On January 29, 2024, the UK, the world's second largest e-cigarette market, announced a ban on the sale of disposable e-cigarettes. This decision caused a sensation in the industry and plunged the British market into pessimism. However, just two days later, the United States, the world's largest market on the other side of the Atlantic, held a grand TPE24 Tobacco Exhibition. This exhibition brought together more than 200 e-cigarette companies to demonstrate the innovation and vitality of the American market.
On January 26, before TPE24 was launched, the reporter went to the United States to conduct advance research on the Los Angeles and Las Vegas markets. At the same time, during the exhibition, Two Supremes went deep into the scene to directly contact well-known dealers and e-cigarette companies to obtain first-hand market information, gain an in-depth understanding of the latest trends in the US market, and explore future development trends.
New products: mainly touch screen, large mouth size, and pure oil
As the world's largest market, the United States is not only the vane of the e-cigarette industry, but also the market with the highest level of innovation and activity in e-cigarettes, playing a leading role in the development of the global market. At this exhibition, the new products launched by e-cigarette companies fully demonstrated this feature of the American market - rich and diverse products and unlimited creativity.
One month before the exhibition, the e-cigarette brand RabBeats released the industry's first touch-screen e-cigarette on the dealer's website in advance and announced that the product would make its debut at TPE24. Once the product was exposed, it immediately attracted widespread attention in the industry. At the TPE24 tobacco show one month later, not only RabBeats, but also many other well-known brands have launched their own touch-screen e-cigarettes, such as LOST VAPE, IJOY, etc.
Touch-screen e-cigarettes will undoubtedly become the first most innovative and leading new product in 2024. However, this innovative product has not yet been market verified in retail terminals. In contrast, the product that established this development trend - GEEKBAR's "fire" large-screen electronic cigarette, has received positive feedback in the market and attracted many manufacturers to follow up. Therefore, at this exhibition, most manufacturers carried large-screen e-cigarettes, making them the most mainstream product.
In addition to innovation in appearance, the number of puffs of American e-cigarettes is also constantly increasing. At the beginning of 2023, the number of large-blow e-cigarettes in the U.S. market was generally between 5,000 and 7,000 puffs. By mid-2023, thanks to the "double-shot" technology, large-blow e-cigarettes can easily exceed 10,000 puffs. Judging from observations at this exhibition, the number of puffs of e-cigarettes has reached new breakthroughs - some companies brought e-cigarettes with a puff count of 25,000-30,000 to the exhibition. Olit, a brand of Kanger, released a product with a puff count of 30,000 puffs. Oil content up to 40ML. In addition, MOTI and GEEKBAR have also launched 20,000-bit products.
In addition, in November 2023, the Canadian brand NVZN broke through the technology of transparent oil tanks prone to oil leakage and launched "pure oil" (transparent oil tank) products. This innovative product also attracted widespread attention in the industry, and pure oil products gradually emerged. At the TPE24 exhibition, SKE, a well-known British disposable e-cigarette brand, brought pure oil products to the exhibition, further highlighting this innovative trend.
Dealers: Not optimistic about the long-term development of large-screen e-cigarettes
The U.S. e-cigarette market has always been very "volatile", and one of the most volcanic aspects is cooperation with dealers. During the communication between Two Supremes and many well-known dealers in the United States, we learned that there are many brands of dealers in the United States, generally between 200-600, and the well-known e-cigarette dealer DemandVape has nearly 3 e-cigarette product-related SKUs. Ten thousand.
Talking about product selection requirements, Noel, marketing director of Empire Imports, said that when selecting partners, brand, price and exposure are the main considerations. Usually, companies will not choose low-profile brands.
Dealers revealed that product design is also an important consideration when selecting products. Noel believes that a good product, both in appearance and grip, is crucial. In addition, he emphasized that the product not only needs to ensure good quality and taste, but also needs to focus on marketing. He believes that no matter how good the product is, it will be difficult to succeed in the market without sufficient marketing promotion. Offering free use at trade shows is considered an effective promotion strategy.
When it comes to large-screen and touch-screen e-cigarettes, some dealers said that although these products are currently popular, the market may gradually return to basic e-cigarettes due to their larger devices and higher prices.
At this exhibition, there are also many British disposable e-cigarette brands participating in the exhibition, such as SKE, ELUX, GOLD BAR, etc., starting to explore the US market. Due to the eve of the exhibition, the UK banned disposable e-cigarettes. In response, Two Supremes asked dealers what they thought of these brands. Some leading dealers expressed their willingness to cooperate with them.
Regulation: Increasingly strict, dealers have turned to hookah and CBD
In 2023, the U.S. e-cigarette market is under the background of tightened regulation. The FDA frequently issues marketing denial orders, while Customs continues to strengthen enforcement at airports. Unlike TPE23, American e-cigarette practitioners who have participated in the exhibition generally have insufficient understanding of PMTA, and most people are not even aware of the existence of PMTA. However, one year later, at the TPE24 exhibition, practitioners’ awareness of PMTA was significantly enhanced, and they also felt the strengthening of supervision.
It is worth mentioning that at TPE24, FDA actively participated in the exhibition, popularizing regulatory knowledge to e-cigarette companies, publicizing FDA's key policies on e-cigarette supervision, and guiding e-cigarette companies to comply with sales. However, what is concerning is that in early 2024, the FDA frequently issued marketing rejection orders to e-cigarette companies, and has currently banned a number of products from well-known brands such as blu and SMOK.
During the communication with the exhibitors, the reporter learned that American practitioners generally feel the trend of stricter supervision. Happy Distro, a well-known American distributor, said that although the industry can only actively adapt to the regulatory measures that have been implemented, for undetermined regulatory measures, it can cooperate with the American Vaping Association to support their legislative lobbying to ensure its own interests. . FEELM, a well-known Chinese atomization technology brand, believes that regulatory measures are not a bad thing, but can indirectly promote the evolution of the entire industry. They pointed out that once regulations are implemented, new products and technology forms will quickly emerge.
During a visit to the California market by Two Supremes, it was found that the sales of e-cigarettes have been hindered to a certain extent due to regulatory reasons. Some wholesalers said they could only sell existing inventory because their products were detained by customs.
Additionally, some stores have opted out of selling disposable e-cigarettes due to the state’s flavor ban, switching to selling open-ended or refillable e-cigarette products, or offering only devices. Some stores even no longer sell e-cigarettes in order to adapt to market changes, but focus on other products such as hookah and CBD.
