There have been several complaints recently from vapers about the slim and disposable type e cigarettes commonly found in most retail stores and chemists. The biggest complaint is about the low quality vapour they produce, which makes the effects of the nicotine weaker as compared to smoking conventional tobacco. Other complaints include a short battery life which greatly reduces their lifespan, and quite the high price considering what you get. For heavy vapers, this can run into £10 or more a day.
These complaints have coincided with a loss of popularity in these type of e cigs as vapers now prefer the affordable and larger next generation e cigarettes (as sold on Smokshop).
Investers Cottoning On
Confirming this, a key player in the industry’s financial sector said “investors today are not willing to invest in the small electronic cigarette firms, as it is hard to tell whether they will get distribution; investors are now looking for other promising sectors to invest in.”
One particularly growing sector, which is catching most investors attention is the ‘build your own’ type vaping products. These constitute DIY products like batteries, e-liquids and vaping tanks among other things. Wells Fargo, one of the largest financial services firms in America, estimates that this sector alone accounts for $1.1 billion in a market that’s comprehensively worth $2.5 billion in the US alone. To this end, the firm went further to say that vaping is very likely to surpass tobacco smoking in the coming decade.
However, Nielsen, a data gathering company, shows from its records that the market has been dropping over the recent few years. In the recent data collected covering a period of 52 weeks for the period ended 23rd August, the revenue generated from electronic cigarettes and tanks in the US was shown to have increased by 19%. For the same period ending the year 2013, growth in the industry was measured at 125.5%; quite a huge drop of over 100%. Growth for the years 2012 was measured at 133% and that of the year 2011 at about 1,103%.
However, this data excludes online outlets (like smokshop.com), as well as special vape outlets.
To confirm this, the value of a group of e cigarette companies has recently dropped. At the close of trading on Wednesday, nine firms were shown to have a combined value of $743.3 million, a drop of about 60% from $1.84 billion in March. On the brighter side, this was still a significant amount higher as compared to last year.
In March, ECIG’s shares ranged at the tens but they recently dropped down to $5.5 on Wednesday. Since it went public last year, the company has entered into several deals with smaller firms seeking consolidation for a stronger foothold in a crowded industry.
Mark Winker of the Fleming Family & Partners advised Skycig, a British e cigarette maker, to sell out to Lorillard for a whopping $49.58 million together with additional future payments. He had an answer for the reason behind the consolidation taking place, saying “the primary motivator behind this is that they will stand a better chance to compete with tobacco firms.”
Michigan-based ECIG filed for a follow-on P.O to further raise additional money to reach $149.5 million. In June, the company further made it public that it had received an investment of $20 million from Mansour Group based in Egypt; a positive trend towards achieving its goals.
The situation is the same for 22nd Century Group, the second-largest traded firm. Since the recorded high of $6.34 in March, the price of its shares have dropped by more than half despite including monies from Fidelity, TIAA-CREF and Vanguard.
So it looks like the e cigarette industry is changing already and more vapers moving toward e cigarette kits. We have been promoting these as a better vape for years now, and it looks like the masses may be finally catching up! What are your thoughts on these disposable e cigs? Do you prefer them, or do you think they are a waste of money? Let us know, we would love to hear it!
Author: Kevin Ewbank
Avid vaper & co-founder of SmokShop
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