BAT Bets on Vaping as Tobacco Giants Battle With New Devices
- Lucky Strikes maker says vapor technology has better prospects
- Philip Morris has a two-year lead on BAT in heat-not-burn
The Vype Pebble vapor device, produced by British American Tobacco.
Source: British American Tobacco PlcThis article is for subscribers only.
Trailing Philip Morris International Inc. in the contest to move smoking alternatives beyond e-cigarettes is just fine with British American Tobacco Plc.
According to Kingsley Wheaton, head of BAT’s next-generation products, longer-established electronic smokes hold more promise than the heat-not-burn technology pioneered by its main rival. The high acceptance of Philip Morris’s iQOS tobacco device in its debut market of Japan won’t be easy to replicate elsewhere, he said in an interview Thursday.