The electricity is palpable
T
his year’s Toy Fair and Nuremberg trade shows allowed me a glimpse at the way technology is rapidly spreading into many toy categories. I’ve seen it applied in fashion dolls, role-play bath tubs for larger dolls
and farm sets, but that’s the nature of the world today, as Matthew Tomlinson of Ingo commented: “Kids these days are so accepting of technology in their play patterns. What they expect today is so different to what us older generations did during our childhoods. It seems to come completely naturally to kids nowadays to use a tablet or a computer.” The sheer number of electronic toys on offer today proves that parents are buying into them as a way to introduce their children to technology. It’s even easier to convince them of this because of how prevalent technology is in their own lives. Consumers are wholly committed to toys being educational, and any toy that can couple this with strong engagement is sure to succeed. The power of emulation is also proving a winner, and allows children to have their own versions of Mum and Dad’s technology. Children have responded to these developments by embracing the category and, in turn, having their attentions grabbed by toys that respond when interacted with. The electronic learning category has continued to buck the trend of the toy market as a whole, with the Youth Electronics sector as a whole showing strong progression with a 6.8% increase in value year-to-date. As it stands in terms of year-to-date values, Infant Electronic Learning is worth around £4.5m, while Pre-school Electronic Learning is worth over £9.1m, up from £7.5m in 2012. Meanwhile, ELA Hardware/Software and Accessories are worth around £407,000. LeapFrog’s Chris Spalding said that he thinks the company’s performance has been driven by the combination of hardware and software sales. He said: “A strong start through the fi rst quarter has cemented our position as the number eight toy manufacturer in the UK, and the fastest-growing company in the top ten, with LeapPad2 performing particularly well for us. The LeapPad tablet is up 74% to number four in the total market year-to-date, with Explorer software at number seven also a fantastic result and testimony to the great titles we have.” Ingo’s Matthew Tomlinson said that although
electronics sales could often be slow at this time of year, tablets were causing the buck in that trend. He
said: “Tablets account for about 25% of our business in the fi rst quarter of 2013. Sales are driven by tablets because kids aspire to be like Mum and Dad on their iPad. In 2011 we had no tablets, in 2012 they accounted for around a third of our business. In 2013 I project that they will account for over 75% of our company’s business.” VTech’s Graham
Canning is also positive about the category’s performance; he said: “Pre-school Electronic Learning is up 21.4% and Infant Electronic Learning is up 8.9%, so it’s massively out-performing the market as it stands. The Learning App Tablets are still the hot items, InnoTab was the leading Pre-school tablet across Europe last year, but software sales have seen the biggest increase this year, with InnoTab software increasing at the fastest rate.” David Martin of
Inspiration Works said that Kurio has taken off really well since June last year, and that the company’s pre-school offerings are also performing strongly across the board. David added that he thought the category needs to be given more space at retail simply because it’s what kids want, and cited that kids want to emulate their parents who use iPads as an example. He
Ingo Devices
ela
Continuing to grow year on year, the Electronic Learning category is a huge opportunity for retailers to take advantage of. As technology makes its way into more and more areas of the toy trade, it’s a rise that is sure to continue for quite some time. Tom Roberts reports.
Leapfrog Toyworld 67
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