NEW YORK -- The latest all-channel data from research firm Nielsen places the vaping device from Juul Labs clearly out in front, with a 46.8% share in sales compared to the No. 2 ranked brand, Vuse at 20.7% share.
Strong sales and volume performance for e-cigarettes at 34.4% and 32.6% growth, respectively, over a four-week period ending Dec. 30, 2017, placed it above all other tobacco categories. For instance, the smokeless category grew in sales by 5.4%, while cigarette sales declined by 0.2% in that same four-week period as compared to the same time frame the previous year.
The current sales numbers represent a switch from a year ago, when Vuse held a 35.4% market share and Juul was at 25%, according to the Winston-Salem Journal. Vuse parent R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co. was acquired in July 2017 by London-based British American Tobacco.
The Juul device, from San Francisco-based Juul Labs, entered the mainstream retail marketplace in 2015 and is sold in the form of a pen or a USB device.
New York-based Nielsen tracks the e-cigarette mass channel and convenience-store marketplace. Vaporizers, which typically are lower in price, are sold mostly in tobacco and vapor shops, where Nielsen has limited tracking. The distinction is important given that $3 billion of the $4.4 billion in e-cig and vaporizer revenue that New York-based Wells Fargo Securities projected for 2017 came from the vaporizer sector. Wells Fargo is projecting $5.1 billion in overall e-cig and vaporizer sales in 2018, the Journal reported.
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