Since Philip Morris International launched the IQOS heat not burn new tobacco in Japan in 2014, IQOS is almost the synonymous with heat not burn (HNB). The IQOS is mainly composed of a battery case and a mouthpiece. The IQOS mouthpiece, is also called a heater, is based on a heating device that heats the non-burning cartridge. Stable temperature control for controlled release of active substances in the cartridge. Its structure is divided into three parts: heating section, control section, battery section, and its core technology lies in the precise control of heating temperature.
The following figure shows IQOS 2.4 Plus as an example to see which of the industry chains involved;
First, the heating section
Substrate 0.4mmZrO2.
☆ Fracture toughness 7MPa/m1/2.
☆ Low thermal conductivity 3W/mK, the insulation resistance is not transmitted to the circuit board, which guarantees the life of PCBA.
☆ High TCR value for accurate temperature control, TCR= 3700PPM/°C.
Second, the sealing section
☆ Seal ring + silica gel to achieve separation between smoke oil and control section.
Third, the control end
Combine the resistance of each resistor with the TCR value to intelligently control the heating temperature to 330 °C.
☆ Control the number of cartridges 14 or 6 minutes, once the conditions is reached, the heater is powered off.
Fourth, the battery end
☆ battery segment
☆ Battery capacity 120~150mAh, the design limit is to smoke a cigarette. After pumping, it needs to be plugged back into the charging box for charging for 4 minutes.
Since the launch in Japan in 2014, IQOS has become synonymous with HNB. The current changes of the 4th generation and 5 types of products are the vane of HNB development.
The main upgrades of the four generation models are compared in three aspects: “functional comparison”, “heating sheet performance comparison”, “appearance performance comparison”:
Functional comparison:
| category | Warm-up time | Number of inhalation ports | Number of endurance | Self-cleaning function | IQOS holder charging time |
| IQOS I | / | / | / | / | / |
| IQOS 2.0 | / | 12 | / | YES | ~5min |
| IQOS 2.4 Plus | ~20S | 14 | / | NO | ~4min |
| IQOS 3.0 | ~20S | 17 | / | NO | ~3min30S |
| IQOS MUTLI 3.0 | ~20S | 17 | 10 consecutive battery life | NO | / |
Heating sheet performance comparison:
| category | Heating plate model | Coating structure | Heating material | TCR ppm/℃ |
| IQOS I | I | / | / | / |
| IQOS II | II | Flaky single side | Platinum pulp line | 3700 |
| IQOS 2.4 Plus | III | Sheet double sided (back glazed) | Platinum pulp line | 3700 |
| IQOS 3.0 | ||||
| IQOS MUTLI 3.0 |
Appearance performance comparison:
| category | Appearance upgrade |
| IQOS I | Appearance has angular |
| IQOS 2.0 | Angular angle |
| IQOS 2.4 Plus | The vibration prompt function is added. When the heating, heating completion and quick pumping are completed, there will be vibration prompts. |
| IQOS 3.0 | The biggest change in the charging box is the opening method, which is changed from the upper opening cover to the side opening. The overall size is a little smaller than the 2.4 version. The interface of the charger is changed to the Type-C interface. The biggest advantage of this interface is that while thinning, the insertion direction is no longer limited, and the interface will not be destroyed by the wrong direction. The magnetic design is made inside the charging box and at the bottom of the heating holder, and the heating holder is firmly sucked during charging, which can prevent problems such as poor contact. |
| IQOS MUTLI 3.0 | MULTI is a continuous product, endurance 10 cartridges |
IQOS was first sold in Nagoya, Japan and Milan, Italy at the end of 2014, and IQOS has been sold in 43 markets until 2018. These markets include Andorra, Albania, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canary Islands, Canada, Colombia, Croatia, Curaçao, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Major cities such as Hungary launched, Italy, Israel, Japan, Kazakhstan, South Korea, Reunion, Latvia, Lithuania, Malaysia, Moldova, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Palestine, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovak Republic , Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine, the United Kingdom and some duty-free shops. Recently opened in the US, Philip Morris official website shows FDA authorizes the sale of iQOS in the US.
