LONDON – Japan Tobacco is finally getting into the electronic cigarette market with its Ploom Tech brand. The e-cig will be available next year in Japan, Reuters reports. Japan Tobacco tested the new product in Fukuoka this past March.

“Though we are not able to comment on the exact timing of the national launch in Japan due to the fast-changing demand, our intention is to expand, starting from the urban areas, step by step, from early next year,” said Yasuhiro Nakajima, vice president of emerging products. Currently, the company is working on upping its capacity to produce e-cigs, with the goal of quadrupling by the close of 2016, and expanding tenfold by the end of 2017.

Meanwhile, Philip Morris International’s “heat not burn” tobacco product iQOS has already grabbed nearly 3% in Japan, the country where Japan Tobacco generates 40% of its profits. Japan Tobacco sees e-cigs as a way to push growth over the long term globally.

The worldwide e-cig market reached around $8 billion last year. Electronic cigarettes still compromise a minuscule part of the tobacco market. Japan Tobacco also mentioned it would introduce e-cigarettes in other markets, including the United Kingdom and the United States. “We believe that addressing e-vapor and t-vapor at the same time is very, very important to be the winner in this entire emerging category,” Nakajima said.