Background

After entering the 21st century, sex dolls have attracted more and more people's attention. Both the frequency of sex dolls mentioned in various books and the search frequency of this keyword by search engines have shown a clear upward trend. It is understood that due to the outbreak of the new crown epidemic in 2020, the sales of sex dolls soared by 70%, and the sales of that year were close to 3 billion US dollars.

• 7% of American males over the age of 18 have purchased and own sex dolls.
• 1% of American women over the age of 18 buy and own a sex doll.
• $3 billion worth of sex dolls are sold annually (8% of the $37 billion annual sex toy industry).

Conclusion: Yes, sex dolls are no longer a niche industry, and there is still room for higher growth in the future.  

History of sex doll product development

From the initial development of sex doll products to the present, the mainstream products are roughly divided into several stages: the original stage: cloth sex dolls, the exploration stage: Bild Lilli doll, the development stage: inflatable sex dolls, the mature stage (real era): silicone sex dolls

The earliest appearance of sex dolls can be traced back to 400 years ago. Dutch sailors made sex dolls out of cloth, and then they were introduced to Japan. Therefore, sex dolls are also called Dutch wives in Japan. Its appearance solves the sexual needs of some sailors when sailing. However, the experience of this kind of product is average, and it has not been favored by many people. In the 1950s, Germany invented the sexy and charming doll Bild Lilli. Compared with the previous products, she has made great progress in appearance, but she does not have the functions of modern dolls. In the 1980s, inflatable dolls became the representative of a new generation of sex dolls. Inflatable dolls are closer to real people in terms of body shape and have core sexual functions. However, due to the limitations of materials and workmanship, it does not give users a very wonderful sexual intercourse experience. At the end of the 20th century, the high-fidelity female silicone sex doll developed by artist Matt McMullen brought a huge leap forward in the practicality of sex dolls. Sex dolls have since entered the real era. After entering the real era, TPE/silicone material + flexible skeleton + makeup technology constitute the basic technical framework for the development of modern dolls. So far, the development of sex dolls is designed to meet the needs of user segments, and new products are mainly differentiated by shape and function. For example, wm doll adds sound and breathing functions to the doll for a more realistic effect. Due to the high price of full-body dolls and the large size and weight of the products, the keen supplier xise has captured this demand and launched torso sex dolls (generally referring to sex dolls with only half-body parts) and achieved great success. In addition, some manufacturers have launched sex doll legs and sex doll feet to meet the needs of foot fetishists, and there is also a stable niche market.

What made the real era of sex dolls

1. Appearance: If you want to say why sex dolls are so popular and recognized by users, it is definitely because of their surprisingly realistic appearance. From a photo or from a distance, it's almost impossible to tell if it's a sex doll or a real person. Thanks to the use of silicone materials and makeup technology, modern dolls have a very delicate face. Compared with the original doll wearing a wig, the introduction of hair transplant technology makes the doll more real. Sex dolls come to life. Today's sex dolls can restore real people 1:1. You can input height, weight, and measurements to make a doll that is exactly the same as real life.
   
2. Material : The TPE or silicone material used in modern popular sex dolls, the sex dolls made of them show a lifelike effect, they can be as close as possible to human skin visually, and can support different colors of coloring , no matter what skin color you like, you can meet it. At the same time, the touch of silicone material is close to that of human skin, which is also an important factor supporting real.
   

3. Function : The sex doll in the real era pursues a function close to real sex. Life-size sex dolls can support users who want to touch, hug, kiss, oral sex, chest sex, anal sex, and various sexual needs. They all have a flexible skeleton, so that the joints of various bodies can swing freely like a human being, and can meet your various postures. Some dolls can also set breathing and AI functions, and have simple conversations with users and panting.
    

4. Details : If you look at the sex doll closely, you will find more small details that make you keep shouting wow! When you take a closer look at her body, you will see blood vessels like real people looming on the skin, and there are wrinkles and fine lines like human beings in some places. Her eyes are as beautiful and deep as those of human beings. And different areola types etc.
   

