????蒙西斯所言極是：目前煙草業正是躺著掙錢的時候。全球煙草市場的年產值約為8000億美元，而電子煙去年的銷售額也已達到20億美元上下。過去三年，電子煙行業的年復合增長率高達30%。一些煙草行業分析師預計，到2015年，電子煙的全球銷售額有望突破30億美元。彭博社（Bloomberg）的行業專家更是預測，到2047年，電子煙銷售額或將超過傳統煙草。

????但目前電子煙市場的主流產品仍然屬于低端范疇——絕大部分不過是傳統香煙的改頭換面，只是將尼古丁添加到丙二醇里，再通過霧化器變成霧氣被消費者吸食，好處是既有香煙的感覺又沒有煙霧。Ploom不一樣，它將自己定位為高端奢侈品牌。Ploom的電子煙仍然使用傳統煙葉，Pax可以使用散裝煙葉，modelTwo使用的是預先包裝好的煙葉“莢”——沒錯，與按杯兜售咖啡的方法類似。用戶可以從零售商和Ploom官方網站買到這些煙葉莢。精良的設計和質感使Ploom電子煙盡顯高端大氣。

????健康倡導團體和禁煙組織一直在抨擊煙草行業，盡管就連大麻如今也已經開始擺脫低三下四的地位，有望獲得合法的名分。蒙西斯表示，一旦美國、歐洲、南美和世界其他地區的法律法規形勢發生變化，Ploom公司隨時準備進入其它領域。雖然大麻作為單列商品的數據很難獲得，但位于舊金山的天使投資網絡公司ArcView Group預測，美國合法大麻的銷售額今年有望達到23.4億美元。按照美國各州和聯邦政府的大麻合法化進展，五年后美國大麻市場或將高達102億美元。

????蒙西斯、鮑文以及成長中的Ploom公司（它目前的員工數已超過35名）眼下的重點不在于被蒸發的物質是什么，而在于創造消費者想要的體驗。蒙西斯說，煙草行業長期以來一直忽略自己的客戶，向客戶提供不同包裝的同一種產品。憑借硅谷高科技創業者以批評的眼光審視吸煙，Ploom希望在一個多世紀以來沒有發生過明顯改變的煙草市場能夠不斷創新。

????蒙西斯說：“我們是一家以消費者為中心的公司，我們總是對顧客感興趣的東西有興趣。我們會回避老產品，任由老產品消亡并繼續前進。我們不是傳統的煙草公司，我們無意創造持續數十年而一成不變的單一產品。我們是一家煙草公司，但我們更是一家創新企業。”(財富中文網)

????譯者：項航

????That's perfectly fine: Right now tobacco is a good place to be. While the broader tobacco business is worth roughly $80 billion, e-cigarettes carved out about $2 billion in global sales last year. The segment has been growing by about 30% annually for the last three years. A Citigroup analysis predicts $3 billion in global sales by 2015, and Bloomberg Industries believes e-cigarette sales will surpass traditional tobacco sales by 2047.

????Most of those sales come in the form of relatively inexpensive e-cigarette products -- most of which somewhat resemble traditional cigarettes -- that turn a nicotine-infused propylene glycol into an inhalable vapor that gives users that cigarette fix without the smoke. Ploom differentiates by positioning itself as something of a luxury brand within the space. Its products still use actual tobacco -- Pax takes loose-leaf tobacco, while modelTwo uses pre-packaged tobacco-filled "pods" -- yes, the Keurig coffee model, applied to tobacco -- that can be purchased retail or from Ploom's website. For both, a polished design and feel make them feel decidedly high-end.

????But health advocacy and anti-tobacco campaigns continue to attach greater social taboo to tobacco, even as marijuana has begun to shed the stigma and legal baggage attached to it. Monsees says the company is poised to branch off in other directions as the legal landscape shifts in the U.S., Europe, South America, and elsewhere. Though data focused solely on the marijuana accessories market are hard to come by, the San Francisco-based angel investor network ArcView Group forecasts that the legal cannabis market in the U.S. will hit $2.34 billion this year, and perhaps $10.2 billion in five years, depending on which state markets open up and how federal authorities respond.

????For Monsees, Bowen, and their growing company -- it now staffs more than 35 employees -- it's less about what's being vaporized and more about creating an experience that consumers want. Big Tobacco has long ignored its own customers, Monsees says, offering them a single option in a lot of different packages. By approaching smoking with the critical eye of a Silicon Valley tech entrepreneur, Ploom wants to bring continuous innovation to a market segment that hasn't changed appreciably in more than a century.

????"We are a very consumer-centric company, and we're always interested in what our constituents are interested in," Monsees says. "We will shun old products, we will let them die and move on. We're not the traditional tobacco company, and we're not interested in creating a singular product that will last for decades and decades and never change. We're a tobacco company, but we're an innovation company."