Tobacco multinationals try to keep up with the evolution of consumer preferences, targeting the ever-growing market of electronic cigarettes. This is the case of the US Altria Group, Reynolds American and Lorillard, all engaged in starting or increasing the production of electronic cigarettes, despite the fact that doubts have arisen about the alleged advantages of these substitutes for smoking.
Reconversion is a must, after all, since maintaining a position in the traditional cigarette market is becoming more difficult every day, at least in the Western world, where smokers, amid rising costs, bans, health alarms and stigma social, are in sharp decline. The users of electronic cigarettes have been increasing since 2006 from a few thousand to several million and the turnover has reached two billion dollars in the United States.
Altria, which owns Philip Morris, the country's largest cigarette maker, is actively working to expand its subsidiary MarkTen, designed specifically to launch the Altria e-cigarette. Lorillard, for its part, has invested heavily in promoting Blu eCigs, a manufacturer of electronic cigarettes acquired in 2012 and already well positioned nationally.
The flagship of Reynolds, however, is the Vuse brand, launched in Colorado and Utah last summer and became the best-selling e-cigarette in both states in just one year. Strengthened by the success achieved, Reynolds is preparing to distribute the brand throughout the national territory. The Vuse e-cigarette, says Reynolds, can automatically monitor and adjust the power and heat needed to heat the water and nicotine solution, to get the "perfect hit of smoke".
