US: Lorillard eCigs Leading in Market Share

Source from:  Richmond Times Dispatch 07/05/2013

A Wells Fargo Securities analyst said blu eCigs from Lorillard Inc. appear to have taken the top market share for electronic cigarettes from NJOY.
 
E-cigs are battery-powered devices that heat a liquid nicotine solution in a disposable cartridge and create a vapor that is inhaled.

Lorillard bought blu eCigs, based in Charlotte, N.C., for $135 million in April.

It has launched an estimated $40 million marketing campaign for the devices.

Analyst Bonnie Herzog said blu eCigs have a 37.2 percent market share in June, based primarily on sales in the convenience store channel. She said NJOY was at 33.9 percent, with its market share flat compared with June 2012.

Herzog said overall U.S. e-cig sales at convenience stores were up 148.8 percent year over year.

On June 13, Herzog projected $2 billion in retail sales for e-cigs this year and to exceed $10 billion in annual sales by 2017.

R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co. said June 6 that it is expanding the testing of its Vuse product to retail outlets in Colorado, beginning in July.

Henrico County-based Altria Group Inc., owner of Philip Morris USA, said it would launch its MarkTen brand in Indiana, starting in August. Enditem