The Best Table Tennis Brands

What are the best table tennis brands? Butterfly, Stiga, DHS, Joola, Donic, Killerspin are some of the best table tennis brands. Below you can find top 15 best table tennis brands.

You are about to begin table tennis or you are at the moment to renew your existing table tennis racket or rubber or blade. And there are many table tennis racket producers and brands. Which one is the best table tennis racket producer? Should I choose the most expensive brand? In this article, I will review the most known table tennis brands and producers.

Butterfly, Stiga, DHS, Joola, Donic, Killerspin are only a few of the best table tennis brands. Some of the producer companies have more than 70 years of experience and use very complex manufacturing technology and techniques. In this article, I focused directly on the producer itself, not on the products. These producers sell not only table tennis rackets but also tables, balls, clothing, table tennis robots, etc.

First of all, this is my second article on your journey to find “the best table tennis racket”. The first article, What makes table tennis racket different? was describing all parts of the racket like the blade, sponge, rubber, etc. and the properties related with a racket like speed, spin, and control. So during this article, if you feel uncomfortable with some of the terms, you can get a reference from that article.

The Questions we will answer:

– What are the most famous table tennis racket producers and their brands?
– Since when do producers work on table tennis business?
– What do they produce?
– What are the origin countries of table tennis producers?
– What is the market share or production numbers?

1. Top 15 Table Tennis Brands

A. Butterfly

Butterfly, the most famous and well-known brand in the table tennis world, is the brand of Tamasu Company. Tamasu Company Ltd. was founded on 19th December 1950 in Yanai City, Japan by the Japanese international player Hikosuke Tamasu when he was 29 years old.
The brand name comes from a concept introduced by Hikosuke Tamasu who states "Players are flowers in table tennis world and they are the very enchantment of table tennis; we would like to be butterflies flying around the flowers providing them the essential needs in the table tennis world.”

All blade and racket productions, research&development and the headquarters are in Tokorozawa, Japan. Other than blades and rubbers which are Butterfly’s main products, Butterfly supplies balls, shoes, robots, bags, clothing, tables, accessories. Most of the textiles, bags, socks, and shoes are produced in China. Tables for Europe are produced in Germany.

Germany, South Korea, Italy, and Ireland are Butterfly sponsored table tennis national teams.

%60 of the participants of World and European Championships use Butterfly blades and rubbers since many years. This is a very satisfying proof on how important player is Butterfly in the market.

Milestones of Tamasu Inc.:

– 1950 – Tamasu Inc. was founded with 14 employees, blade and rubber production started.
– 1960 – Butterfly D 13 blade introduced.
– 1962 – Butterfly Tempest D 13 blade introduced.
– 1967 – Sriver rubbers introduced which has a success for being one of the most selling rubbers worldwide(over 20 million).
– 1973 – Tamasu Butterfly Europe was founded in Moers, Germany.
– 1983 – Training & Research Center was opened in Tokyo, Japan where qualified scientists work with world class players and develop rubber & blade technology.
– 2000 – Bryce rubber introduced. A new generation, high tension rubber which won more than 30 world championships.
– 2006 – Butterfly Technical Center was opened in Tokorazawa, Japan where researchers work with the most recent technologies and new innovations are introduced.
– 2008 – Tenergy series introduced which has the most recent innovation “spring sponge”.
– 2013 – Butterfly Tec, the new center for Research & Development, founded in Tokorozawa.

B. Stiga

Stiga Sports AB started its table tennis accessory production in 1944 in Sweden. The company has partners in over 100 countries. With being one of the largest and famous brands of table tennis, Stiga offers a wide range of products as blades, rubbers, balls, tables, nets, clothing, bags, shoes, accessories, etc. Stiga also offers Scooters, Boards, Snowracers, Play-Off table hockey/football games, etc. The head office of the company is in Eskilstuna, Sweden.

STIGA introduced new blade technologies like 13 layer Carbo, CR, WRB, Oversize, Crystal, TUBE, Nano Composite Technology, etc. in the past few years.

Swedish national table tennis team have been one of the most famous teams in the world and Stiga signed a 10-year agreement with them in 2003 and then extended 7 years more to 2020. Sweden, Czech Republic, Denmark, Norway, and China are Stiga sponsored table tennis national teams.

