Market & legal data of the tobacco alternatives sector in Asia

‘More to come’ from non-combustibles – JTI has money to heat-not-burn

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 14th February 2023

A growing share of the Japanese heated tobacco market and the launch of the Ploom X heat-not-burn (HnB) device in the UK contributed to Japan Tobacco International (JTI) posting positive figures for 2022 ...

BAT delivers another Glo-ing report, with growth across all its novel categories

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 9th February 2023

British American Tobacco (BAT) enjoyed a 37% rise last year in revenues from novel products, with growing contributions across all three of its new categories, led by its brands Vuse, Velo and Glo Hyper ...

PMI announces 15-year exclusive rights to sell KT&G smoke-free products

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 3rd February 2023

Philip Morris International (PMI) has announced its long-term exclusive rights to sell KT&G’s smoke-free products in more than 30 markets, excluding South Korea ...

Indonesia’s tobacco regulation revision plan takes a long-awaited step forward

Written by TobaccoIntelligence | 31st January 2023

After years of political debate, Indonesia is finally making progress towards regulating heated tobacco products. Because Indonesia considers heated tobacco to be a type of e-cigarette, e-cig rules apply ...

A good year for Big Tobacco, alternatively speaking, while rules are tightened

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 30th December 2022

The year gone by saw phenomenal growth across the global market for tobacco alternatives, including in the oral segment, heated tobacco and nicotine pouches ...

BAT reports ‘sustainable growth’, over 3m new consumers in non-combustibles

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 19th December 2022

British American Tobacco (BAT) said its “new category” business continues to drive substantial volume, revenue, and market share growth – significantly contributing to the company’s overall performance ...

PMI puts its new Bonds heat-not-burn system to the test in the Philippines

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 23rd November 2022

Philip Morris International (PMI) has launched its latest heat-not-burn tobacco-heating system, Bonds by Iqos, along with its compatible tobacco sticks, Blends, using the Philippines as a pilot market ...

Big Tobacco companies on the road to leaving Russian domestic market

Written by TobaccoIntelligence | 7th November 2022

Tobacco producers from around the globe plan to complete their exit from the Russian market by the end of the year by transferring business to local partners, according to recent statements made by company representatives ...

Japan Tobacco plans more Ploom X launches abroad after success at home

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 2nd November 2022

Japan Tobacco (JT) has posted positive figures for the first nine months of the year, boosted by continued growth in the reduced-risk product category fuelled by the success of Ploom X in Japan ...

Altria goes into partnership with JTI to tackle US heated tobacco market

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 27th October 2022

Tobacco giants Altria and JT Group are to form a joint venture to market in the US heated tobacco stick products owned and developed by either company ...

PMI invests $150m to increase Heets production in the Philippines

Written by TobaccoIntelligence | 25th October 2022

Philip Morris International (PMI) is investing an additional PHP8.8bn ($150m) in its affiliate company PMFTC to increase production of its heated tobacco sticks in the Philippines ...

PMI reports strong Q3 results, talks smoke-free, Altria and Swedish Match

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 24th October 2022

Philip Morris International (PMI) reported strong third quarter results in terms of revenue but saw a number of setbacks in shipment volumes as it looks to meet its goal of becoming a majority smoke-free company...

How China's new licensing rules can benefit the industry at home and abroad

Written by Lorraine Mullaney | 12th October 2022

Firms importing tobacco alternative products from China have been advised to check that their suppliers have the appropriate licence to meet the requirements of legislation that has now come into effect ...

Swedish Match awarded top marks for transformation to reduced risk

Written by Barnaby Page | 29th September 2022

Swedish Match was the clear winner in this year’s Tobacco Transformation Index, which ranks major tobacco companies on their shift toward reduced-risk products ...

22nd Century continues its VLN distribution expansion in US and beyond

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 9th September 2022

US company 22nd Century Group plans to expand points-of-sale of its low-nicotine conventional cigarette VLN throughout Illinois based on solid pilot results in Chicago, and plans to sign two other distribution partnerships to launch in Colorado...

While other countries have gone with a flavour ban, menthol is still big in Japan

Written by TobaccoIntelligence | 29th August 2022

Japan currently has no intention of following the US and Europe with a ban on menthol-flavoured tobacco products ...

