EssilorLuxottica Société anonyme Profile
EssilorLuxottica Société anonyme designs, manufactures, and sells ophthalmic lenses and ophthalmic optical instruments in North America, Europe, Asia/Oceania/Africa, and Latin America.
The company also develops and markets equipment for prescription laboratories and instruments and services for eye care professionals. It provides non-prescription reading glasses and also sells non-prescription sunglasses.
Segments
The company operates through three segments, including Lenses & Optical Instruments, Equipment, and Sunglasses & Readers.
Lenses & Optical Instruments
This segment consists of the company’s Lens business (production, prescription, distribution and trading) and the Instruments business (small equipment used by opticians and relating to the sale of lenses). The end customers for this business segment are eye-care professionals (opticians and optometrists).
The company designs, manufactures and customizes corrective lenses to meet each person’s unique vision requirements. Its lens range corrects myopia, hyperopia, astigmatism and presbyopia to enable people to regain better vision, preserve and protect their eyesight and improve their lens wearing experience. The company serves every segment of the ophthalmic lens market with brands, such as Varilux and its progressive lens range, including the Varilux X series; Crizal and its range of antireflective, antismudge and antistatic lenses, including Crizal Sapphire 360°; Transitions and its photochromic lenses (that darken on exposure to UV light), including the new generation Transitions Signature (2013) and Transitions Xtractive (2015); Eyezen, a new line of lenses launched in 2015 for users of computers, tablets, smartphones and other connected devices; Xperio polarized sun lenses; and The Nikon and Kodak corrective lens brands used under licensing agreements with Nikon Corporation and Eastman Kodak, respectively.
In addition, within this division, the company designs, develops, markets, and maintains a range of optical instruments in two specialty segments: lens edging and mounting instruments for opticians and prescription laboratories, and vision screening instruments for eyecare professionals, schools, occupational medicine centers, the military and other institutions.
The Lenses & Optical Instruments business chain is designed as a complete network with multiple interactions. The segment has a global network of plants, prescription laboratories, edging facilities and distribution centers serving eye care professionals worldwide. This network is centrally managed, along with the company’s research and development, marketing, intellectual property and engineering functions.
Equipment
This segment consists of the production, distribution and sale of high capacity equipment, such as digital surfacing machines and lens coating machines, used in manufacturing plants and prescription laboratories for finishing operations on semi-finished lenses. The end customers for this business segment are optical lens manufacturers.
Sunglasses & Readers
This segment consists of the production, distribution and sale of both non-prescription sunglasses and non-prescription reading glasses. The end customers for this segment are retailers that sell these products to consumers.
The division consists of companies, each having a portfolio of brands, such as FGX International and its subsidiaries, which markets readers and sunglasses under both proprietary and licensed brands. Proprietary brands include Foster Grant, Freedom Polarised, Gargoyles, Magnivision, Corinne McCormack, Monkey Monkey, Ryders Eyewear,
SolarShield and Suuna. Licensed brands include Dockers, French Connection, Hello Kitty, Ironman, Karen Millen, Levi’s, Nine West, Reebok and various Disney trademarks; Costa and its high-performance sunglasses for water-basedactivity enthusiasts; Xiamen Yarui Optical, which designs, manufactures and markets mid-tier sunglasses in China under the Bolon, Molsion and Prosun brands; Merve, which markets sunglasses in Turkey with a portfolio of proprietary brands, such as Osse and Mustang; and Photosynthesis Group, which markets sunglasses and corrective glasses in China and Southeast Asia under various brands, including MJS.
This includes the Sunglasses & Readers Division’s sunglasses business and the Lenses and Optical Instruments Division’s prescription and non-prescription sun lens business.
Strategy
The company’s strategy is to integrate new technologies and new distribution networks. The key elements of the company’s strategy include innovating in products, services and technology, thereby enabling the introduction every year of products delivering improved performance and new wearer benefits to resolve unmet vision problems; developing solutions tailored to every segment and every geography in order to meet the diverse needs of eyecare professionals and consumers; actively acquiring new companies and forming partnerships with industry stakeholders, to deepen its local presence and enhance its asset portfolio; and stimulating demand by deploying vision awareness programs, screening campaigns and initiatives to make visual correction more widely accessible.
Research and Development
Every year, the company allocates a significant portion of its revenue to research and innovation. In 2017, this investment amounted to €217 million before the deduction of research tax credits.
Customers
The company’s customers are opticians/optometrists for ophthalmic lenses and edging and mounting instruments directly or indirectly through distributors; prescription laboratories for lenses and edging and mounting instruments; and end consumers through the company’s Websites that sell optical products.
History
The company was founded in 1849. It was formerly known as Essilor International Societe Anonyme and changed its name to EssilorLuxottica in 2018. Further, the company changed its name to EssilorLuxottica Société anonyme in 2018.
