Importers, Retailers, Manufacturer’s, Suppliers and Distributors
The Association by the Toy Industry for the Toy Industry Contact Alan Milne for further information. Tel: 01580 240819 Fax: 01580 241109 email:
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news Tech toy companies set for tablet war
As the countdown to Christmas continues, toy tech companies Vtech and LeapFrog have been ramping up their promotional plans for new tablet-style electronic learning aids. The success of Apple’s iPad has seen kids all over the world reaching for parents’ tablets and playing games using its intuitive display. Both Vtech and LeapFrog have reacted swiftly to the opportunity to add their own ELA
tablet for kids and have brought products to market with as much speed and fanfare as possible. Both products feature an e-book reader, video player picture viewer, motion sensor, headphone socket, USB cable slot and rugged construction. Parents can connect the tablets to their computers to manage content via special web portals. Vtech launched it’s Innotab to an audience of tech journalists and mummy bloggers and their kids back in August and enjoyed a positive reaction to a product that will set parents back a cool £70. One blogger told Toy World: “When you compare it to an iPod Touch, which is £200, the price of the Innotab is much less, plus it’s a lot more robust and doesn’t have a wifi connection.” This last point was key for parents, who don’t want their kids having uncontrolled access to the Internet. Response from kids at the launch backed up this point with many asking demonstrators if they could have their own password and could it connect to the net? Over at LeapFrog, the launch of its new Leappad has already seen it crowned Tesco’s
most innovative toy of 2011. The announcement was made at Tesco’s annual Toys, Nursery and Sports summer event where the device from LeapFrog was awarded top prize in the highly competitive innovation category. Chris Spalding, LeapFrog’s MD, said: “Since our original launch announcement in June,
the response to LeapPad has been remarkable with record pre sales and strong sales since launch this week. Being crowned most innovative toy for 2011 by Tesco justifi es the excitement surrounding this pioneering tablet and the subsequent sales fi gures. We expect the positive performance to continue right up to Christmas, and into 2012.” The LeapPad Explorer also featured in the window display at London toy store, Hamleys
and followed that up with a global online event for fans to win a LeapPad Explorer every hour over a 32 hour period. for both companies the tablet battle is set to run and run as new developments and
features are added over the coming years. Retailers too should see the benefi t of stocking tech toys as parents welcome products that keep little fi ngers off their smartphones and iPads.
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