In the past two years, electronic cigarettes have shown strong momentum overseas. According to data released by the General Administration of Customs on December 20th, the total export value of electronic cigarettes in China exceeded 70 billion yuan in the first 11 months of 2023, and the annual export value is expected to reach 78 billion yuan. Under the wave of Chinese e-cigarette manufacturers going global, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Russia, and others have become red ocean markets. Intense competition has promoted industrial upgrading. What are the trends of electronic cigarettes in 2024?
1. Environmentally friendly and biodegradable electronic cigarette packaging and outer shell
In the European market, environmental issues have become an important factor restricting the development of the disposable electronic cigarette industry. Government departments and consumers are gradually realizing the environmental damage caused by e-cigarettes. Therefore, for e-cigarette brands, on the one hand, promoting waste e-cigarette recycling services, and on the other hand, promoting the design and production of environmentally friendly e-cigarettes may be more in line with the current trends in the European market.
At present, there are several domestic manufacturers such as Smole and Zhuolineng that have environmentally friendly e-cigarette solutions. It is expected that in 2024, with the increasing controversy among European government departments and consumers over the environmental issues of e-cigarettes, e-cigarettes will continue to grow. More and more manufacturers are following up on PLA The application of environmentally friendly and biodegradable materials such as PBAT in electronic cigarette packaging and casing.
2. Growth opportunities for refillable and bottled oil
In 2023, with advantages such as low price, diverse flavors, and easy portability, disposable e-cigarettes will explode in markets such as Europe, North America, the Middle East, and Russia. Government departments will accelerate the regulation of disposable e-cigarettes. At the same time, due to the characteristic of disposable e-cigarettes that can be discarded after use, environmental issues have attracted people's attention, and environmentalists continue to criticize disposable e-cigarettes.
Especially in Europe, under the dual pressures of regulation and environmental protection, many manufacturers have begun to take a cautious attitude towards disposable e-cigarettes and have begun to layout refillable e-cigarettes, such as Hanqingda, Skoll, and others ANYX et al. It is expected that the market share of refillable electronic cigarettes in countries such as Europe and Russia will further increase in 2024.
_Tobacco Price Trends in 2021
In addition, open oil filled e-cigarettes are more popular among local consumers in Southeast Asian countries such as Indonesia. In 2023, several major domestic manufacturers have deployed bottled tobacco oil in Southeast Asia. Bottled tobacco oil may gain greater growth opportunities in 2024.
3 Large scale application of MEMS integrated microphones
The microphone is one of the core components of electronic cigarettes. At present, the most widely used electronic cigarette is the electret microphone, which has the advantages of stable mass production and low cost. But with the technological development and industrial upgrading of the e-cigarette industry, the disadvantages of electret microphones are gradually becoming apparent, such as lack of oil resistance, poor consistency, and self starting problems Poor compatibility of SMT, etc.
In order to improve these issues, many companies have developed MEMS integrated microphones in recent years, which are expected to be widely used by 2024. Compared to traditional electret microphones, MEMS integrated microphones perform better in areas such as high temperature resistance, oil resistance, and corrosion resistance. It is resistant to evaporation and can achieve high consistency in automated production.
4. Screened e-cigarettes will become more popular in 2024
Due to cost and portability limitations, the initial design of disposable e-cigarettes rarely considered additional features. However, in recent years, the global market has become increasingly complex and products have become highly homogeneous. Any innovation can make a product a bestseller. For example, adding a screen to an electronic cigarette can display information such as oil level and battery level.
At present, the cost of electronic cigarettes with screens is not much different from the version without screens, and it can greatly improve the user experience and add new selling points to the product. In 2023, many brands launched e-cigarettes with screens, which were popular in some overseas markets. It is expected that by 2024, more brands will consider e-cigarettes with screens. The screen size may become larger and even in the future. Touch the large screen to enhance the product interaction experience.
What other trends do you think the e-cigarette industry will have in 2024?