Marlboro Corporation to Begin Sellng E-Cigarette This June

The corporation is actually Altria; Marlboro is by far its top brand. As sales of actual cigarettes continue to slide, and e-cigarette sales grow, they're looking to enter the latter market.

Lorillard CEO Murray Kessler told analysts yesterday the company estimates that electronic cigarette sales displaced consumption of about 600 million cigarettes in the first quarter. That translates to an annual rate of about 2.4 billion cigarettes, accounting for about 1 percent of the U.S. market, according to Shea.

Altria hasn't ruled out simply buying out one of the exiting players in the market, like the companies that make the "Blu" e-cig.

The FDA is studying how to regulate the devices. Which I don't actually mind in theory; I don't want to buy a bottle full of poison. But "regulate" often means "use health pretexts to bother you and limit your choices."

posted by Ace at 10:48 AM

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