When turned on and heated, the nicotine salt called nicotine lactate forms an aerosol. France's e-cigarette market was estimated by Groupe Xerfi to be €130 million in 2015. Additionally, France's e-liquid market was estimated at €265 million. In December 2015, there were 2,400 vape shops in France, 400 fewer than in March of the same year. Industry organization Fivape said the reduction was due to consolidation, not to reduced demand. In Canada, e-cigarettes had an estimated value of 140 million CAD in 2015.
Since entering the market around 2003, e-cigarette use has risen rapidly. In 2011 there were about 7 million adult e-cigarette users globally, increasing to 68 million in 2020 compared with 1.1 billion cigarette smokers. This increase has been attributed to targeted marketing, lower cost compared to conventional cigarettes, and the better safety profile of e-cigarettes compared to tobacco.
E-cigarettes entered the European market and the US market in 2006 and 2007. The company that Hon worked for, Golden Dragon Holdings, registered an international patent in November 2007. The company changed its name to Ruyan (如烟, literally "like smoke") later the same month, and started exporting its products.
They launched this new device in the UK in 2008 under their Gamucci brand and the design is now widely adopted by most "cigalike" brands. Other users tinkered with various parts to produce more satisfactory homemade devices, and the hobby of "modding" was born. The first mod to replace the e-cigarette's case to accommodate a longer-lasting battery, dubbed the "screwdriver", was developed by Ted and Matt Rogers in 2008.
Both the electronic devices and the different e-liquids are easily available in shops or online stores. As more people become aware of the harmful effects of traditional tobacco-based cigarettes, e-cigarettes are gaining popularity, especially among young adults and adolescents. E-cigarettes have been recognized as an alternative to traditional cigarettes due to their several benefits, such as zero smoke, no pollution, reduced health-related problems, and the ability to smoke in public areas. Higher nicotine dependence, frequency of using e-cigarettes, poor online age verification, and e-cigarett several other factors are also boosting the demand for e-cigarette products. Scientists are still working to understand more fully the health effects and harmful doses of e-cigarette contents when they are heated and turned into an aerosol, both for active users who inhale from a device and for those who are exposed to the aerosol secondhand. Another risk to consider involves defective e-cigarette batteries that have been known to cause fires and explosions, some of which have resulted in serious injuries.