ttnet Marketing Blog

The rise of Internet attracts the attention of children and reduces their time and interest in playing toys. In order to offset the loss of younger customers, major toy makers make effort to lure adults into the market by developing toys that will appeal to older consumers. More and more adults are buying toys as collectibles after all collectibles are really only toys for adults. For example, toy makers launched loneliness-fighting toys imitating popular movie stars or singers with voice and pouring drinks for single people who live alone.

World Market Snapshot
According to United Nations Industrial Development information, it is predicted that the worldwide toy market will reach $ 150 billion by 2005. On average, American children have an investment of $400 of toys every year. There are bout $29.4 billion spent on toys and 3.6 billion toys, 76 million dolls, 349 million plush toys, 125 million action figures, 279 million hot wheels and matchbox cars, 88 million sporting good items purchased in the U.S. Among major supercategories, action figures & accessories dropped 14.6% from $1.4B to $1.2B; building sets decreased 18.4% from $766M to $625M; outdoor & sports toys declined 5.3% from $2.5B to $2.4B; plush down 5.5% from $1.5B to $1.4B and vehicles slashed 11.1% from $2.2B to $2.0B.

The European Union has 2,000 toy manufacturers employing nearly 100,000 people, 53,500 of whom work in production, and 45,000 in research and development, marketing, sales, distribution, and many other services. Most of them are small-and-medium sized companies, largely concentrating on specific regions such as Jura in France, the province of Alicante in Spain and the Black Forest in Germany. The total toy market reaches 17.3 billion £á at retail prices, which total imports amounting to over 9 billion £á. U.S. is the biggest buyer, representing 18.1% of all exports, following by Switzerland, representing 14.9% of all exports.

China is now the biggest toy supplier, accounting for 85% of world toy production. There are more than 8,000 enterprises, including approximately 6,000 toy manufacturers, of which 4,000 of them are located in Guangdong Province, employing 3 million workers. The exports exceeded US$ 10 billion, mainly for United States, Europe and Japan markets. According to a recent study, the volume of the Chinese toy market will soar more than 20 billion dollars by 2010, with the sectors expanding most rapidly being educational toys and electronic games.
China is not only the world’s largest toy exporter but also potential as the largest toy market on the planet. According to the statistics, China has more than 0.3 billion children under 14, accounting for 25% of the total population in China and about 1/3 of children of the world. The domestic toy market has been booming with rising personal income and disposable income in these years. By a survey, toy expenditure accounts for 2.5% of total household income. In Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu, parents spend an average Rmb100 a month on toys for per child. On the ripple effect of “one-child policy”, parents tend to purchase a toy with a higher price, basically over Rmb50, in case that it is very attractive to them or child, or for special occasions like birthdays, or even as a reward for good academic performance.

The bestsellers are electronic games and educational toys with average prices at Rmb300 and Rmb244 respectively. As young Chinese people’s spending on toys reaches the average level in Asia, the industry will see annual sales of more than US$30 billion in China.

India’s toy market grows 20% annually at one of the fastest paces anywhere in the world. It is expected that the market size will increase from US$282 million to US$1 billion inside 10 years. India now manufacture a wide variety of toys namely including plastic and mechanical activity toys, plastic and soft dolls, stuffed toys, board games, puzzles, educational games and toys, metal and time toys, electronic toys and games.