...

    i made a couple of assumptions and came up with like 50 mil... sounds reasonable but i doubt it's right.

    just curious... what's the actual number? can some of you google whizzes help? i can't find it.
     
    #1 yipengzhao, Aug 10, 2004
  2. 12345

    12345 Member

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    What job are you trying to get? :D
     
    #2 12345, Aug 10, 2004
  3. yipengzhao

    yipengzhao Member

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    i'll tell you if you tell me that basketball question. :D

    actually... strategy consulting mostly.

    but... i really AM curious as to the question. say that there are 100 million players (of all levels of seriousness) in the US (probably a bit high)... and there's two balls per basketball player, and each ball is replaced ever other year... then there can't be more than 100 mil sold a year right? but i said 50 and the interviewer said it was low... but usually for these back of the envelope things if you are within a order of magnitude then it's okay... hm... maybe i'll think about it some more.
     
    #3 yipengzhao, Aug 10, 2004
  4. bigtexxx

    bigtexxx Member

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    I used to conduct interviews such as this for strategy consulting jobs. I never had an f'ing clue what the right answer was, if that makes you feel any better. :D
     
    #4 bigtexxx, Aug 10, 2004
  5. yipengzhao

    yipengzhao Member

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    i kind of figured that...

    otherwise how can they come up with specific ones for each candidate.

    you were a... financial analyst right?
     
    #5 yipengzhao, Aug 10, 2004
  6. SamFisher

    SamFisher Member

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    If I were guessing I would say between 30 and 50 million; institutional sales is the hard one to figure out.

    If I was googling the only thing I found was that the Spalding infusion ball exceeded its targets by over 1m, leading me to guesstimate it sold somewhere btw 5-10 m or so, which is about on par with that.

    NPD keeps track of all that crap I'm pretty sure.
     
    #6 SamFisher, Aug 10, 2004
  7. yipengzhao

    yipengzhao Member

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    yeah that's what i said...

    oh well...

    anyway, must decrease number of posts and increase number of job applications... :p
     
    #7 yipengzhao, Aug 10, 2004
  8. rudager

    rudager Member

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    #8 rudager, Aug 10, 2004
  9. SamFisher

    SamFisher Member

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    All right, well loser me just looked up Spalding's annual report, and their whole sporting goods division, which I assume includes basketballs, and they were selling between 50-100m $ in revenue per year; in the event that all those sales were basketballs, (which they weren't) at 25 bucks a ball wholesale that is 4 million balls a year in a good year. I imagine spalding has a large share of the market so I would put the yearly sales number closer to 10m, maybe not more than 15.
     
    #9 SamFisher, Aug 10, 2004
  10. SamFisher

    SamFisher Member

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    #10 SamFisher, Aug 10, 2004
  11. francis 4 prez

    francis 4 prez Member

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    wow, i guessed 11 million when i first read the question. looks like i would've stole your job yipengzhao.
     
    #11 francis 4 prez, Aug 11, 2004
  12. yipengzhao

    yipengzhao Member

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    LOL...

    well i think the number i came up with at the time was like 30 mil... and then he wanted me to go higher. so obviously to show that i'm coachable i revised it to 50 mil.

    but yes no doubt i am glad you did not steal my job.
     
    #12 yipengzhao, Aug 11, 2004
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