SALES OF PHYSICAL TOYS IMPACTED BY RISE OF TABLETS AND APPS
Jim Silver, editor in chief of timetoplaymag.com, estimates that more than 90 percent of the “so-called app toys that were trotted out last year sold poorly,” reports the Wall Street Journal. But toy companies are still trying to make it work, begging the question: “why have a hybrid, combining some aspect of a tablet with an actual physical toy or game, when a tablet alone will do?”
“Overall toy sales including electronics have remained relatively steady at around $17 billion according to market researcher NPD Group,” reports the Wall Street Journal. “But traditional toys such as board games and baby dolls have lost market share in the U.S., where consumers are spending 30 percent less on them than they did in 1998 according to research firm Euromonitor International.”
“Meanwhile tablets and educational videogames from companies such as LeapFrog Enterprises have become some of the industry’s biggest sellers, accounting for four of the top 10 toys sold last Christmas, NPD says.”
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