Toy Not a Child's Play Anymore

Toy Not A Child's Play Anymore

Indian toy industry is slowly developing and climbing the progress steps locally as well as globally

The very word toy makes you remind of your childhood. They are categorized into many types like the major rulers in India are the plastic toys which capture 80% of the toy industry and is said to earn a profit of approximately 10-20% every year. Another types of toys available in the market are fabric toys, paper toys, and wooden toys, metal toys and DIY toys (containing arts and craft toys) that are manufactured mostly by the cottage industry. However, out of these the metal toys are considered to be sharp toys which are harmful for children and a hindrance in their safety, that is why these toys are known to be slowly loosing it's popularity. Another popular category of toys seen today are educational toys and activity toys which help build the mind and body of the child, then there are soft toys, electronic toys, battery operated toys and board games like chess and monopoly. Toys these days are popular not only with kids but adults have also entered this field through the medium of sports and games. Today many sports and games are been played by the adults at national and international levels representing their country and nation. Also ultimately it is the adult's decision of which toy to buy for their child. While the end user is a child, the mother is the decision-maker and the father holds the financial strings. Parents, now-a days also prefer to play with their child in order to interact well with the child. So, they are seen to playing boards games and other toys with their children. The Indian market is vastly different from that of overseas, where toys are bought as a child's development aid, i.e. they are considered to be equivalent to books. But in India the scene is different. Content and quality are the major drawbacks here. Unlike other developed economies amount of toys spent per child in India is very low. The metros and 'A' category town account for most of the branded purchase and sell even at higher price points. Largely the rest of the market is highly price sensitive and items above Rs.200 results in planned purchase and not impulse buying. In C and D category towns, unbranded and lower quality toys sell at average price points below Rs.100. However, the scene over here is slowly changing but still it will take a few years more.

The Rs.800-Rs.1200crore-estimated Indian toy industries are dominated by approximately 1250 small and very small producers scattered across the country. Most of the producers are based in the Delhi, Mumbai, Northern State of Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, also some in the Southern State of Tamilnadu and in other clusters across India's central states. It has a 35 - 40crores manufacturing base out of which Delhi especially Noida rules 30 crore markets and Mumbai rules the other 10 crore market. The Grey market and other small-unorganized sectors dominate the rest of the markets.

Major multinationals such as Lego Toys dominate the most of this sector. Lego itself controls Upto 20% of the domestic market; another player is Leo Toys, which is largely credited with pioneering the organized toy market in India. Funskool Toys is the third largest toy producer. All three big players have linkages with Indian multinationals, with a collective market share of roughly about 16% of entire toy sector. Apart from these, three there are many other players like Chirantan Enterprise, Plastech International Pvt.Ltd., Aries Inc. and many others who run the toy market in India.

The Indian toy industry is large and growing, but it is disorganized and there are some serious problems to be navigated which also takes into factor distribution & marketing challenge. Many of these toys are routed through Dubai & Malaysia. Even as the Cheap Chinese toy market are flooding the domestic market having said that we do design or modify some games to reflect Indian taste in them is absolutely true. Some games we import are slightly modified to Indian interest i.e. we have a slightly Indian taste monopoly. Social relevance is another factor that is being used.

The past one-decade has shown that the Indian toy industry makes quick strides in terms of exports and production. India produces a wide range of toys made of plastic, mechanical activity toy, soft dolls, stuffed toys, board games, puzzles, educational games, metal and time toys, electronic toys and games etc. It is estimated that the industry volume is US $ 1 billion in the organized sector and about US$ 1.50 billion in the unorganized sector. There are more than 1000 units in the small sector and even a large number in the cottage industry. With the lowering of tariff barriers, the market is open now and the Indian industries are facing the challenge of ensuring their competitiveness in a sector where both distributors and multinational competitors are concentrated and form cheaper products which are mainly from the South East Asian Countries. According to an estimate, the global market of toys will touch more than US$ 150 billion by 2007 and thus realizing it's potential the Indian toy industry has correct time opportunity to put itself on the world map. Indian toys can have major share of the world market if they are keenly based on the latest technology and are marketed properly. By some toy industries, domestic market size this year is estimated to is in the range of Rs.500 crore while some think that it is at Rs.1000crores.

Like many other industries, the Chinese factor is a major issue for domestic toy manufacturers, which has resulted in a chaotic market condition. Chinese and Taiwanese manufacturers have been innovative and specializes in novelty items which last Upto approximately ten months. These are of cheaper quality and hence less expensive which quickly captures the interest of the Indian buyer. As per the sources last year, the Chinese exported around $ 8 billion worth of toys. Indian imports this year will be around Rs.150crore, which is nearly half of the domestic toy market. But sources say that Chinese toys will be an issue for the domestic organizations for roughly another few more years before the customers will turn away from poor quality as the issue is not only cheap toys but also counterfeits which impact the legal licensee of a toy. Also Chinese toys that are currently imported do not have much content