Conclusion: Since the 1990s, sex dolls have entered the real era. After that, sex dolls have reached admirable levels in terms of appearance, materials, functions, and details. Producers and sellers of the real era have produced fashion poster-level product images through exquisite makeup and attention to the sex doll photo shoot, and achieved great success through online promotion. Realistic tpe sex dolls and silicone sex dolls have won the love and recognition of users for their excellent product performance 

Sex doll industry chain and core roles

Sex dolls from design to delivery

1. development : The brand chamber of sex dolls will develop and design a new sex doll, and determine the appearance, material, size, function, etc. of the sex doll. Brand owners hand over production requirements to sex doll manufacturers, and manufacturers make sex dolls on demand.
2. Promotion : The brand chamber of commerce will take pictures and video materials for new dolls, design selling points of sex dolls, and provide them to sellers.
3. Sales : Sellers will launch new sex doll products on their websites
4. Purchase : After the user places an order on the seller's website, the seller will send the order to the brand
5. Production : The brand party notifies the manufacturer to produce, and after the production is completed, the quality inspection is completed and then packaged
6. Delivery: The manufacturer places an order with the logistics company and arranges delivery to the customer.

Generally the whole process includes 1 week production time and 2 weeks shipping time.

The core roles of the sex doll industry include: manufacturers (factories), sellers, sex doll experts, and sex doll forums.

Sex doll manufacturer : refers to the role that has sex doll production equipment and technology to complete the production of sex dolls. It mainly includes brand manufacturers and sex doll foundries. Mainstream sex doll manufacturers protect jinsan,wanyi,paohuokeji

Sex doll brand owners: In the sex doll industry, most brand owners are also manufacturers, and they need to create beautiful product images to attract users and sellers to buy and promote their products. A small number of brand owners adopt the main design and operate in the form of factory OEM.

Sex doll sellers: Sex doll sellers refer to sellers who sell sex dolls, mainly including independent online sex doll stores, offline sex doll stores, and e-commerce platform sex toy/sex doll stores. 75% of sex dolls are sold online, and users mainly buy them through online stores. Due to restrictions on adult product categories on Amazon's e-commerce platform, sellers cannot directly display the characteristics of sex dolls on these platforms. So users are more willing to buy through sex dolls. The independent sex doll online store showcases the full range of sex doll appeal through straightforward pictures and videos.

Sex doll experts: Sex doll experts refer to roles that have accumulated in sex dolls for many years, including users who have purchased and used sex doll products many times, designers of sex dolls, and sales personnel of sex dolls. Sex doll experts generally introduce sex doll products and experience by publishing professional sex doll evaluation articles and videos. Over xx people search for sex doll reviews every year, and the most popular sex doll reviews on youtube have millions of views.

Sex Doll Forum : The Sex Doll Forum is an online forum for exchange and discussion around the topic of sex dolls. The Doll Forum is the most visited sex doll forum, it was founded in 2001, from Canada. Hundreds of thousands of people visit the forum every month, and many users take to the forum to ask questions about sex dolls and share stories about recent dolls. In addition, The Doll Forum also conducts strict qualification review and certification of regular doll suppliers, brands, and sellers. It is a wise decision to choose a reliable sex doll brand and seller on this, which will allow you to avoid buying some counterfeit and inferior sex dolls.

Transportation and logistics company: Since most of the sex doll products are customized products, and most of the manufacturers are located in China, basically 80% of the orders are transnational orders, which need to rely on the university's transnational transportation and logistics companies to transport the goods to customers hands. Therefore, the transportation company is also a very important part of the industry chain. In the sex doll industry, logistics costs may account for 50%-70% of the entire cost. 

