After publishing my recent article showing Cuban cigars at about 77 percent by value, many people pointed to units sold. In the UK, the count for units sold is around 50/50 yet market trends around spending is very different. This piece explains why measuring by units sold doesn’t make sense.

Market share is a simple idea. It is a way to describe how the total market is divided between brands or categories. However, the meaning and relevancy changes depending on how you measure the market, and this is where the confusion begins.

Market share by units sold is how many items each company sells relative to the total number. Every unit counts the same, whether it is a budget cigar or a flagship release. Of course this can be useful for internal operations, planning and logistics, but it ignores what customers actually spend money on.

Market share by value measures each company’s share of the total money spent in the market. Instead of counting units, it sums the revenue they generated. It aligns with how businesses make money and how investors judge performance.

Why Units Sold Can be Misleading

Units are easy to move and easy to game. Cutting prices or stacking promotions can make numbers jump, however margins and future profits can suffer. A million inexpensive cigars can look like momentum, but if the cash coming back is weak then you haven’t built demand, you’ve rented it.

For internal use, unit counts are useful. They help forecast production, plan inventory, set staffing, test promotions, and track distribution reach. However, as market information, they are close to worthless and can misstate real position rewarding volume that destroys margin.

Measuring the market by units sold also hides the mix between budget and premium. A budget line £10 cigar ends up counting as the same as a premium line £50 cigar. Based on units they look equal when in fact the difference is huge You would not treat a cigarillo purchase as equivalent to a premium cigar, yet when you measure by units that is exactly what you’re doing

To take the point to an extreme, if a company gives away a million cigars, unit share soars, yet revenue is zero and profit is negative. That is not market leadership, it is a cost. Market share should be described by economic weight; not how many units were sold over any given period.

Value Share is Business Reality

Market share based on value is what tracks what people spend their hard-earned money on. It captures pricing power, the mix between budget and premium options, and willingness to pay, which is why it links to revenue and profit rather than a flattering count of units.

Value share also reflects margin. A brand with fewer sales can generate more cash if customers pay more per cigar. That money funds stock, pays staff, and supports future releases. It equates to a real and tangible impact on the business.

The UK cigar market is a great example of this because you see near parity on cigars by the units sold, while the revenue and value sit heavily with Cuban cigars. Money spent is the definition of real demand.

Investors read markets through value because it predicts financial health better than counts. It aligns with revenue growth, with pricing discipline, and with durable brand strength. Unit sold in many cases is little more than a vanity metric.

Final Thoughts

Ultimately this comes down to clarity. If the goal is to understand real position in the UK market, measure the share of spend. The metric of units sold should sit in support where they help with planning. Value share is the lens that keeps the picture honest and decision making grounded. The only way units sold could usefully represent market share would be if every cigar were capped and sold at the same price, which is of course not how this industry works.