高科技电子烟重塑香烟未来？

    蒙西斯所言极是：目前烟草业正是躺着挣钱的时候。全球烟草市场的年产值约为8000亿美元，而电子烟去年的销售额也已达到20亿美元上下。过去三年，电子烟行业的年复合增长率高达30%。一些烟草行业分析师预计，到2015年，电子烟的全球销售额有望突破30亿美元。彭博社（Bloomberg）的行业专家更是预测，到2047年，电子烟销售额或将超过传统烟草。

    但目前电子烟市场的主流产品仍然属于低端范畴——绝大部分不过是传统香烟的改头换面，只是将尼古丁添加到丙二醇里，再通过雾化器变成雾气被消费者吸食，好处是既有香烟的感觉又没有烟雾。Ploom不一样，它将自己定位为高端奢侈品牌。Ploom的电子烟仍然使用传统烟叶，Pax可以使用散装烟叶，modelTwo使用的是预先包装好的烟叶“荚”——没错，与按杯兜售咖啡的方法类似。用户可以从零售商和Ploom官方网站买到这些烟叶荚。精良的设计和质感使Ploom电子烟尽显高端大气。

    健康倡导团体和禁烟组织一直在抨击烟草行业，尽管就连大麻如今也已经开始摆脱低三下四的地位，有望获得合法的名分。蒙西斯表示，一旦美国、欧洲、南美和世界其他地区的法律法规形势发生变化，Ploom公司随时准备进入其它领域。虽然大麻作为单列商品的数据很难获得，但位于旧金山的天使投资网络公司ArcView Group预测，美国合法大麻的销售额今年有望达到23.4亿美元。按照美国各州和联邦政府的大麻合法化进展，五年后美国大麻市场或将高达102亿美元。

    蒙西斯、鲍文以及成长中的Ploom公司（它目前的员工数已超过35名）眼下的重点不在于被蒸发的物质是什么，而在于创造消费者想要的体验。蒙西斯说，烟草行业长期以来一直忽略自己的客户，向客户提供不同包装的同一种产品。凭借硅谷高科技创业者以批评的眼光审视吸烟，Ploom希望在一个多世纪以来没有发生过明显改变的烟草市场能够不断创新。

    蒙西斯说：“我们是一家以消费者为中心的公司，我们总是对顾客感兴趣的东西有兴趣。我们会回避老产品，任由老产品消亡并继续前进。我们不是传统的烟草公司，我们无意创造持续数十年而一成不变的单一产品。我们是一家烟草公司，但我们更是一家创新企业。”(财富中文网)

    译者：项航

    That's perfectly fine: Right now tobacco is a good place to be. While the broader tobacco business is worth roughly $80 billion, e-cigarettes carved out about $2 billion in global sales last year. The segment has been growing by about 30% annually for the last three years. A Citigroup analysis predicts $3 billion in global sales by 2015, and Bloomberg Industries believes e-cigarette sales will surpass traditional tobacco sales by 2047.

    Most of those sales come in the form of relatively inexpensive e-cigarette products -- most of which somewhat resemble traditional cigarettes -- that turn a nicotine-infused propylene glycol into an inhalable vapor that gives users that cigarette fix without the smoke. Ploom differentiates by positioning itself as something of a luxury brand within the space. Its products still use actual tobacco -- Pax takes loose-leaf tobacco, while modelTwo uses pre-packaged tobacco-filled "pods" -- yes, the Keurig coffee model, applied to tobacco -- that can be purchased retail or from Ploom's website. For both, a polished design and feel make them feel decidedly high-end.

    But health advocacy and anti-tobacco campaigns continue to attach greater social taboo to tobacco, even as marijuana has begun to shed the stigma and legal baggage attached to it. Monsees says the company is poised to branch off in other directions as the legal landscape shifts in the U.S., Europe, South America, and elsewhere. Though data focused solely on the marijuana accessories market are hard to come by, the San Francisco-based angel investor network ArcView Group forecasts that the legal cannabis market in the U.S. will hit $2.34 billion this year, and perhaps $10.2 billion in five years, depending on which state markets open up and how federal authorities respond.

    For Monsees, Bowen, and their growing company -- it now staffs more than 35 employees -- it's less about what's being vaporized and more about creating an experience that consumers want. Big Tobacco has long ignored its own customers, Monsees says, offering them a single option in a lot of different packages. By approaching smoking with the critical eye of a Silicon Valley tech entrepreneur, Ploom wants to bring continuous innovation to a market segment that hasn't changed appreciably in more than a century.

    "We are a very consumer-centric company, and we're always interested in what our constituents are interested in," Monsees says. "We will shun old products, we will let them die and move on. We're not the traditional tobacco company, and we're not interested in creating a singular product that will last for decades and decades and never change. We're a tobacco company, but we're an innovation company."