Philip Morris International (PMI) released a press release On November 27th stating that their newest tobacco product, "IQOS," is celebrating its 10th anniversary since its launch.
PMI stated that the launch of "IQOS" was a breakthrough moment for the company in achieving its smoke-free future commitment. Japan was the first market for "IQOS," and new data from the National Health and Nutrition Survey (NHNS) conducted by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, showed a 46% decrease in smoking rates since 2014, with adult usage dropping from 19.6% to 10.6% by 2022.
This decrease was closely correlated with the introduction of heated tobacco products and their widespread adoption among adult smokers. Japan remains the country with the highest number of heated tobacco product users, and since the introduction of these products, not only has overall smoking rates continued to decline, but the introduction of heated tobacco products has helped many adults transition from traditional cigarettes to less harmful alternatives, thereby reducing the number of smoking adults.
IQOS was launched in Japan ten years ago, bringing PMI over $10 billion in annual net revenue. It is now sold in over 70 markets worldwide, with 30.8 million adult users. Currently, the new tobacco product accounts for 38% of PMI's net revenue in the third quarter of 2024, compared to almost 0% in 2014.
PMI Chief Executive Officer Jacek Olczak said: "With the debut of IQOS, we launched PMI’s vision of a smoke-free company, creating an opportunity to solve the problem of smoking. Every day, IQOS demonstrates its potential for this, as evidenced by the approximately 22 million adults around the world who have fully switched to it and stopped smoking. IQOS is the world’s leading smoke-free product, and we are committed to continuing to lead the way to a future where better alternatives have completely replaced cigarettes, while moving forward to become a predominantly smoke-free company by 2030. Today, PMI employs over 80,000 people, and I would like to mark this anniversary by thanking them and their predecessors—all who made this transformation possible."
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