Chinese adult dolls are seizing the beds of European and American consumers | Shine Brand

Author | Lingnan Mermaid Machine

Editor | Li Xiaotian

Editor's Note:

From going global, to integrating deeper into the international market, and now having to become a truly global company, more and more enterprises are standing at the forefront of the trend with an outward - looking attitude. Ideally, they carry the genes of Chinese enterprises and possess a global perspective. However, going global is never a smooth - sailing journey. The path of brand globalization tests not only the destination of products but also the enterprise's tolerance, choices, courage, and judgment in the ever - changing geopolitical landscape.

As venturing further becomes the main theme, how will the world embrace the newcomers? A new business competition has begun. Xiaguang She has specially launched the "Shine Brand" column to explore the opportunities of the era from the micro - perspective of brand growth, providing thoughts and inspiration for global players and the industry.

This article is the second installment of the column - "WMdoll", which is the world's largest silicone sex doll manufacturer. According to incomplete statistics, four out of every ten silicone sex dolls exported from China are manufactured by WMdoll. After integrating with large AI models this year, WMdoll's estimated shipment volume has increased by 30%.

With the development of technology, will the boundary between the real world and virtual scenarios become blurred?

As early as 14 years ago, British TV Channel 4 launched a mini - series called "Black Mirror", boldly conceiving a "cyber world". Due to its sharp criticism of technology and human nature, it became a phenomenon - level work and was once hailed as the "ceiling of science - fiction dramas".

Looking back 14 years later, some of the "imaginations" have quietly become a reality.

In the second season of "Black Mirror", such a scene was presented: Facing the death of her partner, the wife implanted all the data of her husband, including videos, images, sounds, and memories, into a bionic robot. "He" looked exactly the same as her deceased husband, and the bionic person truly constructed a virtual "him".

The bionic robot in "Black Mirror"

Today, some of the needs for a partner may also be met by AI robots. According to Google Trends data, the popularity of "AI sex doll" has been rising continuously since last November, with the peak of Google searches occurring between January 12th and January 18th this year; the search volume of "sandy cheeks sex doll" has soared 18 times from last year to this year; the search volume of "sex doll came to life" has also increased by 9 times; even the search volume of "temu sex doll" has increased by 1.5 times.

The continuous optimization of materials and the more natural human - machine interaction effects brought by AI have made sex dolls delve deeper into the boundary between reality and virtuality. The global consumers' demand in the bedroom has created a market space of nearly $60 billion, and the manufacturers meeting this demand are from China.

The world's largest silicone sex doll manufacturer, WMdoll, is located in Zhongshan, Guangdong. Nine - tenths of its orders come from overseas, including the United States, Germany, Australia, South Korea, Japan, Russia, etc. According to incomplete statistics, four out of every ten silicone sex dolls exported from China are manufactured by WMdoll. After integrating with large AI models this year, WMdoll's estimated shipment volume has increased by 30%.

Does the combination of sex dolls and AI really enhance the product's competitiveness? Is the sex doll a good category for going global?

In the production workshop of WMdoll, workers need to complete processes such as installing the skeleton, pouring glue, trimming and polishing, and applying makeup. The assembled dolls have a skin texture that feels like real human skin. You can even see the blue blood vessels under the skin, tiny pores, and fat particles at the corners of the eyes.

In addition to looking more like real humans, these AI sex dolls also try to understand humans in terms of "perception". Under the silicone skin, heating wires and heating pads give their hugs a temperature. Users can customize their personalities and appearances on the APP, and they always respond to requests: "Hey, Handsome".

Part of the WMdoll exhibition hall

Sex dolls are considered a category naturally suitable for the overseas market. Statista data from 2024 shows that the use and ownership of sex toys are on the rise globally, and the market size is expected to reach $80.7 billion by 2030. Currently, North America and Europe are the two major regions in the adult sex toy market.