Milestones of Stiga:

– 1944 – Stiga was founded in Sweden.
– 1964 – Stiga launched Stiga Robot and the European Championships played on Stiga table in Malmo
– 1969 – Allround Classic blade was introduced by Stiga which sold too many copies on the market
– 1976 – Offensive Classic blade was introduced by Stiga which sold too many copies on the market
– 1981 – Clipper Wood blade was introduced by Stiga which sold too many copies on the market
– 2009 – High-end blade Ebenholz released
– 2012 – Allround Classic Carbon blade, Offensive Classic Carbon blade was released.
– 2013 – Stiga Head Office expand to 11.000m2
– 2014 – Carbonado series introduced to the market with TeXtreme Carbon Technology

C. Double Happiness (DHS)

Shanghai Double Happiness Co. Ltd. is a well-known company which manufactures products for table tennis, badminton, weightlifting, basketball, volleyball, and soccer. DHS has the biggest share in table tennis of China market and is very active in Japan, Hong Kong, Europe, North America, and some other countries. DHS table tennis equipment started its production in Shanghai, China in 1959.

DHS has 3 main manufacturing plants in Shanghai, China, and 1 Table Tennis Research and Development Center in Jiangsu, China. 15 production lines and 3 Quality Control centers in total. Monthly capacity is over 350.000 pieces yearly.

More than 500 employees work for DHS and annual total sales are approximately $100 million.

More than 90% of the players on the Chinese National Team use DHS equipment. In 2004 DHS was able to produce 100 million table tennis balls(60% of world total) and 3 million blades per year.

Notice: “Double Happiness” is the term that players use when a ball clips the net and then the edge.

Milestones of DHS:

– 1959 – DHS T. T. equipment began production in Shanghai, China,
– 1961 – DHS balls and tables used in World T. T. Championships,
– 1979 – DHS balls and rackets won the Golden Quality Award, the highest quality honor in China,
– 1981 – DHS PF4 series of products entered the international market,
– 1995 – DHS main plant was jointly established by 4 Shanghai sports equipment factories. DHS decentralized branding operation came to an end. Shanghai Double Happiness Crown City Co. Ltd. was founded,
– 1995 – DHS balls became the official balls in World T. T. Championships,
– 2000 – DHS was appointed as the equipment supplier for Sydney Olympics. Hurricane2 and Hurricane 3 introduced. The usage rate of hurricane series in China T. T. national team reached 58%,
– 2004 – DHS produces more than 100 million table tennis balls(60% of world total) and 3 million blades per year. And DHS produces 80% of competition table tennis balls,
– 2006 – The usage rate of DHS rubber for the forehand in Chinese National Table Tennis team reached 70%,
– 2008 – DHS helped Chinese team get 14 medals of 51 gold medals in Beijing Olympic Games in table tennis, badminton, and weightlifting. The usage rate of DHS rubber reached 83% in national Table Tennis teams and 70% in provincial teams,
– 2009 – 4 DHS players gained top 4 positions in World T. T. Championships in Yokohama,
– 2010 – The usage rate of DHS rubber for the forehand in Chinese National Table Tennis reached 92%,
– 2014 – 36.67% of Chinese National Team use DHS Blades.

D. Nittaku

Nippon Takkyu Co. Ltd. is a Tokyo based Company which has been producing table tennis equipment since 1947. Although the company was founded in 1947, the Brand appeared and started production in 1920.

The Company Capital is 96 million yen which is nearly $860.000. There are 100 employees working in Nittaku.

The headquarter is in Tokyo, the factory is in Furukawa, the sales offices are in Osaka, Fukuoka, and Sapporo.

Nittaku produces table tennis balls, blade, rubber, table tennis table, shoes, etc. Some of the products are being produced in China.

Nittaku provided official balls for 13 World Championships, 3 Olympic games, and European Championships for 7 years(2012-2019).

E. Donic

Donic was founded in 1977 in Germany. The head office of Donic is in Völklingen, Germany. For textile production, Donic also has a joint venture in Zhongshan, China. Donic’s strong side is table tennis table production. Other than table tennis tables they provide blades, rubbers, clothing robots, and balls as well.

Donic is an important table tennis table supplier for many international events such as 2006 World Team Table Tennis Championships, the majority of European Championships in the past ten years, and all of the Men’s World Cups since 2011.

Donic Tables were used at the World Championships in 1987(New Delhi), and 2006(Liebherr/Bremen) and the European Table Tennis Championships at 2007, 2009, 2012, 2013.

F. Cornilleau

Cornilleau was founded in 1969 in France and now seems to be the largest European Table Tennis Table producer.

All Cornilleau tables are designed, developed and produced in France. Up to now, Cornilleau produced 3 million table tennis tables.

Cornilleau has a presence in more than 80 countries.

