Pop Mart's character doll "Labubu," which has taken the world by storm, has surpassed 100 million units in sales.
According to state-run Global Times on the 9th, Labubu's cumulative global sales exceeded 100 million units by the end of last year. Figures disclosed by Pop Mart Chairman Wang Ning at the shareholders' meeting showed three units were sold every second. Total intellectual property sales, including Labubu, surpassed 400 million units.
Labubu achieved explosive popularity in a short period as its "random box" sales model aligned with social media validation culture. Demand surged particularly after celebrities and influencers including Blackpink's Lisa and Rosé wore the character's keyrings and figures or posted about their collections. Buoyed by Labubu's popularity, Pop Mart generated 13.088 billion yuan (approximately 2.76 trillion won) in revenue in the first half of last year alone. The company operates more than 700 stores across roughly 100 countries worldwide, with employee count and membership each exceeding 10,000 and 100 million respectively. Global Times noted that "Pop Mart is serving as a benchmark for the global expansion of China's homegrown IPs."
Other Chinese companies benchmarking Pop Mart's success are emerging in succession. Chinese firm Here Group's character "Wakuku" recorded 89.73 million yuan (approximately $12.5 million) in revenue in the fourth quarter of last year, driven by global popularity. "Ziwili" and "Xinono," which enjoy high popularity in China, earned 20.76 million yuan and 12.89 million yuan respectively during the third quarter of last year. Chinese variety goods brand Miniso also recently set goals to expand its store count to 10,000 within three years and launch 100 Chinese IPs overseas. Miniso has developed numerous proprietary IPs including "Yoyo" and "Gift Bear."
The toy craze is also evident in Dongguan, Guangdong Province, the mecca of China's toy industry. According to Xinhua News Agency, total production value of the Dongguan toy cluster grew from 126.22 billion yuan in 2022 to 155.06 billion yuan in 2024. Local companies' annual R&D investment increased by an average of 31%, and the number of self-developed intellectual property rights exceeded 100.