In addition, as the younger generation becomes the main consumer force, emerging markets have also shown greater potential. Joshua from the market research company "Technavio" believes that once developing countries overcome their prejudices against sex toys, the global sex toy market may achieve an annual growth rate of 10% to 15% in a few years. In the Asia - Pacific region, countries like Japan and India have diverse demands. The market size in the Asia - Pacific region is expected to reach approximately $11.177 billion by 2030. Emerging markets in Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa are also developing rapidly.

It should be noted that the success of entering a country's market is highly related to local aesthetic differences, so product differentiation should be made according to local preferences. In addition, it is also highly related to local cultural acceptance and regulatory policies. For example, due to the influence of Islam in the Middle East and Southeast Asia, customs clearance is very difficult, while there is no such concern in Japan, Europe, and the United States.

The overseas market is vast, with high recognition and high profits. China, with its strong manufacturing advantages, occupies an important position in the global adult sex toy market. Whether it is materials, sensors, or AI chips, partners can be found in the supply chain. Not only is the cost low, but the product iteration is also fast. Sexologist Li Yinhe estimates that 70% of the world's adult products are made in China. Most sex doll manufacturers operate in the domestic market while selling their products to countries in Europe, America, Japan, and South Korea through overseas agents.

According to Liu Jiangxia, the founder of WMdoll, dolls that are sold for 3,000 - 10,000 yuan in China can be sold for $1,600 - 2,100 (about 11,000 - 15,000 yuan) overseas, while dolls produced locally overseas generally cost $4,000 - 8,000. Even after adding a shipping cost of at least 3,000 yuan, Chinese - made dolls still maintain a price advantage in the overseas market.

Therefore, although the single - unit price of silicone AI dolls is around $1,500 - 2,000, and there was an extreme fluctuation in tariffs at the beginning of 2025, these high - end AI dolls still have enough price space to become best - sellers.

According to QYResearch data, the global adult product market size was approximately $59.64 billion in 2024, among which the sex doll market size was $731.7 million. Although from the data, physical dolls only account for a small share, in recent years, the growth rate of consumers' purchases of physical dolls has been relatively obvious, with an annual compound growth rate of 7.2% in the next five years.

The market share is small, but the growth is fast, and there are two reasons for this.

On the one hand, different from traditional low - end inflatable dolls, the existing sex dolls on the market have better texture and lower prices. For a long time, the price of physical dolls has been generally high. The market price of silicone realistic dolls can reach tens of thousands of yuan, and high - end Japanese silicone dolls can even cost 40,000 - 50,000 yuan. With the continuous optimization of the Chinese supply chain, the price can be as low as one - tenth of that of similar Japanese products. This means squeezing the market of traditional low - end inflatable dolls and expanding the consumer group.

On the other hand, it is driven by the single - person economy. According to the United Nations' "World Economic Situation and Prospects 2024" report, about 38% of households around the world are single - person households. In some developed countries and regions, this proportion even exceeds 50%. The number of single people globally is increasing rapidly, which means that the demand for sex dolls is also growing.

More importantly, the empowerment of AI has truly upgraded the sex dolls in terms of product competitiveness. For the younger generation, "falling in love with AI" is no longer something new. Compared with traditional sex dolls, with the breakthroughs in generative AI and large models, silicone dolls can potentially understand, analyze, and respond, realizing the ability to interact with humans. That is to say, AI sex dolls can meet both physical and emotional needs.

The official website of WMdoll

Liu Liu, the co - founder of WMdoll, told Xiaguang She that a user, after the death of his wife, was so overwhelmed with grief that he asked WMdoll to customize a doll that resembled his wife. "He cried when he saw the product," Liu Liu said.

As early as 2019, the sex doll studio Realdoll in Las Vegas, USA, launched the world's first sex robot (also known as a companion robot) - Harmony. Harmony can chat with people, from philosophy to pillow talk, and has excellent memory. However, Harmony is not cheap, priced at $15,000 (about 110,000 yuan).

