Pop Mart sales have plummeted by 50% The end of the collectible toy trend?

Hard times are ahead for Labubu: Pop Mart International Group, the Chinese company that distributes the famous figurines, recorded a 50% drop in sales worldwide during the third quarter of 2026. It was foreseeable that the craze for the furry keychains would eventually die down, but until last year things were going extremely well: for the launch of the Labubu Big Energy line in April 2025, a mile-long queue formed outside the Pop Mart store on Corso Buenos Aires in Milan, while the brand was still reporting revenue increases of 165% and record share prices. This year, however, the financial rally of Pop Mart collectibles appears to have come to a halt.

America vs China

Over the summer months, Pop Mart's revenues fell between 45 and 50% compared to the same period in 2025, when they had instead recorded growth of 250%. The most striking figure concerns the United States and South America, where sales dropped between 70 and 75%. In China, on the other hand, the decline was contained between 25 and 30%, confirming that the trend is trying to hold its ground in the region where it originated.

Labubu, a figurine characterised by pointed teeth that went viral in 2024 partly thanks to the support of international stars (most notably Lisa of BLACKPINK, who is credited as the driving force behind the popularity of these keychains), sold at a relentless pace for two years, but 2026 seems to have exhausted its appeal, further weakened by the myriad of alternatives and dupes put forward by other brands (as well as by Pop Mart itself) in recent months.

Will new accessories and new store openings help Pop Mart?

Pop Mart has described 2026 as «a year of consolidation», seeking to reassure investors with a promise to focus on international expansion, through the opening of strategic stores and the launch of new products set to go viral, such as Twinkle Twinkle and Dimoo. The company has already opened a new flagship store in Hangzhou and its first major European store in Paris, while in the United States it has surpassed 100 points of sale and plans to open a flagship store in New York before the end of the year; new openings are also planned in Milan.

Despite these promises, the Chinese company's financial outlook appears to be suffering, with HSBC having already revised its revenue estimates for the Chinese firm downward, cutting them by 8% for 2027 and 9% for 2028, in addition to reducing forecasts for 2026 by a further approximately 4%.