50000 puffs e-cigarettes soon dominated the e-cigarette market in the global e-cigarette business, making them extremely popular due to their super-long battery life and ease of use. In the 2023 market report, approximately 60% of the Chinese market supply chain is rooted in Shenzhen, with industry leaders Relx and Smoore making waves. Their average monthly production capacities are over 2 million units, of which the 50,000 puffs variant accounts for about 15%. Let’s consider the US market as an example. In the second quarter of 2023, the sales of the products increased 40% annually. The retail price for a single pack ranged from 18 to 35 US dollars (approximately 130 to 250 RMB) with an upper limit gross profit margin ranging from 50% to 60%, a much greater proportion than traditional 3000 puffs products that had a 30% gross profit margin. For instance, Elf Bar’s new model of 50,000 puffs “BC5000” boasts a 1000mAh battery and 20ml e-liquid capacity. It has up to 30-day battery life (approximately 1660 puffs per day on average) and supports selecting the concentration of nicotine salt in the e-liquid as 5% or 0% to meet different customers’ needs.
Technically, the most groundbreaking advancement of the 50,000 puffs product is the atomization efficiency and the density of e-liquid being optimized. The application of ceramic core atomization technology (with porosity of 40%-50%) will increase the utilization rate of e-liquid to 95%, while that of traditional cotton cores is only 75%. Take the market leader Smoore as an example. Its FEELM 4.0 technology precisely controls the atomization temperature at 280°C±5%, maintains the amount of smoke per puff at 0.35ml, and reduces the rate of e-liquid intake to 0.0007ml/puff. Further, EU TPD regulation stipulates that the capacity of e-liquid shall not exceed 2ml. But through nicotine concentration optimization (e.g., 20mg/ml) and atomizer design breakthrough (e.g., parallel dual-core design), businesses can achieve the same feel of 50,000 puffs. For example, the British brand SKE Crystal Bar bypassed regulatory constraint through modular design.
Environmental protection has been the controversial focal point of 50,000 puffs products. According to the 2024 Global E-Cigarette Waste Report, a 50,000-PUFFS product contains 3.7g lithium polymer battery and 18g plastic housing. When not recycled, it will have a pollution load of five equivalents of mobile phone batteries. In 2023, California in the US legislated a bill where producers are forced to pay 30% recycling, which increased 12% retail prices in the domestic market. However, market research still shows that 72% of consumers are willing to pay a premium for extended battery life. Especially in Southeast Asia, the repurchase ratio of 50,000 puffs products is as high as 45% (only 25% for regular models). For instance, Malaysian brand HQD Cuvie Plus increased the customer retention rate to 60% by executing the “trade-in” program (deducting $5 for prior equipment), and saving 15% of raw material purchasing expenditure.
From the perspective of channel distribution, the percentage of online sales of 50,000 puffs products was 65%, and among them, the average order value of independent websites was $45 (which was 20% above Amazon). The social platform promotion conversion rate of 1:7 (1 purchase for every 7 exposures) is achievable for platforms like TikTok, and for the keyword “50,000 puffs,” the average monthly search volume exceeds 1.2 million times. The offline channels are primarily convenience stores and specialty stores. For example, when 7-Eleven Japan opened its products in Q4 2023, the monthly sales of one store averaged more than 200 units, representing 38% of the sales of the entire e-cigarette category. As can be seen, in the Middle East market, with the high-temperature surroundings (an average of 40°C every day), the demand for safety requirements of batteries has risen. Producers have to invest an additional 10% on thermal management systems (such as graphene heat dissipation films), so terminal costs are 8% to 10% above terminal costs in the European market.
Technically, 50000 puffs products need to obtain the EU CE certificate (approximately 20,000 US dollars for testing) and submit the US PMTA (over 1 million US dollars). In 2023, the FDA rejection rate was 98%. Few models like Vaporesso’s Luxe XR Max were accepted because it had provided over 150,000 pages of toxicological data. This level has prompted small and medium-sized companies to head to the markets of Africa and Latin America. For instance, Nigeria’s 50,000 puffs import volume jumped 300% in 2024, yet 60% of the products did not pass local EMI tests (with 2 to 3 times more electromagnetic radiation than is standard). In the future, the mandatory use of the Chinese GB 41700-2022 standard (implemented in June 2024) will require producers to keep management of the error of nicotine release within ±5%, taking away another 30% of the low-end production capacity.