---
title: "Porter's five forces: a Vietnamese sneaker brand example"
description: "How to score Porter's five forces, shown on a hypothetical Vietnamese sneaker brand. The scores illustrate the method and are not market data."
url: "https://staging.khoi.co.uk/en/blog/five-forces-vietnam-sneaker-market"
lang: en-GB
author: "Lê Quốc Khôi"
date: 2026-11-02
updated: 2026-11-02
topics: ["Strategy & leadership"]
---

# Porter's five forces: a worked example for a Vietnamese sneaker brand

## Key takeaways

- Porter's five forces measure how attractive an industry is over the long run, not how good one company is. Each force needs its own question and a score with a reason (Porter, 2008).
- In this hypothetical example, buyers and existing rivals score highest and suppliers lowest. Every score is an assumption made for the example, with no market data behind it.
- Use the scorecard to choose moves that weaken a force that scores high, or to find a position in the industry where the forces are weaker (Porter, 2008).
- In real work each score needs a dated source, and one company's own figures cannot prove a force of the industry.

Suppose a Vietnamese sneaker brand is about to launch a new model. Should it bet on price, on design or on the sales channel? The answer depends on where the pressure in the industry comes from, and [Five forces](https://staging.khoi.co.uk/en/framework/porter-five-forces) separates each source of pressure from the others.

## What are the five forces for?

The model answers one narrow question: how much profit does the industry leave to the average firm, and which force is taking it away (Porter, 2008). It describes industry structure. One company's own figures therefore cannot prove a force of the industry.

> **Figure:** [Five forces](https://staging.khoi.co.uk/en/framework/porter-five-forces) The five forces diagram (redrawn from Porter, 2008).

## How do the five forces score for a Vietnamese sneaker brand?

In this example buyers and existing rivals score highest, and suppliers lowest. The levels (low, medium, high) and their reasons are assumptions made to show the method, with no market data behind them. In real work every reason needs a dated source.

> **Figure:** (hub) Assumed scores, shown only to illustrate the method.

```json
{
  "type": "hub",
  "core": { "title": "Sneakers in Vietnam", "level": "mid" },
  "nodes": [
    { "key": "rivalry", "title": "Existing rivals: international and local brands selling at the same price points", "level": "high" },
    { "key": "entrants", "title": "New entrants: many contract factories, few brands with their own channel", "level": "mid" },
    { "key": "substitutes", "title": "Substitutes: second-hand branded pairs, unbranded shoes", "level": "mid" },
    { "key": "buyers", "title": "Buyers: marketplaces and retail chains press on price, and shoppers compare on their phones", "level": "high" },
    { "key": "suppliers", "title": "Suppliers: materials and manufacturing have many substitutes", "level": "low" }
  ]
}
```

If these assumptions held, the channel would decide a small brand's margin, and a good design without its own channel would still get squeezed on price.

## What do you do with the scorecard?

Read the scorecard as a to-do list: where a force scores high, choose a move that weakens it. Porter treats strategy as either building defences against the competitive forces or finding a position in the industry where they are weaker (Porter, 2008). In this example, strong buyers call for selling direct and building repeat customers. Crowded rivalry calls for staying out of price competition at the most crowded price point.

## Going deeper: where does the model come from, and what did Porter add later?

Porter first published the model in Harvard Business Review in 1979 (Porter, 1979) and developed it in his 1980 book on analysing industries and competitors (Porter, 1980). The 2008 article reaffirms the model and extends it (Porter, 2008). It explains why a fast-growing industry is not always a profitable one, how eliminating rivals through mergers can reduce the profit potential of the whole industry, how government policy changes the relative strength of the forces, and how to use the five forces to understand complements (Porter, 2008).

## References

- Porter, M.E. (1979) ‘How competitive forces shape strategy’, *Harvard Business Review*, 57(2), pp. 137–145. Available at: https://hbr.org/1979/03/how-competitive-forces-shape-strategy.
- Porter, M.E. (1980) *Competitive strategy: techniques for analyzing industries and competitors*. New York: Free Press.
- Porter, M.E. (2008) ‘The five competitive forces that shape strategy’, *Harvard Business Review*, 86(1), pp. 78–93. Available at: https://hbr.org/2008/01/the-five-competitive-forces-that-shape-strategy.

---

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