XVT - Chinese knockoffs or OEM?

I bought a fake Viscaria from that site and it looked like the real one except on the b/h plastic insert it read Buterfly and it was thicker by .030, but it actually played descent.

hithithit wrote: Obviously not OEM - firstly the Butterfly and Stiga blades shown are made in Japan and Sweden respectively. Secondly, price wise is a give away. Just remember, though it may look like the real thing, it most probably doesn't play like the real thing. I suppose it could be fun for novelty but I still wouldn't buy them. Everytime you buy a counterfeit goods, know well you could be supporting organised crime or someone who has little regards for others.

They look like galaxy to me.

Original Equipment Manufacturer.

jfolsen

The XVT now has new owner who has well experience on sale and marketing for TT equipment. The new owner (who is my friend) has committed for better blade fabrication / quality control with affordable price. I would expect to see significant growth for this brand in next few years.

Yes , they are moving forward to the new & unique design. You can see the blade like TWO FACES which also nice.

zeio wrote: XVT looks to be a brand run/owned? by former CNT player Xi Enting, like the brand XuShaoFa.

Looks more like Sanwei material.

GMan4911 wrote: I wouldn't classify these blades as counterfeit because XVT didn't try to make you believe that they are Butterfly/Stiga blades.  They *borrow* the graphics to indicate that they use similar materials/construction/technology as the original, suggesting that they play/look/feel similar to the original.  If they were true counterfeits, you'd be hard pressed to tell them apart from the original.  For example, http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Free-Shipping-Butterfly-VISCARIA-FL-Table-Tennis-Blades-TABLE-TENNIS-RACKET-FL-LONG-HANDLE-Table-Tennis/1376950762.html is a counterfeit.  The vendor IS trying to make you believe it's the genuine article.  The vendor for the XVT blades doesn't.

Ok, it is not counterfeiting then. Cloning is a better word.

What makes you think they are an OEM? Don't forget, the market in China is MASSIVE - a billion+ people!

achoomai wrote: The XVT now has new owner who has well experience on sale and marketing for TT equipment. The new owner (who is my friend) has committed for better blade fabrication / quality control with affordable price. I would expect to see significant growth for this brand in next few years.

Maybe he will come up with some ideas of his own instead of making cheap knockoffs because this kind of behavior is pretty reprehensible.

really, im surprised butterfly doesn't trademark their fonts and material names.  maybe they do but noone cares

achoomai wrote: So , would you complain Yinhe as well since they also make a lot of clone blades (even they have some own design blade) ?

I have many times.  I think they also suck for doing this. Because of this practice, I would never buy anything made by Yinhe. But what you friend is doing is even more egregious in terms of even stealing some of the symbols on the blades (like the dragon on the ZJK clone and the Timo Boll logo on that clone) just to make it perfectly clear to everyone what he is shamelessly copying.  He must be working in a country where there is no such thing as copyright or patent infringement. 

By the way, Yinhe does make a few of their own novel blades as you note (although to the best of my knowledge few if any profesional players use them). 

Your friend should come up with his own innovative blades if he wants to be taken seriously. (That is how he will make more money also). For now, IMHO, it is contemptible. 

Nobody has a patent on use of a material in a blade as far as I know.  Xiom also uses Zylon, and lots of companies have used aramid, kevlar, etc.  I don't have a problem with that.   

hithithit wrote: What makes you think they are an OEM? Don't forget, the market in China is MASSIVE - a billion+ people

Because that's one of the functions of an OEM - making products for other companies including slapping the other company's name on the product.   OEM's don't necessarily market products under their own name, which is why no one's ever heard of XVT.

Baal wrote: Maybe he will come up with some ideas of his own instead of making cheap knockoffs because this kind of behavior is pretty reprehensible.

Reprehensible to companies like Butterfly/Stiga, but good for consumers.  It's good to have alternative, cheaper options.  That's the competitive market at work.  If Butterfly/Stiga were really concerned, they would/should have trademarked/patented their technology.  Or maybe it's not trademarkable/patentable. 

SmackDAT wrote: Krantz wrote: Beautiful capitalism in action - businessmen fight each other and consumers profit.  Oh hell no mate.

Edited by assiduous - 07/14/2014 at 4:18pm

We all have no problem with the blades but the graphics and prints are totally illegal, but I doubt Butterfly has the long arm to reach them. It's not similar, but totally the same print, same graphic, and same placement.

I think this is a 'player dependent' part of the market.