so looking to get a new racket here and not sure on what to get as there are so many option these daysi'm sort of in the intermediate level and been playing for 3-4 years now what i have is a racket that bought 6-7 years ago which is yang yang muscle power,its still serves me good and have yy nbg 95 at 24lbs but looking to replace it with a main racket and having it as my substitute so my question is is yonex still having the technological edge over its competitors as they are quite costly but i understand that li ning isnt too cheap either i'm thinking of more towards nanospeed 9900 or arcsaber 10 within yonex,but there is also the panda rackets,apacs and stuff,so what do u guys think?
Yonex were always the most well known brand, if you at looking for value for money I would reccomend victor, the Bravesword 10 is a good choice if you want something fast, you can try victor Zelm Apacs Panda Power. These are all good brands
I would also recommend the Victor Bravesword 10, a fantastic racquet. Victor in general make great racquets, and don't always get the credit they deserve.
Personally I think Yonex has lost the edge.. Both Victor and Li Ning are involving players more to develop high-performing rackets, and seems to be putting more resources into r&d these days than yy.. /T
..i dun think Yonex already lost the edge, just check at buy/trade section and see which thread can be closed faster !!
I believe that Yonex had not lost its edge over its competitor. This is with regards with the rackets and the technology they develop. However, I would think that Yonex is beginning to lose market share. There are more choices out there and people are trying them out. People are bored with the dominance of Yonex for such a long time. Players now can choose the brand that suits them. Having said some people still believe that Yonex is still the brand. It is interesting to see the sport bloom. This is the first sign that the sport is picking up.
Yonex hasn't lost its edge yet but it definitely has blunted its edges! Just like RSL and Carlton whose built a great reputation in the past, Yonex will be hard to take out of the equation and just like RSL and Carlton, they'll always have a niche market.
Yonex has not lost its edge. In fact if Yonex lose... it is not because of other brands has catch up or better than Yonex. What i meant is that Yonex have to work harder and put more effort in R&D. Just enhance what they have always been doing. No doubt Li Ning and Victor has come out with their own R&D. I do also wish and hope that they can produce great quality rackets etc for users. So far they still need alot of catching up to do. I've tried some Li Nings and Victors... if i were to compare both of them ... i think Victor's racket is value for money with their own technology.
I agree with Blurry, it has less to do with their technological edge and more to do with marketing. The fact that Li-Ning and Victor has been able to buy the sponsorship of a couple of major teams does not mean they make rackets as well or better.
Overtaking the shuttlecock, clothing, shoes, socks, strings, rackets, grips, graps and wraps, etcetera businesses? Man, there's still a long ways too go to catch up a runaway train nobody bothered to closed in on decades ago. So I say, go Johnny go! But I love the way Victor is positioning itself. Smart!
Applying the same logic, of course makes Yonex no better, they just have spent some more money on their marketing budget and signed up some more teams .. They hardly spend more money on R&D than Victor, LN for example. /T
I'm sorry but I have to disagree. I think that Yonex has probably spent more than Victor and Li-Ning combined for R&D on rackets in the last 10 years. Also, I still ascribe to the fact that the Japanese still do it better than most companies out there in terms of engineering, manufacturing and quality control.
I agree with what you say.. YY really needs to step up its R&D which has made YY what it is today!! To me they YY currently sits between Victor and LN.. LN really tops YY in terms of quality (materials,qc etc.) imop., and Victor really beats YY in r&d and value for money imop.. What I think YY needs is to step up the R&D and get back to the great traditions of japaneese workmanship! /Twobeer
Of course they spent more when LN didnt make badminton stuff and Victor was small.. I am talking about CURRENT r&d.. About QC etc. I think it is not wise to generalize to say "ALL" things made in this that country is good/bad.. QC will be different based on current stock of employees etc. It is a well know fact that many japaneese companies are unhappy with the younger generation of workers attitude and pride of their workmanship (getting more and more like the western cultures), Japan's Shinjinruis.. /T
Why do you take my quote "most" and convert it into "ALL". I never said "ALL"... You hit the nail on the head when you said "when LN didn't make badminton stuff". I have no idea how you can think that a company that has only been making rackets for a couple of years is better than the all time leader of badminton racket manufacturing. I'm going to put my trust in a company that has been manufacturing quality products for years and years before I'll pay MORE for something from a company that's only been doing it for a couple of years. I'm sorry but I'm not jumping on the LN band wagon just because they paid more money to get the chinese team sponsorship when they are completely new to the business. I don't care how big they are in other areas. I've known Victor for many years and even owned one of their older products in the late 90's and have a current BS10.
