I read an article “Lego’s Asian Building Block” saying that Lego is going to open a factory in Shanghai, China, where they plans to fulfill three quarters of all production for sales in Asia. Like the author said, I was very surprised that there was no Lego factory located in China. The reason is when I was little I played lots of Lego with my friends, or maybe they were not titled with Lego, which were some else brands with similar building block-like toys.
Image from Google.
Although Lego launched its first flagship store in Beijing couple of years ago and its sales increased a lot in the past few years, it is still hard for it to actually dominate the toy market in China. There are some challenges and opportunities listed below that Lego may have in the near future. 1. Price. There were many choices of toys when I was young. And normally, they were cheaper than the imported toys like Lego. However, I am sure the price will go down when Lego has its own factory in China because there will be lower manufacturing costs and distribution spends, which may increase the sales for Lego. 2. Competition. It can be a threat that there are even a lot more choices for young people to be entertained than before, such as Apple products and Disney Dolls. Personally, if I have children I prefer them to play Lego instead of computer games because Lego is physical and approachable blocks that will help them develop their brain and foster their handcraft ability. 3. Awareness. Lego has already built its brand extensions, such as online games, cartoons and etc., which allows customers especially parents to learn their brands and then purchase their products for their children. The new released Snake set is on air in order to celebrate Chinese New Year. It is a good idea to draw people’s attention and some people like me would like to collect the whole set of 12 animals as long as they will produce them. It would be great if Lego has chances to place their products in the Chinese Dramas and movies, which will help audience recognize their products and brands. 4. Environment. Hopefully, there will be some recycling places for those who are conscious about the environment and willing to recycle the broken or worn out Lego blocks due to the damage of plastics. Overall, Lego has a great opportunity to expand in China and Chinese people would appreciate the creativity of the block building toys.
Image from Brandchannel.