Contemporary consumers also have a relatively high acceptance of AI sex dolls. In 2024, a survey conducted by the Tidio company on more than 1,200 respondents in the United States showed that 48% of men and 33% of women were open to the idea of having a robot partner. The MetaBox series products launched by WMdoll also directly demonstrated consumers' enthusiasm: The products started overseas beta testing in December 2024, and the first batch of 200 products launched in the North American, Japanese, and European markets were quickly sold out, accounting for 20% of the total orders during the same period, and user activity has been continuously increasing.

So, can you really "fall in love with a physical AI"? What are the real changes when silicone dolls are combined with AI?

Resembling a human is a must - have for AI sex dolls to win consumers' hearts.

In terms of the appearance of AI sex dolls, producers even create "imperfections" to make them more realistic. For example, some dolls have obvious small bellies, overlapping fat around the waist, bumpy chicken skin on the arms, mottled moles on the chest, pigmentation on the neck after sun exposure, and even different - shaped navels.

This is no longer the shoddy inflatable dolls of the early days. If you reach out and touch them, some dolls will blush and breathe rapidly, and their body temperature controlled by heating wires and heating pads will also rise significantly.

To make them more human - like, efforts must first be made in materials. Softer and more skin - like texture is the pursuit of sex dolls. Therefore, the materials used for sex dolls have generally evolved from latex and rubber to the current mixed use of TPE (thermoplastic elastomer) and silicone. TPE is a new type of polymer material between rubber and plastic, which combines the elasticity of rubber and the strength of plastic. It is closer to the touch of human skin and is the most commonly used material for high - end sex dolls today.

Each industry has its own areas of competition. The competition among sex dolls lies in who can have better skin and lower prices. For example, some products claim to have the "reproduced pore texture" technology, which can highly restore the skin texture of different parts of the human body, emphasizing a real - skin texture.

WMdoll's material suppliers include two domestic TPE giants, Dawn Polymer and Zhejiang Zhongcheng. Among them, Dawn Polymer's production line can even operate 24 hours a day without a break. Zhejiang Zhongcheng, with the concept stock of "AI adult companionship", experienced a daily limit increase during the May 20th period this year.

In fact, Japanese companies have long dominated the high - end silicone sex doll market, with product prices as high as 80,000 - 100,000 yuan. The TPE flexible material chosen by WMdoll is about 80% lower in cost than that of Japanese manufacturers but has a similar touch to silicone. Now, the price of the top - notch high - end products in this industry has dropped to the 20,000 - yuan level. Facing the manufacturing advantages of Chinese enterprises, the Japanese sex doll manufacturer "Oriental Industry" (オリエント工業) announced its closure in August last year, after 47 years of operation.

In addition to appearance, emotionally, it is also more suitable to be a perfect partner. Users can customize their exclusive partners through the APP. For example, the MetaBox series of WMdoll offers 8 personalities and occupations for consumers to choose from. If you want some "freshness", you can spend $400 to buy a new head. The "understanding of sexual needs" can also be met. Equipped with advanced large models such as Llama and DeepSeek, which have long - term memory functions and can recall conversation records within three months, the intellectual and elegant "big sister" can discuss Hermann Hesse's "Steppenwolf" with users, while the cute and innocent "little girl" can accurately report the update schedule of the latest anime series, truly anticipating users' needs.

With the support of AI, the originally cold dolls have become lovers who can talk, flirt, and even comfort you by saying "two minutes is also great". Some foreign media reported that MetaBox is very popular in the global market, and the repurchase rate of AI dolls has far exceeded that of ordinary dolls. "Compared with the expensive adult robots in the future, MetaBox's cost - performance ratio is more suitable for ordinary people with special needs."

Therefore, in terms of business model, WMdoll not only sells "hardware" dolls but also "software" services. Considering the addictive nature of adult products, the first - time use of AI services for AI sex dolls is free. If users do not renew the subscription, the dolls of overseas consumers may lose their memory. That is to say, if you want the dolls to have long - term memory and continuously experience AI interaction functions, you need to pay a monthly subscription fee of $100 - 200.

Currently, the MetaBox products of WMdoll are sold out in markets such as North America, Japan, and Europe, presenting a situation of "one partner is hard to find" overseas.

WMdoll was founded in 2010 and was initially a company that produced clothing mannequins. Due to customer requirements for softer clothing mannequins in terms of materials, WMdoll discovered new opportunities and shifted its focus to the production of sex dolls. However, after several years of production, users still regarded the dolls as "cold objects". So, WMdoll began to explore ways to make the dolls more intelligent.

As early as 2016, WMdoll launched the "AI intelligent doll", with the earliest functions only involving the movement of eyes, arms, and the torso, as well as simple conversations. In 2017, WMdoll integrated Baidu's voice technology, but the drawback was that users had to say a prompt word before each use, which was very disruptive to the experience.

In 2024, after the emergence of ChatGPT, WMdoll launched a sex doll that achieved "human - machine interaction" through AI voice. The AI voice technology is not very complicated: a smart box connected to the cloud is installed in the doll's head, and this "brain" can record the user's preferences and habits at any time. In addition, WMdoll also cooperated with a university's artificial intelligence research institute last year to develop a large - language model specifically for sex dolls. After just a few conversations, the doll can enter the "flirting mode": "You are so amazing" "You know so much"!

Almost every practitioner in the AI sex doll industry hopes that the dolls can become more and more human - like.

To this day, AI sex dolls still have a long way to go to become "perfect partners". Technical problems such as a voice that sometimes sounds like a news anchor or the doll "pretending to be deaf and dumb" may occur. It will take a longer time to develop dolls that can run, jump, and do work. Liu Jiangxia said that technical difficulties such as the inability to fit silicone skin onto the metal shell of a "bipedal robot" and the inability of motors to dissipate heat in silicone need to be solved. "There is no product in the world that can put a walking robot inside the shape of a silicone sex doll," Liu Jiangxia said.

The official website of WMdoll

In the future, WMdoll will continue to focus on technological R & D and mass production. For example, by leveraging the mechanical structure and drive system in the robotics field, adult dolls are expected to simulate various expressions such as smiling, frowning, and being surprised, enhancing the user's interaction experience. "Facial expressions involve robotics technology, which still has significant barriers. This is our plan for the second half of the year, to make the head more human - like while maintaining the body's functions," Liu Jiangxia said. In addition, reducing the weight of the dolls will also be a new direction. WMdoll expects to reduce the weight by 50% in 2025, further reducing costs.

In terms of mass production, the current factor limiting the expansion of the adult doll market is the lack of automation. From installing the skeleton, pouring glue, to trimming and applying makeup, the production line of WMdoll is basically manual, and the production cycle of an adult doll is about three days. Liu Liu said that AI 3D modeling is starting to replace manual modeling on the production line. By providing front and side photos, the modeling can be completed within a day, which is expected to shorten the delivery cycle to one - fifth of the industry average.

Miura Manabu, a scholar known as the "Number One Expert in Japanese Consumer Society Research", mentioned in his latest book "The Theory of Lonely Consumption": "With the aging population, the increase in the number of unmarried people, the rising divorce rate, and the growing number of single - person households, more and more people are feeling lonely. To relieve, divert, or eliminate loneliness, relevant consumption behaviors have also increased. The purpose of this consumption is to seek connections with others, which may be manifested in purchasing goods and services, using social networks, or engaging in hobbies that are not usually considered as consumption. And those who can help consumers better cope with loneliness are more likely to succeed in the Fifth Consumption Era."

WMdoll may be a typical example born in the era of the lonely economy. In today's world where romantic relationships are in decline, there are various ways and channels to obtain love and companionship. But perhaps the more important question is how to find the real feeling of love.

Event Recommendation

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This article is from the WeChat official account "Xiaguang She". Author: Lingnan Mermaid Machine. Republished with permission.