Interview with Stiga CEO and president

how many of the Chinese national team use stiga equipment?
Which players use stiga equipment and what equipment is it?
how good in the infinity VPS V blade and is it suitable for good standard but not pro standard players?
Which is the softest stiga rubber available?
whats the best thing about working with/for stiga?
did you or do you play and what do/did you use?
calibra is the best known rubber but is it the best one?

Stiga signed many decent players from the Chinese national team. I would like to ask why they don't do a Series of blade using their name to name the blade? For example, Butterfly did a very successful job on this, for example Timo Boll Spirit, ALC, Michael MAZA, Liu ShiWen ZLF, etc. Yasaka also use Ma Lin to name most of the blades like malin carbon, soft carbon, Max Carbon, etc. If Stiga do it, i think that they can diverse their market.

What will be Stiga's strategy with the new ball rule?
With the rise and fall of Swedes where do you see table tennis after 5 years in Sweden and World?
What will be contribution of Stiga for the sport?

will stiga give the officials the middle finger regarding the new ball

I concur about the naming of blades. I would buy an Infinity type blade with a photo of FZD just like they did with Alser etc.

Will Stiga ever begin to manufacture blades with the same level of polish as other TT blade manufacturers?

Mats, Dan has been doing a Bang-Up job of promoting Stiga gear, when are you going to hook him up with some new generation gear?

Stiga has always had great TT apparel, usually pretty simple stuff, but stylish for TT players. What is your overall design philosophy in this regard?

What does Stiga think of their current strategy regarding composite material? They are limited to NCT coating and CC glue layers while many brands use various full layers of carbon / composites, with significant success.

Why don't they seem to have blades with hinoki outer layers?

What are the main reasons for significant differences in weight for a particular blade model?

Many players seem to prefer old blades. Do they believe today's blade are any different from those produced a decade ago (e.g. Clipper)

Same question as above, why the finish on a stiga handle is always so rough compared to other brands (including cheap ones)

Thanks

Why is there so many rumours on poor quality control at STIGA? Many players love the rubbers, but it's very rare to get (for example) two calibras acting the same way or lasting the same time. For myself I can say that I like the Calibra LT on my backhand, but it's quite rare for me to get a good calibra.. 1 out of 6 is usually good, and that is very expensive. I am a middle level player i Norway, but I also have friends that have played elite table tennis that says the same. So the question must be: are the quality control sloppy, or aint STIGA capable of making 2 non different rubbers of the same model, like other brands manages really well?

I agree with some questions above that is in line with business decision and stategy.
Regarding what players use Stiga - should not be asked, as the answer is already available on Stiga's website.

I would like to hear more about Stiga business operations and strategy like:

- How much market share do they have on blades
- How much market share do they have on rubbers
- What is the 3 main challenges to they see for the next 5 to 10 years
- Are they invovled with development and what programs are there, how can one get invovled or apply for assistant.
- Price trend increase - why are equipment getting more expensive
- The options and choices from Stiga has gotten so big, is this an advantage or disadvantage - what is Stiga's view on product mix
- What improvement does he want to see from his own company

Thanks for all the great questions guys, please keep them coming

Hi Dan, my question is with regards to the rating system which Stiga puts on their blades. I want to know the basis on which the figure is determined. Also, when other rising manufacturers like Xiom are experimenting with composite material, why is Stiga introducing expensive (read Rosewood XO) all-wood blades.