Unlicensed Disposable E-cigarette Sales in the US Market Trends

According to a report by Reuters on February 24th, private retail sales data reviewed by Reuters showed that the unauthorized flavored disposable e-cigarette sales in the United States reached approximately $2.4 billion in 2024, accounting for 35% of total e-cigarette sales through channels such as convenience stores and supermarkets.

According to data from market research firm Circana, the market share of illegal e-cigarettes in 2024 has decreased compared to $3.2 billion in 2023 and $2.8 billion in 2022. Circana stated that they cannot confirm or comment on these figures as they have not been made public.

Circana's data tracks around 11,000 unauthorized disposable e-cigarette flavor products in the market, distributed across hundreds of brands, with flavors including "cookie and cloud" and "magic cotton candy". This highlights the size of the illegal e-cigarette market in the United States, which is inundated with unauthorized products.

Circana estimates that the entire e-cigarette market, including authorized and non-disposable e-cigarettes, will have a market value of $6.8 billion by 2024. This suggests that flavored disposable e-cigarettes will make up approximately 35% of Circana's tracked market. The company's data only tracks sales through specific channels such as convenience stores and does not include online sales, independent stores, and specialty e-cigarette retailers.

Data show that since 2023, sales of disposable e-cigarettes have decreased by 25%. Industry insiders say that the 2024 data from Circana is preliminary, as their data on disposable e-cigarettes has been revised upwards in the past. British American Tobacco (BAT) and Altria have both stated that the e-cigarette market in the United States is expanding. Altria CEO Billy Gifford stated during a meeting on February 19 that they expect the US e-cigarette market to grow by 30% in 2024, driven entirely by illegal products.

Data indicates that the FDA's crackdown has started to show results. Prior bestselling brands ESCOBAR and ELFBAR have dropped out of the top ten best-selling devices list in 2024 after the FDA prevented their imports in 2023. However, other brands have quickly taken their place.

The following is the projected retail revenue for the top 10 disposable e-cigarette devices in the United States in 2024 (these figures do not include online sales, independent stores, or sales from professional e-cigarette retailers).

Geek Bar Pulse: 5.828 billion dollars.

Breeze Smoke has raised 3.111 billion US dollars.

Raz: $2.937 billion

Mr. Fog: 81.7 million dollars.

Breeze Prime: $74.4 million

Juicy Bar has raised $70.3 million.

Lost Mary: $58.3 million

Fuma: $50.2 million

Loon Max: $49.8 million.

Kangvape has raised $47.4 million dollars.

Among them, Geek Bar Pulse, Breeze Smoke, and Raz respectively rank in the top three on the list.