BAT Rothmans is preparing to launch atomizer vape in South Korea

British American Tobacco (BAT) plans to launch atomizer vape(CSV) in South Korea to meet market demand. Compared with 8 years ago in 2013, the proportion of atomizer vapes gets a nearly 5 times increase from. At that time, vaping accounts for only about 2% of the total smoking rate.

BAT will launch atomizer vape in South Korea

In 2020, Juul, an American vaping and vape brand, faced accusations from all quarters of society for its “lung disease”. BAT officials said that although there is no clear timetable, they have been actively preparing to launch atomizer vapes in the South Korean domestic market. And they are conducting internal evaluations to be ready to enter the market at any time.

The person also explains that atomizer vape pens are very popular overseas, and the market size is expected to be larger than it is now. Since BAT has products sold abroad, it is deciding whether to introduce them into the South Korean domestic market.

In addition, relevant people also says that BAT is preparing to launch other harm reduction products to meet market demand.

Philip Morris International (PMI) has not specifically considered plans to re-launch vaping products. But they recently launched atomizer vape products overseas and show signs that they may consider the South Korean market. In March this year, PMI launched a disposable vape“VEEBA” in the UK.

Basic structure view of atomizer vape

The consumption of atomizer vape pens is gradually increasing

It is worth noting that the consumption of tobacco cigarettes in the South Korean tobacco market is gradually decreasing. However, the consumption of atomizer vapes are gradually increasing. This phenomenon has led the tobacco industry, which has not been touching the vaping industry before, start to paying attention to vaping products.

According to data from the South Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency(KDCA), the South Korea smoking rate has continually decline for more than ten years. However, the smoking rate of atomizer vape products has gradually increase. Although traditional tobacco cigarettes are still dominant, the share of atomizer vape is gradually expanding. Some people believe that the mainstream tobacco market may change in the future.

According to 2020 data, the adult smoking rate in South Korea is 34.0%. Among them, the smoking rate of atomizer vapes is about 3.2%, accounting for about 10% of the total smoking rate. Compared with 8 years ago in 2013, the proportion of vaping has increase by nearly 5 times. At that time, vaping only accounts for about 2% of the total smoking rate.

The adult smoking rate drops from 66.3% in 1998 to less than half at present, showing a continuous downward trend. In 2022, the adult smoking rate reaches 31.3%, a record low. The traditional cigarette market is continuously declining.