Just a little story I heard some time ago. Yonex put out new model racquets but these are made in Japan. Sooo, the quality is better. Later the production moves to other countries and the quality drops. My experience with cab22 is the first racquet was very good, but the other subsequent ones (bought later) are not (see BC review section). Does anybody have the same experience? If so, are we consumers being taken for a ride? For instance, establish the reputation of an expensive racquet e.g. MP100. People then go out and say it's really good. Then lots of us go buy it, but the production has already moved overseas (because manufacturing costs are lower) and hence profits higher for a while. Nobody wants to get old model racquets unless they are classic (just like cars) so that's why inventory keeps changing.
sigh... work is frustrating today. so i might as well come here and hang out a bit.... that's an interesting one. but all higher end Yonex rackets still have "Japan" on their handle,and some have "Made in Japan" on the shaft. if they are not made in Japan, isn't it illegal to do that?
You are correct. It's one of yonex product cycle strategy. I have a badminton friend who live in japan come visit canada around xmas time and (sometime) bought with him yonex catalog. I see new model rackets which i know would only be available elsewhere next year. However, if the racket has japan or made in japan, it should be came from japan but i can't positively verify that
Consider the price of the following Yonex racquets being sold in various countries : MP-100 (Japan) - 25,000 yen (suggested retail price), ~19,500 yen (normal retail price, after discount) which is ~HK$1360 MP-100 (Japan version sold in HK) - ~HK$1,500 MP-100 (Taiwan) - NTD$3,980 which is ~HK$1,000 MP-100 (Hong Kong) - HK$880 to HK$1,050 Carbonex 23 (Japan) - 17,000 yen (srp), ~13,200 yen (nrp) which is ~HK$930 Carbonex 23 (Hong Kong) - HK$480 to HK$520 Ti-10 (Japan) - 24,000 yen (srp), ~18,700 yen (nrp) which is ~HK$1,300 Ti-10 (Hong Kong) - ~HK$680 You should probably find out something from the above price differences (which are pretty substantial, right ?). I think there is no choice for Yonex - they need to manufacture racquets in other countries. There are not so many people willing to spend almost a thousand HKD on a badminton racquet in this region of the world. If they want to sell in such a market, they need to produce lower cost version. So, if you want the best quality Yonex racquets, either buy CN version or buy them when you go to Japan next time. -
I think rackets made in japan for sale outside japan are the same quality as rackets sold within japan. Japanese have higher per capita income and higher shop lease rental so the shop owners have to charge more. Outside japan, per capita is lower and yonex had to price their made in japan racket cheaper in order to sell into a market with more competitor brands. I did one time ask my japanese visitor to buy me some yonex rackets from japan when he come over to canada but he told me after exchanges rate, it would cost me more than i could buy them elsewhere. I just he wasn't kidding. However, one can get new model in japan one year earlier than outside of japan.
Anybody managed to compare the same model racquet sold in Japan to one sold elsewhere and notice a difference??
It depends which country the product is being sold as to wether its illegal or not. I really don't know. It's a story I heard.
i have a iso600 that was bought in US, there are no SP/CN, etc, marking, and that feels exactly the same as my iso600 SP.
Actually I've plan to goto Japan next year, but it seems stupid for me to buy the same Yonex racquet which I already have (otherwise, it is not a fair comparison). - Similar to other products such as AV equipments, cars, ..., people always said that those made in Japan have better quality (even for the same model). I'm just really not so sure on this for Yonex badminton racquets. However I do remember that I've openned two Pioneer LD players in the past, which are exactly the same model, but one was sold in Japan and the other one was sold in HK. While the circuit design on those two machines are exactly the same, some metal parts in the Japan model have been replaced by plastic parts in the HK model. From outside, you really can't tell the difference between these two machines. They have the same functionality, almost the same picture quality (someone said that the Japan model has better picture quality, but I just can't distinguish the difference myself), ... So, can we say these two machines are "equal" ?
