It was hoped and believed by many that big tobacco would be shut out, but it doesn’t seem likely. All three leading big tobacco companies have placed their hand in the electronic cigarette market; taking over already established ecig companies or creating their own new version.
Lorillard, the maker of Newport cigarettes and Blu Ecigs have seen just the opposite of what many have expected – in fact, they’re getting almost 4 percent of their revenue from electronic cigarettes.
The tobacco giant says its Blu Ecigs brand posted $63 million in sales in the recent quarter, a brisk trade that helped push Lorillard’s total sales up 10 percent, to $1.8 billion. Lorillard says that it estimates holding about half of the U.S. market for electronic cigarettes. Its ecig sales have risen almost five fold in the past year thanks to a national TV advertising campaign. In addition, Lorillard says the rise has also come from “strong repeat purchases.”
Although the Blu brand is the most popular electronic cigarette in the world, according to Lorillard, the company is also building its line of e-cigarettes abroad. Earlier this month it bought British brand Skycig for $49 million in cash.
Note: Though the online vaping community continues to grow in numbers and mods are very popular within the community, it’s only a small grain in vaping as a whole. There’s a massive market for stick batteries and just because you may not find them satisfying, doesn’t make them any less valuable than what you use.