In 2006 49% of Cornilleau sales were to France, 42% to EMEA region, 7% to The Americas and 2% to Asia-Oceania.

Milestones of Cornilleau:

– 1946 – Emile Cornilleau opens a joinery workshop in Bonneuil Les Eaux, France,
– 1969 – BHV Paris orders 300 table tennis tables for Christmas
– 1979 – The son Pierre Cornilleau takes over the management of the company. The building activity gives way to the making of a table tennis table,
– 1985 – The brand operates a commercial strategy on a European scale
nineteen eighty-one,
– 1988 – Invention of solid laminate – tables can stay outdoors
– 1995 – Invention of the Compact Technology behind a tremendous commercial deployment,
– 2000 – Diversification of the brand towards rackets/ balls/accessories with the expertise of Jean Philippe Gatien.

G. Yasaka

Yasaka Co. Ltd. was founded in 1947 by Hirosi Yaoita and Sakamoto. The name of Yasaka comes from founders names(Yaoita & Sakamoto). Hirosi Yaoita was a table tennis player who passed away in 2007.

Yasaka Head office is in Tokyo, Japan and blade factory is in Tranås, Sweden.

Yasaka has a rich product range including blades, rubbers, bats, clothing, tables&nets, balls, and bags.

Yasaka rubber Mark V won men´s single in the 1970 European Championships and 1971 World Championships shortly after Mark V introduced in 1969. Since then Mark V developed and has been one of the most well-known table tennis rubbers on the market.

V-Stage rubbers of Yasaka promises more speed and spin than ever in 2002 whereas Yasaka Rakza rubbers promise good balance between speed and spin and power sponge, enabling “Hybrid Energy”.

Milestones of Yasaka:

– 1947 – Yasaka was founded by Hirosi Yaoita and Sakamoto,
– 1950s – Yasaka developed fast in world table tennis by close connection with Japanese players,
– 1969 – Yasaka introduced rubber Mark V with revolutionized technology,
– 1992 – Yasaka launched blade production in Tranås, Sweden which resulted with blade Yasaka EXTRA introduction in 1993,
– 2002 – Yasaka introduced a new V-Stage rubber which promised more spin and more speed than ever. In the same year Yasaka produced 17-layer blade, Dynamix,
– 2008 – Yasaka player Ma Lin captured the gold medal in men’s team in the Olympic Games with Yasaka blade and Mark V,
– 2010s – Yasaka Rakza 7(2010), Rakza 9(2012), Rakza X(2014) was introduced.

H. Victas, TSP, Xiom, Asics

Victas, TSP, Xiom, and Asics are the handling brands of Victas Corporation. In 1931, the company started manufacturing celluloid balls in Kitaoji, Tokyo. The company had name changes and merges a few times in past years. In 2017 the company name changed from Yamato Takkyu Co. Ltd. to Victas Co. Ltd.

Victas has 2 head offices, one in Tokyo and one in Osaka. The capital of the Company is 90 million yen which is now US$800,000. Total revenue is between US$1Million – US$2.5 Million.

There are 5 Sales offices in Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, Nagoya, and Sapporo. There are two Overseas consolidated subsidiaries; Yamato table tennis Europe in Flein, Germany and Yamato table tennis China in Shanghai, China. The employee number is about 50 in Japan and 7 in Germany. Germany office serves all Europe with 400 dealers while Japan office serves to the rest of the world.

Most of TSP rubbers and balls are produced in Japan. Ventus rubber production is in Germany. Blades are manufactured in Japan and China. Some other goods in Europe and Asia. Table tennis tables are made in Germany.

TSP brand name comes from “Takashi Suzuki Peace” letters. Founder Takashi Suzuki wants to state a word for the second world war which comes with the word “Peace” in 1946. Then the company used a branding as “Total Support for Players”. TSP is famous for its wide range of pimples-out & long-pimple rubbers in the market.

The company share is about 20% of Japan‘s table-tennis market.

Milestones of Victas:

– 1931 – Suzuki Celluloid Industries was founded by Noriyuki Suzuki in Kitaoji, Tokyo and started celluloid ball production,
– 1946 – TSP(Takashi Suzuki Peace, now as Total Support for Players) Brand was born,
– 1959 – Yamato Industries Co. was established,
– 1963 – Company name changed to Yamato Takkyu Co. Ltd. (or Yamato Table Tennis Co., Ltd.),
– 1970 – Company started exportation and Pimple Out rubber Spectol launched,
– 1981 – Company sponsored Chinese national team clothes for 10 years,
– 1983 – The company found a European distributor(TSP Tischtennis GmbH) in Reutlingen, Germany.
– 2009 – Company merged with Astour Co. (Svensson Co., Ltd.) and Koji Matsushita became the representative director,
– 2011 – New brand Victas launched as a high-level concept,
– 2017 – Koji Matsushita President is retired and Yoshinori Kodama became the President and CEO. Tokyo and Osaka Head Offices established. Company name changed to Victas Co. Ltd.

