Tycoon: I Have an Unlimited Modifier novel Chapter 322

Chapter 322: Chapter 180: No Next Time

Qi Sheng was, of course, familiar with the name Pop Mart.

The leader of the art toy industry, which had relied on blind boxes to build a market cap in the hundreds of billions.

Even though its market value plummeted later, it was still a massive company worth tens of billions.

But now? Pop Mart’s market value was only 1.5 billion.

Even after delisting from the New Third Board in two months, it would only be worth 2 billion.

That might sound like a lot, but compared to Pop Mart’s lowest valuation of over thirty billion, there was still room for a profit of more than ten times that.

Compared to Pop Mart’s peak market cap in the hundreds of billions, the potential return on investment was a staggering 50-fold.

In a way, Pop Mart lived and died by the blind box.

It had built its fortune on blind boxes, so when regulatory policies were later introduced, its market value plummeted accordingly.

Its insufficient development of existing IPs led to a steady decline in market value.

Though the Wang Ning before him was unremarkable in looks and height, his ambition was anything but small.

He wanted to turn Pop Mart into the Disney of China.

Qi Sheng barely suppressed a laugh.

’If it weren’t for his rebirth, he might have actually been taken in by the man’s pitch.’

"Chairman Qi, does this mean you’re not optimistic about our company?"

Wang Ning’s expression soured.

This was the moment Pop Mart was supposed to be taking off.

Otherwise, Pop Mart wouldn’t be delisting from the New Third Board.

A mere 1.5 billion valuation was clearly not enough to satisfy Wang Ning’s ambition.

He wouldn’t go so far as to say Pop Mart’s market cap would break a hundred billion, but it had to be at least ten billion to start.

"President Wang, forgive me for being blunt, but isn’t Molly the only truly profitable IP your company has right now?"

"Your other exclusive and non-exclusive IPs are all limited by contract length and usage rights."

"Otherwise, you wouldn’t be scrambling to launch your own IPs to replace the once wildly popular Sonny Angel."

"Nurturing new IPs takes time. Can you afford to wait?"

Seeing Wang Ning’s defiance, Qi Sheng directly exposed Pop Mart’s biggest problem.

It had a severe lack of proprietary IPs, giving it no economic moat whatsoever.

Art toys are products with no real technical barrier to entry, unlike those from sports giants like Adidas or Nike that have absolute control over their research and development.

There is absolutely no way to monopolize their production.

Just provide a design, and factories in the world’s manufacturing hub, Yiwu, could immediately mass-produce them and flood the market.

At the end of the day, blind boxes simply exploit a user’s gambling mentality and collector’s impulse.

The experience of uncertainty and scarcity during the unboxing process is what plants the seeds for repeat purchases.

In essence, it’s no different from collecting cards in snack packages, a craze that once swept the nation, or pulling for SSR-rank rare cards in online games.

Given the "soft gambling" nature of Pop Mart’s blind boxes, it was inevitable that they would be singled out for criticism by the authorities.

Even if the Molly IP is a huge hit, how can the blind boxes possibly appreciate in value when millions of units are sold every year?

With no room for appreciation, customers won’t spend big money on blind boxes to gamble for the rare figures.

’And you want to be the Disney of China relying on just one IP?’

’Fat chance!’

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