Thread: The new 5-bladed Gillette Fusion razor

When will they learn that less is more?


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CHICAGO, Sept 14 (Reuters) - Gillette Co. <G.N> on Wednesday launched its newest razor platform, a five-bladed razor called Fusion that has a facial hair trimmer on the back of the cartridge.

Fusion is Gillette's latest product geared at maintaining the company's leading share of the world's razor and blade marker. It has one more blade than the Quattro sold by rival Schick, a unit of Energizer Holdings Inc. <ENR.N>.

The launch comes as Gillette awaits approval of its planned acquisition by Procter & Gamble Co. <PG.N>.

Gillette, which also makes Duracell batteries, said in a meeting with analysts and reporters that Fusion will come as both a standard razor and a battery-powered version with a computer chip that will tell users when the battery is running down.

A four-pack of Fusion cartridges will sell for $12 to $13 and a four-pack of Fusion Power cartridges will be $13 to $14, Gillette said.

The Fusion razor and two cartridges will cost about $9.99, and Fusion Power, with one cartridge and a Duracell battery, will cost about $11.99.

Fusion will be available in stores in North America in first quarter 2006, the company said.

$14 for 4 blades? Once again I'm glad I use a st8. Now I just need to learn how to shave my head with one.

Originally Posted by Rob

$14 for 4 blades? Once again I'm glad I use a st8. Now I just need to learn how to shave my head with one.

I guess the profit margin on the Mach3 wasn't good enough

With these prices, it's easier to justify one of Maestro's razors from Lynn, or a TI Damascus from Ray, or one of John Crowley's Damascus straights.

4 quattro blades are already 14$ here ....
Thus the straight as well indeed.

@Rob

Hold your horses, am working on that .... (:-)

Hoekie

Originally Posted by sensei_kyle

A four-pack of Fusion cartridges will sell for $12 to $13 and a four-pack of Fusion Power cartridges will be $13 to $14, Gillette said.

Thanks for the reminder of what finally prodded me to get off the merry-go-round. (Hey, but I'll bet that the resulting shaves will be 25% "gooder" than the 4-bladed model.)

Wonder how long it will be before I convince the wife to switch to a D.E. ...

We live in such a decadent society. I read somewhere that the majority of the worlds tungsten has been used up in razor blades and light bulbs.

Anyway, $14 bucks a pack! Ha, my favorite razor cost me $7 on ebay. It's lasted 3 months so far. I'm guessing (and this is a wild guess) that my straight will probably last 3 more months. Maybe I shouldn't sharpen it on the electric sharpener on the back of my can opener. That also may explain my scabby complexion and $100 a week balm habit.

This is a disposable society. Add to that the constant need to make a new product even if the existing one is fine (This however doesn't apply to a Mach3) explains $14 for 4 blades. Wow what a waste.

Life is imitating art (or at least comedy). Did anyone else catch the skit (SNL or MadTV) on the 15? bladed razor? At the time, I thought it was a ludicrous exagerration. Now I'm not so sure.





Wayne

Couldn't possibly be any worse in my experience.

Originally Posted by yan3751

Hey, but I'll bet that the resulting shaves will be 25% "gooder" than the 4-bladed model.

Yeah, with a five bladed razor we can dispose of it five times a fast as we could when I learned to shave with a DE 45 years ago. Impressive!

Originally Posted by RichZ

This is a disposable society.