BAT Enters South Korea's Vaping Market with Launch of Vuse Go 800 Disposable E-Cigarette

BAT Korea announced on the 24th of this month that it has launched its vaping brand e-cigarette brand Vuse in South Korea. The product released this time is the Vuse Go 800, with 1.95 ml of e-liquid (0.9% nicotine content), a 515mAh battery, and support for up to 800 puffs. It comes in four flavors: Cold Fresh, Purple Breeze, Dolce Brown, and Green Spark. It has already gone on limited sale in downtown Seoul on the 24th and will gradually expand nationwide.

Based on the published specifications, it can be reasonably inferred that this may be the South Korean version of the Vuse Go Edition 01, which has already launched in the UK and other markets. Based on multiple sources, it can be confirmed that the Vuse Go Edition 01 uses the newly upgraded FEELM Max, the world’s first ceramic-coil disposable vaping solution, which FEELM began commercializing at scale in May this year.

Regarding this solution, Ge Wu Consumer previously analyzed it in the article “An In-Depth Analysis of FEELM Max’s ‘Turbocharging’: How 2ml Disposables Entered the 800-Puff Era.” The biggest upgrade of this solution is that it delivers 800 puffs from 2ml, representing a 30% improvement over the traditional 600-puff solution, while also complying with UK and EU regulatory requirements.

According to available data, Vuse is currently the liquid e-cigarette brand with the largest market share in the U.S. supermarket and convenience store channel. According to BAT data, as of June 2023, its share of the U.S. market stood at 46%.

BAT’s launch of vaping products in the South Korean market is a natural step. In a July 5 article titled “Is Vaping Rising in South Korea? After JUUL’s Retreat, BAT Returns to Tap a New Market of 600,000 Users,” Ge Wu Consumer noted that a BAT Korea executive said in an interview on July 3 that although specific timing and other details had not yet been disclosed, “we (BAT Korea) have always been open to launching vaping products in South Korea.”

On the other hand, BAT itself is also facing growth pressure. In June this year, new CEO Tadeu Marroco announced the dismissal of executives previously responsible for Reynolds American, BAT’s U.S. subsidiary, and BAT’s new categories division, which includes its popular Vuse vaping devices.

The core reason behind this personnel change was dissatisfaction with BAT’s pace in transitioning to next-generation tobacco products. BAT shareholders had previously expressed disappointment with the company’s slow transition: e-cigarettes account for about 14% of group revenue, while the proportion at U.S. competitor PMI exceeds one-third. When Tadeu Marroco succeeded Jack Bowles as CEO on May 15, he said publicly that the target of generating £5 billion in revenue from non-combustible alternatives was the right one and that he planned to achieve it by 2025.

From this perspective, one of BAT’s paths toward achieving that goal is clearly to deploy more product categories across more regional markets.