Philip Morris CEO Reaffirms Plan to Phase Out Cigarettes in Japan Within 10 Years
As early as 2017, former PMI CEO Andre Calantzopoulos said that because the company’s electronic devices were highly popular in Japan and South Korea, the tobacco company believed it could phase out combustible cigarettes in those countries within a few y
As early as 2017, PMI’s former CEO Andre Calantzopoulos said that, because the company’s electronic devices were highly popular in Japan and South Korea, the tobacco company believed it could phase out combustible cigarettes in those countries within a few years.
Four years later, the Marlboro maker has reaffirmed that goal and set a clearer deadline. “We hope Japan will be the first market where cigarettes are phased out,” newly appointed CEO Jacek Olczak told Nikkei earlier this year. He added that the company “will achieve a smoke-free society in Japan within 10 years.”
The tobacco company has been betting on IQOS, a smoke-free alternative to combustible cigarettes that works by heating tobacco sticks sold as HEETS in South Korea and HeatSticks in Japan. These short cigarette-like sticks must be inserted into the device and heated after the IQOS device is turned on.
Why Japan is an ideal testing ground for such products
Nikkei Business quoted Olczak as saying that PMI also plans to “launch devices using new technology.” Tobacco companies have long seen Japan as an ideal testing ground for heated tobacco products because the country’s strict regulations prohibit the use of conventional e-cigarettes. In addition, the country is known for placing a high value on cleanliness and health, and consumers are therefore also seeking non-combustible cigarette alternatives that align with those values.
