Role of Robotics in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Toys Market
The emergence of robotics and STEM-based courses are the reason for the significant growth in the global science, technology, engineering and mathematics toys market. Some of the crucial trends that are influencing the market dynamics and behavior include brand relevance, innovation, technology, marketing, price wars, educational quotient, adapting to social media trends, and much more. The global science, technology, engineering and mathematics toys market is expected to witness 1.5 times growth during the forecast period. The vendors are focusing on targeting more on millennials parents as a quick and smart approach, as these millennials form most of the population who wish to spend higher on premium-priced educational toys where the primary reliance stays on value than money. Parents are also increasingly aware of the benefits that STEM toys can offer to children with respect to skill and overall brain development. The holiday season remains essential for toy vendors to target and maximize. Additionally, it is during the holiday seasons that the sale of toys and games spikes across retail shops, exclusive toy stores, and other platforms irrespective of the segment variation, which also includes educational toys.
Furthermore, the advent of the online sales channel has made the learning toys market far more available than in the past. With the help of internet retailing, the popularity of online-based retailing in the gaming industry has increased. An important factor driving the market for STEM toys and games has been the unavoidable influx of several independent game publishers. These publishers have launched several new and innovative offerings for a wide range of audiences in the market. The crowdfunding platform is considered as an ideal way to launch a product by the toy vendors who are in the niche stage today. The toy industry is also more notorious with respect to the launch through crowdfunding. The gaming category segment has brought in over USD 1 billion in funding and has assisted game producers/developers to build/launch games that would otherwise have been only a dream without such a platform.
Some Key Insights into the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Toys Market are:
- By category, technological toys accounted for over 45% of the total revenue in 2019 driven by the demand for coding, AI, and robotic toys.
- The 0-3 years segment is expected to generate incremental revenue of over USD 268 million and is dominated by players such as Hasbro, Mattel, LeapFrog, and Baby Einstein.
- Specialty services are the dominant physical distribution channels owing to the personalization of services and are expected to grow at a CAGR of over 6% by 2025.
- With a global market share of over 30%, the parents in the US consider STEM toys as an ideal alternative for screen time in the digital era.
Read - Educational Toys Market - Global Outlook and Forecast 2021-2026
Demand for Robotic Toys
The on-going trend of implementing robotics and automation features in science, technology, engineering and mathematics toys market is fueling the demand for robotic toys across the globe. The educational toy robots are more like the real robots, which are intended to teach the programming principles and make the technology more familiar. Robotics is an interesting and ever-engaging field where there is high scope for longevity among children. The adoption level starts with a simple kit where it eventually reaches the complex and challenging levels signifying the preference of the kids in robotic toys. The focus on rejuvenating the toy industry with advanced robotics and technology is on track. The toy industry players and government bodies are making efforts and gearing up for the new phase of growth in the upcoming era through the implementation of science, coding, programming, and robotics, which were not that developed and advanced earlier. With the scope and demand for technological and electronic toys on the rise, vendors can focus on offering affordable versions of robotic toys in the coming years. The constant rise in the concept of robotics and coding in the developing market of APAC and Latin America can highly contribute to the global growth in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics toys market during the forecast period.
Impact of COVID-19
The impact of COVID-19 in 2020 kickstarted the trend of Kidult where most of them are considering the lockdown as an opportunity to get back to their childhood, which ultimately stimulated the demand for segments such as interactive toys to play with their children. The impact of COVID-19 has also played a crucial role in transforming digital reliance on toys where e-commerce sales gained momentum. However, there was a deeper challenge for the vendors to distract the kids and children from engaging with digital gaming and online screen exposure. The trend of online gaming was already picking momentum, the COVID-19 impact further boosted the growth of the segment, thereby raising the burden on traditional toys and games. While major players such as Hasbro, Mattel, and LEGO were able to sustain considerable sales and distribution during the pandemic, most of the domestic and medium-scale vendors faced huge challenges with shortages in resources and employees in the science, and technology, engineering, and mathematics toys market.
Read: STEM Toys Market – Global Outlook and Forecast 2020-2025