"I see a lot of these two digit code with Yonex rackets, what are they?"

these two digit codes are country of distribution code. you can find the country code on the "cone" right above the handle of the racket. for newer racket, they are printed on the cone, for older generation, they are engraved.

as far as we know, only Yonex rackets has them. they are used to identify where the racket is destined for.

SP is a very common country code as SP (Singapore) is the main distributor of Yonex rackets in the SE Asia region. so there are many SP racket there.

the known codes that we know of are:

AS - Australia
BX - Belgium/Netherlands
CD - Canada
CH - China
CN/CP - Chinese National Team
DK - Denmark
FR - France
GR - Germany
HK - Hong Kong
ID - India
IN/IP - Indonesia
JP - Japan
KR - Korea
MA - Malaysia
NZ - New Zealand
SD - Sweden
SP - Singapore
TH - Thailand
TW - Taiwan
UA - United Arab Emirates
UK - United Kingdom
US - USA

there are also other more mystery codes such as "SPY", which is similar to SP but is said to be more durable then SP.

CN/CP rackets have generated a lot of discussion. CN/CP rackets are racket specially made by Yonex for the Chinese National Team. it is said that these rackets are especially solid and more durable than their other counterparts. there are believer and dis-believers of such claims. and the debate will probably go on and on...

NOTE: these are distribution code, and it is NOT manufacturing code. in other words, it absolutely does not tell you which country the racket is made in. aside from CN/CP, there are rumors that certain rackets with certain country codes are more fragile/durable than others. there has been no official confirmation of that matter. most of these rumors are spread by some retailers whom we believe are trying to discourage players from buying lower priced racket from overseas.

I was looking ard for a VT70 and chanced upon one with HK code on the cone, but the shaft itself there was "SP" printed. Just wanted to ask if anyone knows if this is a norm in HK coded rackets?

i'd stay away.

generic picture shown. cheap price. the pic shows CH also. "wholesale"?

quite likely it is fake.

They are all the same. Country codes are put in for distribution and warranty purposes.

Try to get a racket that has your country code on it. That way if your racket has a manufacturing defect, you can ask the seller or distributor for a replacement. If the country code differs, they might not honor the replacement guarantee.

please read the last paragraph of the first post of this thread. the country code is distribution code, it doesn't tell you where the racket is manufactured.

All the top end rackets are made in Japan. You can see that in the shaft lettering (not to be confused with the country code found on the cap of the handle) and the country name on the butt cap below the Yonex logo.

The mid and low end rackets are made in China and Taiwan. The butt cap in these rackets do not have the country name on them.

Top end racket shaft lettering. This shows country of manufacture.

Top end racket butt cap. This shows country of manufacture.

Racket country code on the cap of the handle. This shows the country that this racket is going to be distributed in.