Andro signed Taiwan no 2, Kao Cheng-Jui

[Tony's Table Tennis]

 

[Louisgenius]

I thought he was signed with Butterfly.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

I thought he was signed with Butterfly.

correct, "was"

 

[Gozo Aruna]

Now, replace the image of Simon with Kao.

 

[Attitude]

Hm, curious if he will actually change his blade.
If im not mistaken andro lacks a decent w968 substitute.

Btw Kao already used Andro rubber on bh in Frankfurt. So this contract seem to be longer in the making.

 

[PoppaChubby]

correct, "was"

The Bros "were" also, and we know what happened: Felix broke into the top 5, Alexis still in the top 20. Butterfly really does not seem to understand ANYTHING to endorsements these last 2 years. If KCJ breaks into the top 10 this year...

It's all for Germany, Japan and the USA. They endorsed the WHOLE MLTT, all the franchises + the league. What are the numbers ? the German team is getting older, Timo has retired, The US squad does nothing on the international stage, but at the same time the french pro A is rapidly being as strong as the Bundesliga 1, and there's only GV Hennebont still in their teams roster.

It's like a major music group failing to sign the Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

Hm, curious if he will actually change his blade.
If im not mistaken andro lacks a decent w968 substitute.

Btw Kao already used Andro rubber on bh in Frankfurt. So this contract seem to be longer in the making.

you are correct, he stopped using w968 for few months now
been using Andro since then.
So it has been a few months indeed

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

The Bros "were" also, and we know what happened: Felix broke into the top 5, Alexis still in the top 20. Butterfly really does not seem to understand ANYTHING to endorsements these last 2 years. If KCJ breaks into the top 10 this year...

It's all for Germany, Japan and the USA. They endorsed the WHOLE MLTT, all the franchises + the league. What are the numbers ? the German team is getting older, Timo has retired, The US squad does nothing on the international stage, but at the same time the french pro A is rapidly being as strong as the Bundesliga 1, and there's only GV Hennebont still in their teams roster.

It's like a major music group failing to sign the Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan.

Butterfly has just way too many players I think.
You also need to think, how many from Taiwan do they want on the highest tier... they already have Lin Yunju
So it is one of those things and maybe very complicated for a company like Butterfly that have too many stars.

And Kao has been in Germany doing very well these few months, so it is no surprise a German company, especially in great needs of a super star, went to make an offer that Kao can't refuse (I was told of the offer, and it is pretty good).

Lebrun's case, I don't think you can blame Butterfly. I don't even think Tibhar new that the huge world ranking clumb would happen. and it wasn't just some good wins and no more. Lebruns are now permanent top 5 / 15 material and still so YOUNG.

 

[ThePongCommenter]

The Bros "were" also, and we know what happened: Felix broke into the top 5, Alexis still in the top 20. Butterfly really does not seem to understand ANYTHING to endorsements these last 2 years. If KCJ breaks into the top 10 this year...

It's all for Germany, Japan and the USA. They endorsed the WHOLE MLTT, all the franchises + the league. What are the numbers ? the German team is getting older, Timo has retired, The US squad does nothing on the international stage, but at the same time the french pro A is rapidly being as strong as the Bundesliga 1, and there's only GV Hennebont still in their teams roster.

It's like a major music group failing to sign the Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan.

What does Butterfly not understand about endorsements? They have Lin Shidong, both Harimotos, Lin Yunju, Oh Junsung, Sora and Fan Zhendong.

 

[Attitude]

you are correct, he stopped using w968 for few months now
been using Andro since then.
So it has been a few months indeed

Well that was in November. The only andro equipment he already used back then was the bh rubber (w/e that is/was).

Do you know which blade he switched to/will switch to? Or is another blade in the making by andro?

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

Well that was in November. The only andro equipment he already used back then was the bh rubber (w/e that is/was).

Do you know which blade he switched to/will switch to? Or is another blade in the making by andro?

sorry, I didn't ask what he is using now.

