The Rise of the Smoke-Free Market: Insights into Next-Generation Vaping

Policy Momentum

A Global Shift Toward Smoke-Free Alternatives

Governments around the world are moving beyond just imagining smoke-free futures to actively creating them. Countries like the UK are already seeing tangible benefits, including lower smoking rates and expected savings in healthcare costs. A new phase of tobacco control is emerging, one that integrates smoke-free alternatives into national health strategies, regulatory frameworks, and long-term policy agendas.

United States
In 2025, the FDA authorized 20 ZYN nicotine pouch products and 4 JUUL Labs prefilled pod products. These decisions marked a key regulatory shift, signifying official acceptance of smoke-free alternatives as strategies for harm reduction and public health protection. 

United Kingdom

In 2023, the government launched the “Swap to Stop” initiative to encourage adult smokers to transition to e-cigarettes and other smoke-free products. A renewed push for the Smoke-Free Generation Bill accompanied this. The program has already contributed to declining smoking rates and is projected to save the NHS up to £2.8 billion in healthcare costs by 2056.

Southeast Asia

In 2025, countries including Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines successively introduced dedicated e-cigarette regulations, formally recognizing the legal status of vaping products. These regulatory frameworks initiated efforts to bring the market under control, providing clear compliance pathways and institutional support for smoke-free alternatives.

These collective efforts reflect a shared objective: to gradually replace combustible tobacco with reduced-risk next-generation products (NGPs) that offer lower harm, minimal appeal to youth, and greater public acceptance. Smoke-free alternatives are increasingly being embedded into national harm-reduction strategies, backed by clearer regulatory frameworks and long-term commercial viability.

Dual Drivers

Regulatory Reform and Consumer Shift Accelerate the Smoke-Free Market

The rise of smoke-free products is driven by a combination of regulatory alignment and evolving consumer preferences. Today’s younger adults are gravitating toward lower-risk, more discreet nicotine formats that integrate into modern routines.

By 2024, the global smoke-free product market reached approximately $28.6 billion in value. Among these, smokeless formats such as nicotine pouches saw particularly rapid expansion, surpassing $5 billion in market size with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) exceeding 30% over several consecutive years. ZYN, the leading brand in this category, sold more than 580 million cans in 2024 alone.

Driven by regulatory initiatives and shifting consumer behavior, smokeless nicotine products are rapidly emerging as a new trend in nicotine replacement. While nicotine pouches lead this shift, Vaporless vapes are beginning to attract attention. These devices produce no visible aerosol and leave no lingering odor, offering discreet use in daily life. Though still in early stages of adoption, they present a promising direction worth watching as the industry explores pathways toward a smoke-free future.

Vaporless Vape

Discreet, Compliant, and Clean

Three core advantages of Vaporless Vape:

• Reduced Youth Appeal
By eliminating visible aerosol, vaporless vapes reduce the visual appeal that may attract underage users and help minimize imitative behavior. This contributes to preventing further increases in youth vaping rates and aligns with youth protection policies adopted by many governments worldwide.

• Better Public Health, Cleaner and Safer to Use

As more governments include e-cigarette aerosol emissions in secondhand smoke regulations, the use of traditional vaping products is facing increasingly stringent restrictions. In contrast, ZeroCloud™ products generate virtually no aerosol emissions during use and release no harmful substances into the air, effectively preventing involuntary exposure for non-users and offering a cleaner, safer experience in shared environments.

• Enhanced Adaptability, Broader Use Scenarios
Vaporless vapes produce no secondhand emissions and release no odor into the surrounding environment. With minimal impact on others, they are well-suited for a broad range of use scenarios. From home settings to social environments, they provide users with a convenient, discreet, and unrestricted experience.

Despite these clear advantages, vaporless vapes have not yet achieved widespread adoption due to key technical challenges, especially the balance between visibility reduction and user satisfaction.

Vapor Elimination vs. User Experience

• Incomplete Vapor Elimination
Most current vaporless technologies achieve noticeable aerosol reduction primarily in direct-lung (DTL) mode. However, in mouth-to-lung (MTL) mode, which is preferred by the majority of users, visible vapor remains an issue. This limits discretion and restricts usage in real-world environments.

• Weakened Flavor and Reduced Satisfaction
Suppressing visible vapor frequently compromises flavor intensity and throat hit. The result is a diluted sensory experience that fails to meet user expectations and hinders repeat usage.

To achieve broader market adoption, vaporless vapes must resolve this core challenge: eliminating visible vapor without sacrificing flavor delivery or nicotine satisfaction.

ZeroCloud™ VaporTech

A Breakthrough in Smokeless Vaping

Hangsen’s ZeroCloud™ VaporTech is a milestone in vaping innovation, born from a complete reinvention of e-liquid composition. It is the world’s first vaporless technology to fully eliminate aerosol output without sacrificing flavor and satisfaction, unlocking new possibilities for where and how vaping can be enjoyed.

• Truly Invisible Output
ZeroCloud™ eliminates up to 99.95% of visible vapor, even in mouth-to-lung (MTL) mode, enabling discreet usage in environments where traditional vaping is restricted. With zero secondhand emissions and an odorless profile, it minimizes bystander exposure and supports clean-air environments and advancing global public health goals.

Internal lab testing followed ISO/TR 20768:2018 puffing conditions, and results showed a significant reduction in visible aerosol compared to a baseline standard 50VG e-liquid.

• Reduced Harm: Lower Cytotoxicity

Experimental toxicology tests showed a consistent reduction in cell inhibition rates for both ZeroCloud™ e-liquid and its aerosol emissions, indicating a lower cytotoxic profile compared to conventional e-liquids. 

Internal lab testing followed ISO 20768, CORESTA TR 84, and Health Canada T-115 protocols.

• Full Flavor and Nicotine Satisfaction
ZeroCloud™ products offer a full-spectrum sensory experience with rich flavor, consistent nicotine uptake, and firm throat sensation, while eliminating aerosol emissions into the environment. It aligns with the habitual preferences of smokers and vapers, making it more effective as a smoking alternative.

Hangsen was the first to formulate and commercialize PG/VG as the base of e-liquid formulations, setting the manufacturing benchmark for the modern vaping industry. Today, we continue to lead through innovation with a renewed focus on science-driven development and global regulatory alignment. ZeroCloud™ represents our latest breakthrough—a forward-looking, advanced vaporless solution developed to support a truly smoke-free future.

Toward a Sustainable Ecosystem of Smoke-Free Solutions

The smoke-free market is evolving into a diverse ecosystem of products, including e-cigarettes, heated tobacco, nicotine pouches, and other emerging formats. Each category offers distinct value propositions, suited to specific consumer needs, usage occasions, and regulatory contexts. Rather than relying on a single format, many users engage with multiple products as part of a broader harm-reduction journey.

ZeroCloud™ empowers vaping brands to strengthen their NGP product matrix by offering a scalable vaporless solution compatible with refillable systems, closed pod devices, and disposable devices.

Whether you are upgrading your current vape offerings or reinforcing your strategic presence in the smoke-free category, ZeroCloud™ provides the flexibility and compliance support essential for long-term success.

To explore how ZeroCloud™ can elevate your product portfolio, reach out to us for a technical consultation and partnership opportunities.