In the field of heat-not-burn, there are currently two "Internet celebrity" smoking devices in the industry, namely British American Tobacco's Glo Hilo and Philip Morris International's IQOS ILUMA. These are also the most innovative representative products of these two international tobacco giants. Combined with special heated cigarettes, they have created a huge impact in the global market.
Glo Hilo
Let’s talk about British American Tobacco’s Glo Hilo first. Public information shows that this product was first launched in Serbia as a pilot market in November 2024 to collect user feedback and optimize product performance.
Test results show that its conversion rate has doubled compared to the previous generation of products, and consumers have a high degree of recognition for the heating speed (5 seconds preheating), portability (76g lightweight design) and improved taste.
This has also quickly attracted great attention in the industry, and almost everyone is talking about Glo Hilo. Because it abandons the circumferential electromagnetic heating of the traditional Glo series and instead adopts a needle-shaped insertion heating method of quartz glass composite infrared heating, and the cartridges are arranged in a hollow honeycomb shape.
Revolutionary TurboStart™ technology: By combining infrared with high thermal conductivity quartz, it takes only 5 seconds to heat up. The traditional glo heating time is about 20 seconds. A review blogger likened it to the difference between electric cars and fuel cars. The heating temperature reaches about 370°C, the highest temperature in the history of glo™.
Glo Hilo's special cigarette virto™: a hollow honeycomb design that can maximize the release of taste and aroma. Its manufacturing process is roughly to grind the tobacco base material into powder, add plant polysaccharide glue to mix, and then extrude it through a mold and dry it.
Regarding Glo Hilo's OEM, it is Smoore, and it not only manufactures smoking equipment, but also provides a complete solution. Smoore confirmed its role as Glo Hilo's main supplier at the FY24 earnings conference.
The successful trial in Serbia boosted British American Tobacco's confidence. On June 9, 2025, it was first launched in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, adopting the strategy of "pilot → nationwide promotion". In addition, British American Tobacco also plans to gradually enter core European markets such as Germany and Italy in the second half of 2025.
In terms of market launch time, although Glo Hilo is a latecomer, BAT's strategic intention is already very clear, which is to quickly catch up with Philip Morris International and eventually compete with it.
IQOS ILUMA
Philip Morris International's IQOS ILUMA was first launched in Japan in August 2021. The series uses electromagnetic induction heating technology for the first time and is equipped with an exclusive TEREA cartridge (also known as the sixth-generation cigarette in the industry). It has a built-in metal sensor plate, that is, the heating plate is encapsulated inside the cigarette, and combined with the plug design, it solves the problem of traditional ceramic blade-type heating bodies being easy to break and difficult to clean, achieving contactless heating and significantly improving the user experience.
Electromagnetic induction heating technology: The basic principle of electromagnetic induction heating is that a high-frequency, high-voltage current (i.e., alternating current) that changes rapidly passes through an induction coil, generating a changing alternating magnetic field, which in turn generates eddy currents on a metal induction body by cutting the alternating magnetic lines of force, and generates heat energy through the high-speed movement of carriers, which is then used to heat the object.
As shown in the figure below, the yellow cylindrical object is the electromagnetic induction coil assembly, which is composed of a metal coil, an electromagnetic shielding film, thermal insulation materials, etc.
TEREA (sixth generation cigarette): Different from traditional heated cigarettes, TEREA encapsulates electromagnetic induction metal sheets and tobacco sheets together to achieve contactless heating + no-cleaning design.
In terms of OEM information, Venture Technocom is the only OEM manufacturer approved to produce the IQOS ILUMA series (including ILUMA PRIME, ILUMA and ILUMA ONE) in the PS certification list of e-cigarette products released by the Philippine Bureau of Standards (BPS) in 2024. The manufacturing of TEREA cartridges is concentrated in PMI's own factory in Yangsan, South Korea.
The launch of IQOS ILUMA has ushered in a new round of acceleration in the HNB market for Philip Morris International, which was already far ahead. By the end of 2024, the number of IQOS users worldwide will reach 32.2 million, a net increase of 3.4 million from 2023, and 72% of users will completely switch to IQOS and stop smoking.
Conclusion: The matching research and development of cigarettes and smoking utensils is the key to success in the HNB market
Through the review of the two "Internet celebrity" HNB heaters, we can actually draw a conclusion that in the field of heat-not-burn (HNB), the success of Glo Hilo and IQOS ILUMA has confirmed the importance of "deep synergy between cigarettes and smoking devices."
- Philip Morris International's IQOS ILUMA, with its seamless integration of electromagnetic induction technology and exclusive TEREA cigarettes, has completely solved the pain points of traditional heating plates, achieved cleaning-free and precise temperature control, and driven the user conversion rate to continue to rise.
- British American Tobacco's Glo Hilo, on the other hand, has seized the market by matching the hollow honeycomb structure of the Virto cigarette with quartz infrared heating, heating up in 5 seconds at an extremely fast speed, demonstrating the disruptive improvement in product performance brought about by supporting research and development.
The competition between the two giants shows that only the collaborative innovation of cigarettes and smoking devices can build technological barriers and win user loyalty.
电子雾化与HNB产品都是新型电子产品，结构虽小，却融合应用多种材料、表面处理、芯片电子等技术工艺，而且雾化技术一直在不断更迭，供应链在逐步完善，为了促进供应链企业间有一个良好的对接交流，艾邦搭建产业微信群交流平台，欢迎加入；Vape e-cigarettes (VAPE) and Heat-Not-Burn e-cigarettes (HNB) are both emerging electronic products. Despite their compact size, they integrate various materials, surface treatment technologies, chip electronics, and other advanced technical processes. Moreover, atomization technology is constantly evolving and the supply chain is being progressively perfected. To facilitate good communication and networking among supply chain enterprises, Aibang has established an industry WeChat group communication platform and warmly welcomes interested enterprises to join.
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