Angry Birds Store to Open in China

The successful Angry Birds video game, which has smartphone users playing a total of 200 million minutes a day, has spawned a wide array of merchandising opportunities for Nokia.

The popular avian and porcine characters created demand for all types of products, including a line of baby clothing, an Angry Birds cookbook with several different egg-based recipes, and a cartoon to promote the highly sought-after brand.

Products like this have been competing against counterfeit items, mostly originating in China, according to Peter Vesterbacka, chief marketing officer for the company.

"On the physical side, we don't have a lot of our officially licensed products out here, so we have ourselves to blame", Vesterbacka said of the prevalence of off-license Angry Birds merchandise.

The company's marketing officer said he had been to China many times and is unhappy with the unofficial products' quality, even though they sparked inspiration.

"It is great that the brand is so loved", he added.

The Chinese adoration for Angry Birds is such that the country's Changsha-based Window of the World amusement park recently welcomed visitors into an Angry Birds section, offering them a chance to slingshot plush birds at green pig balloons ensconced in toy brick castles. There is one catch, though -- the park set up its game without consulting Rovio, exposing itself to intellectual property litigation, which the Finnish company didn't pursue.

Instead, Rovio indicated it would be interested in talking about partnering for future ventures, in hopes of expanding the brand into a true entertainment franchise. Merchandise currently makes up 10 to 20 percent of Rovio's business, which sells a million stuffed toys a month, according to Vesterbacka.

Vesterbacka estimates an official store selling licensed products will generate about $100 million for the company's coffers in the first year of operation. The China store is even set to launch before the company opens stores in its native Finland.

"China is our fastest-growing market, so we are taking it very seriously", said Vesterbacka. "We want to be more Chinese than the Chinese companies".

Angry Birds was first released through Apple's App Store in 2009, and if demand for merchandise continues, more retail openings may be in the future.