Smoke without fire: Japan becomes test ground for real tobacco e-cigarette

[Alex]

Smoke without fire: Japan becomes test ground for real tobacco e-cigarette
TOKYO | By Taiga Uranaka and Ritsuko Shimizu

TOKYO Two tobacco giants are seeing strong demand for their reboots of the e-cigarette in Japan, with Philip Morris International (PM.N) twice postponing a nationwide rollout and Japan Tobacco (2914.T) suspending shipments - both due to supply shortages.

Japan has become a key testing ground for the two companies and their new, real tobacco e-smokes as they grapple with shrinking demand for traditional cigarettes in other developed countries.

Philip Morris, the world's largest tobacco company, has postponed the nationwide rollout of its iQOS to April 18.

"We believe that the success of iQOS commercialization in Japan will accelerate its global expansion," Philip Morris Japan president Paul Riley told Reuters.

Japan Tobacco CEO Mitsuomi Koizumi told an earnings briefing in February: "We have very high expectations for growth of the so-called tobacco vapor category in five years or so from now."

The iQOS is a tobacco stick that is heated just enough to produce an aerosol but not combust. The company is betting the presence of real tobacco will make it more satisfying to smokers than existing e-cigarettes.

The new device, priced at 9,980 yen ($89), appears similar to other e-cigarettes in that it is pen-shaped and battery-powered, and is heated to release tobacco vapor.

A key distinction is the refills, sold as Marlboro HeatSticks. Most e-cigarettes sold elsewhere use nicotine-laced liquid, which is heavily regulated in Japan. A pack of 20 HeatSticks sells for 460 yen, the same as regular Marlboro cigarettes.

Philip Morris has introduced the products in major cities in Switzerland, Italy and other countries, but Japan is the first country it plans a nationwide release.

The company had originally planned to sell the product throughout Japan on March 1, but postponed the launch to the end of the month due to a potential supply shortage after it saw stronger-than-expected sales in 12 prefectures where it has been test marketing.

The company estimates the market share of Marlboro HeatSticks reached 2.4 percent in Tokyo at the end of January.

Japan Tobacco, which commands about 60 percent of Japan's cigarette market and is the world's third-largest tobacco maker, has also got in on the action by acquiring two overseas e-cigarette makers in the past two years.

In Japan, it has launched the Ploom TECH, priced at 4,000 yen and sold with 460-yen packs of five capsules. Ploom TECH's selling point is that vapor generated from a liquid cartridge passes through the capsules' granulated tobacco, creating a taste the company says is close to the real thing.

"There is definitely a need for products that are smokeless but are still satisfying as cigarettes," said Masanao Takahashi, director at Japan Tobacco's emerging products marketing division.

Like iQOS, Ploom TECH's initial launch in the southern Japanese city of Fukuoka proved so popular that the shipment of the device were suspended after a week due to a supply shortage.

It is currently working on a nationwide launch and is also eyeing a global expansion later this year.

source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-japan-tobacco-idUSKCN0WV0GQ

https://www.reddit.com/r/electronic...j/real_tobacco_ecigs_big_tobacco_tries_going/

 

[Lord Vetinari]

I almost threw up. I am sickened. So. Tobacco companies are merely finding more ways to keep their poison in use. Aaaaaaarrrgggh.

So they actually WANT people to die a gruesome and slow death while their families are bankrupted to pay for the last few days on the mortal coil... vapor through granulated tobacco...

Japan: Try some Blackbird. Tobacco has never been that good (or that good for you).

 

[Waine]

It's amazing the lengths us humans will go to in order to receive gratification, and smoking is no exception. But I will take my nic via vaping, thank you very much.

Shot for the article...

Sent from my GT-I9500 using Tapatalk

 

[WARMACHINE]

Very interesting development, watch his space

 

[BrizzyZA (VapeLife)]

So why isn't Big Pharmacy labelling this as a smoking cessation device that should only be subscribed by a doctor?... Oh because its a product by Big Tobacco, but they have no problem attacking vaping

 

[Papa_Lazarou]

Y'know, it's funny. At this point I wouldn't want this for all the tea in China (which is, like, a lot).

Vaping, for me, has become something so much more than smoking ever was and I long ago moved past the "replicate a cigarette" phase of harm reduction.

At its core, yes, it's inhaled nicotine with a visible byproduct and it mimics the hand-mouth ritualistic satisfaction, but beyond that (taste, use, sensation, etc.) it's another thing entirely. Something better, IMHO, and that's just on the grounds of satisfaction, irrespective of potential health benefits.

This smokeless cigarette just feels like something I used to do but have left behind forever.

