Not yet in World Cup form: Germany's sluggish toy market seeks to shape up in '06.(global view)

Playthings, February, 2006 by Lang, Peter

The year 2005 failed to change the fortunes of the German toy market.

For years, the sector has been battling with dwindling sales, as traditional toys in particular struggle to withstand fierce competition from video games, mobile phones and digital cameras. The figures speak for themselves: In 1994, traditional toy sales totalled around EUR 2.78 billion, dipping to EUR 2.34 billion in 2004, according to market researcher Eurotoys.

However, the market as a whole has held its own over the past 10 years, generating around EUR 3.2 billion--a number the toy business owes solely to growth in video games. This trend continued unabated last year. After the period from September to November fell short of the previous year, above average sales during...

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