As the coronavirus pandemic continues, concerns and different points of view are being raised within the e-cigarette and tobacco sector – but regardless of location, there is overwhelming uncertainty across the industry. In this special episode, Tim Phillips – the founder and managing director of ECigIntelligence – presents analysis of the three main areas of the sector: supply, demand and regulatory.
Tim discusses the shift in retail space moving towards online channels – with the US vape crisis already having hit shops and the current lockdown contributing to further loss – the problems with hardware production being delayed due to China’s lockdown, and domestic production reducing some of the country’s dominance. With the new demands and consumer behaviour moving towards the online channel and cheaper products, as people may spend more time at home rather than out in public spaces, we may see consumers returning to larger-scale devices as portability will no longer be an issue.
Tim then moves on to discuss the regulatory issues, touching on the delayed implementations in the US – including state flavour bans being delayed also – as well as policy delays in Asia, actions in Europe and more.
