Marlboro at a Record Eleven PercentWide moat
Philip Morris International (PM) — moat facet
Marlboro gained almost a point of international share in two years, and inside PMI's best markets IQOS has now overtaken it.
Marlboro is still getting stronger at the age most brands fade. Its share of PMI's international market, excluding China and the United States, rose from 9.8% in 2023 to 10.2% in 2024 and 10.7% in 20251, and reached a record 11.0% in the second quarter of 20262. In a market of about 2,587 billion units3, each tenth of a point is billions of cigarettes.
A brand that gains share in a declining category is a brand smokers trade into rather than out of. That is the classic cigarette moat: the smoker is loyal to the brand, the price rises every year, and the rival that would undercut it cannot advertise its way in, because advertising is mostly banned.
What is striking is where Marlboro now stands inside PMI itself. In the first quarter of 2026 IQOS passed Marlboro to become the number one nicotine brand in the markets where IQOS is present, at 10.9%4. The two most valuable brands in the company are competing for the same smoker, and PMI is content for the new one to win.
The gains also come partly from PMI's other brands. PMI's total cigarette share was 25.4% in 2023 and 25.3% in 20255 while Marlboro rose by almost a point, a pattern examined on its own page.
Marlboro remains a wide moat on its own terms. The number that would falsify it is Marlboro's share; a fall back below 10.5% while the category keeps shrinking would say the brand has begun to lose the smokers who remain.
Record 11.0% share in Q2 2026.
The brand's pull in a shrinking category; a fall back below 10.5% would mean smokers have started trading away.
Source: PMI Q2 2026 results release ↗- ReportedIts share of PMI's international market, excluding China and the United States, rose from 9.8% in 2023 to 10.2% in 2024 and 10.7% in 2025, and reached a record 11.0% in the second quarter of 2026.Philip Morris International Form 10-K for fiscal 2025 - Item 1 business: markets, products, competitors, market shares, shipments and employees. — FY2025 · publ. 6 February 2026 · source ↗
- ReportedIts share of PMI's international market, excluding China and the United States, rose from 9.8% in 2023 to 10.2% in 2024 and 10.7% in 2025, and reached a record 11.0% in the second quarter of 2026.Philip Morris International second-quarter 2026 results release, Form 8-K exhibit 99.1 - volumes, shares, ZYN and 2026 guidance - shipment volumes, market shares, IQOS, ZYN and Japan. — Q2 2026 · publ. 22 July 2026 · source ↗
- ReportedIn a market of about 2,587 billion units, each tenth of a point is billions of cigarettes.Philip Morris International Form 10-K for fiscal 2025 - Item 1 business: markets, products, competitors, market shares, shipments and employees. — FY2025 · publ. 6 February 2026 · source ↗
- ReportedIn the first quarter of 2026 IQOS passed Marlboro to become the number one nicotine brand in the markets where IQOS is present, at 10.9%.Philip Morris International first-quarter 2026 results release, Form 8-K exhibit 99.1 - ZYN destocking, IQOS brand share and Poland's flavour ban. — Q1 2026 · publ. 22 April 2026 · source ↗
- ReportedPMI's total cigarette share was 25.4% in 2023 and 25.3% in 2025 while Marlboro rose by almost a point, a pattern examined on its own page.Philip Morris International Form 10-K for fiscal 2025 - Item 1 business: markets, products, competitors, market shares, shipments and employees. — FY2025 · publ. 6 February 2026 · source ↗