A robotic dog clad in red robes performs New Year's greetings in a shopping mall atrium; a fluffy AI toy capable of remembering every family member's name; smart glasses becoming a popular new gift choice... The Lunar New Year in 2026 is witnessing a profound transformation in the shopping lists of domestic consumers.

During the holiday period, visits to consumer electronics stores across various locations revealed that while traditional items like tobacco, alcohol, candies, and tea remain present, AI toys, drones, and smart glasses have become the new top-tier holiday gifts.

"The shift from merely stockpiling goods to pursuing emotional value, from material abundance to emotional enrichment, reflects the industry's pivotal moment where AI technology evolves from being a 'tool' to a 'companion'," commented an expert from the Chinese Association for Artificial Intelligence.

**AI Toys Ignite Emotional Consumption**

Pre-holiday exhibitions and promotional events for tech-themed New Year goods, including AI toys, drones, and smart wearable devices, quickly fueled families' enthusiasm for purchasing these new items. A themed event in a major commercial district was exceptionally lively, with consumers eagerly trying out various novel and cool tech gifts. From February 14th to 23rd, over 100 cutting-edge tech products were displayed, allowing consumers to experience artificial intelligence up close.

A project manager shared an illustrative detail: a cute AI pet robot named Fu Zai sold out within just two days, and even emergency restocking could not meet demand. "Emotional AI toys are currently the hottest sellers. When people touch its fluffy body and discover it genuinely responds to emotions, their expressions change—that's the power of emotional value," he stated.

This trend is reflected more directly in consumption data. E-commerce platform data shows that during the New Year sales period, transaction volume for the AI toy category surged 500 times year-on-year, with product supply also increasing over 500 times, producing six individual products with sales exceeding one million units each. Staff at an AI smart plush toy store in Beijing noted, "During the holiday, AI toys that can offer New Year greetings and chat sold the fastest. Some customers bought multiple units at once for their daughters, mothers, and clients. At peak times, we sold over 40 units a day. They offer a more vivid experience than traditional toys and are easier to manage than real pets."

The market size for AI toys is also expanding rapidly. An industry white皮书 forecasts that the domestic AI toy market size is expected to exceed 10 billion yuan by 2030.

Behind this phenomenon is the dual drive of technological maturity and consumption upgrading. Analysis indicates that while traditional toys maintain gross margins of only 20% to 30%, AI toys commonly achieve gross margins of 70% to 80%. Technological enhancement gives cold plastic a "soul" and provides companies with motivation to increase investment.

"The core driver behind the popularity of tech New Year goods is the evolution of consumption values," noted a financial researcher. "Traditional New Year celebrations emphasize reunion, while 'tech New Year goods' focus on companionship. The success of AI toys proves that competition in the industry is continuously upgrading, opening new high-value growth scenarios through avenues like emotional consumption."

While AI toys enrich time spent in the living room, drones and smart glasses are extending the outdoor horizons of the Chinese New Year holiday, moving from novelty 'flying' items to practical 'usable' tools. Drone light shows became a "main force" for enhancing the festive atmosphere in many areas, successfully igniting a new engine for cultural and tourism consumption.

A flagship store for a major drone brand in Beijing experienced a sales peak during the holiday. Consumers are no longer satisfied solely with traditional gifts, instead pursuing "electronic New Year goods" that enhance travel and life experiences. The store manager reported that the store's conversion rate exceeded 50% before and during the holiday, with young people being the main consumer force. Adopting a mindset of "rewarding themselves," they made products like drones popular big-ticket holiday purchases.

As the world's largest electronics trading hub, the Huaqiangbei area saw explosive growth in sales of tech New Year goods this Spring Festival. Industry data showed that, as of February 22nd, overall revenue during the holiday period increased 35% year-on-year. Over the past two months, overall sales of tech products grew more than 30% compared to usual periods, with sales of AI glasses surging 70% to 80%, and sales of drones and robots increasing 30% to 50%.

An expert from Civil Aviation University of China suggested that the drone industry is at a critical turning point from rapid, unregulated growth to standardized quality improvement. Regulatory measures will phase out small-scale, outdated production capacity, leaving only enterprises with core competitiveness. For AI products like smart glasses and drones, this year represents a watershed moment—those who can solve the problem of being "used effectively" will truly transition from holiday hits to daily necessities.

**Capital Chases the Hard Tech Sector**

AI toys, drones, and smart glasses are gradually becoming new favorites in consumers' holiday shopping baskets. The fervor on the consumption end has long ignited competition in the capital market. A fierce battle for capital is intensifying around the upstream industrial chain of these "electronic New Year goods."

The smart hardware market in Shenzhen in early 2026 was described by investors as a "high-speed star-making factory." Data indicates that in 2025, 77 companies related to embodied intelligence and smart hardware in Shenzhen completed 106 investment rounds, increasing by 51.0% and 79.7% year-on-year respectively, with disclosed total investment reaching approximately 10.049 billion yuan, making it the most active region for smart hardware investment domestically.

An investor revealed that leading institutions like Sequoia China and Hillhouse Capital have shown remarkable decision-making speed in the AI hardware sector, moving from initial contact to issuing term sheets in as little as two to three days, with some deals signed and funded on the same day. AI now endows hardware with software-definable capabilities, user growth narratives, and the potential for data flywheel effects.

While venture capital firms compete for projects at the front end, numerous listed companies are engaging in more systematic industrial chain布局 at the back end. From upstream core components to downstream branded finished products, companies listed on mainland and Hong Kong stock exchanges are securing positions in the lucrative sector behind "electronic New Year goods" through strategic investments, private placements for capacity expansion, and technological R&D.

In the AI toy sector, established toy company Shifeng Cultural Development Co., Ltd. made an early move. On February 4th, the company signed an investment agreement with an AI technology firm, aiming to jointly explore new opportunities in the AI toy and consumer electronics fields through resource complementarity. In the AI glasses sector, upstream chip manufacturers are among the first to benefit. Recently, Actions Technology Co., Ltd. released a research summary indicating it will launch a new generation of chips specifically designed for the smart wearable field. Another company, BIWIN Storage Technology Co., Ltd., announced it has become the main domestic supplier of memory chips for a major brand's AI smart glasses, expecting continued rapid growth in the emerging AI edge device sector in 2026.

"The fervent pursuit in the capital market signals that the smart hardware industry is entering a phase of value reassessment," said a securities analyst. "The accelerated evolution of large model capabilities is pushing us into the 'Agentic AI' stage. Hardware is the most certain beneficiary direction for AI application落地, bringing new business growth points for consumer electronics supply chain companies."

The resonance between capital and industry is transforming the "electronic New Year goods" phenomenon into a lasting driver for the upgrade of China's smart hardware industry. During the 2026 Lunar New Year, consumers adorned their lives with orders for "tech New Year goods," also heralding the accelerated arrival of an intelligent era.