Chinese toymaker Pop Mart disclosed on 28 October that third-quarter sales fell 45-50% from a year earlier. The Seoul Economic Daily's English edition reports the Americas dropped 70-75%, the steepest decline, while the company calls this a ‘year of adjustment’ and is responding with new characters and more US stores.
According to the Seoul Economic Daily's English edition, Pop Mart's 28 October filing said total third-quarter sales fell 45-50% year on year. The figure covers the whole company, not Labubu alone, and is a preliminary range, so exact amounts are not confirmed.
광고 문의 · 300×250By region, the Americas fell 70-75%, Asia-Pacific 65-70%, Europe and other markets 50-55%, and China 25-30%. The paper attributes part of the Americas drop to a base effect, since sales there had multiplied more than 13 times a year earlier. Bloomberg reported in April that US sales had fallen 45%.
Fading scarcity and the company's response
Pop Mart has not explained the decline. The Seoul Economic Daily noted that higher output may have eroded scarcity and resale premiums, while Bernstein, cited by Bloomberg, said fan bases for other characters are thin in the US, concentrating demand on Labubu. A Kursiv report on 8 November, citing the BBC, said US revenue fell at least 70% and the shares have lost more than half their value since the peak.
The company says it raised production capacity and added preorders to curb shortages and resale. It launched Twinkle Twinkle and Dimoo in the quarter, has passed 100 US stores and plans a large New York store by year-end. Kursiv adds that a film and a Beijing theme park are in the works.
Analysts are cautious. The Seoul Economic Daily said HSBC cut its sales forecast, expecting stabilisation to take longer, and some fear the slump could run into next year. Experts cited by the BBC say the test is whether a viral toy can become a lasting franchise like Disney or Hello Kitty. This paper could not check the filing itself.