Super Max Out of Business??
- Thread starter poppi
- Start date
This is quite definitive:
Stock up now on their products while it is still available.
Stock up now on their products while it is still available.
Blade maker Supermax goes into bankruptcy
The operational creditor had approached the tribunal in September last year after Supermax Personal Care defaulted on its dues of ₹1.97 crore.
... but bear in mind Vidyut make the blades. Vidyut Metallics Pvt Ltd have not gone into administration.
I want the Supermaxes, too.
When I had a look on Ebay I breathed a sigh of relief.
I found an Indian seller who sells them different types of Supermax at different sizes and pieces from a few hundred to two thousand blades at not excessive prices.
These prices range from 50€ for five hundred of blades, 80€ about for one thousand blades or 172€ for two thousand Super max Diamond to 204€ for two thousand Super max Vidjut blades yellow and red pack.
I thought I want them but I won't go crazy to count them all, so there is still some time to buy them without rushing.
I hope to be able to sleep tonight.
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Yeah, they are good blades to me, but I don't see a reason to load up on dead stock unless I run across some amazing deal like that Ukrainian gentleman did in his country.
There are lots of blades currently manufactured that work for me from Treet, Gillette, and Dorco. Heck, the 5 cent FlyDear Platinums from China shave great for me too.
With that said, I do like the Super-Max Blue Diamond and am glad I have a 100 or so in my stash.
Blade maker Supermax goes into bankruptcy
The operational creditor had approached the tribunal in September last year after Supermax Personal Care defaulted on its dues of ₹1.97 crore.economictimes.indiatimes.com
... but bear in mind Vidyut make the blades. Vidyut Metallics Pvt Ltd have not gone into administration.
"Vidyut" sounds like the word my dad used
to describe someone who's brain had been damaged
by too much television.
Space_Cadet
I don't have a funny description.
They were making very good types of blades. A great shame.
Yes, I remember the Ukrainian gentleman who did the Super max Platinum deal in his country.
However I was being ironic, they might be a super bargain for me and cost very little but I wouldn't dream of buying a thousand blades, maybe not even five hundred of the same razor blade.
To get a thousand or two thousand blades over the years what would I do with them?
Sell them,reg them? To use the same type of blade for years for me nassolutely not, I like this world because it is wonderful to be able to vary the type of razor blade each time and variable in shaving.
Certainly now that I have seen on Ebay I will buy something Super max at least 100 blades.
It is very strange that you never hear about Zorrik.
Regardless of the legal and court cases, the Super max factories have been closed for almost two years and are no longer producing blades.Blade maker Supermax goes into bankruptcy
The operational creditor had approached the tribunal in September last year after Supermax Personal Care defaulted on its dues of ₹1.97 crore.
... but bear in mind Vidyut make the blades. Vidyut Metallics Pvt Ltd have not gone into administration.
I don't think there will be positive news about a return to production although hopefully it will be.
That's sad for them but those blades are good but not the best I've used. They're not like the personna '74s or anything like that.
Seeing how the supply may eventually dry up, if anyone has any varieties of Super Max blades they would like to donate to the Great Blade Exchange, it would be greatly appreciated. Send me a PM for mailing instructions.
Well, for sure the Personna are much superior to the Supermax but also of other Indian blade brands.
- Thread starter
- #13
Connaught shaving has some of these in-stock. 200 Blue Diamond for 18.5 British Pounds including shipping to the U.S.
Good example of how slow moving blade inventory is among on-line retailers since any of these blades are at least a year and a half old.
Back in 2003 Supermax/Vidyut Metallics Limited was noted as the second largest manufacturer of razor blades in the world per an Indian Government analysis of the razor blade industry (link below). It's key competitor in India then was Gillette who owned 51% of local company Indian Shaving Products Limited. Dramatic change in the market there over the past 20+ years with Supermax declaring bankruptcy. These two companies were viewed as having a near monopoly in India at this time. The report appears written to encourage new market entrants into the Indian market.
Gillette's biggest challenge back then was that it's products were too expensive for most in India making it hard for them to convert consumers from DE razors to shaving systems. To achieve better success they came out with the Gillette Guard, a low cost system developed specifically for the Indian market.
An excerpt from this government report on SuperMax at that time:
"SuperMax Corporation – a family owned business group was founded in 1949, and began the journey to become what it is today - the second largest manufacturer of razor blades in the world. (good chance this is based on unit and not dollar volume)
The group has been producing razors for almost half a century, but it was the 1980's, with the launch of the SuperMax concept, that the incredible growth that the group has seen since then began. This has led to the group dominating the largest
marketplace in the world for razor blades.
In the 1980s, it was apparent that around the world either razor blades were of a very low level of quality at very low prices, or a high level of quality with exorbitantly high prices. There was no high quality product available at reasonable prices, and it was into this vacuum that the SuperMax concept was launched. Today, SuperMax is available in over 70 countries across all 5 continents. It is estimated that, today, one in every five people shave with a SuperMax product." (ALL INDIA STATUS REPORT ON SAFETY RAZOR BLADES INDUSTRY, 2003, p.28)
Supermax was still considered the second largest razor blade manufacturer with 20% of the world market as recently as 2011 per a 2011 The Hindu Article that also discussed their launch of new shaving systems with up to four blades. (New logistics initiative from Super-Max - https://www.thehindu.com/business/companies/new-logistics-initiative-from-supermax/article2389495.ece )
It looks like things really began to fall apart for Supermax after 2011. A 2017 India Times article noted that their sales dropped from $211-$123 million and profits from $27 million to $10 million between 2012 -2016. (Super-Max promoter eyes PE Actis’ stake amid feud - Times of India - https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/super-max-promoter-eyes-pe-actis-stake-amid-feud/articleshow/61620392.cms , note article does not confirm is these are U.S.$)
Note it may not have been Gillette alone that took share from Supermax. I saw another report that indicated growing razor blade imports to India from other countries including Vietnam. So Supermax may have been squeezed from Gillette at the top and other low cost or better value competitors from below. Think of the Dorco blades we've seen featured by Indian retailers that we know now come from Vietnam as one example.
2003 Indian Government Report:
In India alone there are or were until a few years ago two of the largest razor blade manufacturers in the world.
Unfortunately in the late 1990s India had mainly Russia as a competitor, after P&G's acquisition of Gillette everything changed.
It was worse that Gillette bought India's Wilkinson and went into manufacturing in India with its own factories,imho.
There are too many blade companies in the Indian market, too much competition.
All this imho, of course.
Not to forget that there is not only Vietnam but Pakistan and Bangladesgh ,in the last twenty or thirty years they have improved their blade production quality.
Lastly Vidyut's exit coincides with the entry of RK shaving new blade manufacturer in India, there is always a turnover of blade manufacturing companies in that Asian country.
It certainly regrets the exit from the scene for Vidyut and Supermax.
