If the world's biggest tobacco firms are correct, the expression "lighting up a cigarette" may take on a whole new meaning in the coming years.

The rise of vaping devices, coupled with the introduction of packaging restrictions in major markets, had led major firms such as Japan Tobacco, Philip Morris and Imperial Brands to invest more and more in the emerging HNB (Heat-not-Burn) sector, which offer adult smokers the nicotine hit they have become used to, without an important element - combustion.

The new chief executive of Japan Tobacco Inc, Masamichi Terabatake, who took charge at the world's third biggest listed tobacco maker earlier this month, has stated that he wants the Silk Cut owner to command as much as a 40% share of the heated tobacco market in Japan by the end of the decade, with its Ploom Tech device at the heart of this growth.