Andrew Hinderaker for The Wall S
Marlboro maker Altria Group is diving fully into electronic cigarettes, which pose a small but growing competitive threat to traditional smokes.
The U.S. tobacco giant said Wednesday it plans to launch its MarkTen e cigarette nationally starting in the second quarter, after testing the product in Indiana and Arizona in recent months.
Altria controls roughly half of the $100 billion U.S. tobacco industry but is playing catch up in the estimated $1 billion market for e cigarettes, battery powered devices that turn nicotine laced liquid into vapor.
Some smokers are switching to e cigarettes amid growing scientific consensus that they re less harmful than regular cigarettes, which release toxins through combustion. But many public health groups warn not enough is known about the health effects of e cigarettes and authorities are debating how to regulate them. Annual U.S. consumption of regular cigarettes, the leading cause of preventable death, has been dropping 3% to 4% in recent years.
Newport cigarette maker Lorillard, the third largest U.S. tobacco company, is the market leader after acquiring the maker of Blu e cigarettes in 2012. Camel cigarette maker Reynolds American Inc., the No. 2 tobacco company, announced last year it would take its Vuse e cigarette national by mid 2014 after testing it in Colorado and Utah.
Blu and the namesake brands of Njoy Inc. and Logic Technology Development LLC boast a combined market share of about 75% in U.S. stores for e cigarettes, although there is broader competition in online sales.
Altria estimates 90% of adult smokers are aware of e cigarettes and about two thirds have tried them, but that only a small number use them daily.
“Many adult smokers and vapers are still looking for a product that meets their requirements and desires,” Marty Barrington, Altria s chief executive, told an analyst conference Wednesday in Florida, where he announced the broader launch.
Mr. Barrington said MarkTen built up a 48% e cigarette market share in Arizona stores in just seven weeks after leveraging its considerable distribution clout.
Altria also announced earlier this month that it would pay $110 million to acquire Green Smoke Inc., which sells its namesake e cigarettes mostly over the Internet. That deal is expected to close during the second quarter, widening its e cigarette portfolio.
See also
What Do Smokers Really Want E Cigarettes, or Safer Tobacco? Corporate Intelligence
E Cigarettes Encounter Rising Heat WSJ
Tobacco s Gateway Drug? New York Says E Cigarettes are Not OK Corporate Intelligence
Marlboro marijuana cigarettes
Health secretary proposes state licensing to keep cigarettes away from children new york times
The latest fake news story to go viral claims that, due to the legalization of marijuana in Colorado, Philip Morris has decided to start selling Marlboro Marijuana Cigarettes, marketed under the brand name “Marlboro M”.
The fake news story was posted on the satire site “Abril Uno” on January 21st. From the article
Phillip Morris, the world s biggest cigarette producer, announced today that they will join the marijuana legalization bandwagon and start producing marijuana cigarettes. Marketed under the brand Marlboro M , the cigarettes will be made available for sale through marijuana licensed outlets in the state of Colorado, and the state of Washington when it becomes commercially legal there later this year…
Since only tobacco products are currently banned in advertisements and promotions in the United States, Phillip Morris also has set aside a huge $15 billion advertising budget just to promote the new Marlboro M and are now negotiating with major networks and publishers, to start marketing the product to consumers in the beginning of 2015…
Phillip Morris shares hit an all time high on the marijuana news and shot up to $998.00 from $83.03 just a few hours after the announcement went public.
It seems like more and more fake news sites are popping up every day. For instance, Abril Uno (which is Spanish for April 1st, i.e. April Fool’s Day) only came into existence on January 14, according to the whois data. And less than two weeks later, they’ve already got a viral story.
On the subject of marijuana cigarettes, the Legends & Rumors site notes that back in the 1960s and early 70s a rumor circulated alleging that the big tobacco companies were eagerly anticipating the day when pot would be legal, and that many of them had already registered names for their planned marijuana cigarettes. In March 1971 tobacco company executives sent letters to Rolling Stone magazine denying these rumors.