Chinese toymaker POP MART has launched its Christmas campaign. On 14 November, POP MART released a Christmas-themed blind box collection with its MOLLY IP. The collection also includes an advent calendar for the full experience. On 19 November, the blind box maker announced a fairytale wintry town concept exhibition at Crystal Plaza in Shanghai for the collection and advent calendar. The exhibition will be open until 28 February 2025.
Interestingly, there has been a theory that the origin of “blind boxes” where you get random toys from a series, is the unknown nature of Christmas presents and advent calendars. POP MART channelling “the root of blind boxes with its advent calendar, in this sense, fits perfectly with the brand’s image as the leading blind box manufacturer.
Since last month, POP MART’s share prices at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) surged to their highest since 2021, bringing the valuation of the company to over 100 billion HKD (12.85 billion USD). Although lower than its peak valuation of 150 billion HKD, the 272.4% jump in value in 2024 means the brand is now out of the woods after the crackdown on selling blind boxes to minors. The share price increase is, of course, partly due to its Q3 financial report showing the company’s earnings growing between 120% and 125% year-on-year (YoY).
Interestingly, while POP MART’s business grew an impressive 55% to 60% YoY, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and overseas business grew a whopping 440% to 445% YoY. This result meant that POP MART had already doubled its forecast at the beginning of the year. POP MART has been focusing heavily on global markets. With Thailand leading the charge, the 106 overseas shops contributed to 45% of the revenue in 2024 for POP MART. However, with competitors such as MINISO and Disney, who are also focusing on its offline stores, POP MART might still face an uphill battle to continue its growth.
