That's what Ruyanhealth International Ltd. (www.ruyanhealth.com) is
selling. Known as Ruyan (meaning "like smoking"), the electronic
cigarette is a $190 battery-powered atomizer.
Cartridges containing pure nicotine, available in three strengths and
good for some 350 puffs each, cost about $4.
Inhale, and the Ruyan -- powered by a Motorola (Charts, Fortune 500)
chip -- turns the nicotine into smokelike vapor. "We don't claim
smoking cessation, just smoking substitution," says Scott Fraser, vice
president of Golden Dragon subsidiary SBT, which came up with the
Ruyan.
But "it could be used to ratchet down nicotine consumption."
Ruyan was launched in China in 2004, and last year its sales reached
$36.5 million. Turkey quickly became Ruyan second-largest market,
followed by Israel and Australia.
Working with an unnamed U.S. partner to get FDA approval, Ruyan
expects to double current sales by the end of the year. Morgan Stanley
analyst David Adelman says the e-cigarette would be lucky to snare
even 1 percent of the U.S. cigarette market.