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Key Points
Global launch: NEXTECH debuted its NEXE Pro circumferential-heating tobacco stick at InterTabac 2026, expanding its HTP technology and product portfolio.
Market shift: Mature HTP markets such as Japan are moving beyond category expansion toward greater competition over market share, pricing and existing consumers.
Two-track model: NEXTECH offers customized development for larger clients while using OEM models to serve small and mid-sized traditional tobacco companies.
Integrated capabilities: The company is bringing together R&D, product development, manufacturing, testing and pre-launch support into a broader HTP service offering.
Strategic shift: NEXTECH is moving beyond product supply toward a global HTP R&D and manufacturing platform.
2Firsts
DORTMUND, Sept. 15
NEXTECH unveiled its NEXE Pro circumferential-heating tobacco stick at InterTabac 2026 in Dortmund on Sept. 15, marking the latest expansion of its heated tobacco portfolio as the company seeks to build a broader business around HTP development and manufacturing services.
InterTabac, one of the tobacco industry's major international trade shows, brings together brands, manufacturers, suppliers and distributors to showcase new products, explore partnerships and track changes across the industry.
According to NEXTECH, NEXE Pro has completed mass production and is now entering the market introduction phase. The launch expands the company's heated tobacco offering beyond its existing resistance-heating and induction-heating products.
Beyond the new product, NEXTECH is using this year's InterTabac to signal a broader shift: from supplying products toward providing integrated heated tobacco solutions for business customers.
NEXE Pro Makes Global Debut — What Are Customers Looking For?
NEXE Pro uses circumferential heating, applying heat around the outer circumference of the tobacco stick and transferring it inward. NEXTECH said the product was developed with the aim of improving heating uniformity and delivering more consistent flavor and aerosol output across different stages of use.
Asked why the company was adding circumferential heating to its portfolio now, NEXTECH CEO Wayne Zhang told 2Firsts that the decision reflected both product-development considerations and differing customer requirements around technology, intellectual property risks and target markets.
Over the past several years, NEXTECH has developed products based on resistance heating, induction heating and circumferential heating. Zhang said the profile of prospective heated tobacco product (HTP) customers the company encounters is also changing. In addition to traditional tobacco companies, some businesses that have already built brands and distribution networks in e-cigarettes and other new nicotine product categories are beginning to evaluate opportunities in heated tobacco.
NEXTECH is also presenting its herbal HNB brand TEAGAR for the first time at this year's InterTabac, although NEXE Pro remains the main focus of the product launch.
Speaking with 2Firsts at the show, Zhang said customer priorities varied significantly by country and region. Intellectual property, product structure, flavor, regulation, taxation and pricing were among the issues raised, with flavor emerging as one of the most frequently discussed topics that day.
In his view, there is no single standardized product that can meet the needs of every market. NEXTECH therefore plans to further refine its products and solutions around regional consumer preferences and local market conditions.
Heated Tobacco Enters a New Phase of Competition
The NEXE Pro launch comes as competition across the global heated tobacco market enters a new phase.
Japan is one of the world's most highly penetrated and competitive markets for heated tobacco. According to Japan Tobacco's first-half 2026 data and its reporting framework, reduced-risk products (RRPs) accounted for 48.7% of total tobacco industry shipment volume in Japan. During the same period, overall RRP industry volume increased 5.8% year on year, while volume for JT's Ploom heated tobacco products rose 35.9%.
In a mature market such as Japan, the figures suggest that competition is no longer only about moving cigarette smokers into a new product category. As category penetration rises, competition among brands over market share, price segments and existing consumers is becoming increasingly important.
Meanwhile, markets including the Middle East and Russia are seeing changing consumer demand and product mixes around heated tobacco, creating different requirements for brands, manufacturers and suppliers. Intensifying competition in mature markets and expanding demand elsewhere are creating a more diverse set of opportunities and competitive conditions for the global HTP industry.
For traditional tobacco companies and new nicotine product companies, this creates both opportunity and a strategic question: Does entering the heated tobacco market necessarily require building an entire R&D and manufacturing system from scratch, as major multinational tobacco companies have done?
Beyond In-House Development, Third-Party Solutions Offer Another Route
Large international tobacco companies have traditionally relied heavily on in-house development, building proprietary capabilities across tobacco materials, stick design, heating technologies and devices to support their own brands.
Another model, however, is also available in the market: companies can use specialist third-party R&D and manufacturing capabilities to develop products around their own brands, distribution networks and target markets.
