Bloomberg: The Craze for Labubu Has Faded; Can Pop Mart Break Free from Single IP Dependence?

Pop Mart (泡泡玛特) built a fast-growing business selling blind‑box designer toys and an obsessive collector culture centered on one standout character: Labubu (拉布布). But it has been reported that the frenzy around Labubu has cooled sharply, exposing a deeper risk — Pop Mart’s heavy reliance on a small number of hit IPs to drive revenue and investor value. Can the company broaden its creative portfolio before collectors move on?

Background and the Bloomberg report

Bloomberg has reportedly found signs of weakening demand in secondary markets and slower retail turnover for Pop Mart’s flagship lines, where Labubu has been the star attraction. Pop Mart, a Hong Kong‑listed firm that rode China’s recent consumer boom and a global craze for collectible toys, now faces the classic single‑product trap: when enthusiasm fades, so can margins and market sentiment. It has been reported that management is accelerating new character launches and licensing efforts, but diversification takes time.

Market pressures and geopolitical context

For Western readers: this is not just a retail story. China’s broader consumer slowdown, intensified regulatory scrutiny of youth‑oriented spending and intellectual property, and frictions in global trade and listings have tightened the context in which a cultural export like Pop Mart operates. Those headwinds make rapid international expansion and margin recovery harder, and they amplify the consequences of depending on one or two blockbuster characters.

Pop Mart’s next moves will test whether it can convert ephemeral hype into a sustainable creative engine — by building a deeper roster of IP, expanding licensing and digital content, or shifting its retail mix — or whether investors will demand a different valuation model. Will Labubu remain a cash cow, or was the craze simply a moment? Bloomberg’s scrutiny suggests the clock is ticking.