Industry Chain Analysis

Manufacturers: At present, 90% of the world's sex doll manufacturers are located in China, and 90% of China's sex doll factories are gathered in Guangdong Province, China. China has more than 200 factories producing sex dolls in 2020. The agglomeration effect makes China's sex doll factories have obvious advantages over other countries in terms of technology, talents, and production costs. In the long run, China's sex doll factories will still dominate the production side.

Sellers: Different from manufacturers, sellers are regionalized, and the sales leaders of sex dolls are different in different countries and regions. There are over 1,000 online stores that sell sex dolls. The United States is the company with the largest demand for sex dolls in the world. Most manufacturers and sellers are constantly optimizing their products and services around the American market and engaging in fierce market competition. Since the main consumer markets of sex dolls are Europe and the United States, the opinion leaders in the sex doll industry come from Europe and the United States. They evaluate sex dolls through personal blogs or YouTube, attracting a certain large-scale user group. In addition, many users who buy sex dolls will share their own sex doll photos and experience on sex doll forums. 

Status and trend analysis of sex doll brand industry

The Status Quo of the Sex Doll Brand Industry

As sex dolls enter the real era, users' recognition of sex dolls has increased significantly, and more and more people have begun to pay attention to and buy sex dolls. Thanks to the increase in demand, jinsan doll has ushered in explosive growth since 2012, with an annual growth rate of 20%-30%. Jinsan doll has developed from a team of up to 4 people to a company with hundreds of people today. Because the doll making process is not difficult, many Jinsan staff left to set up factories. From 2017 to 20, there were hundreds of factories producing sex dolls in Guangdong, China alone. It is not difficult to make a sex doll, but to develop a doll that users like and have stunning details requires a keen insight into users and a strict pursuit of quality. Frankly speaking, only a few manufacturers have the ability to make sex dolls that users love. Most of the factories have adopted the strategy of copying and counterfeiting, and the products of some factories are of unbearable inferior quality. Some sellers will choose counterfeit factories as suppliers for profit, which has caused harm to the sex doll industry. Manufacturers who insist on operating doll brands continue to improve their capabilities, enhance brand influence, and crack down on counterfeit manufacturers through anti-counterfeiting systems, gradually consolidating their market positions. Wm doll, 6ye doll, jfdoll, climax, and Irontech Doll have become mainstream sex doll doll brand. 

Conclusion: From the production to the sale of sex dolls, there is a phenomenon of demons dancing wildly. Players of different levels compete fiercely. Consumers are faced with various problems such as multi-brand, multi-platform, authenticity and falsehood, and difficulty in distinguishing good from bad. In the fierce competitive environment, some brands and sellers who insist on continuously creating value for users and respect originality and intellectual property rights have gradually gained a certain market position.

The development trend of sex doll brands

Since there is not much difference in technology and function of doll brands of different genders, no brand owner can form an absolute technical advantage. Therefore, sex doll brand owners mainly focus on market positioning, business strategy and channel construction.

Up to now, the sex doll brand has gradually shown a situation of one superpower and many strong ones. Wm doll has established a strong production capacity, sex doll material production capacity and channel capabilities, and has consolidated its leading position in the sex doll field. Other brands took advantage of the trend and encircled their own niche users by establishing brand influence in vertical segments. For example, Elsa Babe focuses on anime sex dolls, SE Doll focuses on alien sex dolls, and 6ye doll focuses on cost-effective. All mainstream manufacturers will focus more on developing products that users love, and will gradually present different brand differentiation from appearance to function. Sex doll brand owners without clear market positioning and operation strategies will gradually be eliminated from the market.

Regarding the chaos of some counterfeit and shoddy regular sex doll brands in the market, the author believes that this phenomenon will change significantly in the future. Formal sex doll brands will fight counterfeit brand manufacturers through anti-counterfeiting systems and intellectual property litigation to defend their reasonable interests. Whether in the United States, Europe, America or China, intellectual property rights are very important.