Early election could put paid to Malaysia’s ‘Generational End Game’ for nicotine

Written by TobaccoIntelligence | 25th August 2022

Malaysia’s latest attempt to put an end to nicotine use among the younger generation is likely to be delayed, or even derailed, with an early election expected to stall the new bill ...

Ploom X leads the way for JTI in Japan as popular switch to reduced risk goes on

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 3rd August 2022

Japan Tobacco International (JTI) has reported increases in sales of reduced-risk products, helping offset falling shipment volumes of combustible tobacco products ...

Fury in the Philippines as new president lets novel tobacco bill lapse into law

Written by TobaccoIntelligence | 28th July 2022

Calls for the president to veto the Philippines Vape Regulation Bill – and a change of government – failed to derail the bill, which also regulates heated tobacco and other novel tobacco products ...

BAT confident Hyper X2 can add to its Glo-ing performance in HnB and oral

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 28th July 2022

British American Tobacco (BAT) saw revenue from its new products category portfolio rise by 45% in the first half of the year, with good returns from its modern oral and heated tobacco portfolio ...

PMI releases promising results for first half of year, boosted by heated tobacco

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 22nd July 2022

Philip Morris International (PMI) has raised its full year outlook after it saw decent numbers over the first half of 2022 ...

Are flavours in pouches set to be the next battleground for tobacco alternatives?

Written by Freddie Dawson | 30th June 2022

Flavours in nicotine pouches could become the next contentious issue for tobacco alternatives, following a similar route to e-liquid flavours, experts say ...

Hong Kong 'could miss its goal of cutting smoking' due to new tobacco restrictions

Written by TobaccoIntelligence | 13th June 2022

New regulations that came into force at the end of April will make it hard for Hong Kong to achieve its 2025 smoking reduction targets, one concerned harm reduction association claims ...

22nd Century reports Q1 2022 results, looks to expand with VLN cigarettes

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 9th June 2022

22nd Century Group has confirmed the first international shipments of very low nicotine (VLN) cigarettes to South Korea and is expecting to see significant benefits from the sales of its menthol line of VLN cigarettes...

Health, environment damage: alternative tobacco products 'are not the solution'

Written by Freddie Dawson | 3rd June 2022

Next-generation tobacco products are not the solution to damage caused by the tobacco industry to both public health and the environment, according to speakers at a World Health Organization (WHO) conference ...

JTI reports strong Q1 performance despite uncertainties over Ukraine war

Written by Tiziana Cauli | 29th April 2022

Japan Tobacco International (JTI) saw its revenues increase by 6.2% to JPY581.5bn ($4.5bn) in the first quarter of 2022, despite uncertainties over its business in Russia, compared with 5.3% growth to JPY547.3bn ($4.2bn) in the...

PMI reveals 'solid performance', with significant growth in its HnB portfolio

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 22nd April 2022

Philip Morris International (PMI) saw positive numbers for the first quarter of 2022, with Iqos Iluma performing well in Japan, Switzerland and Spain ...

HnB takes more than 30% of the Japanese tobacco market for the first time ever

Written by TobaccoIntelligence | 8th March 2022

Heat-not-burn (HnB) products took more than a third of the total tobacco market in Japan for the first time, in the last quarter of 2021, as the shift from traditional cigarettes continued ...

22nd Century expands its VLN cigarettes in the US, and moves into South Korea

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 3rd March 2022

US company 22nd Century reports its full-year results for 2021, with a company loss but increased net sales, and plans for expansion for its VLN cigarettes both domestically and internationally ...

Do sin taxes achieve the desired effect, or do they add up to a temptation to sin?

Written by Aidan Semmens | 17th February 2022

Whatever the motives behind it, punitive or would-be persuasive taxation has many of the same drawbacks as prohibition ...

BAT enjoys big rises in revenue from novel categories, led by modern oral

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 17th February 2022

British American Tobacco (BAT) saw revenue from its new products category portfolio rise by 42.4% in 2021 to £2.05bn, driven in part by an increase in sales of its modern oral products ...

JTI puts heated tobacco growth at the heart of its plans for a reduced risk future

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 16th February 2022

Japan Tobacco International (JTI) will look to prioritise heated tobacco as part of its commitment to break even on its reduced risk portfolio (RRP) by 2027 ...

Heated tobacco successes help PMI stay positive as cigarette sales go on sliding

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 14th February 2022

Philip Morris International (PMI) posted positive numbers for 2021, helped by higher unit volumes in heated tobacco and outstanding initial results from its fourth-generation heated tobacco device Iqos Iluma ...

