I think it is every consumer's dream to have something that is good and yet is cheap.... but I doubt it will happen....if it is truly as good as it is touted to be, then if I am the boss of the company, I will try to "squeeze" whatever profit I can get from the sales to recoup my investment in R&D....and to pay for my next vacation in the carribeans... I dont think a "made in China" racket would be regarded in the same way as a "made in Japan" racket...if so, why all the ongoing threads about "JP", "SP" etc rackets? I guess there is always the perception that JP rackets are better in terms of QC, finish and end-product... I think if yonex were to concentrate on the low-end market, then, it is unable to distinguish itself from the many "mass consumer brands out there"....this is by no means to say that the other "low end" brands are not good...though I wish that yonex would drop its price...I agree with Eepak that it is unlikely to happen....just hope that it will not go up more and more in the face of declinig prices all round in this time of econmic crisis... haha
Ha ha even kwun wants to try out Lining to see what the hype is (I feel the same myself as well)....certainly marketing is a powerful tool....what about the millions and millions of young wannabes who idolise everything their idols use or wear..... Ultimately I think the inability of yonex to sponsor the Chinese team may to a certain extent impact negatively on yonex's marketing and image strategy... only then, despite the higher costs of production (it being based in japan), it may wisen up and go easy on the cost of its product range.....
Yonex in Japan I happen to play a little tennis too (only if I found time after playing badminton). Yonex tennis rackets in my opinion is one of the best technologically. The spin generated from the ISO frames are really there. Other rackets like Wilson and babolat are mostly sold through brand-player recognition. I haven't heard any tennis player being able to name 3 technolgical features their USD 350 racket has except mumble words like "Nadal uses them!" Looking at Yonex, I do not blame their complacency. Japan has a huge population with high GDP. If you go to Japan, you would realize that most tennis players plays with Yonex. OK, Golf is a little different. There are many other Japanese golf brands. So from a profit point of view, I am sure they are not doing too badly. But their main worries will be the erosion of market bases elsewhere. Their effort better be on high yield places like Europe and northern Asia. I am sure the Koreans wouldn't caugh dead with a Yonex, and they wouldn't with a Li Ning too if there was a Korean brand. The sad thing is, there isn't one (can any Koreans explain this?). So given a choice between a USD 200 Li Ning and a USD 250 Yonex, the choice would be obvious. Now and perhaps in 3 more years. The issue then becomes that Li Ning and others will continue to mop up the market that is one step below that and slowely build up. This kind of "eating- upwards" business examples are so numorus that it should have entered the Yonex's management's mind. So in my opinion, if the end game is very clear (death by thousand cuts), maybe its still not too late to counter attack. Work on a segment that Li Ning would really want to be in (I guess USD120-USD180) and fight them there. Let Li Ning win at the even lower segment and let them be known as a cheap brand. Yonex at current level still have enough clout to win there it would erode the USD 250 market too much if Yonex can make a good distinction. The problem here is that Chinese and Taiwanese production bases are deemed too cheap (sorry there!). Pehaps its time to build a real Yonex factory in Europe (Eastern part of west Germany) or a "IP protective" place like Singapore. Imagine a real SP racket. Made in Asia (outside of Japan) but deemed well made enough to sell around the world.
Financial highlights of the two companies: Yonex: http://ir.eol.co.jp/EIR/7906?template=qire Li-Ning: http://www.lining.com/EN/investors/inside-4_1.html If I am reading these correctly, in 2008, Li-Ning had about 3 times the sales and 7 times the profit of Yonex. Li-Ning's operating margin was also a lot higher than Yonex's. In 2008, Li-Ning's revenue was 99.2% from domestic market. No wonder we don't see much Li-Ning outside of China!
Li Ning's sales in 2008 were US$1 billion, gross profit US$472 million. Yonex's sales were US$376 million, gross profit US$1.65 million. As you can see Yonex just doesn't have the money for more bells and whistles whereas Li NIng's figures are a startling jump of about 50% over the previous year. Li Ning has also acquired a controlling interest in Double Happiness, a famous Chinese company that is synonymous with China's dominance in world table tennis. Li Ning has also signed partnership agreements with China's national teams in table tennis, gymnastics, shooting, diving, and now badminton. These 5 sports are China's king of sports. According to a joint statement from Li Ning and the Chinese national badminton association, released to the press recently, all the equipment tested by and to be used by the Chinese team in the coming Surdiman Cup met and surpassed their professional needs.
i'll throw my yonex equipment to trash if Li NING sale it in indonesia now... eager to have it.. REALLY WANT IT
I am really happy for the chinese badminton team, now they have their own brand of equipment for rackets, shoes and clothing . Lin dan and the rest will be using them for the up and coming tournaments!
... are you sure?? can you please tell me the source??? hmmm,, just corious ,, why not jakarta or surabaya but they choosed their distributor in bandung??? bandung is not as big as Jakarta or surabaya
if you live at Bandung area, then you can ask where the Cik Lina shop. her company is the Authorized distributor for Li Ning in Indonesia
i mean from economic view.. it's better to have the distributor in Jakarta or Surabaya,,, the cities is bigger than bandung .. also most of big company in indonesia have their distributor in that 2 big city,,,
Malaysia's distributor should be Sun Light (previously one of the distributor for Yonex in Malaysia).
