Producer
Gillette (Procter & Gamble)
Dominant global razor brand and originator of the razor-and-blades business model; owned by P&G. Major blade production in Boston (US) and Germany.
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Inputs supplied
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Goods downstream
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Stories
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2 inputs Gillette (Procter & Gamble) supplies
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Men's Razors & Blades
72%Women's Razors & Blades (Venus)
18%Shave Preparation & Aftercare
10%
Intelligence
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Did you know2020
Gillette's Fusion ProGlide and ProShield blade edges are coated with diamond-like carbon (DLC) via physical vapor deposition (PVD) — the same surface treatment used on hard disk drive read/write heads to resist wear from disk contact, surgical implant surfaces (orthopedic joint coatings) to reduce friction and biological reactivity, and precision cutting tools for aerospace machining. DLC deposition technology — developed for industrial hard coatings — was adapted for razor blades to extend edge life and reduce skin drag. The morning shave supply chain and the data storage, orthopedic implant, and aerospace machining supply chains all depend on the same DLC thin-film coating technology and PVD equipment manufacturers (Oerlikon Balzers, IHI Bernex).
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ↗Concentration2024
Gillette holds approximately 60-65% of the global wet shaving razor market by value (cartridge + disposable combined). The global razor blade steel market — martensitic stainless steel strip hardened and tempered to Rockwell C 56-60, then slit to razor width — is supplied almost exclusively by Sandvik (Sandvik Strip Steel, Sweden) and Böhler (Austria, now voestalpine). These two European specialty steel mills supply Gillette, Schick (Edgewell), BIC, and the major private-label manufacturers. A production disruption at either Sandvik or Böhler would have no direct substitute: the metallurgical specification for razor blade steel (specific chromium-vanadium carbide precipitation, edge hardness) is manufactured by fewer than 5 mills globally.
Sandvik AB ↗Origin2024
Gillette's founder King Camp Gillette patented the safety razor with a disposable blade in 1904, after spending years convinced that a consumable product with repeat purchases could displace durable goods. His insight — sell the handle cheap, profit from the blade — became the "razor-and-blades" business model taught in every MBA strategy course. P&G acquired Gillette in 2005 for $57B, Warren Buffett called it "the largest deal in consumer product history." By 2019, P&G wrote down $8B of Gillette's value, citing increased competition from Dollar Shave Club (acquired by Unilever 2016) and Harry's — competitors who used Gillette's own expired patents and Chinese manufacturing to offer functionally equivalent blades at 1/3 the price. The business model that defined modern consumer goods was also, ultimately, the roadmap its disruptors used to attack it.
Procter & Gamble Co. ↗