The Biggest Cigarette Companies

Today's cigarette market is is dominated by four companies: Philip Morris USA, RJ Reynolds Tobacco Co, Brown & Williamson, and Lorillard. All companies were involved in the fledgling tobacco industry of the late 1800's, and are proud of their industry influence.

Philip Morris USA

Philip Morris USA controls over 50% of the US cigarette market. Their brand portfolio contains Marlboro, the top selling national and international cigarette brand.

Other Philip Morris brands include: Accord, Alpine, Basic, Benson & Hedges, Bristol, Bucks, Cambridge, Chesterfield, Collector's Choice, Commander, Daves, English Ovals, L&Ms, Lark, Merit, Parliament, Players, Saratoga, and Virginia Slims.

Philip Morris was originally a tobacconist in London, England. His store opened in the 1850s, first specializing in hand rolled Turkish cigarettes. In 1900, the Philip Morris company incorporated in New York, where it's headquarters are still located today.

Today, Philip Morris owns several facilities to keep up with consumer demand. Virginia and North Carolina are home to two Manufacturing Centers. Each center produces over 600 million cigarettes, and ships over 3 million cartons a day.

RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company

Controlling over 20% of the US market, RJ Reynolds is the second largest cigarette manufacturer today. RJ Reynolds is the company that owns Camel, the oldest and most controversial modern cigarette brand.

RJ Reynolds is responsible for four of today's Top 10 cigarette brands - Camel, Winston, Salem and Doral. Other brands in the portfolio include Century, Magna, Monarch, More, Now, and Sterling.

Founded in 1875, the company first manufactured chewing tobacco, and later pipe tobacco and cigarettes. Camel cigarettes were the first modern cigarettes on the market in 1913. Between 1958 and 1983, RJ Reynolds was the leading cigarette manufacturer.

The largest of the company's manufacturing plants is located in Tobaccoville, North Carolina.

Brown & Williamson

The third largest force in the cigarette market is Brown & Williamson, with over 10% of the market share. The company is responsible for many firsts in the cigarette industry.

Domestic US brands produced by Brown & Williamson include Barclay, Belair, Capri, Carlton, GPC, Kool, Lucky Strike, Misty, Pall Mall Filtered, Raleigh, Tareyton, and Viceroy.

George Brown and Robert Williamson were brothers-in-law, both sons of successful men in the early tobacco industry. In 1893, they began a formal partnership, first buying the senior Williamson's factory. After finding success with their hand rolled cigarettes, they began steady acquisition of smaller companies. In 1927, they became an arm of British American Tobacco, then moved their facilities to Kentucky two years later.

The first national brand of menthol cigarettes was B&W's Kool. Cellulose acetate filters are also credited to B&W, first appearing in Viceroys. In 1987, Capri's were the first superslim brand of cigarettes on the market.

Brown and & Williamson is also responsible for one of the world's best know brands - Lucky Strikes. Lucky Strikes were first marketed in 1853 as a smoking mixture, but was reintroduced as a manufactured cigarette in 1916.

Lorillard

Lorillard was founded in 1760, and is the oldest tobacco company in the US. Today, the company controls just under 10% of the US market. Their brands include Kent, Maverick, Max, Newport, Satin, Triumph and True.