http://metro.co.uk/2016/10/24/philip-morris-is-telling-smokers-to-quit-as-it-brings-out-new-smokeless-tobacco-sticks-6211771/
In what might be one of the biggest U-turns in history, tobacco giant Philip Morris is looking towards a ‘smoke-free’ future, according to Bloomberg.
‘We can’t stop cold turkey,’ says CEO Andre Calantzopoulos – as he unveiled the company’s new ‘smokeless’ alternative to tobacco.
Forget vaping, though: the new product is a stick which heats tobacco, rather than burns it.
The new product – IQOS, pronounced ‘eye-koss’ – is 90% less harmful than traditional cigarettes, but has the flavour that e-cigarettes lack, Philip Morris says.
The iQOS is a tobacco stick that is heated just enough to produce an aerosol but not combust- and which looks like an e-cigarette machine.
The refills, sold as Marlboro Heatsticks cost the same as normal cigarettes, at least in Japan.
The product has already been a hit in Japan – and Philip Morris is now rolling it out to new markets.
The industry has been grappling with widespread anti-smoking campaigns which have forced companies like Philip Morris to diversify into nicotine replacements and e-cigarettes to meet consumer health concerns.
Companies such as Philip Morris are moving into ‘heat not burn’ technologies – which are expected to ‘accelerate’ rapidly, according to Owen Bennett, an equity analyst at Jefferies International.