Victor is the best among the 3 for value for money product. Lining and Yonex is too expensive for the average consumer. Yonex is losing its edge as there isn't any real breakthrough in their racket design. For Victor, you can see the difference in BS08 to BS09 to BS10 and BS11, they have been improving their racket with every release. Yonex for the other hand is only releasing old racket with new paint. But yonex shuttles, string and shoes are still first rated. Those are the things victor and lining have to catch up on though
If this is about mindshare, Yonex certainly maintained a strong edge. The way the question is phrased and how many of the responses defend Yonex's position clearly demonstrated that. Lining and Victor will be in the same league (mindshare wise) when they get the similar treatment. I reckon that if LN, Victor and YY collaborated to produce exactly the same racket and sold at the same price but rebranded to themselves, most folks will pick the Yonex version. Technologically, I almost hold the view that neither brand has an edge of the rest. Top players win with either brands so either the individual technology does not matter or they are almost equal. For me Yonex never quite has any edge as a brand. I will try any other rackets although the Cab30ms still ranks 2nd in my list of rackets.
Me neither, I mean I am not jumping on the LN bandwagon just yet! So far Victor has done more in terms of COST EFFECTIVENESS and their apparels really groovy! Sure Yonex is a long ways from over even taking into consideration the rigorous marketing campaigns of its competetors! So the edge or the ball is still in Yonex's yard but they just have to be VERY VIGILANT! If anything else...Victor is it! But Yonex is still top dog! Refute that all you want till one is absolutely knocking at their backdoor, however the road is still long and winding towards Yonex territory!
huang... keep in mind that the reason that there is noticeable difference in victor rackets from the 08 to current is that there was more room to get better... Yonex has been there for years and doesn't have anywhere to go unless it's NEW innovation. Look at all the technology that every racket company is using... carbon fiber starting with the shafts back in the cab8 era moving to full carbon fiber rackets. HM carbon, titanium weave... the list of advances is long and all introduced by Yonex. Every racket manufacturer today has Yonex to thank for all the innovations put into their rackets (not for the innovations themselves of course as I'm not trying to say that Yonex invented HM CF or anything). That said, it's hard to stay at the top for this long and easy for smaller companies to come along, copy everything they've done at a fraction of the cost and sell for cheaper because they have lower overhead.
Hmm.. IIRC, the first full HM carbon graphite was a ProKennex Carbon-pro (that's a good year or 2 before Cab20). Prokennex also beat Yonex to use of Boron derivatives to harden the frame. Carlton had their aerodynamic Airblades before Yonex's Aerotus or widebody. Robertson Wilson (or something like that) had the first tapered shaft full carbon. Yonex did invent the built-in T-joint that separates it from other one-piece racket makers then. Yonex wouldn't have gotten the outstanding badminton innovator in those days but they managed corner the market with very strong marketing and sponsorship. To top it off, most of then bigger brands (Wilson and Prokennex) prefer to invest in the more established sports of Tennis and probably make badminton rackets from leftover carbon graphite. Later on, Yonex gave us isometric head shape, titanium and the various inserts, muscle power bumps and a few other marketable treats. Then again so did other makers like SOTX, Wilson, Victor and Lining with their various innovations (too many to list so sorry if your favourite brand is not here). The modern racket manufacturer has more than Yonex to thank for what they can produce today. If anything, the above proves the mindshare edge that Yonex still has. They posited themselves as that a Yonex is what anyone thinks about at the mention of the modern badminton racket.
