Wakuku And Lafufu Emerged, Labubu's Popularity Still Stays At The Top

Labubu (Photo: Instagram/@labubu.ae)

JAKARTA - The global phenomenon of Labubu's dolls managed to boost the magnitude of its parent company Pop Mart. The shares of the Hong Kong-listed company jumped 470 percent in just 12 months.

Reporting from the Financial Times page, the market valuation reached 47 billion US dollars or Rp772 trillion. Pop Mart is now worth higher than the world's toy giants such as Mattel, Hasbro, and Sanrio from Japan.

The huge advantages of this distinctive little doll and blind box business models have made many competitors appear. There are Wakuku, a doll from Miniso, to Lafufu, the name for the Labubu clone that floods the market. Even so, their concern could fade Pop Mart's success seems excessive.

Miniso is seen as the main challenger. The launch of the Wakuku doll makes long queues at various flagship stores in China. Moreover, the Miniso network is much larger with 7,900 retail stores around the world.

Compared to Pop Mart, which only has 443 stores and 2,437 automatic sales machines. In addition, Miniso is also used to selling licensed products from large brands such as Disney and Marvel.

However, the global collection of toy markets worth 42 billion US dollars or IDR 690 trillion per year is still very wide and can accommodate both Labubu and Wakuku. However, creating a viral toy trend is not easy.

Labubu's own popularity just exploded after Lisa, BLACKPINK personnel showed off her collection to more than 100 million followers on social media.

Another more accurate sign about Labubu's long-term demand is seen in the resale market. Toys, which initially sold for 22 US dollars or Rp361,000, were traded back at a price of 3-4 times.

Now the trend of speculative buying and selling has begun to subside until the selling price has decreased. However, this healthier secondary market could actually expand the Pop Mart fan base.

Pop Mart's profits were fantastic. Last year, their gross margin reached 67 percent, on par with luxury fashion groups like LVMH, not just regular toy companies. Even with a valuation of 26 times the profit going forward, Pop Mart is trading equivalent to a luxury freight industry giant.

But the problem is, the viral toy trend usually doesn't last long like a luxury bag. This means that Pop Mart must continue to release new products so that its flagship brand remains relevant, as well as looking for the next star.

Pop Mart's biggest risk is not the emergence of another doll with more popular teeth, but when consumers really lose their appetite for Labubu and the like.