JTI re-enters Korean market with heated tobacco products for the first time in three years, driven by market growth - Korean media

JTI Korea, the Korean subsidiary of JT International (JTI), which handles tobacco business outside Japan, will begin selling its new heated tobacco product "Ploom X Advanced" in Korea from November.
The product will be the latest in the "Ploom X" series, which is currently on sale in Japan and other countries. This will be the first time the company has sold electronic cigarettes in South Korea in three years since 2021.
In 2019, the company launched the electronic cigarette "Ploom Tech," but stopped selling it in 2021. It marketed the product as a hybrid heated tobacco product that uses liquid.
The reason behind JTI Korea's re-entry into the Korean market with heated tobacco products is that the market is growing rapidly. In Korea, people are turning away from cigarettes for health and odor reasons.
More and more people are switching from tobacco products to heated tobacco products. Currently, the Korean e-cigarette market is split between KT&G and Philip Morris Korea.
Their market shares will be 46% and 20%, respectively. An industry source said, "It will not be easy for JTI Korea to expand the market, but they will be coming up with a thorough strategy to try again.
"Heat-not-burn tobacco is experiencing its fourth boom, and we expect new products and marketing competition in the industry to intensify."