It is big and it is clever!
The growth of the virtual cigarette market globally is a true phenomenon. According to leading business publications, anti-smoking initiatives conducted by global governments are ceasing to have any dramatic impact, and the general public, many of whom enjoy the smoking experience but not the negative health effects, are now embracing e cigarettes and vaporizers wholeheartedly.
Sales of £1.2 billion annually
With almost 500,000 vapers in the UK, the success and appeal of e-smoking products is undisputed. International sales of these types of e-cigarettes and vaporizers are estimated at in excess of £1.2 billion annually, and the sale of electronic cigarettes is now equal to that of small cigars in terms of overall market share. This is a stunning result for an industry that really only entered the commercial mainstream in Western markets just six years ago.
2.5 million Vapers in the UK and United States
E smoking is now big business, and investor interest is beginning to peak in the massive growth industry. Today there are around 2.5 million combined e-cigarette users in the UK and United States alone, and the industry is growing at double-digit rates, quarter after quarter.
Top e-cig company bought by leading tobacco company for US$130 million
Testament to this global tide of change, America’s third largest tobacco company, Lorillard, was willing to spend more than US$130 million to purchase one of that country’s top e-cig companies earlier this year. Reynolds International and British American Tobacco are also set to enter the e-cigarette market in 2013.