Gillette Launches Disposable Razor

Gillette Co. on Thursday unveiled a new top-of-the-line disposable razor as it tries to regain market share from rival Schick in the disposables market. The new Sensor 3 is a disposable version of Boston-basted Gillette’s Sensor blade and razor system.

Aside from giving Gillette a higher-end product to compete with Schick’s Extreme 3, the new disposable will help Gillette use up Sensor production capacity that has been freed up as the company has tried to entice consumers to use the more expensive Mach3, Peter Hoffman, president of Gillette’s grooming products business, said in an interview.

Since Schick’s Extreme 3 was released about two years ago, Gillette has seen its share of the disposable market fall to about 42% from 52%, Hoffman said. Schick, a unit of Pfizer Inc., has about 27% of the market on a dollar-share bases, Hoffman said.

“We just haven’t been participating in the super premium segment,” Hoffman said.

Disposables account for about 30% of the blade and razor market, Hoffman said.

Sensor 3, in men’s and women’s models, will be available in late May 2003, the company said. It expects to sell a four-pack of the razor for $5.99 to $6.99, compared with about $8.40 for a four-pack of the company’s Mach3 Turbo blades.