The chief executive of Philip Morris told CNBC he wants their lines of e-cigarettes eventually to outsell traditional smokes. Speaking on the sidelines of the European House-Ambrosetti Forum in Italy, CEO Andre Calantzopoulos told CNBC that he was very optimistic about the take-up of iQOS — a Marlboro-branded device that electronically heats, rather than burns, tobacco and differs from the broader range of "e-cigarette" that use nicotine and water vapor to simulate the smoking experience.



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"Our objective and my personal ambition is that these reduced-risk products will overtake combustible cigarettes as soon as possible. And that's clearly what we're pursuing," Calantzopoulos told CNBC. He hopes cigarette alternatives will account for at least 15 percent of the company's portfolio in five to 10 years, adding that was his conservative estimate. But reaching those levels will require regulatory help, Calantzopoulos explained. "These products have to be regulated — in their way of being developed, risk assessed and marketed — because we need to provide consumers with very clear, and not misleading, information about the benefits of the product, but also [to communicate] that they're not zero risk products," Calantzopoulos told CNBC.