I. Joola

In 1952, the sports department of the department store Jooss in Landau (Germany) started the production of table tennis tables, and in 1954, became an independent department within the group as the demand exploded. Then the production moved from Landau to Godramstein in 1963 and the department became a new independent company. So the company JOOLA Tischtennis GmbH Co.KG was founded with the first letters of Jooss(department name) and Laundau(location name).

Joola factory constructed in 1973 in Godramstein, Germany with a 1.800m² production, 1.200m² warehouse, and 700m² office area.

Joola has 2 factories, in Germany and in Hungary whereas offices are in the USA, China, Japan, Korea, France, and Italy.

Now Joola tables are manufactured in Siebeldingen factory, from coating the board to the undercarriage. An automatic lacquering line in Joola has a capacity of 30 tables per hour. Some leisure table tennis tables are produced in China.

Joola has more than 50 different rubbers. Some of the Joola rubber series like Rhyzer, Rhyzm, Golden, Maxx, X-Plode, Energy are produced in Germany. The rest are produced in Japan, China, Estonia, and Austria.

Blades are produced in Hungary, China, Japan, and Sweden.

Joola develops 25 new table tennis products every year.

Joola do not use a numeric rating for speed, spin, and control as they feel it is very subjective in the market. They say rubbers always rated higher than the previous year. Instead, they use a colored scale, green for low(defensive), blue for medium(all-round), red for high(offensive), and black for extra high(advanced offensive).

Joola produces bats, balls, blades, rubbers, robots, and clothing other than tables. Joola pays extra attention to the clothing of table tennis players for many years with the assistance of top players.

Milestones of Joola:

– 1952 – The sports department of departments store Jooss in Landau began the production of the first table tennis tables,
– 1954 – Table tennis production became an independent department within the group,
– 1963 – Demand exploded and the company moved from Landau to Godramstein and an independent company was founded,
– 1973 – The production moved to the new factory in Siebeldingen and Blade and rubber developments began,
– 1996 – Official Olympic Table for Atlanta Olympics,
– 1999 – Joola Hungary production started in Kiskoros to produce metal parts to the German headquarters,
– 2000 – Official Olympic Table for Sydney Olympics,
– 2004 – Official Olympic Table for Athens Olympics,
– 2018 – Joola sponsors World Veteran Championships; the largest tournament in the world.

J. Killerspin

Killerspin was founded by Robert Blackwell Jr. in 2001 after he sponsors a table tennis festival in Chicago and starts to think “the people should play such a sports game instead of sitting in the chair and playing computer games or doing business all day on the computer. So UnplugNPlay comes from this motto.

Killerspin aims to bring style and intensity to table tennis and designs table tennis equipment in order to bring excitement to the sport.

Killerspin opened Killerspin House in the Summer of 2013 in the heart of downtown Chicago, a social entertainment location with world-class table tennis equipment for people to have fun, make connections and increaser activity level.

Killerspin manufactures the products in Asia, Europe, and the USA. And Killerspin is number one in above $2.000 table tennis table category according to Robert Blackwell Jr.

Milestones of Killerspin:

– 2000 – Robert Blackwell Jr. decided to sponsor the Ping Pong Festival in Chicago,
– 2001 – Robert started Killerspin, a luxury table tennis company,
– 2013 – Killerspin opened Killerspin House in Chicago.

K. Tibhar

Tibhar brand was founded in 1969 in Saarbrücken, Germany by Tibor Harangozo who was a defensive player and passed away in 1978.

In the beginning, Tibhar Tibor Harangozo GmbH was concentrating only on the development and selling of blades and rubbers based on player requirements. Now the product range is wider.

Tibhar supports many international events such as World and Europe Championships.

Milestones of Tibhar:

– 1969 – Tibhar brand was founded in Saarbrücken, Germany by Tibor Harangozo,
– 1978 – Tibor Harangozo passed away and his junior partner Erwin Berg took over the company.

J. Andro

Andro is a German table tennis brand of Schöler & Micke Sportartikel Vertriebsges. mbH Company.

