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New regulations have not snuffed out tobacco firms, either.
新的規定也并沒有消滅煙草公司。
Countries have passed a battery of laws to fight smoking, including taxes and bans on advertising and on smoking in pubs.
各個國家已經通過了一系列關于禁煙的法律，包括稅收措施，禁止吸煙的相關廣告以及禁止在酒吧吸煙等。
Tobacco companies have fought these ferociously, suing countries such as Australia for prohibiting logos on cigarette packs, for example.
煙草公司強烈抵制這些措施，例如起訴澳大利亞等國家在香煙包裝上標有禁止類標志。
But some rules had hidden benefits.
但有一些規則對他們有潛在的好處。
Bans on advertising lower marketing costs and make it harder for young upstarts to challenge established brands.
禁止廣告的規定降低了營銷成本，并且增大了想要建立新品牌的暴發戶的創業難度。
Electronic cigarettes would seem another existential threat.
電子煙似乎是存在的另一個威脅。
But they increasingly appear to be an opportunity.
但也漸漸變成機遇。
Large tobacco firms are investing in such “reduced-risk” products, as they term them.
大的煙草公司正在創造一種“低危害香煙”的產品，正如他們的名字。
New requirements for e-cigarettes in Europe and America, finalised last year, may also hinder smaller companies’ ability to innovate.
去年在歐洲和美國敲定了對電子煙的新要求，這也許阻礙了小公司發展的創新能力。
That could help Big Tobacco gain even greater market share: large firms may be the only ones with resources to navigate complex rules.
但也會幫助大的煙草公司獲得更大的市場份額：大公司也許是唯一擁有資源來掌控復雜規則的人。
Companies are particularly bullish on new products that heat tobacco, without burning it.
企業尤其看好這些不用點燃但能加熱煙草的新產品。
These gadgets are more satisfying to smokers than e-cigarettes, which contain nicotine but no tobacco, so may encourage more smokers to switch.
這些包含了尼古丁但沒有煙草的產品對于吸煙者來說比電子煙更令人滿意，因此也許會鼓勵更多的吸煙者進行轉變。
Cigarette executives claim that would be a health boon: just heating tobacco avoids much of the nasty stuff that comes with combustion.
煙草公司的高管認為這將是健康的福音：僅加熱煙草避免了燃燒帶來的危害。
Less encouraging for health is the prospect that some smokers might switch to the new products rather than give up tobacco completely.
就健康而言不太樂觀的前景是，一些吸煙者可能會轉向使用新產品而不是完全放棄煙草。
For years companies have sold to a shrinking share of the population.
多年來，煙草公司的買方人數已經縮水。
If enough would-be quitters switch to “safer” cigarettes instead, firms could slow or even reverse what had seemed a permanent downward trend.
如果足夠多想要戒煙的人轉而購買更加“安全”的煙草，煙草公司可能會減緩甚至扭轉那些看似永久的下降趨勢。
Far from fading away, Big Tobacco might be on the verge of a new boom.
大煙草不僅不會衰落，甚至可能會迎來繁榮。
If so, the company formed by BAT and Reynolds stands to gain, as it will combine the two firms’ research into reduced-risk products.
若是如此，英美煙草公司和雷諾茲組成的公司會是獲利的一方，因為將結合兩家公司進行低危害香煙的研發。
That will help it compete against Philip Morris, which has spent nearly twice as much on research as BAT.
并且這將有利于其與Philip Morris的競爭，后者已經在研發上花費近似英美煙草公司兩倍的資金。
Philip Morris is now seeking approval in America to market its heated tobacco product as safer than traditional cigarettes; it submitted its application to American regulators in December.
Philip Morris 現在正在美國尋找批準來推銷它的加熱煙草產品，稱其比傳統香煙更安全；12月份，它們已經向美國監管者上交了相關申請。
The firm already reckons the product might add $1bn in profit by 2020.
Philip Morris已經計算出：到2020年，這類產品將會為其增加10億美元的收益。
Andre Calantzopoulos, Philip Morris’s chief executive, describes a possible future in which his giant cigarette company phases out cigarette sales.
Andre Calantzopoulos，Philip Morris公司的首席執行官，形容了一種未來的可能性：他的煙草巨頭企業將逐步淘汰零售香煙。
Many health advocates view such declarations sceptically.
許多健康生活的倡議者認為一些聲明值得懷疑。
For now, combustible products still account for almost all of cigarette firms’ revenue.
現今，傳統香煙仍舊占據香煙公司收益的全部。
And tobacco remains responsible for more than one in nine of all adult deaths.
并且，香煙依然是超過九分之一的人死亡的原因。
