In the story of e-cigarettes, there is no shortage of growth myths. From the earliest HNB represented by IQOS, to the later cotton-wick atomizer represented by JUUL, and the ceramic atomizer represented by Smol/RLX, they have all gone through a stage of barbaric growth.
Today, the “protagonist” of the e-cigarette growth story has become disposable e-cigarettes. In the past two years, sales of disposable e-cigarettes have increased nearly 63 times. This is especially evident in the European market. Disposable e-cigarettes will usher in explosive growth in 2022, with sales increasing to US$1.54 billion, a year-on-year increase of +811.8%.
More importantly, strong disposable e-cigarettes are squeezing the market for reloadable and open e-cigarettes. In 2022, the sales proportion of disposable e-cigarettes in the UK and the United States will be 43.1% and 51.8% respectively.
In the past, when many people talked about the e-cigarette industry, they inevitably talked about policy concerns, but e-cigarettes continue to explode in policy, demonstrating their strong vitality. From HNB to atomized e-cigarettes and now disposable e-cigarettes, a development pattern of the e-cigarette industry is revealed:
It is never policy that defeats e-cigarettes, but another better e-cigarette
Euromonitor data shows that e-cigarette sales in Western Europe have increased rapidly from US$2.11 billion in 2015 to US$5.69 billion in 2022. Disposable e-cigarettes will see explosive growth in 2022, with sales increasing to US$1.54 billion, a year-on-year increase of + 811.8%.
Especially in the UK, which regards e-cigarettes as a tool for tobacco control, the sales of disposable e-cigarettes in 2022 increased by 1116.9% year-on-year to US$1.08 billion, and the sales proportion of disposable e-cigarettes also increased from 0.6% in 2020 to 2022. 43.1%.
The rise of disposable e-cigarettes has greatly squeezed the market share of reloadable and open e-cigarettes. From 2015 to 2021, among underage users, the most popular e-cigarette category is open. Disposable e-cigarettes will become rapidly popular in 2022, with their proportion increasing from 7.8% in 2021 to 52.8% in 2022: Removable e-cigarettes will reach their peak in 2020-2021, and will be overtaken by the disposable category with open e-cigarettes. The e-cigarette category preferred by adults in 2021-2022 is all open-type, but the proportion of disposable products has also increased.
This trend is also happening in the United States. From January 2020 to December 2022, the sales proportion of reloadable e-cigarettes in the United States dropped from 75.2% to 48.0%, and the sales proportion of disposable e-cigarettes increased from 24.7% to 51.8%
Throughout the history of the development of e-cigarettes, despite long-term policy suppression, this has not affected the explosive vitality at all: from the brutal growth of HNB in the early days, to the later rise of atomized e-cigarettes represented by JUUL and RLX, to the current disposable The rapid development of e-cigarettes.
To a certain extent, it is never policy that defeats e-cigarettes, but another better e-cigarette.
Post time: Oct-17-2023
