Dubai, UAE — November 15, 2022 — Philip Morris Management Services (Middle East) Limited. (PMMS) today announced the launch of IQOS ILUMA in the UAE, the latest and most innovative addition to their growing portfolio of smoke-free products for adults who would otherwise continue to smoke cigarettes or use nicotine products. Today, this range of better alternatives to cigarettes includes multiple generations of the IQOS tobacco-heating system. Uniquely, the new IQOS ILUMA series becomes the brand’s first tobacco-heating system to introduce breakthrough induction-heating technology, which utilizes no blade and requires no cleaning.

 

Tarkan Demirbas, Area Vice President Middle East at PMMS said: “In 2019, the UAE became the first country in the Gulf Cooperation Council to regulate Heated Tobacco Products.  The launch of the new IQOS ILUMA in the UAE is the most recent example of our commitment to offer adult smokers with scientifically substantiated alternatives which, while not risk-free, are considered better alternatives to continued smoking.” 

 

“We have launched several generations of our IQOS tobacco heating system; expanding our portfolio to offer constantly improved, science-backed solutions that take advantage of advancements in technology and address pain points heard from consumers” said Philip Morris International (PMI) CEO Jacek Olczak. He added “This commitment to continuous innovation plays a significant role in our ambition to deliver a smoke-free future. The launch of IQOS ILUMA, our most innovative device yet, gives adult smokers another better choice and represents an important leap forward in our efforts to accelerate the end of smoking.”

 

The IQOS ILUMA series offers three devices at various price points to meet adult smoker and user needs in the UAE: IQOS ILUMA Prime, IQOS ILUMA and IQOS ILUMA One. All three devices use new induction-heating technology but offer different designs to allow adult users to select the device that best suits their preferences. 

 

 

The innovative heating technology in these devices is the SMARTCORE INDUCTION SYSTEM™ that heats the tobacco from within the new tobacco sticks. These newly designed sticks are to be used only with IQOS ILUMA , which features an auto-start function that detects when the tobacco stick is inserted and automatically turns on the device. These bladeless devices offer a cleaner way to heat tobacco from the core, without burning it, to provide a more consistent experience, no tobacco residue, and no need to clean the device while maintaining on average 95% lower levels of harmful chemicals compared with cigarettes . 

 

PMI has been proactively disrupting its own business with almost all its R&D and most of its commercial investments being dedicated to smoke-free products. Since 2008, PMI has invested USD 9 billion  in the development, scientific substantiation, and production of smoke-free alternatives to smoking and will continue to do so in its journey to encourage adult smokers, who would otherwise continue smoking, to switch to better alternatives. More than 980 R&D experts, including 300 world-class scientists, currently work on the company’s smoke-free portfolio.

 

As of September 2022, PMI’s smoke-free products are available in 70 markets.  PMI has stated its ambition to be present in 100 markets with its smoke-free products by 2025. There are approximately 19.5 million total IQOS users excluding Russia and Ukraine, of which approximately 13.5 million adult smokers who have switched to IQOS and stopped smoking, with the balance in various stages of conversion.  PMI’s ambition is that by 2025 at least 40 million PMI cigarette smokers who would otherwise continue to smoke will have switched to smoke-free products. Furthermore, the company’s ambition is that more than half of its net revenues will come from smoke-free products by 2025.

 

IQOS ILUMA PRIME, IQOS ILUMA, and IQOS ILUMA ONE will be available to purchase in store at the IQOS boutique in Dubai Mall from November 15, 2022, and 50 locations across the UAE by the end of November.