I do know that he and Chuang are no longer together - Kao left Chih yuan table tennis center and moved to the National training center.
Kao's long time personal coach also left and will continue to coach Kao.
The personal coach was also Chuang practice partner before, originally from China and stayed on to be a coach in Chuang's center.

 

[riemsesy]

Does anyone want to sign NL #45828? I’m still available 😂

 

[PoppaChubby]

What does Butterfly not understand about endorsements? They have Lin Shidong, both Harimotos, Lin Yunju, Oh Junsung, Sora and Fan Zhendong.

3 over the top 10, they used to have only 3 of the top 10 not using their equipment: Hugo, Ma Long and Xu Xin.

And Fan Zhendong, not anymore dude... didn't you see the news recently ?

It was not a problem before the covid when the french pro A was weak and they would endorse even pro B teams like Montpellier at that time. Nearly a third of all the pro A + pro B was endorsed by Butterfly, with ZJK line of blades, Timo blades, it was not a problem for them AT ALL, everyone was using Tenergys and asking for free equipment ? no problem !

Fact is they've choosen to leave Europe, and the german brands took over, like Donic, Gewo, Andro and Tibhar. And those german ESN brands have proven to be making equipments as efficient as the BTY's ones. Just look at the forums all over the world, it's all about Xiom with Hugo, Tibhar K3s, Andro Rasanters, or chinese stuff. D09C too pricey ? no problem, buy a K3 or a Nuzen, it will do the same. 5 years ago it was always the same topics "is that X rubber T05 like ? is that Y rubber D09C like ?". Now not so much people ask for the same questions.

 

[ThePongCommenter]

3 over the top 10, they used to have only 3 of the top 10 not using their equipment: Hugo, Ma Long and Xu Xin.

And Fan Zhendong, not anymore dude... didn't you see the news recently ?

It was not a problem before the covid when the french pro A was weak and they would endorse even pro B teams like Montpellier at that time. Nearly a third of all the pro A + pro B was endorsed by Butterfly, with ZJK line of blades, Timo blades, it was not a problem for them AT ALL, everyone was using Tenergys and asking for free equipment ? no problem !

Fact is they've choosen to leave Europe, and the german brands took over, like Donic, Gewo, Andro and Tibhar. And those german ESN brands have proven to be making equipments as efficient as the BTY's ones. Just look at the forums all over the world, it's all about Xiom with Hugo, Tibhar K3s, Andro Rasanters, or chinese stuff. D09C too pricey ? no problem, buy a K3 or a Nuzen, it will do the same. 5 years ago it was always the same topics "is that X rubber T05 like ? is that Y rubber D09C like ?". Now not so much people ask for the same questions.

A tally of how many players are sponsored in the "top 10" means nothing.

What does Butterfly not understand about endorsements? That they have to sponsor every top player and top team? I am confused what you are saying they are doing wrong. Do you understand just how few players there are that actually generate profit for their equipment sponsors? The list is pretty much Timo and Tomokazu, and maybe Felix now.

"Forums all over the world" are not a reliable indicator of what is actually happening in the market. @zeio has written about it I believe, apart from Tibhar getting a nice little bump from the Lebruns, ESN companies are still struggling. I know people at ESN.

No, ESN is not making equipment as efficient as Butterfly. K3 lasts for about a week if you're lucky and everyone knows this. D09c is actually cheaper in the long run. NUZN? Lol that hasn't even tickled Butterfly's market share.

People are still searching for Dignics alternatives all the time.

 

[ThePongCommenter]

More updates. Butterfly Europe also had a fantastic 2023, with an increase of 9% in sales and over 50% in profit compared to 2022, which was already record breaking. With the weak yen, Dignics and Glayzer as well as their blades are selling like hotcakes. Forecasts for 2024 project another 5% increase in sales.

