Market & legal data of the tobacco alternative sector in South Korea

The evolution of novel tobacco and nicotine products over the last decade

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 5th April 2024

In this part of a series of articles celebrating the tenth anniversary of Tamarind Intelligence, we look at how heated tobacco, nicotine pouches and herbal heated sticks have evolved in the past decade ...

KT&G reports double-digit growth in sales of heated tobacco sticks for 2023

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 21st February 2024

South Korean tobacco company KT&G reported a positive performance in its next-generation product (NGP) business over the course of 2023, despite what it called “intensified competition” ...

What will the year ahead bring? Expected tobacco and nicotine regulation in 2024

Written by Freddie Dawson | 2nd January 2024

TobaccoIntelligence predicts a restrictive future for the regulation of tobacco alternative products but also growth in both the global nicotine pouch and heated tobacco markets from 2023 to 2024 ...

Demand for KT&G’s next-gen products contributes to record-high Q3 revenues

Written by Freddie Dawson | 22nd November 2023

KT&G reported record-high quarterly revenues for the third quarter of 2023, with a significant contribution from its next generation product (NGP) category, as part of its release on the quarter's financial results ...

Smoking rates down thanks to lower-risk nicotine products, UK-based study says

Written by Tiziana Cauli | 19th October 2023

Reduced-risk nicotine products are competing with combustibles and lowering smoking rates, rather than encouraging consumers towards them, according to a new international study ...

Potential for convergence of HT and vape technologies discussed at GTNF in Seoul

Written by Freddie Dawson | 13th October 2023

Future innovation in vaping and tobacco alternatives is likely to involve environmental improvements and prevention of youth usage, said speakers at the Global Tobacco and Nicotine Forum ...

GTNF speakers say evidence should drive nicotine legislation, not public pressure

Written by Freddie Dawson | 12th October 2023

Public pressure can drive legislators to make populist decisions on nicotine product regulation that are not based on evidence, warned speakers at the recent Global Tobacco & Nicotine Forum (GTNF) in Seoul ...

Launch of PMI’s first non-tobacco stick raises regulatory questions

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 2nd October 2023

Philip Morris International (PMI) has launched a zero-tobacco stick called Levia for use with its heated tobacco device, Iqos. PMI is the first Big Tobacco to introduce these sticks, though others have marketed similar products...

KT&G’s next-generation products enjoy over 70% sales growth worldwide

Written by Freddie Dawson | 21st August 2023

KT&G anticipates that alternative nicotine products will continue to make up greater proportions of its sales, the company said during a presentation of its second-quarter results ...

22nd Century adjusts its 2023 revenue outlook after a rocky second quarter

Written by Freddie Dawson | 16th August 2023

22nd Century will focus on streamlining operating costs and making the marketing and sales push for its VLN cigarette products more cost efficient to address issues that have forced it to revise full-year profit guidance...

Big in Japan, unfashionable in France – how attitudes to heated tobacco vary

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 29th June 2023

Attitudes towards heated tobacco vary, even between neighbouring countries, with a range of social factors affecting market conditions – as shown by differences between France and Switzerland, Japan and South Korea ...

22nd Century banks on big plans for its VLN cigarettes in the US and beyond

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 12th May 2023

US company 22nd Century will look to expand its international interests by launching trials in Switzerland and Japan as well as relaunching its low-nicotine conventional cigarette product in South Korea ...

PMI reports good numbers, positive momentum of Iqos and Zyn in the US

Written by Freddie Dawson | 28th April 2023

Philip Morris International will focus on heated tobacco and nicotine pouches as the alternatives that can help it meet its goal of becoming a majority smoke-free revenue company by 2025 ...

PMI announces 15-year exclusive rights to sell KT&G smoke-free products

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 3rd February 2023

Philip Morris International (PMI) has announced its long-term exclusive rights to sell KT&G’s smoke-free products in more than 30 markets, excluding South Korea ...

Swedish Match awarded top marks for transformation to reduced risk

Written by Barnaby Page | 29th September 2022

Swedish Match was the clear winner in this year’s Tobacco Transformation Index, which ranks major tobacco companies on their shift toward reduced-risk products ...

22nd Century continues its VLN distribution expansion in US and beyond

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 9th September 2022

US company 22nd Century Group plans to expand points-of-sale of its low-nicotine conventional cigarette VLN throughout Illinois based on solid pilot results in Chicago, and plans to sign two other distribution partnerships to launch in Colorado...

22nd Century reports Q1 2022 results, looks to expand with VLN cigarettes

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 9th June 2022

22nd Century Group has confirmed the first international shipments of very low nicotine (VLN) cigarettes to South Korea and is expecting to see significant benefits from the sales of its menthol line of VLN cigarettes...

22nd Century expands its VLN cigarettes in the US, and moves into South Korea

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 3rd March 2022

US company 22nd Century reports its full-year results for 2021, with a company loss but increased net sales, and plans for expansion for its VLN cigarettes both domestically and internationally ...

TobaccoIntelligence's predictions for 2021 reviewed – how well did we do?

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 21st January 2022

TobaccoIntelligence showed excellent understanding of the industry and a capacity for accurate analysis with its 2021 predictions, most of which hit during the year ...

Meta-analysis study emphasises the lack of high-quality research into HnB

Written by Barnaby Page | 13th January 2022

The heated tobacco sector has, compared with its cousin vapour, always suffered from a lack of scientific research and from the perception that most of what does exist is industry-funded ...