Sport-Micke, a 1-man company, was founded by German national team player Wilfried Micke(born in 1943) in Dortmund, Germany in 1970. The company was preparing the orders requested which is the assembly of custom-made racket products, and sending by post. Then the products were presented on the 24-page sport-mike catalog in 1970.

Sport-mike then merged with schöler-table tennis to form the new company Schöler & Micke Sportartikel-Vertriebs-Ges.mbH in 1977. The company employed at that time, 12 coworkers.

The Company headquarter is in on Alten Straße in Dortmund-Körne since 2007 with a huge warehouse, modern logistics, large office space, and the 200m² flagship store. Today, more than 30 employees work for the company, many of whom active or former table tennis players.

The annual catalog is now over 200 pages thick. And The Schöler & Micke Partner Shop Network includes more than 40 local retailers throughout Germany.

Andro has trendy marketing materials and informative talk videos which assist customers in choosing the right material.

Andro allows the rubbers to be glued in two orientations, 0° for higher speed and 90° for greater control.

Andro has been supporting the Kids Open tournament in Düsseldorf for over 25 years that over 1500 young table tennis players join every year.

Rasanter, Hexer, Plaxon, Backside, Plasma, etc. rubbers and sponges used in these rubbers are designed, developed, and produced in Germany. TP_Ligna blade is produced in Germany and Wanokiwami blade is produced in Japan.

Andro is innovative in clothing with functional fibers supports indoor dryness and harmful substance tests.

Milestones of Schöler & Micke:

– 1970 – Wilfried Micke founded the then 1-man company “sport-micke”,
– 1977 – Schöler & Micke Sportartikel-Vertriebs-Ges. mbH was formed with the merge of sport-micke and “schöler-table tennis”,
– 1979 – One of the first Table tennis shops was opened in Düsseldorf with Co-owner Ralf Wosik,
– 2001 – The Schöler & Micke online shop has been online,
– 2007 – The company moved to the new building on Alten Straße in Dortmund-Körne.

2. Other Table Tennis Brands

Here, maybe I need a little confession. The below 15 brands are the most famous brands, that’s right. But who can say any brand in the below list is not better than any brand of the above? Such as STAG, Sanwei, Gewo, Double Fish. Maybe, in the future…

Anyway below you will find some other table tennis accessory producers and brands. I wanted to just list and give a little data.

1. STAG (India, Since 1922, in 202 countries, 300 workers in a 108.000 ft2 facility)
2. Sanwei (China, Since 1993)
3. GEWO (Germany, Tables since 1956, Other products since 1966)
4. Double Fish (China, Since 1954: table tennis, badminton, football/basketball/volleyball)
5. Newgy (USA, Since 1975, Robo-Pong robots since 1988)
6. Huison (China, Since 2003)
7. REACTOR (China)
8. Kokutaku (Japan)
9. Dr Neubauer (Germany, Since 2002)
10. Homyl

11.Champion Sports
12. Globe (China)
13. Dunlop (England)
14. The Gorilla Farm
15. Sword
16. Hathaway (Table)
17. Gambler (2000s)
18. Prince (China)
19. VGEBY
20. Tuttle (China)

3. Conclusion(Which Brand is the best?)

There are some difficulties to get a 100% correct answer. The first difficulty is the data. You may notice that the data I gave you is not in the same detail level. Because some producers give much data, some do not. We can say, the data I could not gather is the producers’ weak side. Yes maybe, but maybe not. Unfortunately, this brings a little uncertainty to our investigation.

The second difficulty is to be good, in our case the best, at everything related to table tennis. Let’s take Butterfly. Maybe the most famous one, the one I know from the childhood too, but can they be the best at everything related to table tennis? Maybe Newgy is better in table tennis robots, maybe TSP is better in long-pimple rubbers, maybe andro is better in clothing, etc. If you want to buy all the table tennis materials in one brand, you can have an average, otherwise, you should search for the best in that particular material you want.

The third difficulty is analyzing the data that I presented. For instance, Indian STAG is in table tennis business since 1922, that’s cool. But maybe they did not pay attention to technology as Killerspin(2001) did. Or for the marketing purposes, they did not target the high-end market and did not use the high-quality material.

Considering all these difficulties, I am leaving this decision to you. You can have an average, or select the country you like, or take any data and make your choice. I will continue to find “the best brand in table tennis” product specific. For the blade, rubber, table, etc. separately. And I will try to structure an evaluation matrix and give points accordingly. I hope you will read them too.

I hope you enjoyed this article. Please feel free to write your comments.