2Firsts describes this as an "open solution model." Here, "open" does not mean open-source technology, nor does it imply that different sticks and devices are universally interchangeable. Rather, it refers to specialist HTP development and manufacturing capabilities being made available to multiple customers.
The model does not eliminate R&D. It changes who carries it out and how that work is organized.
Around two years ago, NEXTECH began further repositioning its business away from a greater focus on end consumers and toward serving business customers, seeking to make its accumulated HTP development and manufacturing capabilities available to brands, distributors and tobacco companies.
In practice, the company now operates along two parallel customer-service tracks.
For Larger Clients, Customization Starts With the Technical Concept
For larger customers that already have brands, distribution and market resources but lack a complete HTP development system, NEXTECH offers deeper customized development.
Such projects do not necessarily begin by selecting an existing product. Instead, they start with questions about the market a customer wants to enter, the consumers it intends to reach and the positioning of the proposed product.
The parties first establish an overall technical direction before considering issues such as stick structure, heating technology, intellectual property risks and the requirements for industrial-scale manufacturing.
During product development, materials, stick design, flavor and the user experience go through repeated testing and adjustment. Zhang repeatedly referred to "rapid iteration" during the interview. In his view, understanding target consumers and feeding testing and market feedback back into product development are important steps in turning an HTP technical concept into a commercial product.
Zhang said solution providers need a strong understanding of core HTP technologies if they are to develop products around different customer requirements. Without that capability, he said, suppliers are more likely to remain dependent on standardized products and existing solutions.
For projects that require a heating device, NEXTECH works with specialist device suppliers to select suitable hardware and match the device with the tobacco stick. Once a product is finalized, the company can move the project into mass production and, depending on the project, provide support for product testing, compliance preparation and pre-launch technical work.
Under this model, NEXTECH's support is not limited to manufacturing. It also covers technical solution design, product development, testing and iteration, and pre-launch support, with the aim of turning an initial market requirement into a product that can be manufactured, validated and brought to market.
For Smaller Tobacco Companies, OEM Can Improve Market-Entry Efficiency
A second group of customers is more focused on speed and efficiency.
NEXTECH says more than 80% of its current customer base consists of small and mid-sized traditional cigarette companies. These businesses often already have local brands and distribution networks but lack extensive technical capabilities and product-development experience in HTPs.
Unlike larger customers seeking deeper customization, these companies may initially prefer to select from mature products and existing technical solutions, make limited adjustments through an OEM model, and move more quickly into market testing.
Zhang said NEXTECH distinguishes internally between OEM projects and deeper solution development based partly on whether new R&D is required. OEM work generally involves choosing from mature products and making limited modifications, while deeper solution projects require new product and technical development around a customer's specific requirements.
For smaller tobacco companies, this provides a more flexible starting point. Rather than building a complete HTP development system at the outset, they can use their existing brands and distribution resources to test the market before deciding how much further to invest in products and technology.
The two customer groups have different needs, but both point to the same issue: as HTP competition intensifies, companies need to choose an entry model that reflects their existing capabilities rather than simply replicating the approach taken by major multinational tobacco companies.
From Products to a Platform
The global HTP market is entering a new stage of development.
Mature markets such as Japan show that heated tobacco has moved from an emerging category toward high levels of penetration, while markets including the Middle East and Russia are generating new patterns of consumer and product demand. As HTPs continue to develop across different regions, more traditional tobacco companies and new nicotine product companies are reassessing their product and business strategies in the category.
A broader opportunity does not necessarily make market entry easier. Technology development, intellectual property, industrial manufacturing, consumer understanding and local market adaptation all represent potential competitive barriers.
The open R&D and manufacturing platform NEXTECH is seeking to build is intended to turn its accumulated HTP technology, product-development and manufacturing experience into capabilities that can be used by different customers.
For larger brands, that can mean deeper collaboration spanning technical solution design, product development, testing, manufacturing and pre-launch support. For smaller tobacco companies, mature products and OEM models can provide a more efficient way to begin exploring the HTP category.
For NEXTECH, the NEXE Pro launch is therefore not only a product debut but also a demonstration of the broader model it is trying to build. By making its HTP development and manufacturing capabilities available to outside brands and tobacco companies, NEXTECH is positioning itself as an HTP development and manufacturing partner for brands, rather than simply a product supplier.
NEXTECH says it aims to support the global tobacco industry's transition toward smoke-free products through more flexible product-development, manufacturing and technical solutions.
Cover image: Different product series showcased by NEXTECH at InterTabac 2026. Image courtesy of NEXTECH.
For more information about NEXTECH solutions, please contact:
Website: www.herbaltechgroup.com
Email: info@herbaltechgroup.com
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