Toys once treasured and adored by children are now on the decline as lack of innovation leaves children uninterested and in search of fun alternatives. The detrimental effect of neglecting innovation in toy products has caused technology to fill that gap. Increased strides in technology have harvested a technologically savvy generation where gaming technology seems to beat toys by far.

Gerrick Johnson (analyst at BMO Nesbitt Burns) predicted that, “the estimated $21.2-billion (U.S.) of annual U.S. toy sales will fall by 3.5 per cent in 2012 – and 2.5 per cent during the crucial holiday season – producing the sharpest drop since he began tracking toy sales in 1980.”  It seems consumers have progressively been moving away from toys and towards today’s captivating gaming technology.

Retailers are now attempting to win back market share to gaming technology giants through marketing, saving strategies and innovation which is proving very difficult. A major issue is that, “toy makers take 18 to 24 months to develop a product, and little of this work was being done in the past two years in the tough economy”. Thus this has resulted in a period of stagnated innovation and severely affected the future of the toy industry. It could be the case that toys are simply outdated – as camera’s that used photographic film were replaced by digital camera technology.

Original Article:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/tough-economy-leads-to-trying-times-for-toy-makers/article5357558/