Questions:
(1) Evaluate product innovation at Gillette throughout its history. Has Gillette been a victim of its own success? Has product innovation in the wet-shaving market come to an end? Explain.

Gillette had dominated the personal shaving market for quite a long time. They did not focus on product innovation very much, and when it did, it focused on acquiring existing product lines. In 1962, when Wilkinson Sword launched its stainless-steel blade, Gillette finally had competition. Wilkinson Sword could not exploit the niche it had created and Gillette was able to purchase much of their existing blade business. However, the damage was done and the competition dropped their market share to an all-time low.
Gillette continued to diversify their product line, but was met with mixed success. It was at that time that Gillette gained even more dominance in its market by their product development. It began continuously attacking its own products. From the Trac II to Atra to Sensor to Mach3 to Fusion, Gillette kept on innovating and attacking it own products. It revolutionized the wet-shaving market throughout the world through continuous evolution in their product line since its inception.
In many ways Gillette has been a victim of its own success - when they were being innovative, they were "cannibalizing" their own successful products. While their new inventions drove up their sales, it often took away from the sales of its previous products and did not increase their market share.
I do feel product innovation in the wet-shaving market has come to an end. The five blade Fusion did nothing significantly different from their own Mach3 and Schick's Quattro. It also says something when introducing each new product, sales of the initial razor were higher than refill cartridges. People are eager to try to the new product, but may be they aren't pleased