Juul Labs Inc., one of the e-cigarette pioneers, is currently targeting Asia as its new market. This decision follows the recent backlash on the company in its own country, the US.
As a matter of fact, Asia is the home of the approximately half population of smokers in the world. Additionally, the looser tobacco regulations and taxes also lead Juul to focus on Asia.
“Given the volume of smokers, we view Asia as a high-priority region for the company. What we see is that smokers are very interested in these products. The consumer demand is super high,” said Singapore-based regional head for the company, Ken Bishop.
However, the company’s plan to spread its wings in the continent appears to meet a massive challenge. Although the company has begun selling its products in South Korea, Indonesia, and the Philippines, it will be hard to reach other countries due to laws and ban. For instance, Singapore and Thailand ban e-cigarette and other countries consider restrictions.
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Also, there is a prediction that Juul will have to face a strong competitor in the expansion. Accordingly, two giants in tobacco industry, Phillip Morris and Altria, are about to merge. It can be a possible nightmare for Juul as Phillip Morris has a wide distribution channel and the company has been its very own alternative smoking device in the continent.
Juul and the US
Just recently, the company is having a widespread attack in the US, Bloomberg reported. This is due the appeal the company has been constructing among the teens in the US since its establishment. In the recent update of the case, Michigan becomes the first state in the US to ban sales of the product.
The US General Surgeon has considered vaping, another term for e-cigarette, as ‘an epidemic’. Moreover, Food and Drug Administration has started investigating the safety of the product following the happening of numerous health cases possibly linked to vaping.
In response to the issue, the company has begun stopping the sale of several fruit-flavored products in retail stores. CEO Kevin Burns also demanded non-smokers to stop using the product for they are not the market of the company.
Accordingly, the target market of the company is smokers who want to lessen traditional smoking. This is due to the product’s capability to ease off traditional smokers following the fading of global demand for traditional smokes.
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