Tobacco cigarettes will be gone in 15 years thanks to e-cigarettes
“If the development of electronic cigarettes keeps going like this and the technology continues to innovate, electronic cigarettes will wipe out tobacco cigarettes in 10 to 15 yearsâ€, states A. Verleur, founder of V2 cigs. Verleur is not the only one who expects tobacco cigarettes will be wiped out by electronic cigarettes. Several analysts already stated they suspected tobacco cigarettes will be gone in 15 years. “Maybe even soonerâ€, C. McKoy says. “If e-cigarettes get more popular, and is sure looks that way, it could happen in five to seven years.â€
Most people by now know what electronic cigarettes are. Most have even seen people smoke electronic cigarettes, but not a lot people actually use e-cigarettes, YET. Sales of e-cigarettes are increasing enormously. This year the sales doubled and went up to 1.7 billion dollar. The tobacco industry still makes about 80 billion a year, but if the sales of e-cigarettes continue to double or increase this way they will easily catch up or even overtake the sales of tobacco cigarettes.
“I believe the success of electronic cigarettes hasn’t even really started yetâ€, McKoy says. “Not even ten percent of the world population has tried electronic cigarettes. People are curious most of the time, they want to try new things. This means, 95 percent might be interested in trying and might like it. Suppose a quarter of these people likes electronic cigarettes and keeps buying them. The sales would go sky high if that happened.â€
Although the FDA didn’t regulate e-cigarettes yet and the health effects still need to be determined, smokers already buy electronic cigarettes. They want to quit smoking and these ‘fake’ cigarettes come as a gift from the sky. “The health risks have not officially been determined, but most people can find out easy what’s in an electronic cigarette. I understand critics are worrying about the popularity, but in the end: e-cigarettes help people to get rid of tobacco cigarettes. Yes, nicotine is not good for you, but if you replace tobacco cigarettes for electronic cigarettes, you can literally safe your own life. Isn’t that important?â€
Verleur expects his brand to grow up to 100 million dollar this year. “Our products cost less than tobacco cigarettes, not even half most of the time. This makes it easier for people to try electronic cigarettes, it safes them money. A lot of people don’t realize this yet, but we’re working on this awareness. Imagine if people seriously going to look at the costs and compare e-cigs with tobacco cigarettes. I think most of them will switch right way.â€
A problem which can’t be underestimated is the regulations governments are working on. Some countries are regulating electronic cigarettes as tobacco already. This means the promotion of e-cigarettes needs to be adjusted and this is exactly the point where e-cigs have the lead over tobacco cigarettes. While ads for tobacco are prohibited almost everywhere, electronic cigarettes brand go wild. Television, billboards and magazines: they can place ads everywhere. The last year was booming for the e-cigarette industry, because they could promote wherever they want. When e-cigarettes will be regulated like tobacco this all changes. Reaching new people might not be as easy as it was.
“This is exactly why I think it takes 15 years to wipe out tobacco cigarettesâ€, McKoy states. “If the sales of e-cigarettes would develop the same as it did this last year, it would go sky high in just a couple of years. Unfortunately a lot of people want to stop e-cigarettes from getting more popular. I actually think e-cigarettes will be regulated any time soon. However, even with this in mind, I think tobacco cigarettes will be wiped out in ten to fifteen years. The base has been made. People know e-cigarettes and love them. The internet explodes and within a couple of years, more people know about e-cigarettes and how they can help you quit smoking. Let’s say the amount of people who uses e-cigs doubles next year, this would still mean far more people smoke tobacco. However, if all those people tell their friends and family it could easily double again in 2015. Either way, the success of electronic cigarettes can’t be stopped and will increase.â€
While big tobacco industries earlier laughed about electronic cigarettes, they now start to see what’s happening. Most big tobacco manufacturers have already started to produce their own brand of e-cigarettes. About three months ago the largest tobacco cigarette fabricant U.S. Altria started selling their e-cigarettes called MarkTen. In Europe the second biggest tobacco company has also announced they will start selling electronic cigarettes. They plan to buy Dragonite International Ltd. (329)’s electronic cigarette unit for $75 million.