America’s cigarette market is up for grabs
Live MintAmerica’s original Marlboro Man faces a fresh competitor, who also happens to be a Marlboro Man. PMI’s job was to distribute America’s bestselling cigarette brand overseas, while Altria would continue to sell it at home. A 2013 contract that gave Altria the exclusive U.S. distribution rights to PMI’s most successful smoke-free product, IQOS heat-not-burn tobacco sticks, expires on April 30. Altria, with its 50% share of the American cigarette market, has a lot to lose if PMI can persuade more smokers to switch to noncombustible alternatives. Altria would get a boost if the U.S. Food and Drug Administration cracked down on illicit disposable vapes imported from China that are currently capturing all the growth in America’s e-cigarette market.
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