How do the companies decide which direction they will go with their racquet lines ?

[Crocodile]

Is there anyone here on this forum who knows a bit more about how racquet companies go through the process of deciding what they will bring to the market? Sometimes we hear that some racquets are developed from on tour consultation and experience, while others may look at prior sales figures or profits. Obviously there must be engineers that are employed to come up
with new materials and manufacturing methods.
I ask this because I wonder what inspired a company like Volkl go from making great feeling, arm friendly frames to much stiffer, more powerful less arm friendly frames. Do they use a different process compared to say Head, Wilson and Yonex to come up with their new products. Any thoughts ?

 

[beltsman]

Is there anyone here on this forum who knows a bit more about how racquet companies go through the process of deciding what they will bring to the market? Sometimes we hear that some racquets are developed from on tour consultation and experience, while others may look at prior sales figures or profits. Obviously there must be engineers that are employed to come up
with new materials and manufacturing methods.
I ask this because I wonder what inspired a company like Volkl go from making great feeling, arm friendly frames to much stiffer, more powerful less arm friendly frames. Do they use a different process compared to say Head, Wilson and Yonex to come up with their new products. Any thoughts ?

The TW podcast with Head where they talk about the Radical is a pretty good insight.

 

[Crocodile]

The TW podcast with Head where they talk about the Radical is a pretty good insight.

Yes I will have another listen to it.

 

[Steve Huff]

As for colors, they are often decided upon 2-5 years in advance. Tennis manufacturers, as well as other industries, use opinion studies to try to figure out what colors will be "hot" in the upcoming years. Car manufacturers do this too. As for smaller companies like Volkl, I don't think that they would do their own research. They buy it. I'm sure it's readily available, for a price, to just about any company. As for innovations, companies that have their own R&D most likely want innovations that are marketable. So, when Head introduced their titanium in rackets, how did they market it? They painted their rackets a silver/grey, which people perceived as them having titanium in them. Same with ceramic in the 80's. Almost all the "ceramic" models that came out were predominantly white. The "best" technologies were the ones that were easily identifiable. "Longbodies"--easy to see. Big Holes--easy to see. Diagonal strings--easy to see. Although you may not like them, Prince's O-ports were a huge technological success. They did what they were supposed to and they were easy to see.