An e-cigarette (or e-cig) is an electronic version of a cigarette. It feels like a cigarette, looks like a cigarette but it isn't bad for your health.
A Chinese company marketing the world's first "electronic" cigarette hopes to double sales this year as it expands overseas and as some of China's legions of smokers try to quit. It is developed in China by Hon Lik of Ruyan Holdings, and the technology is patent pending worldwide.
Golden Dragon Group Ltd's Ruyan cigarettes are battery-powered, cigarette-shaped devices that deliver nicotine to inhalers in a bid to emulate actual smoking.
The left part (white) is the battery, the middle part (white with small hole) is the atomizer and the right part (brown) is the mouthpiece and cartridge.
The device takes the form of a tiny rod which is slightly longer than a normal cigarette. The mouthpiece of the device contains a replaceable cartridge filled with liquid. The main substances contained in the liquid are nicotine and propylene glycol.
When the user inhales through the device, the air flow is detected by a sensor. A microprocessor then activates an atomizer which injects tiny droplets of the liquid into the flowing air. This produces a vapor mist which is inhaled by the user. The addition of propylene glycol to the liquid makes the mist better resemble normal cigarette smoke. The microprocessor also activates an orange LED at the tip to simulate real smoking.
E-cigarettes generally use a rechargeable battery as a power source. Battery life varies between devices, with some lasting a day between charges, and others lasting a week.
"The nicotine is delivered to the lungs within 7 to 10 seconds," said Scott Fraser, Vice President of SBT Co. Ltd., the Beijing-based firm that first developed the electronic cigarette technology in 2003 and which is now controlled by Golden Dragon.
"It feels like a cigarette, looks like a cigarette, it even emits vapor. In many ways, it is like an actual smoking experience, and that's what makes us different," he told Reuters.
The cigarettes sell for around 1,600 yuan ($208) apiece and are already available in China, Israel, Turkey, and a number of European countries, but not yet the United States.
Golden Dragon's competitors include global giants Pfizer and Novartis AG, which sell more familiar nicotine replacement products such as chewing gum, patches, and inhalers.
But Golden Dragon's financial results show it might be onto a good thing. Sales more than doubled to HK$286.1 million in 2006, after surging more than ten-fold to HK$135.6 million in 2005, a year after the technology was perfected.
China -- home to 400 million smokers and a roughly $160 billion dollar tobacco industry -- accounts for 65 percent of Ruyan sales. The firm estimates around 10 percent of China's smokers are attempting to quit, and averaging a 2 percent success rate.
Golden Dragon Group Ltd's Ruyan cigarettes are battery-powered, cigarette-shaped devices that deliver nicotine to inhalers in a bid to emulate actual smoking.
The left part (white) is the battery, the middle part (white with small hole) is the atomizer and the right part (brown) is the mouthpiece and cartridge.
The device takes the form of a tiny rod which is slightly longer than a normal cigarette. The mouthpiece of the device contains a replaceable cartridge filled with liquid. The main substances contained in the liquid are nicotine and propylene glycol.
When the user inhales through the device, the air flow is detected by a sensor. A microprocessor then activates an atomizer which injects tiny droplets of the liquid into the flowing air. This produces a vapor mist which is inhaled by the user. The addition of propylene glycol to the liquid makes the mist better resemble normal cigarette smoke. The microprocessor also activates an orange LED at the tip to simulate real smoking.
E-cigarettes generally use a rechargeable battery as a power source. Battery life varies between devices, with some lasting a day between charges, and others lasting a week.
"The nicotine is delivered to the lungs within 7 to 10 seconds," said Scott Fraser, Vice President of SBT Co. Ltd., the Beijing-based firm that first developed the electronic cigarette technology in 2003 and which is now controlled by Golden Dragon.
"It feels like a cigarette, looks like a cigarette, it even emits vapor. In many ways, it is like an actual smoking experience, and that's what makes us different," he told Reuters.
The cigarettes sell for around 1,600 yuan ($208) apiece and are already available in China, Israel, Turkey, and a number of European countries, but not yet the United States.
Golden Dragon's competitors include global giants Pfizer and Novartis AG, which sell more familiar nicotine replacement products such as chewing gum, patches, and inhalers.
But Golden Dragon's financial results show it might be onto a good thing. Sales more than doubled to HK$286.1 million in 2006, after surging more than ten-fold to HK$135.6 million in 2005, a year after the technology was perfected.
China -- home to 400 million smokers and a roughly $160 billion dollar tobacco industry -- accounts for 65 percent of Ruyan sales. The firm estimates around 10 percent of China's smokers are attempting to quit, and averaging a 2 percent success rate.
