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Philip Morris claims heated tobacco will bring 'smoke-free future' to Korea

Published: 05 Feb. 2025, 16:12 Updated: 05 Feb. 2025, 19:00

KIM JU-YEON
[email protected]

Hannah Yun, Philip Morris Korea’s managing director, announces the launch of the IQOS Iluma i series in Korea in a press conference at Lotte Hotel in Jung District, central Seoul, on Feb. 5. [PHILIP MORRIS KOREA]

Philip Morris International will start selling its IQOS Iluma i series in Korea on Feb. 13, the tobacco company said Wednesday.

Hannah Yun, Philip Morris Korea’s managing director, said the product would further the firm's vision for a “smoke-free future” at a news conference for the launch at Lotte Hotel in Jung District, central Seoul, on Wednesday.

“There was a time when Philip Morris couldn’t be talked about without mentioning Marlboro. But now, we’re packing the cigarettes to the museum,” Yun said.

The newest lineup of IQOS devices adds features including a touch screen, extra puffs that extend usage time and a temporary pause function. The lineup for Korean consumers consists of two models — the IQOS Iluma i Prime and the standard IQOS Iluma I — and comes in five colors.

The IQOS Iluma i rolled out last year in Japan, which is a key market for IQOS: The brand accounted for 26.7 percent of the country’s total heated tobacco and cigarette sales in 2023. There are three devices in the IQOS Iluma i series in Japan, one more than will initially launch Korea.

The line provides a “better alternative for adult smokers who cannot quit,” said Yun.

The IQOS brand entered the Korean market in 2017 and initially led the heated tobacco market but has recently been trailing behind KT&G’s lil.

“Market share is, of course, important but that’s a secondary issue; we are instead focusing on shifting the market from cigarettes to heated tobacco products,” managing director Yun said. “The market for heated tobacco products that are created using science-backed technology must grow, and we are proud that we created a market that didn’t exist before by launching IQOS in 2017.”

The IQOS Iluma i Prime and the IQOS Iluma i will cost 129,000 won ($90) and 89,000 won, respectively. The products will be sold at IQOS stores and online mall starting Feb. 13, with preorders starting from Feb. 7.[KIM JU-YEON]

Executives repeatedly emphasized the IQOS Iluma i as part of a broader “transition away from cigarettes.”

But Philip Morris has a steep hill to climb. Evidence from studies worldwide suggests that electronic cigarettes, including heated tobacco and vaping products, may act as a gateway to, or complement, cigarette smoking, rather than act as a replacement. Dual use of cigarette types also increases the risk of adverse health effects.

A 2020 survey showed that 96 percent of Korean IQOS users concurrently smoked cigarettes at the time. A more recent survey, conducted in 2023 by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, said those who only used heated tobacco devices like IQOS made up only 7 percent of smokers; 40.8 percent smoked a combination of electronic cigarettes and cigarettes.

The number of cigarette smokers of all types in Korea increased for the first time in four years in 2023, which had dropped from 2019, according to the latest annually-conducted survey by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. Experts say the variety of types of e-cigarettes attracted new smokers, especially those that had less smoke and smell.

Philip Morris supports smokers transitioning completely to heated tobacco products or quitting smoking altogether at all IQOS stores, online and through the IQOS members club by “personalizing IQOS [marketing] communications to consumers in a way that suits their lifestyles,” a spokesperson for Philip Morris told the Korea JoongAng Daily.

The IQOS Iluma i Prime and the IQOS Iluma i will cost 129,000 won ($90) and 89,000 won, respectively. The products will be sold at IQOS stores and online mall starting Feb. 13, with preorders starting from Feb. 7.

BY KIM JU-YEON [[email protected]]