BAT Korea May Launch Vuse Go 800 Nationwide as Bubblemon and Other Brands Dominate the Market

BAT Korea is expected to launch the Vuse Go 800 e-cigarette <\/strong> nationwide, in addition to PMI potentially launching new e-cigarette products <\/strong> in the future.<\/p>

According to a report from Korea Etoday on November 25, BAT Korea is expected to fully launch the e-cigarette product “Vuse Go 800” in South Korea. <\/p>

The South Korean government suggested in 2020 that citizens stop using liquid e-cigarettes, and the market size for such products was planned to be reduced. However, in July of this year, the Vuse Go 800 was released in limited quantities in major urban areas such as Seoul and Gyeonggi-do, and the market response was better than expected. Therefore, BAT is actively considering a full-scale sale of this product.<\/strong> <\/p>

Meanwhile, Philip Morris International (PMI) applied to the Korean Patent Office last month for trademarks such as IQOS VEEV NOW and VEEV One, increasing the likelihood of product launches. Currently, the product has been launched in about 10 countries in Europe, including Canada, Croatia, the Czech Republic, and France. <\/p>

Regarding the launch of IQOS VEEV, a representative from Philip Morris Korea declined to comment, stating, “It is difficult to discuss launch plans.”<\/strong> <\/p>

Industry predictions suggest that KT&G in Korea will take a cautious approach, as it launched the liquid e-cigarette product “Lil Vapor” in May 2019 and stopped sales the following year.<\/p>

Since 2020, the domestic liquid e-cigarette market has been shrinking. According to Euromonitor, the domestic liquid e-cigarette market size (excluding synthetic nicotine products) was 110 billion KRW (approximately 6 billion RMB) in 2019, but has remained at the level of 50 billion KRW (approximately 2.7 billion RMB) since 2020.<\/strong> <\/p>

The domestic liquid e-cigarette market in Korea is currently dominated by small and medium-sized companies, with a representative example being Bubblemon, which has entered the shelves of Korean convenience stores.<\/strong> <\/p>

An industry insider stated, “Liquid e-cigarettes have become widely popular globally due to their convenience and portability, and correspondingly, the share of liquid e-cigarettes in the domestic tobacco market will also increase.”<\/p>