KT&G Targets Domestic and Overseas E-Cigarette Markets with 'Lil' Leading the Way

Heated tobacco product 'Lil Solid 2.0' and dedicated sticks 'Fit'

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] KT&G's 'Lil' is leading the domestic heated tobacco market by surpassing 3 million cumulative sales last year.

According to KT&G on the 1st, Lil achieved a 50% device market share based on convenience store sales (CVS) within three years of its launch last year. As of the second quarter of this year, it has exceeded 60%, meaning one out of every two heated tobacco products sold domestically is a ‘Lil’.

Lil surpassed 3 million cumulative sales by the end of last year. Thanks to strong sales of new products such as ‘Lil Hybrid 2.0’ and ‘Lil Solid 2.0’, it is expected to reach 4 million cumulative sales in the second half of this year. KT&G has steadily expanded its heated tobacco product portfolio since launching ‘Lil 1.0’ in 2017, followed by ‘Lil Plus’, ‘Lil Mini’, and then ‘Lil Hybrid’ and ‘Lil Solid’.

The main driver behind the increase in Lil sales is the ‘Lil Hybrid’, which has competitiveness through its proprietary platform. As of early September, the initial version ‘Hybrid 1.0’ and its successor ‘Hybrid 2.0’ sold 600,000 units each, totaling 1.2 million units. While it took about three years for the initial 1.0 version to reach 600,000 sales, the 2.0 version surpassed this in just one and a half years.

Lil is gaining attention not only domestically but also in the global market. Last year, KT&G began full-scale global operations through a strategic partnership with the global tobacco company Philip Morris International (PMI). As a result, within one year of entering overseas markets, Lil succeeded in expanding to a total of 10 countries. This achievement was made within a year after first introducing Lil in Russia in August last year.

Going forward, KT&G plans to play the role of a 'first mover' in the market by leading with devices equipped with advanced features. In fact, the number of related heated tobacco patent applications by KT&G increased significantly from 84 in 2017 to 219 in 2018, and to a total of 1,106 last year. Overseas patent applications also rose sharply from 9 in 2017 to 41 in 2018, then to 192 in 2019, and reached 757 last year.

Im Wangseop, head of KT&G’s NGP Business Unit, said, “Lil is a brand created through meticulous planning and systematic management from product design to branding,” adding, “We will continue to strive to become a brand loved by consumers worldwide through relentless technological development and innovation.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.