Imag vaporizer feature story in Tobacco Asia. E-smoking: “Heat Not Burn” Is the New Vaping. Shenzhen-based Relaxo Technology Co. Ltd. recently introduced its proprietary IMAG product series. “Our IMAG 2 is the first vaporizer in the market that combines regular vaping functionality with a tobacco baking feature,” said the company’s c.e.o. James Yang.

1. 26 tobaccoasia
ByThomasSchmid
If you thought the first-generation e-cigarettes that
emerged in the market around a decade ago were
a revolutionary idea, think again. No segment in
the rather broad smoking industry today is making
bigger strides into the future than the developers
and manufacturers of e-smoking devices. Indeed,
the evolution of e-smoking is taking place as you
are reading this. And since the beginning, the large
multinationals and an ever increasing phalanx of
Chinese companies have joined the battle at a
metaphorical Thermopylae pass, where the fight
is not against Persian hordes but for market share.
Great Idea, But Where’s the Taste?
The original idea behind the e-cigarette was based
on a simple principle: Instead of combusting real
tobacco (as in a white stick) and inhaling the actual
smoke laced with all kinds of harmful by-products,
a nicotine solution is evaporated through battery
power in a purpose-designed electronic device.
Since no combustion takes place, only vapors
comparable to a thin mist are generated that while
carrying the nicotine are largely devoid of other
dangerous substances.
Yes, it was a great idea, hailed as a healthier
alternative to traditional smoking. But there was a
downside: While e-cigarettes were able to deliver
the desired nicotine kick, they just didn’t taste right.
They didn’t taste like real tobacco does, hence the
satisfaction that could be gained from a genuine
cigarette was missing for many smokers. Sure, man-
ufacturers soon enough started to market flavored
e-liquids, but efforts to emulate that warm, soothing
aroma of genuine tobacco leaf just failed miserably.
Instead we are nowadays spoiled for choice with lit-
erally hundreds of other flavors that cover almost
every taste preference – except tobacco.
First-generation e-cigarettes were soon followed
by more sophisticated second-generation devices in
often very stylish and fancy designs. But they were
now re-named into “vaporizers” or “atomizers”
while for marketing purposes, they still adhered to
the same working principle of evaporating a liquid.
E-smoking: “Heat Not
Burn” Is the New Vaping
IMAG Plus in 5 stylish
colors

2. tobaccoasia 27
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photoscourtesyofRelaxoTechnologyCo.Ltd.
There are today without doubt millions of people around
the globe who enjoy their “vaping”, relishing aromas like water
melon, bourbon vanilla, Caribbean rum, chocolate mint, cheese-
cake, and anything in-between. But there are also the other
countless millions of smokers who never warmed up to
inhaling nicotine-laced cherry soda or margarita-flavored vapors
in the first place. They either didn’t switch to e-cigarettes at all
or – after a short experimental stint as “vaporados” – went back
to regular cigarettes, disappointed, disenchanted, and downright
dissatisfied with the entire e-smoking hype.
A New Concept Is Born
Something had to be done, and quickly. Once again the
creative juices in the development departments of many of the
mostly Shenzhen-based Chinese e-smoking companies
began to flow. But brains also stormed in the hallowed halls of
some multinational tobacco firms. The logical solution to the
dilemma of how to bring genuine tobacco taste to e-smoking
without abandoning the technology altogether seemed to be to
develop a hybrid device that combined the taste sensation of
burning tobacco leaf with the perceived health advantages im-
parted by vaping. The brand new principle of “heat not burn”
took its first baby steps and was eagerly welcomed with open
arms by the smoking community.
Philip Morris Takes the Lead…
According to its own statements, it took Philip Morris Inter-
national Inc. 10 years of r&d and a hefty US$2 billion in in-
vestments to finally launch its long awaited iQOS smokeless
cigarette in late 2014. At first glance looking pretty much like
a second-generation vaporizer, it is in fact an analog cigarette/
electronic cigarette hybrid of the type already described.
Instead of e-liquid it uses a pre-fabricated “mini cigarette”
made of real tobacco and called “HeatStick”. Sold under the
Marlboro brand, it is inserted into the device’s vaporizing cham-
ber. Soaked with propylene glycol to aid evaporation, the tobacco
is heated by the device to around 350 degrees Celsius. This is
way lower than the typically 800 degrees at which tobacco in a
traditional cigarette burns, but still sufficiently hot to evaporate
the more volatile substances like nicotine and, indeed, all those
Relaxo Technology’s IMAG 2
James Yang, c.e.o.,
Relaxo Technology
Co. Ltd.