And then there's the aspect of who is bringing this to market......

 

[OnePowerfulCorsa]

My 2cents is that these stinky manufacturers could have been smarter years ago when the effects of smoking started coming out and invested in the future of alternate nicotine intake. With their funds and reach they could have been making devices, eliquids, tanks etc that we are getting now many years ago and they could have maintained their enormous profit levels. They didn't and now want to play catch up. This sounds familiar to the big boys in the oil trade who should be putting eveything they have into finding alternate energy sources instead of putting down electric car manufacturers.

 

[stevie g]

This is good news!. Vaping will become mainstream and new entrants will grow the after market market.

 

[Lord Vetinari]

This is good news!. Vaping will become mainstream and new entrants will grow the after market market.

But what if it leads to ALL e-cigs being classed as tobacco?... Cigarette taxes on the batteries for your mod even will be a reality... Can be good. Can be catastrophic.

Right now I see zero positives. Vaping has been proven to be far SAFER than cigs. Not devoid of risks. Now, what will happen with the combined risk fron tobacco and vaping? This is what I want to know. Sounds pretty reckless to me mate.

 

[hands]

NO THANK YOU Philip Morris

 

[Andre]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...ice-criticized-by-imperial-tobacco-researcher :

"The tobacco industry’s united front is being tested as Imperial Tobacco Group Plc takes a swipe at Philip Morris International Inc.’s new cigarette alternative.

The Marlboro maker claims its “iQOS” product -- a black pen-shaped device that heats sticks containing tobacco -- could potentially reduce risks compared with smoking because combustion isn’t involved. Imperial researchers tested the so-called “heat-not-burn” gadget and found evidence that some of the processes within a burning cigarette are still occurring.

“There’s a lot of black crud in the iQOS device after using it,” said Steve Stotesbury, the U.K. company’s head of scientific regulatory affairs, speaking in an interview at an industry conference in Bologna last week. “It smells like an ashtray.”


The war of words is unusual, as tobacco companies normally stand together to ward off attacks from anti-smoking activists and public-health authorities who seek to place more restrictions on smoking. The fracas also comes as the world’s largest cigarette makers pursue different paths to develop healthier alternatives to smoking as sales of conventional cigarettes dwindle. Imperial is the only big industry player to turn its back on heat-not-burn technology, focusing on e-cigarettes instead.

Next-Generation Products
Philip Morris is betting that its device will become more popular than e-cigarettes sold by Imperial and others because using iQOS tastes and feels more similar to smoking, it says.

“While we are pleased that Imperial now recognizes the harm-reduction potential of heat-not-burn products such as iQOS, it is disappointing that they try to disparage a very promising technology for tobacco harm-reduction they do not have in their portfolio,” Philip Morris said.

Stifel Financial Corp. analyst Christopher Growe has said Philip Morris’s next-generation products could add $1.3 billion in annual operating profit within five years. PMI’s new products will have plenty of company, such as Ploom, a product by Japan Tobacco Inc., and a device from British American Tobacco Plc scheduled for later this year.


Smoking Substitute
“While iQOS is capable of reducing harmful compounds associated with cigarette smoke by a factor of ten, an e-cigarette is capable of eliminating most of them completely,” said Stotesbury of Imperial, which sells e-cigs under the Puritane brand in the U.K. as well as Davidoff cigarettes.

Philip Morris’s $80 iQOS smoking substitute has gone on sale in Switzerland after trial runs in Italy and Japan, and for now it’s being marketed as a cleaner and less smelly alternative to smoking. Users insert a Marlboro-brand “heatstick” into the device that gets pierced and heated by a metal blade.

E-cigarettes don’t satisfy consumers, Philip Morris Chief Executive Officer Andre Calantzopoulos said in May. Available evidence shows that both types of products have “significant” potential for harm reduction, the company said.

Clinical Studies
The tobacco maker completed eight clinical studies on heat-not-burn and has longer-term tests underway, planning to submit findings to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2016.

Trials on almost 350 smokers showed iQOS resulted in “a rapid and substantial reduction” in their exposure to harmful chemicals, Moira Gilchrist, a scientific director at Philip Morris, said in an interview at the Bologna conference.

“There are very different views on heat-not-burn within the industry,” James Bushnell, an analyst at Exane BNP Paribas, wrote. “The holy grail is having a consumer acceptable reduced-risk product.” ".

 

[Papa_Lazarou]

" E-cigarettes don’t satisfy consumers, Philip Morris Chief Executive Officer Andre Calantzopoulos said in May. "

Heh - their e-cigs don't satisfy consumers. Sure, that I can buy. Cigalikes blow, by and large.