Heated Tobacco Battle Heats Up in South Korea: KT&G Launches Half-Price Promotion, PMI Ramps Up Marketing

Key Points:

·KT&G adopts price offensive: KT&G is offering a half price promotion on its Lil Solid Easy devices, which have been on the market for less than a month, with discounts far exceeding other product lines. 

·PMI Korea strengthens experiential marketing: Participating in the Waterbomb music festival marketing for the second consecutive year. This year, they have added an IQOS Lounge and other interactive experience areas to target young consumer groups. 

·Market competition landscape: KT&G currently holds a slight lead with a market share of 46%, followed closely by PMI Korea at 45%. Both are vying for a crucial 1% difference. 

·Strategic background: PMI Korea aims to regain its position as the market leader in 2017. KT&G aims to surpass them by 2022 with the Lil series. Both are targeting to convert traditional smokers. 

【2Firsts news flash】According to a report from Digital Times on July 2nd, KT&G and PMI Korea continue to engage in fierce competition for approximately 1% of the domestic heated tobacco products market in Korea, even offering half-price promotions.

On July 2nd, according to industry sources, KT&G is selling its "Lil Solid Easy heated tobacco product device" at a 50% discount on the official Lil store on Naver Store. This product was released by KT&G in mid-June and has been on the market for less than a month. Despite being a new product, the discount rate at the Lil official store is the highest compared to the Lil Hybrid 3.0 (28%) and Lil Able 2.0 (39%).

In June, PMI Korea launched the new heated tobacco product "IQOS Illuma i One". In July, the company will also conduct live marketing at the Waterbomb Festival in Ilsan, KINTEX Outdoor Global Stage. PMI participated in the Waterbomb Festival in 2024 for marketing purposes. 

This year, they plan to actively target the younger generation and promote the IQOS brand through activities such as the IQOS Lounge, recreational spaces, and treasure hunts. 

The intense competition between the two companies is due to the steady growth of the heated tobacco products market in South Korea, with the domestic market share gap between the two companies being approximately 1%.

According to KT &G's first quarter performance report, the company's market share for heated tobacco products in the domestic market is approximately 46%. Meanwhile, PMI Korea's market share is estimated to be around 45%. From PMI Korea's perspective, they are keen to recapture the top position in market share. When the company introduced IQOS to Korea around 2017, their market share quickly increased, but with KT &G's Lil expanding its market influence, their market share was pushed to second place around 2022. From 2024 to 2025, PMI Korea is actively demonstrating their determination to reclaim the top spot by continuously launching new products. 

An industry insider stated：

"Given that consumers are unlikely to easily switch devices, the key lies in how to attract existing cigarette smokers into the heated tobacco products market."