Altria stated that the booming market for illegal disposable flavored e-cigarettes is leading to a significant decline in sales of its authorized e-cigarette products.

Altria Chief Financial Officer Sal Mancuso pointed out in a conference call with some media and financial analysts that the sales decline in the traditional cigarette industry in the third quarter was even greater than usual. The reason for the decline is inflation and economic issues affecting consumers, as well as an increase in the use of illegally flavored disposable e-cigarettes.

Mancuso further stated that there seems to be more conversions between different categories than initially assumed, with e-cigarettes alone leading to a decrease of 1.5% to 2.5% in sales in the traditional cigarette industry.


According to the latest Nielsen convenience store report released on October 7th, RJ Reynolds Vapor Co., a subsidiary of British American Tobacco, has the highest market share in the United States at 41.8%.

NJOY, acquired by Altria in June for $2.75 billion, has been striving to increase its third largest market share.

The current situation in the (e-cigarette) market is intolerable for both legitimate manufacturers and consumers, "said Billy Gifford, CEO of Altria, in a conference call As we have repeatedly pointed out over the past few months, the regulated market is being occupied by illegal taste disposable e-cigarette products, and the production and sales companies of these products have almost violated all the rules and guidelines issued by the FDA since 2016.

Many of these products are imported. They are illegally imported and then sold illegally

Gifford pointed out that Altria has filed federal lawsuits against 34 organizations in California, including manufacturers, distributors, and online retailers, and stated that "significant corrective action is needed".