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Native name | ヨネックス株式会社 |
|---|---|
Romanized name | Yonekkusu Kabushiki-gaisha |
| Company type | Public |
| TYO:7906 | |
| Industry | Sports equipment |
| Founded | 1946; 79 years ago (1946) (incorporated in 1958) |
| Founder | Minoru Yoneyama |
| Headquarters | , |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Ben Yoneyama [jp],[1]Chairman Alyssa Yoneyama,President |
| Products | Rackets,tennis balls,shuttlecocks,golf clubs,athletic shoes,apparel,bags, accessories |
| Revenue | ¥74.48 billion (2022) |
| ¥5.78 billion (2022) | |
| Subsidiaries |
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| Website | yonex.com |
Yonex Co., Ltd. (ヨネックス株式会社,Yonekkusu Kabushiki-gaisha) is aJapanesesports equipment manufacturing company. Yonex produces equipment and apparel fortennis,badminton,golf, andrunning.[2]
Its range of products manufactured and commercialized includes equipment for badminton and tennis (rackets,shuttlecocks,balls, bags) and golf (clubs,bags). Yonex also producesathletic shoes andapparel includingT-shirts,jackets,skirts,shorts,hoodies,leggings andhats.[2]
The company was founded in 1946 byMinoru Yoneyama as a producer of woodenfloats forfishing nets. The company was later forced out of this market because of the invention of plastic floats. This led to a commitment by Yoneyama to never again be left behind by technological advancements.
In 1957, Yoneyama began to make badminton racquets for other brands. By 1961, the first Yoneyama-branded racquet was introduced, and within another two years an export company was created for the worldwide distribution. After the company began to makealuminium badminton racquets in 1969, it found that the same technology could be applied to thetennis racket which the company introduced in 1971. The company began to experiment withgraphite shafts for both types of rackets and found that these would also be useful for golf clubs.
In 1982 Yonex came out with the new oversized tennis racquet in the REX-series with the R-7 and R-10 racquets. At that timeMartina Navratilova played with the R-7 and was very successful. One year later, the new series Rexking was developed with the R-22. Navratilova subsequently used the white RQ 180 widebody frame until the early 1990s.
Finding a growing market, the Yonex Corporation (a wholly owned subsidiary) was established inTorrance, California, US in July 1983. In 1992 Yonex introduced the widebody badminton racket, the "Isometric 500", a racquet that was much less "tear drop"-shaped than previous ones. The more "square" head gave it a much larger striking surface, which provides a larger "sweet spot" to hit the shuttle. It led other manufacturers to follow suit in "square-head" orisometric designs.
The parent company was listed on theTokyo Stock Exchange in 1994. Yonex describes itself asthe world leader in golf, tennis and badminton equipment.[3] Yonex provides clothing for national badminton associations around the world, such as the Malaysian Badminton Association,Badminton Scotland,Badminton England, Badminton Ireland, and Badminton Wales. Yonex has also been teaming up with OCBC (Orange County Badminton Club) since 2007 to host the annual U.S. Open Grand Prix Badminton Championships.[4]
Yonex has become the dominant corporate player in badminton. Yonex sponsors theAll England Open Badminton Championships and is a partner of theBadminton World Federation which organizes theWorld Championships.[5] Upwards of 80% of competitive players use their racquets, as it is the preferred choice amongst professionals.[6] Yonex is significant in the tennis and golf industries as well and is a major sponsor ofprofessional athletes in all three sports.[7]
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