Denial

[kwun]

I mailed Yonex Japan about the CN/SP rackets, here is the reply. they claim that SP and non-SP rackets are the same, but they denied the existence of CN and *DK* rackets. but we know that CN rackets are special ones for Chinese team, DK must be special ones for the Danish team then.

---------------------------------
From: ?$BEl5~K\<R?(B ?$B%^!<%1%F%#%s%0It?(B <marke-cs@yonex.co.jp>
Subject: Re: yonex racket types

Thank you for your E-mail
.We don't produce and sell rackets marked "cn"or "dk".As the racket marked
"SP",Some of our's for particuliar agent in Southeast Asia are marked
it.TI-10's performance is as same as TI-10sp's.
Best regards,

----------------------------------

[Ricky]

For those who haven't seen the CN before, do you believe Yonex Japan ?

I've actually seen and played with SP, without SP (i.e. retail version sold outside Asia) and CN (please note that CN is not marked on the shaft, just with a serial # started with "CN" b/w the shaft and the grip) models. I don't believe any one of these racquets are flake - and I do feel CN model is better (althought the difference may not be very big, depending on which model).

Regarding SP and w/o SP (such as those sold in Japan), I personally don't find too much difference (unlike CN vs SP, you can feel the difference when you hold the racquet on hand). Some people said that those Japan models are more durable, but I've no way to verify this claim.

[Canyt]

I believe that there's CN version racquets around...maybe it's not meant to be sold to the public or anything...just made for the Chinese team...
Well I noted the only difference with SP and w/o SP is that w/o SP's racquet cost alot more.....but I dont' think they're more durable...
Hm..I have a thought....if CN stands for China's team...DK stands for Danish's team...wouldn't SP stands for Singapore's team?

[Cheung]

In Taiwan, there are "T" versions.

[cooler]

I also have friend came back from mainland china that had bought cheap yonex rackets. i think yonex also make less-quality (cheaper) version of yonex rackets just for chinese consumers. For example, ISO800 i saw is lighter, use cheap grommets, and vinyl grip (instead of leather).

[kwun]

could those be fake?

[cooler]

don't think so and don't need to be. I have see enough yonex fakes in my days (some newbies were in shock hearing from me that it was a fake). Beside, now days, china make most of yonex rackets except the their top end models. Yonex can offer a lower costs of the certain model rackets by re-packaging the 'rejects', use cheaper grommets, grip, paint quality, and racket bag. Regular chinese consumers are the best market for these rackets, both wins.

[cooler]

CLARIFICATION:

i hope i didnt offended chinese badminton players around the world. What I mean in the last post are chinese consumers in mainland china, where costs consideration is important and fakes rackets are abound.

[Winex West Can]

Originally posted by kwun
I mailed Yonex Japan about the CN/SP rackets, here is the reply. they claim that SP and non-SP rackets are the same, but they denied the existence of CN and *DK* rackets. but we know that CN rackets are special ones for Chinese team, DK must be special ones for the Danish team then.

---------------------------------
From: ?$BEl5~K\<R?(B ?$B%^!<%1%F%#%s%0It?(B <marke-cs@yonex.co.jp>
Subject: Re: yonex racket types

Thank you for your E-mail
.We don't produce and sell rackets marked "cn"or "dk".As the racket marked
"SP",Some of our's for particuliar agent in Southeast Asia are marked
it.TI-10's performance is as same as TI-10sp's.
Best regards,

----------------------------------

Well, taking marke-cs's e-mail at face value. It is true that they don't produce and sell CN racquets. It's that they produce and give away CN racquets. :D

Ti-10's performance is the same as Ti-10SP could be true as Ti-10's durability might be better than Ti-10 SP's.

I'm more interested in their explanation of the destination codes as to why countries get them and why don't. Why did Thailand get its own code and Malaysia doesn't. How about some of the European countries? How about warranty on the racquets. I know for sure that CD versions have warranty covered by Yonex Canada. How about SP racquets in Singapore? Are they covered by Yonex Singapore?

[kwun]

a lot of those questions, the only source of answer will be from Yonex, or something who knows Yonex's marketing process to answer. we know that Yonex isn't gonna tell us. so anybody who knows about Yonex's marketing?

aside from that, we can only guess, i think we need someone with a marketing background to do the appropriate guessing though. as far as i can dig my memory, Yonex is the only company who has this country code product coding mechanism.

[JChen99]

someone on this forum should go undercover in Yonex sales/distribution departments so we can know the truth :p

[Californian]

Isn't it possible that Yonex would make special-edition rackets as part of a contract with a customer (Chinese national team, etc.) according to their particular specifications? As part of the contract, these rackets would not be made available to the public.

