www.spielwarenmesse.de » Technical toys, educational toys, action toys » Market overview

Anybody who claims a mobile is a telephone has got it quite wrong. A mobile is a toy. Not only for children. Why? Because its many separate technical functions simply invite you to play with it. The manufacturers respond to the growing demand and produce increasingly sophisticated toys. Construction sets, system play worlds, motorways and mini-helis vie for the most innovative novelties in this product group.

The industry’s big players are clustered together in the product group of technical toys, educational toys and action toys. This is where big turnover is to be achieved.

Technology and action combine in toys to become fantasy worlds of adventure. This is why "action figures" belong to this product group. In no other market segment are differences in the international toy markets so clear as in the case of Superman & Co.

In the first half of 2009, the share of toy business for action figures in Germany came to just 3.2 per cent (NPD Group, Inc.). In Spain it was 11.3 per cent. The reason for this huge difference is principally the fact that, compared with other countries, license toys in Germany still have a long way to go, and many of the action figures are, in fact, license figures. The market shares in all countries would increase greatly if, for example, BIONICLES by LEGO came into this category and was not registered under construction kits.

The clear increases in sales in the first half of 2009 are evidence that there are still great prospects for all markets to develop the same potential for this product category as in Spain.

The sales of action figures rose by 20 per cent in France (market share 5.9 per cent) and Italy (market share 10.5 per cent). The growth rate in Germany (market share 3.2 per cent) and the USA (market share 8.3 per cent) was 13 per cent. These data are projections based on consumer surveys.

Great Britain was the only place where this segment suffered because of the collapse of the macro market. Sales fell by 11 per cent,  but the market share in this stronghold of licenses was nevertheless high at 9.4 per cent.

For a long time, technology has been creating action in construction kits too. The difference between the highest market share in Germany (12.8 per cent) and the lowest in Spain (4.2 per cent) is 8.6 percentage points, which is clear evidence that no two markets are the same.

Great potential is lying dormant precisely in the biggest toy market in the world, namely the USA. Despite strong double-digit growth last year, this segment still has a market share of only 4.3 per cent. This potential is obviously being exploited by the industry: in the first half of 2009, sales of construction kits rose once again by 20 per cent.
 
There was a positive dynamic in sales in other countries too: Italy posted a gain of 19 per cent, Germany 15 per cent, and in France and Spain the increase was 12 and 6 per cent. Bottom of the league table was once again Great Britain with minus 5 per cent.

The market researchers of the NPD Group, Inc. include system play worlds like Playmobil in the category "pre-school toys". At around 13 per cent, these products belong to the biggest product group in Great Britain (minus 17 per cent sales in the first half year compared with the same period last year), Germany (plus 1 per cent) and France (plus 4 per cent). Consumers in Italy spent only 6.6 per cent of their toy budget on pre-school toys (plus 8 per cent). In Spain, this figure is 9.8 per cent (minus 3 per cent) and in the USA 8.2 per cent (minus 6 per cent).

The category "youth electronics" is the only product group investigated by NPD Group, Inc. that registered declining sales in all markets in the first half year. The decrease was most marked in Spain with minus 13 per cent (market share 2.8 per cent) and in Great Britain with minus 17 per cent (market share 3.0 per cent). In Germany and France there was a fall in sales of 10 per cent, although the market shares in these countries (1.5 per cent) are much lower. The decline in sales was smallest in the USA – minus 1 per cent, and the market share is now 2.8 per cent.

Experts attribute this development to the fact that innovations in this segment will not reach the shops until the second half of 2009.

For market researchers, youth electronics covers all toys in which electronic components play a major role. These include learning computers and digital cameras for children.

Vehicles are another important part of this product group. We should also remember that model trains are included in this category by market researchers.

The turnover in this category fell by around 20 per cent in both Spain (market share 10.2 per cent) and Great Britain (market share 7.5 per cent). The American market was hard-pressed too – minus 12 per cent, with a market share of 7.3 per cent.

This segment in Germany recorded the biggest market share of 12.1 per cent (plus 1 per cent), followed by Spain with 10.2 per cent, Italy with 10.1 per cent (plus 5 per cent) and France with 7.6 per cent (unchanged).

The figures show that children’s demand for both action and technology varies considerably in the different countries.

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