Why has the US Government allowed Luxottica to create a Monopoly in the Glasses market?
The short answer is Lusottica is not a US company – as a company operating in the US and being listed in the US it should comply with US rules, they have recently delisted. In any case it’s not really a monopoly – at all.
“The global eyewear market size was valued at $102.66 billion in 2015 (reaching $163 billion in 2023). The increasing dependence on electronic gadgets such as mobile phones, television, and computers has led to eyesight problems resulting in the purchase of more eyewear products. The rise in the number of optical deficiencies and growth in the elderly population is expected to augment the eyewear market growth.” Grandview Research
Luxottica is a vertical company, it designs, manufactures, distributes and retails its eyewear brands. In 2017 the company has posted 9 billion Euro in sales. So it would be fair to say that they don’t have even 10% of the market share.
But:
The company recently merged with one of the largest lens manufacturers in the world - Essilor which in turn will create a “$50 billion industry behemoth.” France-based Essilor has a 45% share of the prescription lenses market and an estimated 15% share of the sunglasses and reading glasses markets.”
And while this will change the dynamic considerably that would bring them to around 50% of the market share at this time. Which they may or may not be able to keep expanding in the years to come unless smaller prescription eyeglasses companies are able to adequately gain market share.
“The two companies were worth a combined €46.3 billion, based on their market capitalization at the end of trading on Friday, making the deal one of Europe’s largest cross-border transactions.”
The retail brands they own (notice Eye Med is an insurance provider)
In 2017, the Company initiated and concluded the de-listing procedure from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), on which it was listed until June 16, 2017. Since this date, Luxottica has no longer been required to comply with the reporting obligations imposed on publicly registered companies under U.S. law.
See all of it:
https://www.quora.com/Why-has-the-US...Glasses-market
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