No, but if the market is controlled by a handfull of large corporations, you'll see quality go down and prices go up. Just like cell phones.
The electronics comparison is probably not the best - nearly everyone in America uses home electronics. And no one is trying to put home electronics manufacturers out of business. Meanwhile, a far smaller percentage of Americans smoke premium cigars, and there are a lot of people who a)want to take the freedom of smoking away, or b)have a vested interest in consolidating the market in order to monopolize the market.
You won't see the premium cigar demand dissapear. But you'll see prices go up and qualty go down if the local B&M's start going under more than they already have.
I agree with the above.
I do disagree that if all B&Ms were gone it would screw up the industry. If there is demand their will be a supply. As it is I would have to presume that B&Ms sales are a very small precentage now of total cigar sales in the US.
Back to Jackass mode....
C.I., Thompsons and JR sell more house brands than anything. Thompson's lives off house brands. And I'm not talking 60/40, Thompson's is estimated to be like 90 (house brands)/ 10 (non-house brands). I've asked people that worked at JR and what not, all of them will emphatically tell you: house brands and bundles.
There are a few exceptions, Gran Habano Vintage 02, Man o' War; but the reality is that your "average" CI stick is far inferior to your "average" B&M stick. Price difference, I get it, but my point is that CI, Thompson's and JR make money selling lesser quality cigars. They don't make (very much money) on Padróns, Fuente, LFD and Davidoff. (In fact, CI and Famous have only recently become Davidoff accounts.) If you need some proof of what gets bought on CI, go look through the recent purchases thread, it's mainly CI exclusives, not a lot of Double Ligeros being bought on CI.
Look, I don't mean to belittle anyone that smokes 5 Vegas and Rocky Patel Seconds. Some of the best people I've met in the cigar world smoke these. But, a lot of us would prefer to smoke other things, and... B&Ms drive that industry. Illusione, Tatuaje, Viaje, Liga Privada, Opus X - they owe essentially ZERO success to CI, Famous, Thompson's and JR. Without B&Ms, we would have never had them.
The heart of this industry lies in B&Ms. There's a large difference between Pete, Dion and Andre (all of whom only have one direct employee) and JR, whose parent employees over 34,000 people.
The majority of U.S. cigar sales take place in shops. There's a reason that Macanudo Cafe and Romeo y Julieta Reserva Real are the two most popular cigars in America, and it's not because many people on Puff smoke them. What I like to refer to as "golf course smokers" (people who buy less than a box a year), account for the VAST majority of total cigars purchased.