2024-07-18
54 分钟A single company, EssilorLuxottica, owns so much of the eyewear industry that it’s hard to escape their gravitational pull — or their “obscene” markups. Should regulators do something? Can Warby Parker steal market share? And how did Ray-Bans become a luxury brand? (Part one of a two-part series.)
Here's a riddle for you.
Name an item that is both a medical device and a fashion accessory.
An item that may cost $50 to make but often sells for over $1,000.
An item that was invented eight centuries ago has improved billions of lives, and yet many people who need it don't have it, especially children.
Have you figured it out?
The item I'm talking about here is the pair of eyeglasses sitting right now on my face, and maybe yours, too.
This episode and the episode next week also are about the economics of the eyeglass industry.
Does that sound boring?
It isn't boring.
What we learned while making these episodes is that the eyewear industry is fascinating and strange.
What you see is often not what you get.
It is a unique and resilient industry, in the words of one research firm, with global annual revenues of around $150 billion.
And it's growing fast, not just because more people need glasses these days, but because we are paying more.
In the US, the biggest market in the world, a pair of simple prescription glasses, costs, on average, around $350.
It is an industry with many players, but one is much bigger than the rest.
They're called Esselor Luxottica.
They are the result of a 2018 merger between the french lens manufacturer Essilor and the italian frame maker Luxottica.
You've probably never heard of Esselor Luxottica, but you certainly know the brands they partner with, Armani, Chanel, Coach, Michael Kors, on and on and on.
But Essilor Luxottica goes way, way beyond luxury.
They own lenscrafters and Pearl Vision, Vision Express and Oliver peoples.