[Mag]

Just a note on the DK code:

DK racquets are in every shop that sells badminton equipment in Denmark. You'd be hard pressed to find some other code. In fact, chances are about 95% you'll get a DK racquet if you buy a Yonex in Sweden too (remaining 5% are german GR or other codes -- special imports). Both DK and GR have a "Made in Japan" sticker on them.

So obviously Yonex DOES manufacture AND sell DK racquets.

And obviously DK models are NOT special for the Danish team.

[Mag]

Just a thought: are you sure the Yonex person is talking about the serial code? He/she could mean the painted SP that comes after the name on some models (i e Cab20 SP)...

[JChen99]

Originally posted by Mag
Just a thought: are you sure the Yonex person is talking about the serial code? He/she could mean the painted SP that comes after the name on some models (i e Cab20 SP)...

Or maybe the person that replied Kwun's E-mail didn't know *BEEP* :mad:

[kwun]

or may be he knows but just wants us to run around in circles.

too bad though, as he is probably the closest we can get to Yonex so far... :(

[Ricky]

A side track thing - supplies of CN racquets have almost been stopped for over 6 months. In fact, some people told me that CN racquets had become history ...

[Cheung]

So what to get next??

Phew, lucky I stocked up on cab20's

What should I do? I usually string my racquets at 28lbs with BG65. Of course, the racquet lifetime may be shortened.

Any opnions on going down to BG66 at 26lbs??

[LazyBuddy]

Originally posted by cooler
don't think so and don't need to be. I have see enough yonex fakes in my days (some newbies were in shock hearing from me that it was a fake). Beside, now days, china make most of yonex rackets except the their top end models. Yonex can offer a lower costs of the certain model rackets by re-packaging the 'rejects', use cheaper grommets, grip, paint quality, and racket bag. Regular chinese consumers are the best market for these rackets, both wins.

I think u r right about it.

I know 1 guy in my club. His friend brought back a really cheap cab20 for him several yrs ago from china.

The racket looks very similar to the cab20 pics that I saw in other threads. It has Yonex on the shaft, but just no serial #. However, the price was just around $200 chinese dollor (about $20+ USD). He thought it was a fake, however, the performance was not bad at all. He's been using that for yrs, and happy with that gift.

[jwu]

wow LB, that's a cheap racquet, I'd stock up on those and carve in the serial numbers to make myself feel better using it. :D

[bigredlemon]

$200 RMB sounds like a lot of money for a racquet in China IMHO... considering the average wage there is around $200 RMB a week

[Ricky]

Cheung,

28 lbs ? Actually there are other racquets which claim that can support 28 lbs, and I saw one last night ... will talk more about this later ... :)

You may switch to Cab20JP if CN is no longer available. I just found out yesterday that the maximum string tension claim to be supported for JP racquets is higher than SP racquets - I noticed that when I read the label for a MP90JP and MP99SP last night. There are 2 lbs difference.

******

There is no doubt the RMB$200 Yonex racquet is a fake, however it may be come out from a Yonex factory ... :)

[LazyBuddy]

Originally posted by bigredlemon
$200 RMB sounds like a lot of money for a racquet in China IMHO... considering the average wage there is around $200 RMB a week


That's very true. That's why Yonex can't really dominate the market in China. China has a lot of local brand, which make good and relatively cheaper rackets.

[JChen99]

Originally posted by LazyBuddy
That's very true. That's why Yonex can't really dominate the market in China. China has a lot of local brand, which make good and relatively cheaper rackets.

does that mean that rackets in China are REALLY cheap???

[LazyBuddy]

Compare to the "real" Yonex elsewhere, certain Yonex model without serial # in chinese market are very cheap. Like, the one that my friend got.

For local brands, yeah. Compare to nameable brands like Yonex, Calton, ProKennex, etc, the local brands are really cheap. However, u really have to know the brands well enough to get the proper models. Not every models in those cheaper brands are good enough and fit for u. Plus, a lot of ppl use cheaper frames, but still settle down on good strings, like the BG series (ex: BG65 is about $2 USD dollar or so) to get better performance.

[JChen99]

Originally posted by LazyBuddy
Compare to the "real" Yonex elsewhere, certain Yonex model without serial # in chinese market are very cheap. Like, the one that my friend got.

For local brands, yeah. Compare to nameable brands like Yonex, Calton, ProKennex, etc, the local brands are really cheap. However, u really have to know the brands well enough to get the proper models. Not every models in those cheaper brands are good enough and fit for u. Plus, a lot of ppl use cheaper frames, but still settle down on good strings, like the BG series (ex: BG65 is about $2 USD dollar or so) to get better performance.

no wonder BBE sells their stuff for so cheap...

[LazyBuddy]

Originally posted by JChen99
no wonder BBE sells their stuff for so cheap...

What is BBE? What stuff they sell? :confused: