Silicone Sex Dolls So-Called Dream Dolls Sweeping the World

Neon-lit cities of North America to the peaceful roads of Europe, a unique category of ‘Made in China’ items has silently started to alter the emotional equations of city dwellers across the globe.

These are no longer traditional sex dolls but “emotional companions,” complete with AI models that can fluidly translate between eight languages. They retain dialogue between three months of private conversations, mimic human body temperature, and offer a soft interaction experience—all for a tenth of the cost of a similar import from Europe or America.

With their advantage of scale, which comprises 70% of the world’s production capacity, the Chinese have been able to redefine the rules of the entire market: from the initial physiological objects to ‘AI companions’ that provide emotional support, to ‘dream dolls’ for middle-age men, the silicone sex dolls have come a long way.

Nonetheless, this way to international success is by no means straightforward. Cultural differences mean there are many marketing hiccups, the tough evaluation of online markets results in products being under constant threat of being pulled from the shelves, while patent hurdles and assaults by rivals are omnipresent.

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Chinese producers represent 70% of the world’s production capacity

The search volumes of the terms “Sandy Cheeks sex dolls” increased by 18 times from the previous year to the present year.

The search volume for “sex doll came to life” has also increased ninefold.

There has been a continued increase in the popularity of what are being referred to as “AI sex dolls" since last November.

These cold Google trend lines collectively show the blazing truth that the sex doll industry, which used to be a clandestine industry lurking on the periphery of the marketplace, is experiencing a revolutionary global growth.

And at the center of it all are the Chinese manufacturers.

Indeed, as the saying goes, the doll industry in the world looks to China, and the doll industry in China looks to Guangdong Province. According to data, by the year 2024, the production capacity for Silicone dolls in China was 70% of the world’s total.

Far more significant than the size differential is the disruptive revolution that Chinese companies are effecting on the entire industry through technology.

For instance, a firm called Jin San Wan Mei has embedded an artificial intelligence system at a large scale into its products, turning conventional sex toys into intelligent robots that can talk to and confide in their users.

The company also knows the psychology of the male consumer, having designed eight personas for the user of the silicone doll. Whether a sweet-talking girl-next-door type, an energetic and playfully spontaneous young girl, or an intelligent and articulate intellectual goddess, there’s something to satisfy the psychology of the user.

Through the assistance of the gigantic AI model, these sex dolls have the ability of long-term memory, just as human beings. Whether it is three days and three nights of conversation involving scandals or three months of chit-chatting information, it is all remembered flawlessly.

It can even serve as a source of strong emotional values. It praises generously if the performance is excellent and offers consoling statements such as "There’s plenty of room for improvement" and "It’s okay, even 2 minutes is impressive" if the performance is not up to the mark and targets the user’s emotional needs spot on.

Customer feedback further verifies the leading position of their product. The head of the company is confident about their sales prognosis, which will show a substantial boost of 30% this year. Exports will occur in the U.S., Germany, Australia, South Korea, Japan, Russia, and other nations.

Another firm, Zhongshan Junteng Yichuang, has put almost ten million yuan into research and development, experimenting with over 50 bodies and over 100 exquisite facial designs. These designs encompass different styles such as European and American, Latin American styles, Asian styles, black styles, and proportionally scaled-down adult bodies.

These changes have fully removed the single label of "physiological tool" to sex dolls, as they are now "emotional companions" who comprehend and accompany you, thus catapulting the industry into a new age.

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Market is expected to be worth $80.7 billion in 2030.

Apart from penetrating foreign markets using their technological capabilities, Chinese adult toy makers have also invested a lot in materials.

At present, the mainstream of the industry adopts a compound of TPE (Thermoplastic Elastomer) and Medical Silicone. On account of its distinctive material property, the application of TPE has already been the most fundamental demand for premium products. It is a new generation of polymer material that falls sideways between rubber and plastics. The biomimetic features of TPE are close to the touch experience of humans' skin.

Touch and feel are getting closer to "human," and the cost is much lower than imported goods.

According to Zhou Yi, product manager for uloversdoll, which has involvments in adult product distribution since 2018, the underlying competitiveness for adult products in China is that it possesses the most complete industrial chain and innovations in technologies. "It is likely that the products we supply for the first time in the industry, including materials, process, and simulation technology, which can all be considered to be of higher quality and more competitively priced."

The impact that has been most directly caused by the entry of Chinese commodities is the disruption of the exclusive presence of Japanese commodities at highly priced rates. The rates that could easily reach tens of thousands of RMB are now reduced to merely about one-tenth.

