Innovation is nothing new to ICCPP. “Since the day of establishment, innovation has always been the DNA of ICCPP,” explains Everest Zhao, co-founder and CEO of ICCPP Group, who has more than 10 years of experience in the vape industry. In 2014, when ICCPP was just established in China, it mainly provided technical solutions for e-cigarette companies. It then began moving forward with major investments in R&D and the creation of advanced products and vaping systems.
In 2016, ICCPP proposed a creative solution to one of its customers. It was the predecessor of the Drag, which aimed to completely change the vaper’s habit of “igniting before using.” However, the customer did not accept the changes and insisted on a traditional solution. This incident deeply touched the founding team, according to Zhao. “It is hard for a supplier to ensure the overall quality and the user experience,” he said. “If we don’t solve the user’s pain point, don’t control the trend of technology, don’t break through the bottleneck of the industry, we can’t be seen as a company that really respects the user.”
In 2017, ICCPP created its own brand, Voopoo. The revolutionary instant-inhaling device Drag swept the global market after its introduction. Additionally, the ignition speed of 0.025 seconds broke the industry’s speed ceiling and received wide praise from global users. The Drag series won the global sales championship for two consecutive years, which had a profound impact on the whole industry, according to Zhao.
In 2019, ICCPP successfully developed a new product category with the first intelligent electronic atomization device, Vinci, which allowed e-liquid and nicotine salts to be utilized within one device. It successfully filled an industry gap and brought the arrival of Pod Mod, the miniaturized version of the traditional vape Mod. In addition to frequent innovations in open systems, ICCPP was also instrumental in the development of closed system products.
In 2021, ICCPP’s replaceable product hit the market with an innovative human-computer interactive smart screen and CNC technology design. The disposable product reached the overseas sales mark of 1 million pieces in two weeks after its initial launch. Subsequently, it won not only many industry awards in Britain, the United States and other markets but also the praise of many consumers.
From the perspective of ICCPP, the company is “a late bird” compared to its peers, according to Zhao. “Our strategy is not to compete for speed in a 500-meter race or for endurance in [a] 3,000-meter race but to compete for completion in a 10,000-meter race. No matter the investment in R&D, or reserve of talents, ICCPP is always at the forefront of the industry,” he said.
In the early stages of ICCPP’s development, the company owned less than 40 patents. In 2020, the number of patents filed by the company exceeded 400, and in 2021, it exceeded 600. To date, the total number of patents filed by ICCPP has exceeded 2,000. The growth cannot be separated from ICCPP’s dedication to innovative employees. ICCPP Group invests no less than 10 percent of its yearly profits in R&D, according to Zhao.
In 2019, to improve its own R&D capabilities, ICCPP cooperated with several universities to carry out research on innovative materials and set up a materials research institute, focusing on the development and application of new electronic atomization materials. To achieve a breakthrough of heating materials, ICCPP persevered through 1,000 days of research and 2,000 groups of material formulas, underwent 120 days of cyclic testing, passed more than 1,000 evaluations by global atomization enthusiasts, developed 100,000 pieces of product samples and, in 2021, developed its nano-microcrystalline ceramic core called Gene Tree.
At the Vaper Expo U.K. 2022, ICCPP launched the industry’s first use of a ceramic core in disposable products and multi-category ceramic core solutions. At present, ICCPP has built four research institutes with more than 500 R&D staff, and the Everest Lab, which has been accredited by the China National Accreditation Service for Conformity Assessment, is becoming one of the few laboratories recognized by national authority in the electronic atomization industry.
