Essilor.com

Consolidating our position as world leader

 

As number one in the increasingly competitive global market for ophthalmic optical products, Essilor set out to reinforce its position by implementing a three-fold strategy.

Industrial specialization

Essilor gradually withdrew from its frames activity to concentrate on corrective lenses and on instruments for opticians.

 

Added value

In keeping with its tradition as an innovator, Essilor expanded its operations across all the very high-tech segments.

• Coatings, with the Crizal® brand, a combined scratch-resistant, anti-reflective and anti-smudge coating. A partnership with US group PPG also allowed Essilor to launch the Transitions® photochromic lens, which becomes darker or lighter depending on the intensity of the ambient light.

• Materials, with the launch of the Airwear® polycarbonate lens. Here, the acquisition of US company Gentex, the world leader in this market, allowed Essilor to break into the very high-growth segment of light, unbreakable plastic materials.

• Design, with the fourth generation progressive lens, marketed by Essilor under the name Varilux® Comfort®. The lens was launched simultaneously throughout Europe, and subsequently in Asia and the United States.

 

The "global web"

New plants appears in China and in India. In 1999, a third of all Essilor lenses were manufactured in Asia.

 

Essilor took another step forward in 1996, when it began to buy up independent prescription laboratories in the United States. The aim, as in Europe, was to establish a network of local laboratories that would be able to customize lenses to meet wearers’ prescription needs. These local distribution networks gradually became wholly-owned Essilor subsidiaries. The grid was extended to Eastern Europe.