Retail Price Corrections Across Major Equipment Lines

The downward adjustment in retail pricing follows a dramatic inflationary cycle that peaked between 2024 and 2025. Industry data shows that Yonex initiated a price reduction on select AS-series shuttlecocks in September 2026, building on a series of adjustments made by Victor earlier in the year. Victor implemented its first price cut in late February 2026, followed by adjustments from brands including Stonge and Ciknu, which lowered prices across its full lineup by six yuan per tube.

The correction is clearly visible in high-volume “ration” shuttlecocks relied upon by clubs and recreational players. Yonex AS-05 shuttlecocks, which reached a high point of approximately 230 yuan per tube during the market peak, have dropped to around 170 yuan per tube—representing a decline of roughly 26 percent. Meanwhile, Asleson’s 7-series models have returned to the hundred-yuan tier. Club-staple Victor Gold No. 1 shuttlecocks also retreated from a May 2026 pricing high of roughly 123 yuan per tube down to approximately 115 yuan by August.

Upstream Feedstock Costs and Regional Manufacturing Shifts

The root cause of both the historic price spike and the subsequent correction lies in the agricultural sector. Because badminton feathers are a byproduct of poultry farming, fluctuations in duck and goose rearing directly dictate raw material availability. During the height of the market disruption, decreased demand for pork and corresponding shifts in duck and goose production caused feather supplies to plummet. In Anhui Wuwei, known as China’s feather and down capital and responsible for supplying roughly 70 percent of high-grade shuttlecock feather material nationwide, standard raw material prices surged from a historical baseline of over 30 yuan per jin to 95 yuan in 2024, eventually peaking at 180 yuan per jin.

That extreme profitability drew a surge of new entrants into the manufacturing sector. The widespread adoption of automated equipment eventually broke traditional manual production bottlenecks, directly doubling local processing capacity in Wuwei. By the latter half of 2025, however, demand contracted sharply and retail distributors found themselves sitting on heavy inventories, halting reorders and forcing factories that had previously operated on three shifts to institute extended holiday breaks, with some companies closing for continuous 13-day stretches over national holidays. Raw material prices for the same grades have since retreated to roughly 50 yuan per jin.

Impact on Recreational Budgets and Playing Costs

For the participants engaging in the sport regularly—with official estimates placing China’s active badminton participation base above millions and the domestic market scale exceeding billions—the retail correction directly reduces the recurring cost of play. A typical recreational evening involving four players splitting the cost of two courts for a two-hour session generally incurs facility expenses ranging from 50 to 60 yuan per hour per court, totaling between 200 and 240 yuan overall. With court fees averaging 25 to 30 yuan per person and equipment consumption accounting for roughly one tube of shuttlecocks per night, the retreat in equipment prices from peak levels noticeably lowers the per-session expenditure for weekly club participants.