PMI’s key milestones

Mr. Philip Morris opens a shop on London's Bond Street, selling tobacco and ready-made cigarettes.

In 1881 Leopold Morris, son of Philip, joins Joseph Grunebaum to establish Philip Morris & Company and Grunebaum, Ltd. This partnership was dissolved in 1885 and the company became known as Philip Morris & Co., Ltd.

William Curtis Thomson and his family take over the company in 1894. Under Thomson the company is appointed tobacconist to King Edward VII and is incorporated in 1902 in New York by Gustav Eckmeyer. Since 1872 Eckmeyer acts as sole agent for Philip Morris in the U.S., importing and selling English-made cigarettes.

Marlboro, which went on to become the company’s most famous brand, is established and registered as a trademark.

The Philip Morris coronet logo is introduced in 1919. The company is acquired in the United States and incorporated in Virginia under the name Philip Morris & Co., Ltd., Inc. By the end of the next decade, the company has begun to manufacture cigarettes in its factory in Richmond, Virginia.

In the 1950s, an internal operating division is launched to manufacture and market products around the world.

Philip Morris (Australia) becomes the first affiliate of Philip Morris Co., Ltd., Inc. outside the United States.

Malboro cigarettes manufactured outside the United States are produced following an agreement with Fabriques de Tabac Réunies in Switzerland.

Marlboro becomes the world’s number-one-selling cigarette. 

PMI is incorporated as an operating company of Philip Morris Companies Inc.

PMI opens its first factory in Asia in Seremban, Malaysia.

PMI calls for regulation of the tobacco industry at the World Health Organization’s public hearings on the Framework Convention for Tobacco Control in Geneva, Switzerland.

PMI operations center is transferred from Rye Brook, NY (U.S.) to Lausanne, Switzerland.

PMI opens a factory in the Philippines, its largest investment in Asia at the time.

PMI acquires PT HM Sampoerna Tbk in Indonesia and Compania Colombiana de Tabaco SA (Coltabaco) in Colombia. Both are the largest cigarette manufacturers in their respective countries.

PMI announces an agreement with the China National Tobacco Company (CNTC) for the licensed production of Marlboro in China and the establishment of an international equity joint venture outside China.

PMI unveils its new research-and-development facility in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, bringing together over 400 scientists, specialists, and staff in a new world-class facility dedicated to the development of reduced-risk products.

PMI launches the Agricultural Labor Practices program to progressively eliminate child labor and other forms of labor abuses on all farms where the company sources tobacco worldwide, as well as promoting good working and living conditions in tobacco-growing communities.

PMI establishes a strategic framework with Altria Group, Inc. under which Altria makes available its e-cigarette products to PMI for commercialization outside the United States and PMI makes available two of its candidate reduced-risk products exclusively to Altria for commercialization in the United States. 

PMI is recognized by CDP, a leading environmental nongovernmental organization, as one of only five global 500 consumer-staples companies to be a carbon-disclosure leader, in recognition of its actions to reduce its carbon footprint.

PMI announces the investment of up to EUR 500 million to build its first reduced-risk product factory in Italy.

PMI acquires Nicocigs, a leading U.K.-based e-vapor company whose main brand is Nicocig

PMI pilots IQOS, its first heat-not-burn platform in its reduced-risk products portfolio, in Italy and Japan.

PMI launches IQOS in key cities in Portugal, Romania, Russia, and Switzerland.

PMI launches an e-vapor product in Spain and Israel, based on its cross-licensing agreement with Altria Group, Inc.

PMI joins the United Nations Global Compact, affirming its commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. 

PMI submits modified risk tobacco product (MRTP) applications for IQOS to the U.S. FDA.

The launch of the PMI IMPACT initiative, investing USD 100 million to fund anti-illicit trade efforts globally over a period of three years.

PMI announces its vision to deliver a smoke-free future, and starts shifting its resources toward the development and responsible marketing of scientifically substantiated smoke-free products.

The number of adults who have stopped smoking and switched to IQOS reaches 1.5 million across 21 markets. 

Following national and regional awards stretching back to 2014, PMI is recognized as a Global Top Employer.

PMI submits premarket tobacco product applications for IQOS to the U.S. FDA.

Marc Firestone, then-General Counsel for PMI, gives expert testimony at the U.S. Commission of Security and Cooperation on the global threats posed by illicit tobacco.

The number of adults who have stopped smoking and switched to IQOS reaches 4.7 million across 38 markets.

Launch of IQOS 3 and IQOS 3 MULTI.

PMI publishes a position paper supporting the WHO FCTC Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products. 

The number of adults who have stopped smoking and switched to IQOS reaches 6.6 million across 44 markets.

PMI becomes the first multinational to obtain Global EQUAL-SALARY Certification.

Launch of IQOS 3 DUO.

The online hub for “unsmokers,” unsmokeyourworld.com, launches.

The FDA authorizes IQOS for sale in the U.S., confirming that it is appropriate for the protection of public health, following a comprehensive assessment of PMI’s premarket tobacco product applications (PMTAs) filed in 2017.

The number of adults who have had stopped smoking and switched to IQOS reaches 9.7 million across 52 markets.

PMI launches its first Integrated Report, providing a comprehensive overview of PMI’s progress toward transformation, as well as environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues.

The FDA authorizes the marketing of IQOS 2.4 in the U.S. as a modified risk tobacco product with reduced exposure information.

The Board of PMI reaffirms the company’s commitment to its corporate purpose of delivering a smoke-free future.

The number of adults who have stopped smoking and switched to IQOS reaches 12.7 million across 64 markets.

PMI announces its ambition to become a majority smoke-free business by 2025, after smoke-free net revenues rose to 24 percent of the PMI total in 2020.