Abstract
Why buy this report
- Get insight into trends in market performance
- Pinpoint growth sectors and identify factors driving change
- Identify market and brand leaders and understand the competitive
environment
Executive summary
Market rebounds moderately strong
Buoyed by a strong global economic outlook and domestic economic performance,
Singapore' s toys and games market is poised to marginally improve upon its
performance of the past four years. The entry of new players, new product
offerings and rising consumer confidence are expected to ensure that high
growth continues throughout the forecast period. After the market rallied in
2004 and 2005, growth of 6.7% in 2006 ensured that the total growth of the
market during 2001-2006 amounted to 59.8%. Riding on this momentum, the toys
and games market will enjoy an average annual growth rate of 6.9% and total
growth of 39.7% during 2006-2011.
Market adjusts to demographic shifts in birth rates and sex ratio
After a steady decline from 1.4% in 2001 to 1.2% in 2004, the birth rate
stabilised and remained at 1.2% in 2005. After an initial rush of services
catering to infants and pre-school children following the government' s push
for more babies which began in 2004, poor performance is likely to return,
especially for the infant and pre-school sub-sectors. Distributors and
retailers know the market is changing. The marriage rate declined to 40.7 (per
thousand unmarried resident females) in 2005 from 43.1 in 2004, and the
corresponding increase in the number of singles, together with the relative
rise in the female vis-à-vis the male population, is forcing the market to
adjust by supplying more toys and games to older children and adults.
Video games leap ahead of traditional toys and games
Video games is the sector to watch as its market growth accelerated to achieve
an annual average growth rate of 27.3% during 2001-2006, driven by the
consecutive launches of new video game consoles, new revenue opportunities in
mobile entertainment, and surging revenues for online gaming. Across the whole
of the toys and games market, the top four sub-sectors in terms of market
value in 2006 were video games hardware, video games software, dolls/figures,
and activity/construction. Setting aside the residual sub-sector, "other
traditional toys and games", these were also the sub-sectors that displayed
the highest growth during 2001-2006. The outlook for the video games sector is
especially bright, as mobile entertainment and online video games will
register the largest market growth for the video games sectors this territory
will see during the forecast period. Traditional toys and games continues to
dominate the sector as a whole, with 58.6% of the total market in 2006, but
video games are expected to overtake the traditional sector soon and to
account for 54.0% of all sales by 2011.
Future growth in value added of multifunctional and cross-platform novelties
Sales of toys and games with multifunctional features and cross-platform modes
of play will continue to rise, leading to the dynamic growth of the market,
amid signs of a stronger economic recovery and evidence of the market' s
readiness for cross-platform entertainment. National statistics for 2005
revealed that Singapore had high penetration rates for mobile phone
subscriptions and PC ownership, at 97.8% and 74% respectively. Also, at least
37% of Internet subscribers aged 15 or above had downloaded games in the
previous year, which is likely to increase the attractiveness of toys and
games with multimedia options.
Key players joined by new global and local companies
Recent government initiatives under the Media 21 blueprint have attracted new
global and local players to set up operations in Singapore, but the
traditional toys and games sector remains dominated by Mattel Southeast Asia,
Hasbro Singapore and Lego Singapore. While the video games sector is more
volatile, Sony Electronics, Electronic Arts Asia Pacific, Microsoft and
Nintendo are the key players in the Singapore video games sector. Emerging
players are also increasing the size of the market, adding novelty to both the
traditional toys and games and video games sectors, as they compete both
domestically and overseas
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