PMI starts roll-out of KT&G heated tobacco products in Russia

Written by David Palacios Rubio | 19th August 2020

KT&G heated tobacco products are available outside South Korea for the first time after Philip Morris International (PMI) began marketing them in Russia ...

Heated tobacco sales slump in South Korea in wake of government campaign

Written by TobaccoIntelligence | 12th August 2020

Sales of heated tobacco in South Korea declined in the first half of 2020, with the government attributing the lower sales to ongoing policy efforts to discourage use of tobacco-alternative products ...

South Korea prepares to crack down on tobacco alternatives advertising

Written by TobaccoIntelligence | 2nd July 2020

South Korea’s health minister Park Neung-hoo has announced a fresh plan to ban advertising and promotional activities for tobacco-alternative products ...

South Korea plans further restrictions on promotion of tobacco alternatives

Written by TobaccoIntelligence | 4th February 2020

The South Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare wants to ban practices such as the offering of discounts for heated tobacco products and to make events with free giveaways of such products illegal ...

BAT launches new HnB in Korea amid government crackdown

Written by TobaccoIntelligence | 29th November 2019

British American Tobacco (BAT) has launched its “most advanced” heated tobacco product in South Korea – during a critical political period in which the government has taken a harsh stance towards HnB products ...

South Korea cracks down on public smoking, vaping and HnB use

Written by TobaccoIntelligence | 25th September 2019

Local authorities across South Korea are carrying out patrols to enforce regulations against smoking, vaping and use of heat-not-burn (HnB) products in a wide range of public...

BAT launches hybrid pod in Korea amid rumours of new tax scheme

Written by TobaccoIntelligence | 14th August 2019

British American Tobacco (BAT) has launched Glo Sens in Korea, a new hybrid pod product which combines vaping technology with real tobacco ...

South Korea responds to Juul and Lil launches with pledge to get tough

Written by TobaccoIntelligence | 24th June 2019

The South Korean government is running a campaign to discourage use of tobacco products, in response to recent launches of Juul and a similar device from...

PMI sues Korean government over claim HnB is as harmful as smoking

Written by TobaccoIntelligence | 15th October 2018

The South Korean government has declared e-cigarettes and heated tobacco to be no safer than smoking – a statement that has led to legal action by Philip Morris International...

Chinese HnB exhibitors make a mark at Korea’s first Vape Expo

Written by TobaccoIntelligence | 18th September 2018

The different cultural and regulatory regimes surrounding vaping and heated tobacco in South Korea were on display at the country’s first vaping show ...

South Korea takes new graphic approach to e-cig and HnB warnings

Written by TobaccoIntelligence | 11th June 2018

The South Korean government is stepping up its efforts to discourage use of electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products with new graphic health warning images that will appear on packages later this...

PMI and Altria report cigarettes down, HnB and vapour up

Written by David Palacios Rubio | 2nd May 2018

While sales of traditional cigarettes continue to decline worldwide, PMI is increasingly relying on its heated-tobacco device IQOS to buoy up its financial results, particularly through sales in Japan and Korea ...

Korean web of taxes brings HnB price in line with combustible cigarettes

Written by TobaccoIntelligence | 3rd April 2018

Regulators in South Korea have enacted new taxes on heat-not-burn (HnB) tobacco products, apparently building on previous government moves to bring prices closer in line with those of conventional cigarettes ...

IQOS flourishes across Southeast Asia – without PMI’s approval

Written by TobaccoIntelligence | 6th February 2018

The IQOS heated tobacco system is on sale across Southeast Asia, despite doubts over its legality in a number of countries, and the official disapproval of its maker, PMI ...

South Korea tax rise threatens to make HnB more expensive than smoking

Written by TobaccoIntelligence | 13th November 2017

Heat-not-burn products will become more expensive than combustible cigarettes in South Korea unless manufacturers decide to absorb part of a new tax rise ...

KT&G launches HnB Lil in South Korea, challenging IQOS and Glo on price

Written by Freddie Dawson | 8th November 2017

The biggest tobacco company in South Korea, KT&G, has launched its own heat-not-burn (HnB) device into the rapidly expanding tobacco alternatives market in the country, where it will compete with PMI’s IQOS and BAT’s...

Boom in IQOS figures reveals HnB’s rising share of world tobacco market

Written by Freddie Dawson | 26th October 2017

Heated tobacco continues to take up a greater and greater share of the total world tobacco market, according to new figures from Philip Morris International (PMI) outlining the success of its IQOS...

South Korea proposes HnB tax almost equal to tobacco

Written by Freddie Dawson | 23rd October 2017

A new tax proposal for heat-not-burn (HnB) products in South Korea could leave them more expensive than their traditional cigarette...

BAT launches Glo and Dunhill Neostiks on the South Korean HnB market

Written by Freddie Dawson | 17th August 2017

British American Tobacco (BAT) has launched its Glo device in South Korea, joining Philip Morris International (PMI)'s iQOS in what could be a lively market for heated tobacco...

Korean tobacco giant prepares to enter competitive HnB market

Written by David Palacios Rubio | 5th July 2017

South Korea’s largest tobacco manufacturer, KT&G, is to start selling a new heat-not-burn (HnB) product, in direct competition with PMI’s iQOS and BAT’s Glo...

Asia Pacific warms to heat-not-burn, but it’s not an easy road

Written by Freddie Dawson | 20th February 2017

Japan Tobacco and Philip Morris International are attempting to widen their distribution of heat-not-burn (HnB) products throughout Pacific Asia, but there have been problems along the...

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