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The UK’s Top 10 best-selling Toys year to date (April 2013)
Source: The NPD Group
According to the Kids and Consumer Electronics: 2012 Edition, the latest report from the NPD Group, portable and console video game systems continue to have the highest usage levels among kids ages 4 to 14, but media tablets experienced the highest increase in usage at 13 percent this year, versus only 3 percent last year.
Additionally, while usage of the more sophisticated devices such as computers and video game devices tend to increase as kids get older, tablet usage is highest among younger children, which highlights how important it is for manufacturers to make their devices easy to use. According to the report, households with kids ages 4 to 14 own an average of 10 different devices, with kids using an average of five of those devices.
Televisions, computers, and cell/smartphones continued to maintain the highest household ownership, while portable digital music players saw the largest drop in household ownership with just 35 percent owning these devices in 2012, compared to 48 percent last year. Household ownership of console and portable video game systems, media tablets, and digital video cameras experienced the most significant increases.
Portable video game systems are the most popular devices personally owned by kids ages 4 to 14, with 6 years of age being the average age of adoption; this is slightly younger than last year, when the average age was 6.4.
This post was originally written by Loren Moreno and published by ToyBook.com. For more news, visit www.toybook.com, follow The Toy Book on Twitter, and like The Toy Book on Facebook. The Toy Book is a bimonthly trade magazine covering the toy industry, published by Adventure Publishing Group.
Results from the Online Gaming 2012 survey are in. According to the NPD Group, 67 percent of all gamers reported that they had acquired at least one game in either a physical or digital format within the past three months. This figure rose to 75 percent when looking specifically at online gamers only.
40 percent of all gamers obtained at least one game from both the physical and digital formats. The total population of gamers acquired an average of eight games. Those only purchasing digital games reported an average of six games, compared to the three for those who acquired only physical games. The findings appear to be influenced by the multifunctional devices online gamers use to access their games, including both free and paid.
This post was originally written by Lindsay Gordon and published by ToyBook.com. For more news, visit www.toybook.com, follow The Toy Book on Twitter, and like The Toy Book on Facebook. The Toy Book is a bimonthly trade magazine covering the toy industry, published by Adventure Publishing Group.
According to The NPD Group, sales for the British toy market increased by 4 percent in revenue during the first three months of the year, primarily fueled by the popularity of collectible toys. The trend saw a 9 percent increase in revenue growth. The building sets and plush categories also fared well. Toy sales up to the first three weeks of March grew 7 percent in value. NPD estimates that the first quarter of 2011 represents approximately 16 percent of annual sales.
Leaders from around the toy, video game, and technology industries will converge in Santa Clara, Calif., this fall to generate cross-platform relations. From September 22 – 23, the Toy, Game, & Technology Summit will allow executives to learn from each other as each develops new products for young people.
The summit will focus on pressing toy companies to adopt digital assets, as well as helping video game and technology companies learn how to better establish partnerships with traditional toy manufacturers. The event, sponsored by the Toy Industry Association, Inc. (TIA), features industry leaders such as Joseph Olin, president Academy of Interactive Arts and Science; TIA President Carter Keithley (pictured above); Reyne Rice, trend specialist at TIA; and Anita Frazier, toys and video games industry analyst at The NPD Group.
The event will take place at the Santa Clara Convention Center. TIA members will receive 15 percent off admission, and more information can be found by clicking here.
The NPD Group has released its list of Top-Selling Family Entertainment Titles for May 2010, with games for Nintendo consoles filling 18 of the 20 spots. Maintaining its standing from April, Ubisoft‘s Just Dance for the Nintendo Wii came in at No. 1, while Picross 3D and Zhu Zhu Pets, both for the Nintendo DS, came in second and third, respectively.
The two non-Nintendo DS or Wii games on the list were Guitar Hero 5 and Rock Band 2, coming in at No. 11 and No. 16, respectively, both for the Xbox 360.
According to The NPD Group, U.S. retail sales of toys generated $21.47 billion in 2009 compared to $21.65 billion in 2008, a decline of less than 1 percent. In the fourth quarter of 2009 (October through December), although revenues were flat, unit sales were up 4 percent compared to the same period in 2008.
According to The NPD Group, toy sales from January to October in 11 global toy markets showed signed of growth. Outside of the U.S. and UK, which experienced moderate revenue declines, and Spain, which saw flat sales, the countries that were analyzed—Germany, Poland, France, Australia, Italy, Austria, Belgium, and Portugal—experienced revenue growth when compared to the same period last year.
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The Toy Industry Association (TIA) has released a 25-minute webinar highlighting trends from the TIA-commissioned Kids Leisure Time III study, which explains how American kids ages 2-12 spend their leisure time. The NPD Group’s Anita Frazier, an industry analyst for toys and video games, leads the pre-recorded webinar, explaining the construct of the study and identifying activities that keep kids engaged and for how long. The webinar also highlights the top properties, movie, and albums for four groups of kids segmented by age and gender.
To access the webinar, click here. To view the latest Kids Leisure Time study, click here.
