It’s a snowy morning in east Berlin, but inside a tidy workshop tucked within modern offices, the hum of innovation is palpable. Tobias Zegenhagen, the 45-year-old product director of the Lovehoney Group, leans over a 1.5-meter cubed white box lined with spiky foam. Inside, a small microphone captures every nuance of a throbbing pink vibrator. “Noise is a very important issue for sex toys. People want them to be as silent as possible,” Zegenhagen explains. Once an engineer at Siemens designing wind turbines and submarines, he now applies German precision to the science of pleasure, isolating and eliminating squeaks that might spoil an orgasm. “From an engineering standpoint it’s not all that different from working on other types of consumer electronics,” he says.
The global sex toy market, once confined to seedy shops, is booming. Celebrity endorsements, discreet online delivery, and technological innovation have helped normalize sexual wellness products. Female-focused gadgets are particularly popular, in part to address the “orgasm gap” that research shows affects millions of women worldwide. While 85 to 90 percent of men achieve orgasm during intercourse, only 32 to 65 percent of women do. Now, high-tech, nearly silent devices are helping bridge that disparity.
The Lovehoney Group, created in a £1 billion merger in 2021 between the German Wow Tech and the British Lovehoney company founded in Bath, employs 850 people globally. Reported sales in 2024 were £94.7 million. In the UK, the number of sex toy buyers rose by 64 percent between 2017 and 2024. Globally, the industry is valued at £26 billion and is forecast to reach £47 billion by 2030, dwarfing markets like electric toothbrushes.
Lovehoney’s Berlin offices reflect the blend of professionalism and open-mindedness driving the sector. Giant plush clitoris costumes serve an educational purpose, while a “masturbation room” with a chaise longue and an array of vibrators normalizes self-pleasure. Discreet yet playful, the products on display—ranging from rose-shaped clitoral suckers to licensed Fifty Shades of Grey spreader bars—illustrate how design and fun intersect with functionality. “People can leave them lying around and no one would know,” says PR manager Verena Singmann. The office even features collaborations with companies like Hansgrohe, producing showerhead attachments repurposed for sexual stimulation.
Developing these toys requires precision engineering and rigorous testing. Prototypes undergo thousands of cycles of bending, stroking, and vibration trials, and 3D printers churn out multiple iterations before a product reaches the market. Zegenhagen emphasizes that the process mirrors that of electronics like smartphones or earbuds. User testing presents unique challenges: masturbation is private, and participants’ experiences vary with mood, anatomy, and personal preference. Lovehoney recruits 13,000 testers worldwide and collects detailed feedback through questionnaires, focus groups, and online interviews, analyzed by sexologist Elisabeth Neumann.
“For centuries, female anatomy has been overlooked, leading to ignorance and misinformation,” Neumann says. Modern research shows that pleasure is highly individualized, influenced by nerve distribution, muscle composition, and other anatomical variations. Products like the Womanizer, invented by Bavarian engineer Michael Lenke to replicate oral stimulation, have achieved near-universal satisfaction among users, demonstrating how technology can address gaps left by traditional sexual education.
Female consumers dominate the market, comprising 65 percent of buyers. Lucy Litwack, owner of Coco de Mer, observes that women increasingly use toys to explore their own desires and communicate them to partners, reducing the need to fake orgasms. Litwack’s company focuses on luxurious, body-friendly designs using dual-density silicone for comfort and safety, with prices reflecting premium materials and craftsmanship. Post-pandemic sales have skyrocketed, and high-end toys are now sold in mainstream outlets like Selfridges and John Lewis.
Men’s sexual wellness is also gaining attention. Adam Lewis, co-founder of Hot Octopuss, developed the Pulse, the first male vibrator that does not require an erect penis, employing oscillating motors for optimal stimulation. Initially experimental, the devices are now used therapeutically for men with erectile dysfunction or prostate issues. The company, employing 25 staff, continues to refine designs based on user feedback, demonstrating a growing market for male-focused sexual wellness products.
Looking ahead, technology promises further transformation. Remote-controlled, Bluetooth-enabled toys and AI-enhanced sex dolls are on the horizon, though privacy concerns and the desire for human connection temper expectations. “It will happen but it will take at least another five years,” says Zegenhagen. The industry remains committed to improving lives, with innovators combining rigorous science, careful user testing, and cultural insight to enhance intimacy globally.
The sex toy industry, once hidden and stigmatized, is now a sophisticated blend of engineering, design, and sexuality. As Julia Llewellyn Smith reports for Times UK, companies like Lovehoney, Coco de Mer, and Hot Octopuss are proving that pleasure and innovation are not mutually exclusive. For Zegenhagen, the work offers satisfaction on a level that his previous engineering projects never could. “I never had this feeling I was making a product that was making so many people happy. In contrast to what I did before, I really like it.”
