Marlboro to Introduce Device That Heats Real Tobacco

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESSJUNE 26, 2014

Philip Morris International, the world’s second-biggest tobacco company, on Thursday discussed its plans to release the Marlboro HeatStick, which heats tobacco rather than burning it, in cities in Japan and Italy later this year, with further expansion in 2015. The short, cigarettelike sticks are heated to maximum of 660 degrees Fahrenheit (350 degrees Celsius) to create a nicotine vapor. Unlike popular e-cigarettes that use liquid nicotine, the HeatStick contains real tobacco. The company, based in New York and Switzerland, has spent about $2 billion over more than a decade on development and expects that the new device to increase its profit by $700 million when sales reach 30 billion units. The company announced plans in January to invest up to 500 million euros (about $680 million) for two plants in Italy to make the products.