Which brand can rise to challenge Wilson, Babolat and Head

[Crocodile]

With Wilson, Babolat and Head being dominant both on the tour and in sales to the general population are there any other brands that are capable of mounting a challenge ? Here in Australia there were waves of popularity at various times. In the 70's it was Dunlop/Slazenger (Volley, Panther, Maxply, Challenge) followed by Emrik (Blitz 2, Condor 2000) in the early 80's. Emrik killed off Slazenger and Dunlop as they were slow to embrace mid size frames and graphite. Pro Kennex (Golden Ace, Black Ace, Silver Ace) also hit the scene at this time in a big way. Snauwert (Graphite mids and Dyno) also featured along with Yonex (R7,22, 27, 23 50). Then Prince started to dominate in the late 80's and early 90s. (Precision, Spectrum, Magnesium CTS series). Head during these times were more prestige brands at the time along with Fischer. At this time Babolat was only known as a brand of gut strings. Volkl was hardly known here. I think Sylvia Hanika used one. As the 90's came along Pro Kennex started to die off and Emrik finished. Wilson and Head started to grow. A brand called Finn was sold locally.
Which brands can challenge in the next few years and who will struggle? What will it take for someone to challenge?

 

[Ico]

I think there's room for an already popular brand to come in and focus only on tweener racquets produced in flashy highlighter colors. Nike could probably pull it off if they wanted to.

 

[syke]

Yep, Nike or Adidas/Taylor Made... They will kill all competition.

 

[Crocodile]

Yes Nike could be very interesting. Adidas should try again as well. Not sure what is going to happen to Pacific since they bought Fischer, they have been quiet. Prince, Yonex and dunlop seem inconsistent worldwide with strengths in some markets but patchy in others. Volkl tried to increase in the noughties but the name change between Volkl and becker and the V-Engine range hurt them. Tecnifibre have got great strings, maybe they can do something like Babolat.

 

[Dave M]

Yep, Nike or Adidas/Taylor Made... They will kill all competition.

:shock:
Adidas, they're having a go but "kill all competition"? Nike have looked into it before IIRC they thought the best way to go would be buy an existing brand, there are alot of R and D costs for a whole new range if it's the first range than there is no previous profit to cover those costs, takes a long time to turn a profit.
Head could catch up again but they'll need someone on the mens side using a tweener type frame to step up and catch the publics' imagination.

 

[syke]

Look at what Nike and Adidas/ Taylor Made did to the golf industry. With lots of money, good marketing, monopolise the top 10 ATP/WTA players, they will...

:shock:
Adidas, they're having a go but "kill all competition"? Nike have looked into it before IIRC they thought the best way to go would be buy an existing brand, there are alot of R and D costs for a whole new range if it's the first range than there is no previous profit to cover those costs, takes a long time to turn a profit.
Head could catch up again but they'll need someone on the mens side using a tweener type frame to step up and catch the publics' imagination.

 

[retlod]

Nike could put a dent into the Big Three's market share just like they did in golf equipment, but I wouldn't expect them to take over the market by any means. Callaway and TaylorMade still dominate golf equipment sales after Nike's emergence, and 2nd-popularity-tier brands like Cobra, Cleveland, Ping, and Titleist are still around. Nike would also need to sign a big-name player or two to represent them. Nike Golf might not even be around anymore if it weren't for Tiger Woods.

 

[aceroberts13]

If Nike ever thought it would be worth it to them, they could come in make themselves a 'Top 3' racquet company. Simply because they would have enough $$$ to keep throwing at it until they had the best of the best of everything.

Think about if they were able to develop a line of sticks that half of their sponsored players would switch to. Add to that the players that wouldn't switch and just use paintjobs...

Nike could do it.

Adidas failed because their foray back into the racquet market was half-assed and pathetic.

 

[ArliHawk]

If Prince is in trouble, Nike buying Prince would make sense to get into the market.

 

[aceroberts13]

If Prince is in trouble, Nike buying Prince would make sense to get into the market.

Nike probably won't do this, but sooner or later a company will emerge and will begin selling "no frill" graphite racquets with thin beams and various head sizes at reasonable prices and they will do very well.

Sooner or later all of the "latest and greatest" racquet gimmicks will wear on the consumer base and a company will take advantage of that by producing simple mold old school racquets like many players are fond of anyway.

 

[The Djoker]

I think Dunlop was well on it's way until the biomimetic line came out...

 

[Crocodile]

I think the biomimetic line is a good development from the 4D range especially from a cosmetic point of view, but I think their problem is the way they operate as a business, including their brand marketing, and customer service. Also they need to rationalise their lines, too many models at present with similar specs.

 

[Steve Huff]

The "no-frills, no-big names" racket was tried. Pat Cash was their spokesman. It was called MegaAge, and they cost $30 when they first came out, when everything else was in the $120-150 range. You see how they worked out. I see Asics is trying to break into the game improvement frames with some pretty unique looking rackets.

 

[rdis10093]

yonex is on the move up

 

[ZeroSkid]

Any brand can do it, their is nothing special about babolot, head, or wilson, it`s just the players they sponsor, Nike could come in and be the best if they wanted, they just don`t think it is worth it.

 

[pshulam]

Any brand can do it ... it`s just the players they sponsor

It's sad but true - so much money is spent on marketing instead of R&D.

 

[Magic of tennis]

Any brand can do it, their is nothing special about babolot, head, or wilson, it`s just the players they sponsor.

Agreed. Nothing special with those wilson, head, and babolat. If Volkl and Prokennex advertise and do better marketing they can be just popular as those 3 brands.

 

[The Djoker]

Agreed. Nothing special with those wilson, head, and babolat. If Volkl and Prokennex advertise and do better marketing they can be just popular as those 3 brands.

Well the better marketing that would be needed to make that happen would have to come in the form of player endorsements. That's why I think yonex is the best contender.

And back to Dunlop, I don't think the biomimetic line was a mistake or downgrade, technically speaking, I just don't have a feeling that they are as popular as they were a few years ago. I think the broke into the mainstream market initially with the HM300g, a more accessible but player-friendly racquet. I'm not old enough to remember anything before that, so k may be wrong. I think the HM-Mfil-AG period was the best for them.

 

[Federerkblade]

Mantis ......

 

[Lambo]

Donnay with their innovation that actually produces results - at least for me.

 

[aceroberts13]

The "no-frills, no-big names" racket was tried. Pat Cash was their spokesman. It was called MegaAge, and they cost $30 when they first came out, when everything else was in the $120-150 range. You see how they worked out. I see Asics is trying to break into the game improvement frames with some pretty unique looking rackets.

I had no idea. That must be embarrassing for him. Well, crap. Here I was thinking I had a good idea.