In the past, plush toys were just children's companions and childhood memories. Today, they have also become "the top stream of the Internet."
In July, Haivivi officially launched its first AI toy product, BubblePal. This product is the first AI dialogue interactive pendant toy equipped with AIGC technology. It is positioned as "the next generation of AI toys that both inspire children's intellectual growth and emotional companionship". It is equipped with a large AI model deeply customized for children, supports multi-role interaction and multi-language communication, and has a new interactive story creation ability.
It is also worth mentioning that the development time of BubblePal took only 9 months. In less than 1 month after it was launched, the device has effectively activated more than 10,000 units. With a product price of 399 yuan per unit, the GMV exceeds 4 million yuan; and the sales volume this year is expected to be 80,000 units.
In August, the American toy company Skyrocket launched an artificial intelligence teddy bear named Poe. This teddy bear is part of its artificial intelligence toy brand PLAi (pronounced "play"), which uses artificial intelligence software to generate stories and read them to children.
Recently, Japanese electronics company Casio and startup Vanguard Industries jointly launched the AI toy product Moflin, which has a built-in AI system that can show emotional changes based on interaction, and can establish a deeper connection with users...
Why AI+ plush toys?
It is such a simple plush toy that has shown strong growth in recent years around the world, extending from children to young people. The storm of plush toys is sweeping in.
According to the data of Cicada Cube, the sales of plush toys in 2023 have exceeded the 750 million to 1 billion mark, a year-on-year increase of 48.46%; in the first half of 2024, the overall sales of key categories of toys in China increased by 9.3% year-on-year, among which the sales growth of plush toys ranked in the top three, an increase of 9.2%. It is expected that the market size will reach 7.723 billion yuan by 2025.
Moreover, relevant data show that Jellycat Bunny and Disney's cooperative products stand out in the Tmall plush toy category with a market share of 30.59%, ranking first. In addition, Pop Mart has also begun to enter the plush toy market, combining vinyl face dolls with popular IPs, and sales have exceeded 10 million.
From the above sets of data, it can be seen that plush toys seem to have become one of the most "city" items at the moment, and the popularity has been rising. With the rise of emotional consumption and the popularity of trendy culture, the market potential of plush toys has been further released, and the market size is also continuing to expand.
Artificial intelligence (AI), as a powerful force in the world's science and technology field today, has penetrated into all aspects of our lives, from smartphones, autonomous driving to smart homes, personal assistants, etc., AI applications are everywhere.
In such a context, combining AI technology with plush toys seems to be a necessity. This is not only a technological innovation, but also a deep insight into consumer needs.
With the rapid development of science and technology and the continuous improvement of people's living standards, consumers' demand for personalized and intelligent products is growing. The combination of AI and plush toys can meet consumers' demand for intelligent and highly interactive toys, bringing new growth points to the traditional toy industry.
On the other hand, the consumer group of plush toys is no longer limited to children, and adults are gradually becoming an important consumer group. According to the latest data from the China Toy and Baby Products Association, the "post-00s" have become the largest consumer group of plush toys, accounting for 43%, followed by the "post-90s", accounting for 36%.
This paper is from Ulink Media, Shenzhen, China, the organizer of IOTE EXPO (IoT Expo in China)
