Condom sales plummet by 40%, while sex toy sales are rising: What should the adult products industry do by 2026?
Condom sales are slumping.
Durex, the world's largest condom manufacturer, sold 2 billion fewer condoms last year, and its production lines have been repurposed to make medical gloves.
Meanwhile, the condom market in China is also experiencing a downturn, with its market size shrinking by a quarter compared to 2020.
At the same time, sex toys are selling like hotcakes. Meituan data shows that sex toys have the highest repurchase rate across the entire platform.
A toy from the Shenzhen brand "Adult Sugar" sold 27 million units in a year. Joyful Little Yellow House opened 200 stores in a year – what does this indicate?
It's not that people aren't spending this money anymore, but that they're spending it elsewhere. It's not that they're not doing it anymore, but that the "way they're doing it" has changed.
Today, I don't want to talk about the overused topic of the single economy, but rather about how ordinary people can do business in 2026, based on this trend.
01 Hassle-free business is good business
The troubles of two people are less appealing than the happiness of one. Young people are starting to control their desires with "certainty" products. Whoever can provide this certainty, whoever can help young people reduce hassle, will make money.
"Laziness" under the spirit of contract is the first keyword for 2026.
Doubao's newly launched Doubao Mobile Assistant allows you to order takeout, call a taxi, etc., with a single command – even my phone is being used for me. On the Joyful Little Yellow House delivery platform, you can order sex toys and have them delivered to your door, or you can shop independently and choose your own toys.
"Fear of hassle" is the key. This explains everything from the community fresh food delivery and dry cleaning services we've discussed before, to professional organizers and medical escorts.
In your business process, try to go one step further and solve the last 500 meters and the last three minutes. This echoes the ideal of Joyful Little Yellow House: "Making adult healthy living readily available."
02 The fission of service units
All business models are shifting from serving family units to serving individual units. my country will soon have over 300 million single people. Whoever can cater to these 300 million people will quickly make a fortune in the next era.
Being single is not a result, but a choice. This means that businesses that sell relationships will decline. The best businesses to start in 2026 will be those that help customers "break free from relationship constraints."
Although solo dining, single-serving meals, solo movie-going, and unmanned photo booths are already common, they are far from saturated. Making products and services smaller and more personalized is the trend. The "self-pleasure economy" proposed by Mr. Wang, the investment director of Joyful Little Yellow House, will also be an important trend in the future.
The second key word is "small," meaning something that is 부담-free (without burden).
03 Easily Accessible Happiness
The surge in sex toy sales reflects that contemporary young people are pursuing happiness in a more rational, controllable, and efficient way.
If you go to a shopping mall now, the places with the longest lines are the trendy milk tea shops with average spending under 30 yuan, restaurants with impressive decor but average spending around 70 yuan, and general stores with Nordic-style decor but essentially selling ten-yuan items.
This isn't about low desires, but rather "efficient desires." When the "maintenance cost of happiness" is too high, people choose "one-time happiness."
This is why milk tea, blind boxes, and toys are all booming – they are all "buy and enjoy immediately."
The third key word you need to remember is "fast," meaning readily available.
Making decisions "lazy," making products "small," and making feedback "fast"—these are the three key principles for making money in the future.
