POMPANO BEACH, Fla. -- Last week, Logic Technologies Inc. announced the unveiling of its new Logic PRO Advanced Vapor System at the 2014 NACS Show in Las Vegas, giving retailers a sneak peek before the units hit shelves this winter (full story here).
The Logic PRO differs from the open-system vaporizers and tanks on the market in at least two ways: first, it’s what Logic President Miguel Martin described as a “closed-system” vaporizer unit, with a similar size, battery and performance to vaporizers, but using Logic-branded capsules instead of mixing and matching e-liquids; second, those capsules will only come in tobacco or menthol flavors, in Logic’s signature Black and Platinum strengths.
“It’s the same Logic liquids formula,” Martin told Tobacco E-News. “With an item like this, it’s not just about developing the hardware, but the liquids and blending.”
The quality liquids and blending is just part of the reason why Martin said Logic chose to stick with a limited tobacco-only flavor and strength portfolio with PRO, a strategy that has already proven successful for the company’s top-selling electronic cigarettes.
“Logic is maintaining its responsible industry approach as more regulators express concerns around open systems,” he said. “We have been successful targeting our products towards adult smokers who don’t have flavor options today--we think PRO is an extension of that.”
As an extension of an already successful line of disposable and rechargeable electronic cigarettes, it’s understandable that retailers might question if PRO will simply take sales from Logic’s existing portfolio. Martin admits that there might be “some cannibalization” from the electronic cigarette market, including Logic’s own brands. But he’s confident the long-term play is in rechargeables and vaporizer systems (both closed and open) like PRO.
“To me, a disposable is a trial device by its very design,” he said. “Some are quite good, but it’s a trial device. At the point in time a consumer makes a conscious decision that they’re going to vape with some regularity, people move to rechargeables because of the value proposition and performance. I expect in a couple years, the vast majority of sales will be in the rechargeable and/or an open system.”
There will always be some form of market for disposables--but the bigger question is how many consumers will truly embrace the more costly and complex (though better-performing) open systems lining the shelves of vape shops.
“I think there is going to be a segment of people who want a more robust experience and are willing to handle a more complicated device,” said Martin. “But I also think long-term, the vast majority of consumers are going to be using rechargeables. They’re smokers: they don’t want the bigger device, they don’t want the attention it draws, they don’t need that size of battery.”
“I also think rechargeables are going to get better and better,” he continued, “eventually closing that performance gap between cig-alikes and vaporizers.”
PRO, Martin said, represents a happy medium between rechargeables and vaporizers, boasting the battery power and quality of a vaporizer without the complication or mess of filling (and potentially spilling) e-liquids.
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