no further news from my end. All is quiet. I thought things were going to start building up. Perhaps there are delays?
So this just turned op on faceBook https://www.facebook.com/Bestminton/posts/934367899918129 P7 and W7 is what I gather, lets see what the big relaunch brings us
After many months, we got to talk to AdidasBadminton. Seems things are going steadily but carefully. Next year is really where they will be moving proactively. Kwun can give a bit more information.
I was hoping for an update From my contact in Europe I got to hold some samples of the new stuff, what's coming: -New colours adizero feather -New colours and new fabric (the top layer) for the Quickforce 7 -W series rackets (W2 W4 W7 or something) -P series rackets P2 P4 P7 or so. The W series felt a bit light, the P series I didn't get to hold the 7. But the P4 had both plastic inserts like the TK9900/VTzfII and some frame thickening that reminded me of the apacs Slayer99/Lethal100 frame.
last night Cheung and I met with the director of the new Adidas badminton licensee and got an hour or so of his time. we even played a few games, he is quite a good player! The old licensee was terminated by Adidas HQ as they didn't perform after the main guy, Christophe left the fold. A new licensee was found and they are actively working on a new range of rackets. As we were told, the new range will be completely from the ground up with nothing carry over from the previous range. The new licensee took over in early 2014 and since they plan to start anew, it will take a little while before we see these new products out in the market. as we were told it will be early 2016 for initial release and the complete range later on in the year. our feeling is that they seem to taking very thorough approach to this new launch and they want to do it "right" instead of rushing things to the market. obviously we got a lot more information but for now we can only reveal some. so stay tuned and we will update as time goes on.
Wow 2016, really? Around here, the Adipower rackets were practically pulled from the shelves because of problems with the handles, they tended to break. Haven't been able to get them since March, so starting 2016 is a really big gap for sales. It's been a weird run these first years for Adidas
Definitely surprised at your information about the racquets. We are given the impression there is still a lot of development and a lot of ground work to be covered.
Well maybe they're just testers, the people over here called them "samples". They convinced me they were the actual line-up for an August release. But then again, maybe I'm just getting the run-around, looks to me like you 've got it straight from the horse's mouth
The horse's mouth might be playing around with BC..!! We are given the impression of them being very careful this time round and developing a strategy. But nothing is concrete. They start off basically as a fresh venture from bottom up.
adidas should have at least make an acquisition offer on a mid-tier or an established badminton name. (adidias obviously has a lot of cash.) The acquisition offer exercise itself, even if fell through, could have generate a lot of good ideas to adidas. adidas would have learned a lot of the badminton industry (eg, design, manufacturing, marketing). If the acquisition came to fruition, it would have been much better than starting from scratch.
Well, the director managing Adidas badminton is a very knowledgable on playing and equipment. That's probably how he got the job! I guess each strategy has its own good points and bad. Sometimes it's not the strategy but the execution.
Is Adidas badminton in Asia managed by a different franchise/entity than say Europe or North America? That may explain the difference.
I really hope they get it right this time. I am an avid Adidas wearer, most my shirts are Adidas, shoes, bags, watches. People probably think I am sponsored by them or something. LoL. They also need to make the price brackets cheaper than Yonex. I'm sorry but their price range last time was a joke, especially in the shuttlecocks and strings. If I'm spending the same kinda money as I would do on a Yonex product, I would rather buy Yonex. I also wasn't impressed by their range, I had a few of their rackets but didn't fall in love with any. Their shoes were decent but Adidas always make decent shoes. Everything else was so so. I really hope they can crack it this time. Competition is always good. Kindest regards, -Ajay- Quote of the Day Never knock on Death's door: ring the bell and run away! Death really hates that!
It's usual for multinational companies to split into regional offices so probably there are different franchises. [MENTION=56594]pcll99[/MENTION]. Don't know where the factories are.
So what about those Adidas racquets that MBS showed off late last year/early this year? I'm guessing not even the successor to the Duoforce will be released at all and they're going to start from scratch as you have stated?
yeah, start from scratch. Last summer I had a few demo versions in my hand, the new colours adipower Pro (red) and Duoforce (white and red), as well as a lightblue adizero tour. As far as I know, the DF never saw the light of day, a few players here got the new colour AdiP Pro
We are not even sure if these names will be kept or whether these demos will end up being in production. But sounds unlikely from our end.
Looks like in the UK, Central Sport have got first dibs on the new lines: Adidas Wucht (P1 to P4) - https://www.centralsports.co.uk/products/adidas-wucht-p1-badminton-racket Adidas Instinct (W1-W7?) - https://www.centralsports.co.uk/products/adidas-instinct--w7-white-solar-pink-badminton-racket Releasing in August
Vibeless Graphite on the Instinct, what the heck is that! Also what's with the weird names, are they running out of names for rackets these days? However I like the Wucht colour scheme, its looks nice! Kindest regards, -Ajay- Quote of the Day People who get nostalgic about childhood were obviously never children.
