If Wilson or Prince.....?

[Satch]

Right, those are very old racquets that are not even sold anymore and those prices are from a long time ago. Those racquets originally sold for a lot more when they first came out and were in regular production. Once they were discontinued, the prices dropped just like discontinued racquets today are cheaper than a newly released one. For example, this racquet was much more expensive than $69.99 when it first came out like 8 years ago: http://www.tennis-warehouse.com/descpageRCPRINCE-TTW.html

(BTW, "discontinued" means it's no longer being actively marketed as a new model although they can continue to manufacture it.)

The Head Prestige Tour was very expensive back in the mid-90's. Your links show prices from 2002 when none of those were new racquets anymore.

no discontinued means no longer manufacturing. Those model were some old models left in stock, or some reissued ones.
Anyway it doesn't matter it just prove my theory that it's not material oil or something else -it's marketing, they were selling that rackets so cheap because they were no longer main models, but they worth exactly the same to produce.

 

[BreakPoint]

no discontinued means no longer manufacturing. Those model were some old models left in stock, or some reissued ones.
Anyway it doesn't matter it just prove my theory that it's not material oil or something else -it's marketing, they were selling that rackets so cheap because they were no longer main models, but they worth exactly the same to produce.

So you expect manufacturers to introduce new model racquets without marketing them at all?

The point is that the cost of making a tennis racquet has gone up, not down over the past 10 years.

BTW, racquets like the Prince Warrior were "discontinued" 6 years ago, yet they have continued to make them and still are making and selling them. The PS 6.0 95 was discontinued in 2001, yet they kept making them until the end of 2007. Is the Head LM Radical MP discontinued? They have kept making for the past few years. No, none of these are old stock. They are all newly manufactured "discontinued" racquets.

 

[Satch]

So you expect manufacturers to introduce new model racquets without marketing them at all?

The point is that the cost of making a tennis racquet has gone up, not down over the past 10 years.

BTW, racquets like the Prince Warrior were "discontinued" 6 years ago, yet they have continued to make them and still are making and selling them. The PS 6.0 95 was discontinued in 2001, yet they kept making them until the end of 2007. Is the Head LM Radical MP discontinued? They have kept making for the past few years. No, none of these are old stock. They are all newly manufactured "discontinued" racquets.

no i am not saying that manufacturers shouldn’t marketing the new models, instead i say that that’s the reason why they cost more than „discontinued ones“ because they are not spending on marketing for old discontinued rackets like that PS and so on...
I am telling you all the time that production is cheaper compared to the production in USA and Austria during 90’s and you keep comparing it to the “old” China production, for sure that producing a racket in china was cheaper some years ago, that is why all factories are now there instead in Europe and USA.
And I am again telling you because I learned that in marketing. Discontinued means no longer manufactured, so that is not proper term U are using. They used to be discontinued and when they started to make them again that is no longer discontinued.
;D

 

[symon_say]

Not at all, manufacturing place doesn't have anything to do with quality, but quality controls are the responsable for the quality of a product, if they agree to put more quality controls underground it'll be great for us, not the country they manufacture.

 

[PimpMyGame]

I am definitely in favour of local manufacture, and as CFO in a UK manufacturing site I think I know more than average about how tough this actually is.

Just think of the reduction in carbon footprint that western manufacturers would have if they set up again in Europe and the US, specifically for local markets. With rising oil prices and increasing inflation in the Far East this scenario may be closer to reality than any of you think.

You may have to give it 20 years but I predict an upsurge in moving manufacturing back west. As said before, oil prices, increased wage and overhead inflation, the ability to copy genuine products, and finally the sheer power that China exerts as a nation will ultimately ensure a turnaround by European/US-owned manufacturers.

 

[klementine]

I am definitely in favour of local manufacture, and as CFO in a UK manufacturing site I think I know more than average about how tough this actually is.

Just think of the reduction in carbon footprint that western manufacturers would have if they set up again in Europe and the US, specifically for local markets. With rising oil prices and increasing inflation in the Far East this scenario may be closer to reality than any of you think.

You may have to give it 20 years but I predict an upsurge in moving manufacturing back west. As said before, oil prices, increased wage and overhead inflation, the ability to copy genuine products, and finally the sheer power that China exerts as a nation will ultimately ensure a turnaround by European/US-owned manufacturers.

Excellent assessment, I have been reading these posts, and aside from companies being merged or bought, petrol prices, wages, materials and production, there has been one very crucial aspect of this debate left alone; the consumer. I agree on the whole that, in terms of relevancy, racquets are much cheaper today than 10 or 20 years ago. Leaving one to guess how these companies are making such a large profit. It is us the consumer, on the whole, in the western world, for the past twenty years wages have kept on top of depreciating currency (as all currency is meant to lose value over time in relation to goods and services), it is us the consumer who has much more purchasing power than we did twenty years ago, so we simply consume more. So the real question is, who will be the consumer and who the producer?