A new report is indicating that e-cigarettes are becoming more popular than ever and have effectively entered the main stream. The report was conducted by researchers at the University Of California School Of Medicine in San Diego and was published in Tobacco Control, a medical journal specializing in tobacco, nicotine, and their associated health risks. According to the report e-cigarette brands are increasing at the astonishing rate of 10 new brands per month! The research was mostly done online and researchers have concluded that as of January 2014 there are 466 brands and more than 7,500 different flavors.
“The number of e-cigarette brands sold on the Internet is large and the variety of flavors staggering,” said the investigators in the study which was published this previous Monday. They have studied this market for the better part of the past two years and have found that the market has had a steady rate of growth growing by nearly 10 and a half brands a month and close to 250 flavors over the same period.
The researchers also notice some interesting trends in marketing strategies among the various brands noting that older companies were more likely to accentuate how close they were to traditional cigarettes and how they could be used as an alternative for those hoping to quit. Conversely, newer brands tend to focus on their multitude of flavors and their newer, ever evolving, ever cooler technology. “It seems that new brands don’t want to be compared with cigarettes, which are associated with the image of cancer,” said Shu-Hong Zhu the director for the Center for Research and Interventions in Tobacco Control.
Even big tobacco companies are seemingly sitting up and taking notice of this new craze cutting into their bottom lines. As their profits continue to dwindle they are now desperately trying to capitalize on the phenomenon which many perceive to be the cheaper, smarter, and above all else, healthier alternative.
Reynolds American Inc. is the second-largest tobacco company in the United States and is the latest major tobacco company to move into the sector by announcing that they would begin distribution of their “Vuse” brand e-cig. They intend to roll out the product nationwide and have said that the product should be available nationwide by July 23rd.
Altria Group, parent company of Phillipe Morris, the nation’s largest tobacco provider has been pushing to expand their own offering the “Mark Ten” brand electronic cigarette and has seen moderate success.
Not to be outdone, Lorillard, the nation’s third-largest tobacco company had to foresight to purchase established player Blu Cigs Smokeless Devices more than two years ago. Blu is now one of the biggest players in the field accounting for nearly half of all e-cigarette sales nationwide. They are already being sold across the county and for the moments seem poised to take full advantage of this paradigm shift, but truth be told, being early in the game had lots to do with their success. I personally see them doomed to fail, simply based on the quality of their product. They have fallen behind when compared to their competitors. Going hand in hand with the subject at hand, the fast influx of new ecig makers trying to be the next best thing, have standard products rushing to keep up.
The market for e-cigs has grown from a few thousand users in the early part of the millennium to millions of users worldwide today. In the process it has become a 2 Billions dollar industry, a boon for smokers and a thorn in the side of Big Tobacco Executives everywhere.