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The launch event for a new electric shaver by Philips.
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Razor manufacturers are targeting cosmopolitan males with new products with, as it were, cutting-edge functions. Dorco announced Monday it will release the world¡¯s first six-blade razor called the pace 6. After introducing a triple-blade razor in 2001, Dorco skipped the middle stage and simply doubled the number of blades in just six years. In March, Gillette introduced a ¡°fusion razor¡± with five blades at the front plus one at the back to take care of mustaches and whiskers. The renewed competition between the two major razor companies was spurred by the fact that men increasingly pay attention to their skin. ¡°Male customers these days want smooth and hairless skin. Long gone are the days when a dark and bearded face defined masculinity,¡± explained Dorco¡¯s deputy manager Lee Sang-min.
Electronic razor firms are also bombarding the market with new products. Germany¡¯s small home appliance label Braun has introduced a new razor called the ProSonic that uses sound wave technology. Sound wave vibration straightens hairs, making it easier to shave, the company claims. Philips Electronics has released the Arcitec which, obviously aware of the sound wave technologies its rivals are advertising, emphasizes that it does its job without noise and vibration. With intensifying competition between companies, the market is estimated to grow by more than 7 percent over last year, reaching almost W100 billion with wet type and electric shavers included.
According to Ryu Yeong-gi of P&G, which introduced Braun¡¯s razor in Korea, the interests and demand among male Korean consumers for aesthetic products are much higher than those from Japan and China, so foreign brands see the Korean market as the new ¡°blue ocean.¡±
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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