I started to ponder a bit.. Yonex used to be no.1 in badmitnon .. But looking at the results of this years Asian Games (and World championships etc.)... None of the winners used Yonex... All!! gold medal winners used other equipment than Yonex!! MS: Lin Dan - Li-Ning MD: Kido/Setiawan - Flypower , Flypower WS: Wang Shixian - Li-Ning XD: Lee Hyojung, Shin Baekcheol - Victor , Victor WD: Tian Qing, Zhao Yunlei - Li-Ning, Li-Ning Men-Team : Bao Chunlai, Cai Yun, Chen Jin, Chen Long, Fu Haifeng, Guo Zhendong, He Hanbin, Lin Dan, Xu Chen, Zhang Nan - Li-Ning , Li-Ning , Li-Ning , Li-Ning , Li-Ning , Li-Ning , Li-Ning , Li-Ning , Li-Ning , Li-Ning. Women-Team: Cheng Shu,Jiang Yanjiao,Lu Lan,Ma Jin,Tian Qing, Wang Shixian, Wang Xiaoli, Wang Xin. Yu Yang, Zhao Yunlei - Li-Ning , Li-Ning , Li-Ning , Li-Ning , Li-Ning , Li-Ning , Li-Ning , Li-Ning , Li-Ning , Li-Ning.
Yonex is going downhills , More people in singapore use Li ning and victor now , around 15% more people use it...
Yonex is good but i think it's over priced. I've been using HEAD since the last 3 years and not going back to Yonex.
I tried Li-Ning shoes for the first time and felt it was better made than Yonex. Would give Li-Ning rackets a try.
same can be said for Canada...prices on li-ning products across the board are far higher and the product selection is much lower... that being said, I love their shirts and bags...want to try out the shoes....but yonex is giving me a crazy deal on shb101's hehehe
Actually Li Ning is overpriced....Li Ning should come out new Technology, like it or not....they copied most of Yonex's stuff.....like Victor's too ..Li Ning recently ( at least a year now) hired Yonex's designers
very true... I get good deals on Yonex products on our local shop. I guess some retailers mark up their prices high.
Wrong. If you do some research LiNing rackets are actually more over priced. The other rackets are coming up because of publicity. As posted all winners are no longer using Yonex rackets, that's probably why other rackets are climbing the ladder, especially LiNing. In terms of racket technology I think Yonex is still ahead of others.
So.. either those technologies didn't matter at all, or the players Yonex sponsored just really sucked that despite the technological advantage failed to deliver any gold? Also note that Yonex is better represented than any other brands from the starting line.
In terms of racket technology i think Yonex has fallen behind both Victor, Li-Ning, Kumpoo, Forza and Mizuno Since AT700 they really has not been making much progress at all basically, allowing competitors to catch up and surpass. Their latest ARC-Z and VT70 are actually steps backwards.. Making their sponsored players less succesful imop, as they have a dissadvantage over the players using Victor, Forza, Li-Ning for example. I get the impression that Yonex has become less tech-driven and much more business/market-driven, which i think is a bad thing in the long run, as they will loose more top-players (which in turn will negate much of their marketing effort). I doubt we will se many followers of "narrow-frame" technology or wider weak-areas on the frame... etc. /Twobeer P.S: and yes LN are overpriced, as well (and probably most top-of-the line rackets) ,but I think badminton rakets even the "luxury" top models are modestly priced compared to other high-end gears, if you look at cars, stereo, designer clothing, golf-equipment, etc. :-D
Really? Care to actually sight some examples? I have yet to see cheap Victor or LiNing clones offered here in Asia. Everything is still painted to look like the latest YY model. Since the AT700? The arcsaber 10 might be one of the best all around racquets on the market. Steps backwards? I don't know about that. I don't remember anything like the VT70 from back in the eighties but maybe things are different in Sweden? Ah, so YY lost team China strictly on the merits of technology? Nothing to do with politics or nationalism? I'm also sure Lin Dan would be very interested to hear that his success has everything to do with switching to Li Ning and that his career was rescued by getting away from Yonex. Conversely I suppose you are going to tell us that the difference between LCW and LD is that LCW is still stuck using Yonex? I'm curious how you think raquets like the ArcZ and VT70 are holding him back seeing how he has been using the AT900P for the last few years. The most innovative thing Li Ning has done is convince people to pay more for a Yonex Clone rather than less. Maybe, maybe not. Time will tell. It's a little bit too early to write off the VT line don't you think? Failure is part of innovation. In fact, one can make a valid argument that if nothing else the Arc Z is indication that Yonex is still ahead of the curve on the innovation front. After all, it's much safer to wait for the leader to try something new and then just follow along if it is successful and all the more safer in an environment with weak patent enforcement. Sooo.... what's your point? You are probably wrong about everything you sight as being overpriced. They are most likely priced perfectly. Items that are truly overpriced won't survive in the market place they will either come down to their 'proper price' or disappear from the market place.
If you want to safe money for rackets as good as YY or LN, go for Flypower!! They are awesome at a fraction of price You guys should see and test them to know what i mean. If YY call AT900T has aerodynamic frame, then Flypower Warrior 8 is a supersonic frame. I stop buying YY (even i already got most of their top ends) simply becos im bored with their design and no major improvement. I can understand YY intention with VT70 but I would rather wait for something else. At the moment, im only buying YY special editions like the players edition or the Arc 100 All England With LN its a bit different, firstly i only own 1 N90II so I dont mind getting more of them. I also like some of the design/paint work, its something different to boring traditional YY design. In a way I like to see LN as popular as YY around the world, simply just becos to speed up the technology and innovation race.
I agree 100% with competition being a good driver of innovation but so far I'm not seeing any innovation out of Li-Ning. In fact, somewhat ironically in view of all the rancor about YY marketing much of Li-Ning's rise to prominence in the badminton world can be attributed to just that, marketing.
Yop, how many rackets do you need or can use in a game? Save your money, spend it on your girlfriends and you get better return. I bet you if you are holding a LN or YY top end racket with blindfold on, you can't tell a difference but when you see the logo, you may then say one is better than the other. It is all in the mind. YY rackets are good in the top end (i.e. expensive), YY lower end rackets are lousy, same for LN and others. Unless you are really good, really how much can a racket makes a player better...I say 'it is the player who play a lousy game, don't fault the racket'. LCW or LD, give them wooden racket and they still are super. I saw a LN selling for list price RM950 in KL, whereas an APAC LT50 sells for RM230, good enough for me and the 3 kidos who challenge me every week (still haven't beaten this old guy yet using LT50) use the NS, Arc and LN, makes no difference. If a player is bad to begin with, no racket can help
Time has changed...you guys in MAS are so blessed to have so much free spending money...Back then, we share a couple of wood rackets, tension who knows and who cares, if a string broke, tie another string, tie a net across 2 trees or wood poles, kerosene lamps for night lighting, bata shoes (sometime bare feet), draw lines in the sand to makeshift court and play until the birds can fly no more and we are contented and enjoy a game of badminton. And here, I heard of 'getting more high end rackets, super shoes, yadada...you are indeed blessed. I salute.
