the licensed toys market | France

Many toy manufacturers use well-known names, usually from film and animation studios to increase their sales. Licensed toys thus include all products for which a contract for the transfer of rights of use of the brand has been signed between one company and another.

In practice, the main licensed toys have the appearance of Disney, Marvel or Pixar heroes, but also Harry Potter or Pokémon to name but a few. They can be found in all categories of toys, constructions, dolls, plush toys, figurines..

This study will focus on so-called "traditional" toys and games, i.e. we will include, for example, board games in this study, but we will exclude licensed video games, which are the main competitors of toys.

In a declining French toy market, licensed products are resisting this trend and are becoming increasingly important each year among all children's products. Major toy manufacturers therefore make extensive use of licences to support the sales of their products, the Lego case being an example.

Nevertheless, the poor prospects for the toy market in general over the next five years may hinder the progress of licensed toys partly due to the development of video games and other smartphone and tablet gaming applications.