The badminton market "loses steam": multiple factors such as capacity recovery and nylon substitution break the myth of price hikes

Caixin News, March 22 — (Reporter Xiao Lianghua) After the 2026 Spring Festival, the badminton market, which had been “running high” for three consecutive years, began to cool down. Several mainstream brands announced price cuts, with reductions generally ranging from 10% to 20%.

“Since the end of last year until March this year, our company has already reduced the price of badminton products twice,” Wu Bin, a badminton industry practitioner from Jiangshan City, Zhejiang Province, told Caixin. He explained that this collective price reduction is the result of multiple factors including raw materials, inventory, market demand, and technology. “After the price cuts, the market is healthier, and supply and demand are more balanced. Our sales have slightly decreased, but we feel more at ease. Looking ahead, I don’t see much room for further decline.”

Industry chain voices lowering prices

After multiple rounds of price increases, the once soaring prices of badminton began to reverse.

On February 24, the well-known badminton brand Victor announced a price adjustment, with suggested retail prices for Duck Feather Shuttlecocks Golden 3 and Golden 5 each dropping by 14 yuan. Soon after, Zhuangge and Qikenu also announced price cuts.

On February 28, the leading badminton company Yashili announced that the retail price per tube of shuttlecocks would decrease by about 10 yuan. Subsequently, brands like Chaopai and Weiken followed suit, with the retail price of Chaopai’s best-selling Red Chaopai shuttlecock dropping by approximately 5-7 yuan per tube.

A visit to local badminton specialty stores in Qingdao revealed that the retail prices of Yonex products had also decreased.

“Victory brand carbon sound shuttlecocks, last year when bought in group deals, cost over 90 yuan per tube; now they’re down to over 80 yuan,” said Ms. Jiang, a badminton enthusiast in Qingdao.

The core raw material for traditional badminton is the “blade feather” from goose and duck wings, which accounts for over 70% of production costs, and up to 80% for high-end balls. Since October 2025, the price of blade feathers has been steadily declining, reducing manufacturing costs.

Mr. Liu, a feather trader from Anhui, told Caixin that after experiencing a “legendary” surge from 2022 to 2025, the price of blade feathers began to fall in the second half of 2025, though still far above 2023 levels. “At the end of 2023, goose feather prices were about 200 yuan per jin (500 grams), roughly 0.33 yuan per feather. In September 2025, they peaked at 350-450 yuan per jin, with individual feathers reaching up to 0.97 yuan; high-quality feathers (like lotus root feathers) approached 1 yuan per feather.”

Since October 2025, the price of blade feathers has started to decline, falling back to 280-350 yuan per jin by March 2026. High-quality feathers have dropped to around 0.8 yuan per piece, nearly 20% below the peak.

Multiple factors driving prices downward

In fact, some industry insiders had anticipated the dramatic reversal in badminton prices. A manager at a sports goods company in Qingdao told Caixin, “To be precise, the actual price drop of badminton products was a few months later than we expected.”

He explained that rising feather prices would inevitably stimulate breeding industries. When a goose feather’s price doubles from 30 yuan to 60 yuan, breeders are naturally tempted. In the second half of 2025, breeding capacity gradually recovered, easing supply tightness; combined with previous high prices leading to inventory buildup, manufacturers chose to lower prices to promote sales.

Wu Bin also believes that after a sharp increase, high prices can suppress some demand. “Especially some new demand during the pandemic, where some people completely fell in love with badminton, while others gradually withdrew. The number of players in many venues is lower than in previous years, though still higher than before the pandemic.”

Amid the high prices of traditional shuttlecocks, artificial shuttlecocks have become increasingly popular. In 2025, companies like Li Ning (02331.HK) launched their own synthetic balls. Wu Bin’s company has also iterated nylon shuttlecocks multiple times.

“Artificial balls may not be cheap initially, but as technology matures, costs can be quickly reduced,” Wu Bin said. The biggest advantage of artificial balls compared to natural ones is durability. “One can replace ten natural shuttlecocks.”

As various brands’ artificial shuttlecocks begin to capture market share, their impact on overall demand for feathers is growing.

The principle of “buying on the rise and not on the fall” also applies in this cycle. “During last year’s price increase, some customers wanted to buy 100-150 tubes at once. The store implemented purchase limits so everyone could get some. Now, that’s no longer the case,” said the manager of the Qingdao sports goods company.

Related listed companies are actively leveraging their resources to enter the badminton industry. Yike Food (301116.SZ) established Yisai (Jiangsu) Sports Technology last year, which includes “feather (down) and product manufacturing” and “sports equipment manufacturing” (including badminton manufacturing). When contacted as an investor, a company staff member said the company is already in production, currently using chicken tail feathers as raw materials.

Price reductions bring peace of mind

Wu Bin’s Jiangshan Sanxin Sports Goods Co., Ltd. (referred to as “Jiangshan Sanxin”), founded by Wu Bin, is one of the larger badminton manufacturers in Jiangshan, known as the “Hometown of Chinese Badminton.”

In Sanxin’s slicing workshop, Wu Bin told Caixin, “The most important thing in the badminton business is raw materials. Half of the office building is used as a warehouse for storing feathers, and the other half for selecting and slicing feathers. The top floor is used for drying feathers.”

Caixin observed that the large warehouse stored various goose and duck feathers, each bag marked with an “ID card” indicating the type, purchase date, and quantity.

Wu Bin casually picked up a blade feather, saying, “In the first half of last year, this feather sold for just over 0.3 yuan; at its most expensive in September, it approached 1 yuan—like soft gold. At that time, I felt very uneasy.”

Wu Bin checked the feather drying situation. (Photo: Caixin)

Caixin noted that throughout the factory, paper boxes for collecting discarded feathers were everywhere. Wu Bin believes that no feather should be wasted.

“During the pandemic, badminton, as one of the few non-contact sports, saw a rapid increase in participation. As supply became tight, some parts of the industry stockpiled feathers, intensifying supply-demand tensions, which created a three-year bull market for badminton,” Wu Bin explained.

He has evidence to support this: “During those years, the industry hoarded many years’ worth of low-quality rackets, chicken feathers, and pigeon feathers for making shuttlecocks. Some companies’ warehouses stored rackets for over ten years, with broken strings and even holes, yet they still managed to sell them.”

However, Wu Bin emphasizes that this market is unhealthy. “The short-term surge in feather prices led to no new stockpiling, affecting production. Manufacturers hesitated to buy because of the risk of product price inversion. Last year, for several months, product prices were at a loss.”

Wu Bin believes that “overdrawing potential audiences” has led the industry to a turning point. “Now, prices have fallen, and the market is healthier.”

Limited room for further price drops

Since July last year, Wu Bin has repeatedly called on social media that badminton prices cannot keep rising like this. Recently, he stated that there is little room for further decline.

“The total number of players may have decreased compared to 2024 and 2025, but compared to 2019, the increase is still obvious because the number of courts has multiplied many times,” Wu Bin said.

The manager of the Qingdao sports goods company also said that although badminton sales have declined somewhat, the drop is not significant. “Many middle and high school students are now entering the sport in large numbers. They mainly play at school, so this part of the market isn’t reflected in venue statistics.”

In Mr. Liu’s view, the prices of duck and goose blade feathers are likely to fluctuate slightly but probably won’t return to the 200 yuan per jin era. “Now, pork prices are very low, and poultry isn’t profitable. The proportion of slow-rearing geese that produce blade feathers is decreasing.”