3. 28 tobaccoasia
photos by Thomas Schmid
photosfrompublicdomain
aromatics that make a cigarette taste so good. Yet
at the same time, many of the harmful smoke par-
ticles – most notably tar – that normally find their
way into a smoker’s lungs are left behind, because
they only are generated when actual combustion
takes place.
Having called the technology “the greatest
growth opportunity in the years to come”, PMI’s
c.e.o. André Calantzopoulos clearly has a hunch
that “heat not burn” is in fact the new vaping. After
all, his company is not only aggressively marketing
the iQOS device in a number of test markets at the
moment, but reportedly is also planning to produce
up to 30 billion HeatSticks per year if the product
concept is well received. A lot may hinge on the
pricing, though. The basic starter kit currently sells
for US$87 (just under €100), while a pack of 20
HeatSticks goes for US$6 – and one stick is needed
for every single smoking session.
…With China Hard on the Heels
The “heat not burn” idea was naturally also picked
up in China, although some manufacturers there
have come up with their own creative solutions
for a hybrid. For example, Shenzhen-based Re-
laxo Technology Co. Ltd. recently introduced its
proprietary IMAG product series. “Our IMAG 2
is the first vaporizer in the market that combines
regular vaping functionality with a tobacco baking
feature,” said the company’s c.e.o. James Yang.
In other words: The IMAG 2 can be used
with “normal” e-liquid cartomizers but also with
loose tobacco. The consumer simply fills any type
of moist cigarette or – even better – pipe tobacco
into the device’s patented heating chamber, waits
for a few minutes (the heat can be adjusted as
needed) and is then able to inhale the tobacco va-
pors that have developed without any combustion.
The most obvious advantage to PMI’s iQOS is of
course that no pre-fabricated HeatSticks have to
be purchased, as the user can fill the heating cham-
ber with as much (or as little) loose tobacco as they
wish, which potentially makes the IMAG 2 also a
very cost-effective option.
But it doesn’t even have to be only tobacco
either. “If you want to, you can fill the cham-
ber with any type of fresh or semi-dried herbs
of your choice – let’s say peppermint or thyme
– and achieve the same effect as if you’d use
tobacco. The IMAG 2 is quite versatile in this
respect,” Raymond Xu, the firm’s marketing
manager, explained to Tobacco Asia during a
device demonstration at last year’s InterTabac
in Dortmund, where the product series was
launched. The range also includes the some-
what smaller and easier to handle IMAG PLUS,
which is basically a vaporizer pen that works on
The True Flavor of Holland
Vaping certainly is “in”, but the commonly available flavors may not be to
everyone’s taste. How about a whiff of cannabis then – “weed”, “pot”, “ganja” or
whatever you want to call it? A Dutch company (who else?) going under the apt
moniker of Pimp Products has taken up the challenge and released a series of
disposable and rechargeable e-cigarettes running on cannabis-flavored e-juice.
And yes, for those who are still torn about their flavor choice there are even
ingenious blends like cannabis-apple, cannabis-strawberry, cannabis-cherry,
cannabis-whisky, and even cannabis-tiramisu readily available. But no worries
about getting a knock on the door from DEA agents: While the taste and smell
of cannabis may be unmistakable, the liquids are actually completely devoid of
THC, the active chemical that causes the cannabis buzz. To disperse any other
potential concerns, the liquids also contain no nicotine and are manufactured
from 100% natural ingredients. Although company owner Joram Vermeulen was
not available for an interview, he told Tobacco Asia at last year’s InterTabac in
Dortmund that the product range enjoyed brisk sales across Europe and North
America. He added he was now also successfully exporting to Japan and South
Korea, but for legal reasons had to adjust his company logo, which shows a
white Indian hemp leaf on a green background. Far Eastern customers will find
the brand emblazoned with a Rastafarian logo instead, while the original flavor
description “Cannabis Flavored” has been wittily altered to “Rasta Flavored”.
Where there’s a (business) will, there’s a way.
Philipp Morris’ iQOS starter kit Marlboro iQOS HeatSticks
Pimp Product’s disposable e-cigarette in its Far Eastern “Rasta” incarnation

4. tobaccoasia 29
photoscourtesyofRelaxoTechnologyCo.Ltd.
the same non-combustion principle utilized in the IMAG 2
and is manufactured with high-tech materials like ceramic
and carbon fibers.
The company has also solved the nagging problem of brand
compatibility as far as cartomizers for regular vaping are con-
cerned, an issue that has bogged down the industry for years
and potentially hampered growth. Pretty much every manufac-
turer seems to insist on using their own battery threading sys-
tem, which basically forces consumers who purchased a certain
vaporizer model to stick with cartomizers manufactured by the
same company, because other cartridge brands simply won’t fit.
“But IMAG 2 uses 510 threading, which provides a lot of vap-
ing flexibility as it makes the model universally compatible with
a huge variety of cartomizers. This is important, because you
don’t have to stick with the same branded cartomizers just be-
cause you are using that kind of battery,” said James Yang.
Early Bird Gets the Worm
But reverting back to “heat not burn”, Yang asserted that his
company was one of the earliest Chinese manufacturers to rec-
ognize this new vaping trend. “Many consumers are open to a
trade-off between health and taste. Heat-not-burn devices can
provide exactly that, because they are less harmful [to one’s
health] than traditional cigarettes, yet more satisfying [in terms
of taste] than e-liquid vaping,” he said. “From our perspective,
it is simply the most important market trend that is currently
going on, particularly after Philip Morris International launched
its new iQOS device and Marlboro HeatSticks.”
Relaxo Technology particularly keeps a keen eye on the
European and North American markets, where the company
predicts the heat-not-burn trend to come into full swing very
soon. “The consumer adoption curve for new products such as
e-cigarettes or vaporizers varies across different regions due to
different consumer behavior, cultural backgrounds, and last but
not least, government regulations. But in my opinion, Europe
and North America will be leading in terms of ‘heat-not-burn’
vaporizer market penetration in the near future, so that’s where
we are going to focus our marketing efforts,” concluded James
Yang and asserted that in 2015 his company projects “a sales
volume increase of 100% or more compared to last year.
The Relaxo Technology marketing team