Chinese toymaker Pop Mark said it is expecting the massive popularity of Labubu dolls to lead to soaring profits for the first six months of the year.
The popularity of the fang-toothed plush toy spread like a wildfire after celebrities like Blackpink’s Lisa and Rihanna were seen flaunting them on their luxury bags.
The Beijing-based company on Tuesday said it expects at least a 350 per cent profit and about a 200 per cent jump in revenue for the first six months of the year.
The persistent global demand for Labubu dolls has turned Pop Mart into a $40bn (£31.6bn) company, with its Hong Kong-listed shares jumping 588 per cent over the past year, according to Bloomberg.
The company’s revenue more than doubled in 2024 to $1.81bn (£1.35bn), mostly due to the elvish dolls. Revenue from Pop Mart’s plush toys soared more than 1,200 per cent in 2024, accounting for nearly 22 per cent of its overall revenue, according to the company’s annual report.
The Labubu, by artist and illustrator Kasing Lung, first appeared in three picture books inspired by Nordic mythology in 2015. In 2019, Mr Lung struck a deal with Pop Mart to sell Labubu figurines.
But it wasn’t until Pop Mart started selling Labubu plush toys on key rings in 2023 that the toothy monsters suddenly seemed to be everywhere.
It took the dolls less than a year to break into the Western market, aided by their increased visibility on the Chinese video app TikTok.
The charms can often be seen dangling from expensive Hermes Birkins and Miu Miu bags, lending them a fun and colourful twist.
Labubus, priced at around $40 (about £30), are released in limited quantities and sold in “blind boxes”, meaning buyers don’t know the model they will receive. The company has faced criticism over its marketing technique, which some say promotes compulsive buying. As well as regular designs, there are also so-called “secret edition” Labubus, which are especially rare and sought-after by collectors.
Demand for Labubus is so high, that rare Labubus are being resold for more than $1,000 (£745) each, according to reports. In June, a life-sized Labubu figure was sold in China for 1.08m yuan ($150,000 or £111,800 ) at an auction, setting a new record for the “blind box” toy.
Amidst its growing popularity, Pop Mart has responded to the surge in counterfeits by releasing detailed videos on how to verify a doll’s authenticity.
Right now Pop Mart, whose products are manufactured across Asia, says that it is continuously scaling production and expanding distribution across its online shop, retail stores and “blind box” vending machines to meet increasing demand.