PMI’s IQOS continues to enjoy great popularity in Japan, where it also first made its debut 10 years ago. Photo credit: Tokumeigakarinoaoshima, CC4.0.
Philip Morris International Inc. (PMI) marks the 10th anniversary of the introduction of its smoke-free product, IQOS. The launch of this smoke-free innovation was a breakthrough moment toward achieving the company’s commitment to a future without cigarettes.
Japan, where IQOS first debuted in 2014, has witnessed a significant shift in smoking trends. According to the National Health and Nutrition Survey (NHNS)—a nationwide health assessment conducted annually by Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare since 1948—cigarette smoking prevalence among adults dropped by 46% between 2014 and 2022, declining from 19.6% to 10.6%.
This reduction aligns with the introduction and widespread adoption of heated tobacco products (HTP), including IQOS, by millions of adult smokers in Japan. The country now leads the world in the number of HTP users, with overall tobacco prevalence continuing its downward trajectory.
A decade after it was launched in Japan, IQOS now generates over US$10 billion of PMI’s annual net revenues, the product is available in over 70 markets worldwide, and 30.8 million adults use it.
PMI c.e.o. Jacek Olczak said, “With the debut of IQOS, we launched PMI’s vision of a smoke-free company, creating an opportunity to solve the problem of smoking. Every day, IQOS demonstrates its potential for this, as evidenced by the approximately 22 million adults around the world who have fully switched to it and stopped smoking. IQOS is the world’s leading smoke-free product, and we are committed to continuing to lead the way to a future where better alternatives have completely replaced cigarettes, while moving forward to become a predominantly smoke-free company by 2030. Today, PMI employs over 80,000 people, and I would like to mark this anniversary by thanking them and their predecessors—all who made this transformation possible.”
With PMI transforming into a science and technology company, smoke-free products account for 38% of the company’s net revenues in Q3 2024, up from practically 0% in 2014.