Stainless Steel Razor Blades
In 1965, Wilkinson Sword introduced stainless steel razor blades. The previous carbon steel razor blades rusted fast enough that many people used a new blade each day. Wilkinson Sword blades made rapid gains in the market, because one blade, though somewhat more expensive, could be used for a week. This very roughly cut the market for razor blades by a factor of seven. This introduction gave Wilkinson a substantive market share. Previous market leaders quickly responded by introducing their own stainless blades. The technology had been available for some time, but the market leaders like Gillette, which held a patent on stainless blades, presumably knew that any gain for them in market share would be overwhelmed by the dramatic reduction in the size of the market.
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Famous quotes containing the words stainless steel, stainless, steel, razor and/or blades:
“I stir my martinis with the screw,
four-inch and stainless steel,
and think of my hip where it lay
for four years like a darkness.”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)
“I stir my martinis with the screw,
four-inch and stainless steel,
and think of my hip where it lay
for four years like a darkness.”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)
“Through joy and blindness he shall know,
Not caring much to know, that still
Nor lead nor steel shall reach him,”
—Julian Grenfell (1888–1915)
“Experience has taught me, when I am shaving of a morning, to keep watch over my thoughts, because, if a line of poetry strays into my memory, my skin bristles so that the razor ceases to act.”
—A.E. (Alfred Edward)
“By the flow of the inland river,
Whence the fleets of iron have fled,
Where the blades of the grave-grass quiver,
Asleep are the ranks of the dead:—”
—Francis Miles Finch (1827–1907)