Ah tiong made it big in ang moh country.

[Sammyboy RSS Feed]

An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:

While Singapore ban ecig, somewhere in Spain an Ah tiong is trying to corner the market. This is entrepreneurship at its best. By not allowing something that has big potential for the future Singapore is isolating itself from the rest of the world. Can't think outside the box maybe more ingrained in how government manages the country then just simply being a sinkie.


http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...less-cigarette

Quote:
Spain's king of the e-cigarette
Buying every patent for the product in Spain, one man is set to make a fortune out of a boom in smokeless cigarettes
Share


inShare
0
Email
Paul Hamilos in Madrid
theguardian.com, Wednesday 6 November 2013 04.36 AEST
Jump to comments (12)
Man smoking an e-cigarette, which do not use tobacco
E-cigarettes are a growing trend in Spain, where one man has cornered the market. Photograph: Tim Ireland/PA
Marlboro Man he may not be, but one enterprising businessman in Spain is well on the way to becoming the king of the electronic cigarette. Yi Hu Wang Ji is set to make a fortune out of the growing trend in Spain, where shops selling e-cigarettes have sprung up on every street corner and the products can be bought in pharmacies and kiosks across the country.

Chinese-born Wang Ji, 40, has bought the patents to almost every single product on the market; if you want to sell smokeless cigarettes in Spain, you are going to have to go through him.

"Some people thought they would be one of these passing booms, like Tamagotchi, but Yi Hu Wang Ji saw that it was the future. These cigarettes aren't going away," his business partner, Javier García, told the Guardian. "There are people who don't smoke who have started to use electronic cigarettes. It's become very fashionable."

E-cigarettes are mostly made in China, but the right to sell them in Spain belongs to whoever patents them. Earlier this year it occurred to Wang Ji that no one had yet done this and he now has more than 130 patents, at the cost of around €1.5m (£1.26m), and another 100 pending. "He's going to register all the new designs that they come up with in China," said García, and has already begun sending out legal warnings to shops selling the products without his consent.

This, he says, gives Wang Ji control of the market, at least until big players like the tobacco company Philip Morris bring in their own brands. But he can't be crowned king quite yet, as a number of shops have begun legal action to prevent him from building up a monopoly. They have two months within which to contest his purchase of the patents, but Garcia believes their attempt will fail.

The market in Spain is relatively new, so there are no official numbers for sales as yet, but with at least 3,000 shops selling e-cigarettes, and more popping up each day, the potential is huge. In the US, sales are expected to pass $1bn this year.

E-cigarettes are battery-powered electronic inhalers that are designed to function like cigarettes. A number of designs release nicotine in the manner of tobacco cigarettes, but some produce just flavoured, odourless vapour. They do not use tobacco, leading many people to see them as a less harmful alternative to normal cigarettes, and as a way of helping smokers to quit. But with no proper medical research into their effects, some critics have warned that they could, ironically, encourage young people to take up the real thing.

Regarding the health benefits, or not, of e-cigarettes, García would only say: "I've heard that they may have some carcinogenic qualities, but it's the responsibility of the state to regulate that."

Last week, Spain decided that e-cigarettes could be sold in tobacco shops, after they were listed as "smoking articles", thus side-stepping the growing controversy over whether they were a healthier alternative to cigarettes.

Wang Ji's story is typical of Spain's 170,000 Chinese immigrants, many of whom have enjoyed great success despite an economic crisis that has seen unemployment reach 26%. He was 10 years old when he came to Spain 30 years ago, and has established himself as a highly successful businessman in Valencia, with 18 low-price shops. But the idea to register the patents came to him following a bad experience at the hands of the Spanish authorities. A few years ago he imported 100 containers full of children's scooters made in China, but soon found himself out of pocket because he didn't have the patent, and therefore did not have the right to sell them in Spain. "You learn from your bad experiences. Whoever owns the patent makes the money," said García.

Having begun a round of publicity, in Spanish newspapers and on TV and radio, to explain that he is now the king of the e-cigarette market, Wang Ji has encountered the occasional negative reaction, some verging on the xenophobic. But García put that down to stereotyping, envy and ignorance. "Wang Ji has been here since he was 10, and is more Spanish than the Spaniards. He thinks like a Spaniard. The thing is, intelligence doesn't have anything to do with where you come from. He's just smart," he said.

"If he creates hundreds of jobs with this, let's see whether these people change their tune and suddenly find they want to work for him. He didn't come here to steal work from Spaniards! He's been here 30 years. Spaniards like to make quick, easy money, but Chinese people work harder, and understand the market," said García.

Immigration to Spain from China looks set to continue, as the government has come to recognise China's vital contribution to the economy. Last November it passed a law offering residency to foreigners who buy homes for over €160,000, in part to encourage Chinese investment in Spain.




Click here to view the whole thread at www.sammyboy.com.