Toys
Toys and Games

Toys And Games in South Korea

South Korea

Euromonitor International's Toys And Games in South Korea report offers a comprehensive guide to the size and shape of the traditional toys and games and the video games market at a national level. It provides the latest retail sales data, allowing you to identify the sectors driving growth. It identifies the leading companies, the leading brands and offers strategic analysis of key factors influencing the market- be they new product developments, distribution or pricing issues. Forecasts illustrate how the market is set to change.

Tables: 28  |  Publication date: Nov 2006
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Executive summary

Hallyu trend determines future profits for Korean companies

The Korean wave or so-called hallyu trend is a determiner of future prosperity of Korean toys and games. Korean pop stars and Korean dramas gained the attention of the rest of Asia resulting in a good image of Korea and products made in Korea. The hallyu trend carried through successfully into the traditional toys and games market by encouraging companies to develop new products containing cultural content. Korean toys and games manufacturers increased their profitability by entering new markets in Asia. Korean video games software developers in particular are gaining sales, as game distributors in Asia are willing to distribute Korean video and online games.

Traditional toys and games are led by licensed products

In Korea, characters from animated films and popular movies are the main drivers of success for toys and games products. The recent popularity of Korean pop singers to TV shows resulted in new product development based on Korean culture. Additionally, Japan as a leading animation maker contributes to popularity of Japanese characters due to cultural similarities. Gaining exclusive distribution rights for these products or licenses to produce products based on popular characters are key to growing sales for many companies.

Toys and games driven by educational content

Competition is a key trait of Korean contemporary society and affected parents’ perception of children’s education. The average Korean family is striving to educate its children to the maximum extent by hiring private tutors and paying for additional courses at various academies to ensure future success. As parents are the primary decision makers in purchasing toys, they choose toys and games that contain educational content. English language learning became more important due to increasing globalisation of business and fluency is now considered key to future success in Korean society and this affected consumer preferences. Toys and games manufactures understanding the current trend developed products contain educational content with a distinct bias towards language learning in order to create demand for their products.

New Product Developments boost popularity of Consoles

The growth of the console market in Korea is dependent upon new product developments. The introduction of video game consoles, such as PSP and PS2 drove the market growth over the period under review, as more consumers were interested in the novelty leading to introduction of new game titles. The recent introduction of XBOX 360 increased the popularity of these new products, due to the improved graphic capabilities and extensive advertising targeting at young people. The console market is expected to grow in coming years, driven by the new game titles and potential introduction of PS3, which, at the time of writing, had not been introduced in Korea yet.

Popularity of online games in booming

Developed technological infrastructure and technology-aware Koreans drove the popularity of online games.

The majority of Korean households have computers equipped with a high-speed internet connections which contributed to the success of the online games market. Lack of demand for video and PC titles from price sensitive gamers and growing levels of piracy resulted in more online game development. The potential profits and increasing demand for online games encouraged incumbent companies to shorten time to market for new games, develop game updates and construct various market barriers in order to overcome stiff competition from existing rivals and prevent new entries.

Table of contents

TOYS AND GAMES IN SOUTH KOREA : MARKET INSIGHT

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Hallyu trend determines future profits for Korean companies

Traditional toys and games are led by licensed products

Toys and games driven by educational content

New Product Developments boost popularity of Consoles

Popularity of online games in booming

KEY TRENDS AND DEVELOPMENTS

Hallyu Trend determines future profits for Korean Companies

Technological Infrastructure driver of online business

PC rooms affordable entertainment venues that drive online game sales

Licensed characters integrated into a variety of products

MARKET DATA

Table 1 Retail Sales of Toys and Games by Sector: Value 2001-2006

Table 2 Retail Sales of Toys and Games by Sector: % Value Growth 2001-2006

Table 3 Retail Sales of Toys and Games by Distribution Format: % Analysis 2001-2006

Table 4 Toys and Games Company Shares by Value 2002-2005

Table 5 Forecast Retail Sales of Toys and Games by Sector: Value 2006-2011

Table 6 Forecast Retail Sales of Toys and Games by Sector: % Value Growth 2006-2011

DEFINITIONS

Toys and games

LOCAL COMPANY PROFILES - SOUTH KOREA

AURORAWORLD CO LTD - TOYS AND GAMES - SOUTH KOREA

STRATEGIC DIRECTION

KEY FACTS

Summary 1 Aurora World Corp: Key Facts

Summary 2 Aurora World Corp: Operational Indicators

COMPANY BACKGROUND

PRODUCTION

COMPETITIVE POSITIONING

HANBIT SOFT INC - TOYS AND GAMES - SOUTH KOREA

STRATEGIC DIRECTION

KEY FACTS

Summary 3 Hanbitsoft Inc: Key Facts

Summary 4 Hanbitsoft Inc: Operational Indicators

COMPANY BACKGROUND

PRODUCTION

COMPETITIVE POSITIONING

Summary 5 Hanbitsoft Inc: Product details 2005

SONOKONG CO LTD - TOYS AND GAMES - SOUTH KOREA

STRATEGIC DIRECTION

KEY FACTS

Summary 6 Sonokong Co Ltd: Key Facts

Summary 7 Sonokong Co Ltd: Operational Indicators

COMPANY BACKGROUND

PRODUCTION

COMPETITIVE POSITIONING

YOUNG TOYS CORP - TOYS AND GAMES - SOUTH KOREA

STRATEGIC DIRECTION

KEY FACTS

Summary 8 Young Toys Corp : Key Facts

Summary 9 Young Toys Corp: Operational Indicators

COMPANY BACKGROUND

PRODUCTION

COMPETITIVE POSITIONING

Summary 10 Young Toys Corp: Product Details 2005

TRADITIONAL TOYS AND GAMES IN SOUTH KOREA

HEADLINES

TRENDS

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

PROSPECTS

SECTOR DATA

Table 7 Retail Sales of Traditional Toys and Games by Subsector: Value 2001-2006

Table 8 Retail Sales of Traditional Toys and Games by Subsector: % Value Growth 2001-2006

Table 9 Retail Sales of Traditional Toys and Games by Distribution Format: % Analysis 2001-2006

Table 10 Traditional Toys and Games Company Shares by Value 2002-2005

Table 11 Forecast Retail Sales of Traditional Toys and Games by Subsector: Value 2006-2011

Table 12 Forecast Retail Sales of Traditional Toys and Games by Subsector: % Value Growth 2006-2011

VIDEO GAMES IN SOUTH KOREA

HEADLINES

TRENDS

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

PROSPECTS

SECTOR DATA

Table 13 Retail Sales of Video Games by Subsector: Value 2001-2006

Table 14 Retail Sales of Video Games by Subsector: % Value Growth 2001-2006

Table 15 Retail Sales of Video Games by Distribution Format: % Analysis 2001-2006

Table 16 Video Games Company Shares by Value 2002-2005

Table 17 Forecast Retail Sales of Video Games by Subsector: Value 2006-2011

Table 18 Forecast Retail Sales of Video Games by Subsector: % Value Growth 2006-2011

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