Philip Morris 近づくs Texas 開始する，打ち上げる of 旗艦 heated タバコ 装置
By Emma Rumney
LONDON, March 28 (Reuters) - Philip Morris International is 準備するing to 開始する，打ち上げる its 旗艦 heated タバコ 装置 IQOS in Austin, Texas, 示すing it will be the first 実験（する）ing ground for its U.S. 入ること／参加（者）, 職業 adverts on LinkedIn show.
IQOS, the 最高の，を越す selling heated タバコ 装置 globally, sits at the 核心 of the world's biggest タバコ company's 成果／努力s to transform its image from a purveyor of cigarettes to a 運動ing 軍隊 behind the switch to healthier 選択s.
投資家s are waiting to see if Philip Morris (PMI) can create a market for heated タバコ in the 部隊d 明言する／公表するs, where vaping 現在／一般に 支配するs.
The country 申し込む／申し出s PMI a 相当な base of new 使用者s and, 潜在的に, a hefty new income stream that could 証明する transformative as it tries to 生成する an 増加するing 割合 of 歳入 from 製品s other than cigarettes.
PMI spent the 広大な 大多数 of $10.7 billion of 支出 on smoking 代案／選択肢s between 2008 and 2022 on IQOS' 開発.
The Marlboro 製造者 had said it planned to 開始する，打ち上げる the 装置 in four cities in two U.S. 明言する／公表するs starting with one city in the second ４半期/4分の1, ahead of a broader roll-out likely in 2025. However it had not 解放（する）d その上の 詳細（に述べる）s, 含むing around which cities or 明言する／公表するs it is 的ing.
職業 adverts 地位，任命するd on LinkedIn 明らかにする／漏らす that the company is laying the 基礎 for an IQOS 開始する，打ち上げる in Austin, Texas. The adverts, 地位，任命するd this month, 含む positions as field sales 代表者／国会議員s, 領土 経営者／支配人s and 小売 sales 助言者s.
Whether or not IQOS takes off in the 部隊d 明言する／公表するs will be 重要な given the market's size. Euromonitor 見積（る）s total U.S. nicotine sales, 除外するing nicotine 交替／補充 th erapies, were 価値（がある） some $143.6 billion in 2022.
While cigarettes accounted for the 広大な 大多数 of that, Euromonitor 予測（する）s their value will 縮む by 30% by 2027. The value of vapes, heated タバコ 製品s and other 代案／選択肢s will rise by 36% over the same period, it says.
TESTING GROUND
製品s like IQOS work by heating up sticks of ground up タバコ without 燃やすing them in an 試みる／企てる to 避ける the harmful 化学製品s 解放（する）d 経由で 燃焼.
Heated タバコ 製品s have so far been 大部分は absent from the U.S. market aside from 限られた／立憲的な sales of IQOS managed by PMI's former parent, Altria, and another 製品 申し込む／申し出d on a 限られた／立憲的な 規模 by British American タバコ.
PMI paid Altria $2.7 billion for the 権利s to market IQOS in the 部隊d 明言する／公表するs in 2022. BAT has subsequently cast 疑問 on the 部類's 可能性のある in the country, where vaping and other 代案／選択肢s are already 井戸／弁護士席 設立するd.
Texas 申し込む／申し出s an 利益／興味ing 裁判，公判 market given its 幅の広い demographics, 範囲ing from 最高の 田舎の to 高度に 都市の, said Brett Cooper, managing partner and 分析家 at 消費者 辛勝する／優位, an 公正，普通株主権 研究 会社／堅い. He 追加するd that diverse cities like Austin, Houston and Dallas 供給する 接近 to a wide 範囲 of 消費者 groups.
タバコ 税金s in the 明言する／公表する are also 比較して low, によれば 中心s for 病気 支配（する）／統制する and 予防 (CDC) data. The excise 税金 率 on a pack of cigarettes in Texas stood at $1.41 in September 2023, the data shows - far higher than the 17 cents in Missouri but also 井戸／弁護士席 below the more than $5 per pack in New York.
Texas introduced new 法律s around e-cigarettes in January, 制限するing 装置s that 似ている food 製品s like candy or fruit juice, or that 含む a symbol or celebrity image 的d at minors or 描写する 風刺漫画-like fic tional characters.
PMI bets IQOS can 勝利，勝つ a 10% 株 of U.S. タバコ and heated タバコ 部隊 容積／容量 by around 2030.
Ahead of IQOS' 開始する，打ち上げる, the company has also been building out its ロビーing firepower across the 部隊d 明言する／公表するs. The company wants two thirds of its 歳入 to come from "smoke-解放する／自由な" 製品s by 2030. (報告（する）／憶測ing by Emma Rumney; Editing by Matt Scuffham and Susan Fenton)
