E-cigarette: already 1 million followers in France

Professionals have a word in his mouth : exponential . The market for electronic cigarette doubles every year . " In France , it amounted to 50 million euros in 2012, said Professor Bertrand Dautzenberg , president of the French Office of Tobacco Prevention . And it should reach 100 million in 2013 ... Either the amount of sales all products designed to quit smoking! " And this is only the beginning. There are 14 million smokers in the country. Many potential vapoteurs ? " It already has 1 million , against 500,000 a year ago ," the pulmonologist . The e-cigarette is nibbling a very big cake : the 17 billion euros generated by the tobacco industry in France .

Vapoter costs six times cheaper than smoking

Is that it has a compelling argument ( in addition to its lesser effects on health) is the price. Smoking daily package costs 200 euros per month. Vapoter a rechargeable cigarette equivalent to six times cheaper : once bought cigarettes (40 euros) , simply renew cartridges ( 7 euros per month ) and the liquid (6 euros every ten days). A little more expensive , disposable , presented as " extra cigarettes " are also more profitable than conventional . These are users who succumbed first. " Since 2005 , Chinese websites and Anglo-Saxon proposed delivery in France e-cigarettes, often defective , leaking liquids, vapors ," recalls Michel Masure , general secretary of the Independent Association of Users electronic Cigarette ( Aiduce ) .

There are now hundreds of French sites. And a very active community. Via thousands of forums, it encourages the production of quality denounces scams and plays competition. Start- up and have multiplied over the past five years. EdSylver was launched in 2008. With just 10 employees, it should achieve 10 million sales this year , according to his business manager . She first bet only on objects with weak autonomy , mimicking the appearance of a traditional cigarette , to luminescent tip to mimic the combustion. It fits today vapoteurs experienced by developing a much more sophisticated range of imitation pens filled with liquids of any kind. And then it sold only on the Internet there are five years , it will flow more than 40% of its stock . The brand is changing strategy : it has invested in three stores in its own name and offering franchises on its website.

Signs storefront

Because there are now signs storefront leading dance. According to some estimates, there are now 500 stores in France . Clopinette is most visible . Created from a site of online sales in 2011 , the company , which boasts a turnover of € 3 million was immediately invested in its own shops , where she offers including Joyetech products China's largest supplier. " We do not sell disposable and our liquids are of French origin ," says co-founder Karin Warin , anxious to reassure customers about the safety of its products.

Shops Clopinette grow in all centers of France , to the chagrin of tobacconists and pharmacists (see below: "War outlets " ) . Four at the end of 2011 , they increased to forty-five today , and should be a hundred at the end of this year. The company owns only ten in his own name , but made ​​recipe via franchise development . With 60,000 euros and a no- door, we can now sell e- cigarettes and nicotine doses .

The new vogue vapotage also the happiness of e- liquid sellers. Quickly developed a wide range of species, more or less nicotine dosage , and the tint each steam inhalation a custom scent. " You can vapoter of After Eight ! " Karin pleasant Warin . On the model of Nespresso , which provides both coffee machines and the suitable capsules , the electronic cigarette serves as a vehicle for e- liquid dose. The French manufacturer Alfaliquid , considered safer than Chinese importers , has passed for 23 million euros vaporized substance in 2012 and expected to reach 50 million this year.

Mass production in China

Competition is increasingly fierce. Manufacturers of electronic cigarettes are now putting developed their own formulas , and some want to invest in production to secure their supplies. Only the e- cigarette itself remains overwhelmingly made ​​in China . The prices are unbeatable . "Six times lower than in France ," says Michel Masure , the Aiduce . World leaders face tough competition in their own country , where they are copied in factories at low cost. " It is not always good quality products ," warns Karin Warin .

Cigarette manufacturers will they be the first victims of vapotage ? In France , sales have fallen 8.6% in the first quarter , according to an official of a U.S. manufacturing (which requires anonymity ), electronic cigarettes are responsible for half. " The other patches and Nicorette did not destroy the tobacco industry , the e-cigarette will not do either, but it can accelerate its slow decline ," Judge Charles Lewis Sizemore , investment adviser at Sizemore Capital Management .

e-cigarette

In the United States , manufacturers have already responded . In early 2012, the U.S. giant Lorillard (producer brands Kent, Old Gold ... ) acquired the manufacturer of Blu electronic cigarettes , for $ 135 million . Altria Group, whose Marlboro brand saw its global sales down 2.6% in early 2013 , announced that it launched also in e-cigarettes this year. As Imperial Tobacco ( Gauloise , Davidoff , Gitane ... ) . The new Eldorado in fact more than a dream . In the United States , where nearly 3 million people vapotent , professionals believe that the market will reach $ 1 billion in the coming years .

Double consumption annually

" The e-cigarette is the tobacco that the energy drink is soda , said Bonnie Herzog, an analyst at Wells Fargo . Its consumption , which doubled every year since 2008 could exceed that of traditional cigarettes in the next decade. " The end of tobacco addiction ? Not so sure. Last year, at the launch of the e-cigarette Vuse Daniel Delen , CEO of Reynolds American ( Camel , Lucky Strike, Pall Mall, Winston ... ) justified his investment : " What we see in e - cigarette is a high level of new customers , and a relatively low level of conversion. " In other words, the market for electronic cigarette intends to create a need among people who have never smoked .