MOK Mini is launched in Korea
In Korea, the new tobacco market is expanding. KT&G, BAT Korea and PMI are the three giants of the Korean market. In addition, there are many small companies are also trying to share the profits, and the competition there is very fierce.
According to Korean media reports, the brand MOK of Hubei Zhongyan Co., Ltd. launched a new generation of heat not burn product named MOK mini.
This is not the first time that MOK has debuted in the Korean market. As early as the end of October 2018, Jiangnan District of Seoul, Korea witnessed the launch of MOK products. MOK soon was sold in 200 offline stores in Seoul and opened its first flagship store on New Shadong Mall.
The upgraded version of MOK Mini is very in line with the popular trend in the Korean market – portable integrated devices. Each cartridge only needs 12 seconds of heating time, and after 1 hour and 30 minutes of full charge, up to 12 cartridges can be used continuously. The amount of smoke produced by MOK Mini is abundant, which is no different from that of burning cigarettes. The ceramic material used properly emphasizes the soft curves of the device and makes it more design-oriented. On this basis, LED keys are added.
Hubei China Tobacco released the latest heat not burn product in Korea, cooperating with the specially developed cartridge COO, MOK has gained a place in the expanding domestic market of Korea by developing new types of tobacco.
The price of the device is 49,000 won, which is about $41. The price of a cartridge COO is 4,500 won like $4.
Above is the price of mainstream heat not burn products in Korean market. lil is 95000, glo is 90000, and iQOS has the highest price, 120 000 won. The price of a cartridge of the vape is 4300 won. It can be seen that, by contrast, MOK MINI has a great advantage in price.
Korean New Tobacco Market Keeping Growing Trend
According to the Ministry of Planning and Finance of Korea, in the first quarter of 2019, sales of heat not burn products (excluding steam-type electronic cigarettes) were about 92 million units, an increase of 33.6% over the same period last year.
The share of heat not burn products in the overall tobacco market also rose from 2.2% in 2017 to 9.6% in 2018, accounting for 24% of world sales, ranking second in the world, after Japan. The Korea Institute for Health Promotion and Development (KHIDA) Anti-smoking Research Center predicts that this figure will reach 26.7% in 2019.
Since November 2014, the new heat nor burn products first appeared in Japan, iQOS in the Korean market began to be sold in May 2017. Traditional cigarettes burn at a temperature of about 600 degrees. However, new technologies used to heat not burn products can generate nicotine-containing vapor by heating them at low temperatures through electrical energy and special tobacco materials.
Heat not burn products has always been a social controversy about the advantages and disadvantages of health, related experiments have been underway, the Korean government and tobacco companies also have their own views. However, convenience and smokeless flavor make heat nor burn the first choice for consumers.
At present, the main active products in the heat nor burn market in Korea are iQOS of Philip Morris International, lil of KT&G and glo under BAT Korea brand. But the growing market has attracted more overseas brands to enter Korea. For example, after the Japanese brand jouz landed in Korea, sales far exceeded expectations, which can be regarded as a successful case of overseas e-cigarette brands in Korea. New tobacco practitioners in South Korea say that with the influx of many new brands and the expansion of consumer choice, the market size will become bigger and get more mature.
