Philip Morris International unveils new IQOS Boutique at Dubai Mall

Philip Morris International (PMI) has opened UAE’s first IQOS Boutique at Dubai Mall. PMI says the new store underlines its ambition of “achieving a smoke-free future for the GCC”.

The IQOS Boutique offers UAE adult smokers an experiential space to discover PMI’s smoke-free alternatives and the science and technology behind them. It carries the full assortment of IQOS products, including accessories, and also houses exclusive offerings and limited editions. The IQOS Boutique will exclusively carry the new IQOS Lucid Teal Limited Edition, as well as the IQOS Collection, a product offer that the company says is unique to the UAE consisting of IQOS 3 DUO and IQOS 3 MULTI.

Since 2008, PMI says it has invested $7.2bn in developing, evaluating and producing reduced-risk alternatives to smoking. The company says it encourages adult smokers, who would otherwise continue smoking, to switch to better alternatives.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorised the marketing of IQOS system, which includes IQOS devices and 3 HeatSticks variants, as a modified risk tobacco product (MRTP) in July 2020. IQOS is the first electronic alternative to cigarettes to be granted marketing orders through the FDA’s MRTP process.

PMI has launched IQOS in 57 markets worldwide to date and estimates that there are nearly 15 million IQOS users globally. As of June 2020, over 11.2 million adult smokers around the world have already stopped smoking and switched to IQOS, the company claims.

According to PMI’s Q2 2020 figures, more than 70 per cent of PMI’s commercial investment is now in smoke-free products, with almost 20 per cent of its net revenue generated from smoke-free products. The company says it aims to have at least 40 million adult smokers switch to PMI’s smoke-free products by 2025.

The global market for e-cigarettes, or vapes, is expected to be worth $53.4bn by 2024.

The UAE officially legalised the sale and use of electronic cigarettes in April 2019 to curb the sale of unregulated e-cigarettes and ensure the nicotine components of vaping are 95 per cent less harmful than traditional cigarettes.

Dubai was expected to host the World Vape Show, the first international vape expo of its kind, in June 2020 before Covid-19 struck.