China Tobacco Firms Push Heated Tobacco Entry: Who Can Rival Marlboro?
As heated tobacco gains momentum, Chinese tobacco companies are accelerating their entry into the category. The key question is which domestic brands can compete with Marlboro and IQOS.
At Vapor Culture Week, which opened in Shanghai on December 7, the scale may not have matched this year’s Shenzhen event, but it still brought together more than 100 brands from 23 countries and regions around the world. With heated tobacco products represented by IQOS continuing to grow in popularity, the main highlight of this year’s event was, of course, heated tobacco products. The venue featured heated tobacco product displays from Sichuan Tobacco, Yunnan Tobacco, Hubei Tobacco, and Hunan Tobacco. Some other provincial tobacco companies did not attend, so I won’t mention them here.
1. Sichuan Tobacco
Sichuan Tobacco’s heated tobacco product “Kuanzhai” can be described as one of the earliest domestic entries into the heated tobacco category. After more than a year of improvements, Kuanzhai is now one of the few products in China capable of competing with IQOS. The original flavor and the newly launched menthol can easily outperform Marlboro Original and Menthol. At this Shanghai vape expo, the company took the lead in unveiling a dual-holder device with APP control, allowing users to freely adjust the heating temperature on their phones. It also introduced new tobacco stick flavors and improved fruit-flavored tobacco sticks.
2. Hubei Tobacco
At this Shanghai vape expo, Hubei Tobacco brought its newly released MOK device and COO tobacco sticks. Although Hubei did not begin showcasing its products as early as Sichuan Tobacco and Yunnan Tobacco, the MOK and COO tobacco sticks presented this time still showed solid potential. With COO tobacco sticks, the MOK can provide about 4 minutes of smoking time per stick, and the taste is similar to Huanghelou-style cured tobacco. The only drawback is that COO is not compatible with IQOS devices.
3. Yunnan Tobacco
Yunnan Tobacco entered the heated tobacco space at roughly the same time as Sichuan Tobacco, and this year it also released its new MC device and MC tobacco sticks. At this vape expo, it showcased its own device along with six tobacco stick flavors. Compared with Marlboro, the tobacco sticks still seem a bit behind—possibly because they are not compatible with IQOS. I did try the MC blueberry flavor on another device, and it was actually pretty good. The MC device is available in multiple colors, and the build quality is also good.
4. Hunan Tobacco
At this vape expo, Huabao displayed Hunan Tobacco’s heated tobacco sticks, NISE. After trying a few, my impression was that they were roughly on the same level as Kuanzhai earlier that year.
Some people may say this review is wrong, but IQOS, as the pioneer of heated tobacco, has the largest user base. Smoking ultimately comes down to habit—if its users can get used to your flavor, then you’ve succeeded. So in my personal opinion, the China Tobacco products most capable of competing with IQOS are Sichuan Tobacco’s Kuanzhai and Hubei Tobacco’s COO.
1. Sichuan Tobacco
Sichuan Tobacco’s heated tobacco product “Kuanzhai” can be described as one of the earliest domestic entries into the heated tobacco category. After more than a year of improvements, Kuanzhai is now one of the few products in China capable of competing with IQOS. The original flavor and the newly launched menthol can easily outperform Marlboro Original and Menthol. At this Shanghai vape expo, the company took the lead in unveiling a dual-holder device with APP control, allowing users to freely adjust the heating temperature on their phones. It also introduced new tobacco stick flavors and improved fruit-flavored tobacco sticks.
2. Hubei Tobacco
At this Shanghai vape expo, Hubei Tobacco brought its newly released MOK device and COO tobacco sticks. Although Hubei did not begin showcasing its products as early as Sichuan Tobacco and Yunnan Tobacco, the MOK and COO tobacco sticks presented this time still showed solid potential. With COO tobacco sticks, the MOK can provide about 4 minutes of smoking time per stick, and the taste is similar to Huanghelou-style cured tobacco. The only drawback is that COO is not compatible with IQOS devices.
3. Yunnan Tobacco
Yunnan Tobacco entered the heated tobacco space at roughly the same time as Sichuan Tobacco, and this year it also released its new MC device and MC tobacco sticks. At this vape expo, it showcased its own device along with six tobacco stick flavors. Compared with Marlboro, the tobacco sticks still seem a bit behind—possibly because they are not compatible with IQOS. I did try the MC blueberry flavor on another device, and it was actually pretty good. The MC device is available in multiple colors, and the build quality is also good.
4. Hunan Tobacco
At this vape expo, Huabao displayed Hunan Tobacco’s heated tobacco sticks, NISE. After trying a few, my impression was that they were roughly on the same level as Kuanzhai earlier that year.
Some people may say this review is wrong, but IQOS, as the pioneer of heated tobacco, has the largest user base. Smoking ultimately comes down to habit—if its users can get used to your flavor, then you’ve succeeded. So in my personal opinion, the China Tobacco products most capable of competing with IQOS are Sichuan Tobacco’s Kuanzhai and Hubei Tobacco’s COO.
