Zhongxin Jingwei client On October 30, the global supervision of the e-cigarette market is becoming stricter, and the latest valuation of e-cigarette giant Juul Labs has dropped by 70% compared with two years ago.
According to the Wall Street Journal Chinese Network reported on the 30th, Juul told employees on Thursday that the company's valuation has dropped from $38 billion two years ago to about $10 billion. This means that juul valuations have fallen by 70% in the past two years.
In addition, according to information disclosed by Juul to employees, Juul had sales of $764 million and a loss of $423 million in the first half of this year.
Public reports show that Juul was once one of the most valuable startups in the United States, and at the end of 2018, Altria, the parent company of Marlboro and one of the world's largest tobacco groups, announced the acquisition of a 35% stake in Juul e-cigarettes for $12.8 billion. But Juul's value has plummeted in the past two years as it has been hit by regulators, lawsuits and investigations into whether it markets its products to teenagers. The company's sales and market share have fallen sharply.
The Wall Street Journal Chinese reported in September that Juul said it was planning a new round of mass layoffs and considering halting sales in Europe and Asia. That could mean the startup will exit as many as 11 countries, shrinking its footprint to core markets such as the U.S., Canada and the U.K.
Juul cut about 1,000 employees earlier in 2020 and has stopped e-cigarette sales in several countries. The once-soaring company is already scaling back its business in response to a sharp decline in sales. The company currently employs about 2,200 people.
Juul has been widely blamed by parents and government officials as the culprit in the surge in e-cigarette use among teenagers in the United States, and has faced regulatory pressure and investigations into its marketing practices over the past two years. Now, juul sales are declining as e-cigarette brand vuse market share rises, and some e-cigarette smokers turn back to traditional cigarettes. (Zhongxin Jingwei app)