Definitely bad news for ESN. Desperate or not, Donic signing ZJK is better than nothing. They need him to keep themselves afloat.

 

[riemsesy]

Now, replace the image of Simon with Kao.

This is a nice meme!

 

[mcfly]

sorry, I didn't ask what he is using now.

I do know that he and Chuang are no longer together - Kao left Chih yuan table tennis center and moved to the National training center.
Kao's long time personal coach also left and will continue to coach Kao.
The personal coach was also Chuang practice partner before, originally from China and stayed on to be a coach in Chuang's center.

i see Chuang has a Butterfly blade - is he still with Butterfly?

 

[NextLevel]

Butterfly has just way too many players I think.
You also need to think, how many from Taiwan do they want on the highest tier... they already have Lin Yunju
So it is one of those things and maybe very complicated for a company like Butterfly that have too many stars.

And Kao has been in Germany doing very well these few months, so it is no surprise a German company, especially in great needs of a super star, went to make an offer that Kao can't refuse (I was told of the offer, and it is pretty good).

Lebrun's case, I don't think you can blame Butterfly. I don't even think Tibhar new that the huge world ranking clumb would happen. and it wasn't just some good wins and no more. Lebruns are now permanent top 5 / 15 material and still so YOUNG.

Butterfly doesn't have way too many players. They only pay the very top stars premium dollars and the deals for players below the top tier are worse. They don't need to pay many stars to do their marketing, this is what they have realized. If you have Fan Zhendong, Lin Shidong, Dima Ovtcharov and the Harimotos, what do you really need? Everyone else is just a waste of money, so they all get lesser deals. So even a top player like Felix Lebrun can get more money from another brand at a younger age, even though like you said, maybe Butterfly might have handled it a bit differently if they expected his explosion. But in the end, Butterfly is clearly doing fine.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

Butterfly doesn't have way too many players. They only pay the very top stars premium dollars and the deals for players below the top tier are worse. They don't need to pay many stars to do their marketing, this is what they have realized. If you have Fan Zhendong, Lin Shidong, Dima Ovtcharov and the Harimotos, what do you really need? Everyone else is just a waste of money, so they all get lesser deals. So even a top player like Felix Lebrun can get more money from another brand at a younger age, even though like you said, maybe Butterfly might have handled it a bit differently if they expected his explosion. But in the end, Butterfly is clearly doing fine.

They do have too many…..
And that too many have lead to too many blades too.

And you are right, the lower tiers, say 60-150 in the world, the deal from Butterfly is terrible.

One thing that does hold players on for Butterfly is there blade and rubbers. And this is from players mouth to my ears.
I know players who received better deals but choose to remain with Butterfly due to more certainty on equipments.

 

[Peter93]

3 over the top 10, they used to have only 3 of the top 10 not using their equipment: Hugo, Ma Long and Xu Xin.

And Fan Zhendong, not anymore dude... didn't you see the news recently ?

It was not a problem before the covid when the french pro A was weak and they would endorse even pro B teams like Montpellier at that time. Nearly a third of all the pro A + pro B was endorsed by Butterfly, with ZJK line of blades, Timo blades, it was not a problem for them AT ALL, everyone was using Tenergys and asking for free equipment ? no problem !

Fact is they've choosen to leave Europe, and the german brands took over, like Donic, Gewo, Andro and Tibhar. And those german ESN brands have proven to be making equipments as efficient as the BTY's ones. Just look at the forums all over the world, it's all about Xiom with Hugo, Tibhar K3s, Andro Rasanters, or chinese stuff. D09C too pricey ? no problem, buy a K3 or a Nuzen, it will do the same. 5 years ago it was always the same topics "is that X rubber T05 like ? is that Y rubber D09C like ?". Now not so much people ask for the same questions.

This question is still asked constantly??? Also sponsorships =/= sales. I'm willing to bet Butterfly sells more Viscarias than Tibhar sells blades combined (and that probably goes for every other brand).