In my opinion, in order to win the trust of users in the next few years, an excellent sex doll brand must have the following capabilities:

1. Keen insight into user needs
2. The ability to produce exquisite sex doll material, a set of good-looking photos and sexy videos will attract users' attention and increase their willingness to buy.
3. With stable product supply capacity, qualified products can be delivered within 4-7 days, and the return rate of defective products is controlled within 0.08%.
4. Logistics speed, reducing user waiting time is a great experience for users.

Industry status and trend analysis of sex doll sellers

The Current State of Sex Doll Sellers

If the competition among sex doll manufacturers is at an intense stage, then the competition among sex doll sellers is at a fever pitch. Dozens of new sellers enter the sex doll market every month. Sellers mainly sell products through third-party e-commerce platforms such as Amazon, eBay and self-built websites. 

Sex doll sellers (online) have the following characteristics;

1. The homogenization of products is serious, and the inferior ones are shoddy. Because most of the sex doll factories do not have the ability of originality and doll photography, most of the sellers are selling some of the same brands, but in order to gain more profits, they choose factories operating with counterfeit tactics as their suppliers.
2. Low barriers to entry. Unlike sex doll manufacturers, who need to rent factories, purchase manufacturer's equipment, and recruit workers to start their business, most sex doll sellers are just moving photos of brand owners and selling them on different platforms. You'll find that most sites that sell dolls use the same product images.
3. Marketing promotion is difficult. Because most advertising platforms do not accept the promotion of sex toys, marketing has become a difficult problem for all sex toy sellers. 4. Short survival time. Because most sex doll sellers do not have advantages in products, services, and marketing promotion, many sellers closed down after half a year of operation.
4. Price confusion. If you look at a lot of websites, you may find that the same product has different prices. Because some sellers choose counterfeit products or low-quality sex dolls, they will mark the price of a full-body sex doll at around 500 or 600 dollars, and even some scam sites ship users with blow-up dolls instead of silicone dolls, so when you see As a result, you should be wary of products with very low prices.
5. Long shipping time. Most custom-made sex dolls take at least 3-4 weeks before users can get the goods.

Since the current sex doll sellers in the sex doll industry chain mainly solve the problem of promotion, and because the promotion of sex dolls is very limited, you will find that most sex doll sellers focus on finding ways to find more Promotion method, rather than the sales service of sex dolls . If you have browsed several sex doll websites, you will find that most of them have a bad user experience, sell similar products, lack complete information, and have unprofessional customer service.  

Sex Doll Sellers Trend Analysis

It is gratifying that in the fierce market competition, some sex doll sellers adhere to the user-oriented principle, regard user experience as their core competitiveness, and continue to optimize the experience of the website and shopping services. I believe that these companies will continue to grow in the future. Be recognized by the market.

Such as linkdolls, an online site that mainly sells torso sex dolls. They adopt a different operating strategy from other sex doll sellers, focusing on the torso sex doll market. Introduce the core value of the product through photos and videos taken by our own team, and will provide photos of the factory to show the product realistically, without exaggerating the advantages of the product or avoiding some shortcomings of the product. And actively communicate with users through the forum, even replying to users' questions, gradually gained market recognition.


sexysexdoll, a company selling full body dolls from Hong Kong, China. The main picture of each product is used to display the core details and introduce the specifications, allowing users to quickly find the key information they care about when browsing the product list, and improving the user experience of the website.

tantaly， a website selling exclusive sex dolls, which has achieved great success through youtube and videos shot by adult actors to promote the products.

In my opinion, online sex doll sellers must develop these capabilities in order to be accepted by users:

1. The ability to organize and classify sex doll information. There are many sex doll products. It is the most important experience for users to quickly find their favorite products.
2. Excellent customer service
3. Attract users to continue to leave recommendations or comments on their own websites and forums
4. Unique promotion channels
5. Differentiated products occupy users' minds

Top 10 Sex Doll Brands Compared

Comparison of strengths of seven sex doll sales websites