Smart toy sales to reach $2.8bn, research indicates
New data from Juniper Research, entitled Smart Toys: Hardware, Apps & Technologies 2015-2020, has forecast that smart toy sales will reach $2.8bn in hardware and app content revenues this year, driven by the popularity of the console-connected 'toys to life' segment.
© Stefano Tinti – 123RF.com
With smart toys from the likes of Activision and Nintendo already enjoying a successful 2015, the forthcoming Black Friday weekend as well as the Christmas season are set to bolster sales.
The new research found that smart toys that connect to mobile apps and games consoles are emerging as the key market for toy vendors. Bridging the physical-digital divide and even leveraging the cloud to create interactive 'intelligent' toys, vendors are able to capitalise on the mobile and console ecosystem.
First popularised by the Skylanders franchise, beginning in 2011, the 'toys to life' segment has gone from strength to strength. Indeed, Lego's entry into this market in September 2015 with its Lego Dimensions video game will only serve to heighten the market's success.
Significant regional differences
The research found significant regional differences in the likelihood to purchase smart toys.
"Price is one of the biggest hurdles for consumers," noted research author Steffen Sorrell. "The smart toy carries a premium price at the moment, particularly those that connect to mobile devices, although we expect this barrier to lower somewhat by the end of the decade."
Countries such as the US, Japan and the UK are, therefore, high-interest markets for vendors, owing to their highest on-average annual spend on smart toys per child. According to this metric, Juniper has ranked the top-five spending countries for 2015:
- UK
- US
- Japan
- Canada
- Germany
Other key findings:
- Security: Vendors will likely require third-party software expertise to avoid PR disasters caused by hackers.
- Hardware and app revenue streams: Offering paid additional content for toys via the app will become of increasing importance to vendors as a revenue stream.
The white paper, Smart Toys ~ Do Toys Dream of Digital Lives?, is available to download from the Juniper Research website together with further details of the new research and interactive dataset.
Juniper Research provides research and analytical services to the global hi-tech communications sector, providing consultancy, analyst reports and industry commentary.
