Toning down hysteria on Juul

New data on the U.S. e-cigarette market confirms that Juul Labs is much less dominant than sometimes believed.

ECigIntelligence, the leading provider of information and analysis to the industry, has welcomed figures from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that suggest Juul accounts for “nearly one in three e-cigarette sales nationally.”

That tallies closely with ECigIntelligence’s own estimate of 25 percent or slightly above.

But it is far lower than recent media reports claiming Juul has more than 70 percent of the market.

“Juul is clearly a major player and has grown very rapidly,” said ECigIntelligence Managing Director Tim Phillips.

“But unfortunately, in the recent climate of hysteria over youth vaping, some reports have wildly exaggerated the scale of Juul’s role.

“We hope these CDC figures will restore some sanity to the discussion, although we also note that they do not include two important channels – vape stores and the internet–which could mean Juul’s actual share is even lower.

“As always, data from non-specialist sources should be treated with caution. Vapor is a complex industry and claims made for overwhelming market leadership rarely stand up to close examination.”