Apart from the quality and price of the products, the role of e-commerce platforms cannot be overstated. As Zhou Yi said, using the example of the long-established Japanese company "Oriental Industry," Chinese merchants were able to provide low-cost worldwide coverage via e-commerce platforms, and at the same time, protect privacy, thus accelerating the fall of traditional brands.

Based on the “2024 Adult Sex Toy Market Insight Report” published by Big Data Cross Border, the adult sex toy market is expanding at a tremendous pace. The global market size is expected to increase from approximately US$27.17 billion to US$52.7 billion between 2019 and 2026. Additionally, the adult sex toy market is expected to reach US$80.7 billion by the end of 2030, as per Business Research. The global sex toy market is set to expand at a CAGR of 8.2% during the period of 2021 to 2031.

The industry of North America and Europe represents the significant markets for the adult sex toy industry. The North American market will grow at a CAGR of 7.91% to attain a market size of $20 billion by the end of 2030. The European market will grow and attain a market size of $16.4 billion by 2030.

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The “Cross-Border Survival Rules” of Adult Toy Bosses

Although the prospects are wide, the road to globalization is not rosy for the Chinese adult toy firms. Take, for instance, the firm – Zhangzhou Bizhiliang Network Technology Co., Ltd. This firm, dealing with adult toys like sex dolls, has been dedicated to the research and development of artificial intelligence and bionic robots since the brand was established in 2019. It is learned that the firm’s homegrown artificial intelligence system code name “Lilith” is set to be launched in the third quarter of the year.

"The company has maintained stable growth, and the year-over-year growth rate has been about 80% this year," Huang Qufan, the company’s head, explained. Bizhiliang has achieved significant growth since the company joined the Tmall platform in 2021. In just two years, the company has entered the top tier of the industry. In the country’s market, the company’s performance has been exceptional, and the company has managed to place among the top three sex dolls suppliers.

Nevertheless, challenges exist in the expansion of overseas markets. "Currently, only five to six million yuan in sales are sustained each year in overseas markets, and the growth is sluggish," Huang Qufan analyzed. "In fact, the primary business of customizing high-end products needs heavy communications with clients. However, owing to cultural differences and an imperfect structure in overseas teams, the pace of overseas market expansion has slowed," Huang said.

Xiao Wang of Shenzhen Chunyi Technology, however, has his own perspectives on the overseas development of mature products.

As he told Phoenix.com’s "Storm Eye," he started exploring cross-border e-commerce around 2016-2017, first targeting the internal market. However, owing to heavy competition and a lack of profits, there’s been no development in that area. That is why he shifted his focus elsewhere, including Amazon, which was his first challenge.

"The biggest risk of cross-border e-business is that of business on platforms, such as freezing accounts and causing losses. We have experienced two or three ‘resets’ because we were not familiar with the rules of business on platforms, and we couldn’t retrieve our money, which forced us to ‘start all over again with debt,’" explained Xiao Wang. "Since we have realized the lessons of being shut down by platforms, we have avoided risks in business and now we don’t have problems."

According to Zhou Yi, in order to function their products effectively, the company developed its own website. The cost of development was borne by the company, which, although initially high, became more favorable as the company ran effectively.

"More than 100 products are distributed by the company, which mainly targets consumers in the US, Europe, and Japan. Sales performance is highest in America, while Japan and Europe record similar sales," stated Zhou Yi.

At the same time, Xiao Wang reported that the leading market the company serves at the moment is North America, with smaller presences in Europe and Japan, “but the core—most items—come from Dongguan and Huizhou.” “No country or region can compare to China’s supply chain,” he continued. “I know many adult toy businesses in Japan and Europe that source all of their production from China. They just design.”

In comparison with foreign companies marketing adult products, Xiao Wang said their edge is their partnership with supply chain manufacturers. “For instance, when there was a trade war, our suppliers assisted us in looking for a way out of the problem by using Taiwan and Singapore as transition points. Hence, our company was not affected by the tariff war.” Conversely, Xiao Wang also acknowledged that for him, it has become more challenging to operate his business abroad, as the competition has been fierce, and the gross profit margin has reduced from 60-70 percent to 30 percent compared to the earlier days. Xiao Wang went on to say that "going global via e-commerce sites is now in a polarization phase, with the two options being to use patent monopolies (like joint development of utility patents for factories) or cut prices (via supply chain competitiveness), otherwise they would beincrementally acquired." Zhou Yi said that because of the pandemic and the current situation in the world, the company’s sale in the overseas market now has been down by about 30% compared to the peak in 2021. But compared to Xiao Wang, he sounds much more optimistic. "I think it will bottom out this year and gradually recover. The 'quasi-essential' characteristic of adult products will underpin the market’s revival, and people will continue to purchase." "What will be the next overseas blockbuster?" The answer does not matter; provided that you pick the right industry, there is gold all around.