Did Philip Morris International's Smoke-Free Future Just Go Up in Smoke?

Philip Morris International (NYSE: PM)just threw a massive bucket of cold wateron the notion that the electronic cigarette (e-cig) market was the vehicle that tobacco companies could effortlessly ride into a smoke-free future. The global cigarette giant hit a wall in Japan when its heated tobacco iQOS suffered from an unexpected slowdown in growth.

While cigarette alternatives still have a lot of promise and Philip Morris isn't about to collapse, the once rosy expectations of the industry for seemingly unlimited expansion have been met with a big dose of reality.