Korea awaits iQOS

Philip Morris International is considering launching its iQOS heated-tobacco device in South Korea this year, according to a story in The Korea Times quoting ‘industry officials’.

Such a launch would intensify competition among the country’s major tobacco companies, which, as well as Philip Morris, include British American Tobacco Korea, Japan Tobacco International Korea and KT&G.

Although PMI Korea said it had yet to decide when iQOS would be launched, the industry observers were reportedly expecting that the launch would be soon.

The Times reported that when iQOS was first released in Japan, Japanese smokers had lined up to buy the product. So far, it said, more than 90 percent of PMI’s iQOS sales had been made in Japan and the company would be seeking to repeat this success in Korea.

Japan Tobacco Inc has been feeling the pressure from iQOS, partly because it has had capacity problems with its own heated-tobacco device, Ploom Tech.