Philippine doctors urge president to veto novel tobacco bill over addiction fears

Written by TobaccoIntelligence | 3rd February 2022

The Philippine College of Physicians is lobbying against a bill to regulate vaping and novel tobacco products. They object to a lower age limit and the removal of flavour restrictions ...

Stricter vaping regulation could be good news for other alternatives in 2022

Written by Freddie Dawson | 31st January 2022

Consumers will continue to increasingly spread usage out over different alternative nicotine products partiy driven by further, stricter vaping regulation across the globe throughout 2022, TobaccoIntelligence predicts ...

TobaccoIntelligence's predictions for 2021 reviewed – how well did we do?

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 21st January 2022

TobaccoIntelligence showed excellent understanding of the industry and a capacity for accurate analysis with its 2021 predictions, most of which hit during the year ...

Taiwan close to legalising heated tobacco products, with controls

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 20th January 2022

Draft amendments to the Taiwan Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act are awaiting approval by the parliament. They will include the legalisation of heated tobacco products, with controls on sales ...

Meta-analysis study emphasises the lack of high-quality research into HnB

Written by Barnaby Page | 13th January 2022

The heated tobacco sector has, compared with its cousin vapour, always suffered from a lack of scientific research and from the perception that most of what does exist is industry-funded ...

Global Trends report reveals extent of alternatives' growing market share

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 12th January 2022

Alternative tobacco products, including heated tobacco and nicotine pouches, have taken worldwide sales from combustibles over the past three years, with the cigarette segment declining by 5% ...

2021 in review: As smoking declines, tobacco alternatives take up the slack

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 10th January 2022

2021 may have been a downer in many other areas but the year saw phenomenal growth across tobacco alternatives, including in the oral segment, heated tobacco and nicotine pouches ...

‘It doesn’t make sense’ – public health expert criticises Taipei’s HnB ban

Written by TobaccoIntelligence | 27th December 2021

A new blanket ban in Taiwan’s capital on the sale and import of tobacco-alternative products is heavy-handed and nonsensical, an expert in the city’s medical university says ...

F1 moves on from tobacco promotion as PMI and Ferrari go their separate ways

Written by Aidan Semmens | 16th December 2021

It’s the end of an era as tobacco sponsorship of Formula One racing comes to an end – again. Or does it and is it? ...

Main players keep up the heat as HnB continues its strong growth in Japan

Written by TobaccoIntelligence | 15th December 2021

Japan’s heated tobacco sector is continuing to grow strongly and to take market share from traditional cigarettes, with the main players releasing new devices and revamping their heat-not-burn (HnB) divisions ...

China brings 'new tobacco products' under its tobacco monopoly umbrella

Written by TobaccoIntelligence | 30th November 2021

The State Council of China has approved an addition to the Tobacco Monopoly Law, clarifying what has been a grey area surrounding the regulation and categorisation of tobacco-alternative products ...

What caused a scrap in the Philippines government over tobacco alternatives?

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 24th November 2021

Conflict between public health and political-economic interests seems to be the main reason behind an internal dispute between the Philippine delegation to COP9 and officials at the country’s Department of Health ...

Concern grows over influencers' social media promotion of tobacco products

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 10th November 2021

The misleading advertising of tobacco alternatives on social media has become a critical concern of public health groups and some governments around the world ...

JTI to focus energy on the 'encouraging' performance of Ploom X in Japan

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 2nd November 2021

Japan Tobacco International (JTI) has posted positive figures for the first nine months of the year, with a good performance from its reduced-risk products in its domestic market ...

Hong Kong cracks down on heated tobacco with import and sales ban

Written by TobaccoIntelligence | 25th October 2021

Hong Kong’s lawmakers have passed a bill banning the import and sale of tobacco-alternative products, including heated tobacco ...

PMI’s heated tobacco business on the up despite warnings of disruption in US

Written by David Palacios Rubio | 20th October 2021

Philip Morris International (PMI)’s net revenues were up by 9.1% in the third quarter of 2021 thanks to the growth of its heated tobacco segment ...

Patents for HnB and smokeless tobacco products on the rise, research finds

Written by TobaccoIntelligence | 18th October 2021

Patents for tobacco alternatives have been booming in recent times as tobacco companies position themselves as contributors to a smoke-free world ...

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