According to a report by N.News on June 21, the South Korean tobacco company KT&G plans to stop supplying the ultra-thin cigarette "ESSE Change Icefall" that has been on sale since March of last year.
The company has announced that the product will suspend supply to convenience stores starting from mid-month. It is reported that this decision to halt production is based on improving portfolio efficiency.
This strategy has emerged due to the declining sales of traditional cigarettes domestically, while the popularity of e-cigarettes is on the rise. According to data from the Ministry of Finance, as of last year, sales of cigarette-shaped e-cigarettes increased by 12.6% compared to the previous year, reaching 610 million packs. This data indicates a clear preference among consumers for cigarette-shaped e-cigarettes.
In the overall market, the market share of cigarette-style e-cigarettes has also increased to 16.8%, a 2% increase from the previous year.
On the contrary, sales of traditional cigarettes have been gradually decreasing since reaching a peak of 3.447 billion packs in 2017, dropping to 3.023 billion packs last year.
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