Introduction

The electronic cigarette (e-cig) market has been slowly developing and is starting to gain some traction in some regional markets, with the UK expected to top 1 million users in 2012, while by comparison the UK’s population is estimated to hold around 12 million tobacco smokers. This represents a potentially major shift, and the e-cig market may eventually come to replace the tobacco industry.

Features and benefits

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Highlights

An e-cig is a new product which replicates the sensation of smoking and delivers to the user a small dose of nicotine that can satiate cravings. This market makes some bold claims as to the health benefits and cost savings to smokers over normal tobacco.
The tobacco industry is undergoing some major changes. In many areas the value of the product is growing but there is a volume drop, meaning tobacco is getting more expensive. This is helping to boost the e-cig market as consumers are put off by high costs, and the large tobacco corporations are moving to find long-term alternative revenue sources.
The largest tobacco firms are taking different routes to enter the market. Some of the largest players in the e-cig market have been purchased by big tobacco firms, while in other cases new exploratory companies are being formed by the tobacco leaders to research e-cigs and enter new products into the growing e-cig market.

Your key questions answered

* Which companies are the electronic cigarette market leaders?
* How are the tobacco companies becoming involved in electronic cigarettes?
* Why are the tobacco companies becoming involved in electronic cigarette companies?
* What is the likely future for the e-cig market?