Toothbrush disruption

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Provide the following information to the interviewee if requested:

Till last year, the toothbrush market was 75% manual and 25% rechargeable toothbrushes. The 2% market share gain of battery spinbrush has come mostly at the expense of rechargeable toothbrush sales.

Manual toothbrush:

• The net profit margin on sales of manual toothbrushes is 70%
• On average, a manual toothbrush consumer buys 2 toothbrushes per year

Rechargeable toothbrush:

• Rechargeable toothbrushes are sold as two separate parts- 'base' that sells for $60 (with a 65% net profit margin) and 'head' that sells for $5 (with a 90% net profit margin) - Both are needed for the device to work
• Life of an average base is 10 years
• Life of an average head is 6 months

Spinbrush:

• We believe that we can produce it at a cost of $5 per brush

The candidate should ask questions regarding the background of the case.