NEW YORK -- The much-publicized heat-not-burn technology that Philip Morris International has been testing and marketing in other countries apparently is just one of at least four devices that define larger “platforms” of innovation moving forward, according to a tobacco analyst.
The product—Teeps—is closer in look and feel to a traditional cigarette than PMI’s heat-not-burn device called iQOS, Bonnie Herzog, managing director of tobacco, beverage and c-store research for Wells Fargo Securities LLC, New York. According to Herzog, Teeps is scheduled for testing in a major city this year.
“We are nothing short of impressed by [PMI’s] highly thoughtful and strategic approach to developing the [reduced-risk products] industry,” Herzog wrote in a recent research note.
Describing the Teeps product, Herzog said there’s no “device” involved; users light it with a match or lighter. The product will have faster consumer acceptance given awareness of New York-based PMI’s more established iQOS device and will benefit from supply-chain efficiencies, she said.
While not going into as much detail with the remaining platforms, she described the third set of products as “nicotine-containing vapor via chemical reaction; no tobacco,” and a fourth platform of products as “nicotine-containing liquid heated electronically; no tobacco.”
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