TOYS AND GAMES IN THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - ANALYSIS

Country Report | Jun 2019

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Market Sizes

Toys and games sees slow growth Sales of Toys and Games
Retail Value RSP - AED million - Current - 2004-2023
Although toys and games continued to see growth in current value terms in 2018, this
was slower than in all other years of the review period. This was due to the challenges
faced by the economy, which remained uncertain, and lower consumer confidence, 3,391 Forecast
which was hampered by the introduction of VAT. Traditional toys and games saw a 5,000
second year of current value decline, with spending declining in many categories; most
significantly within plush. On the other hand, video games continued to see growth, as
demand for static consoles and online games continued to increase. 4,000

Technology drives demand

3,000
It is clear that technology drives demand within toys and games. Amongst the
categories within traditional toys and games, those related to technology in some way
recorded growth in 2018, such as remote control toys. The share of electronic toys 2,000
within traditional toys and games also continued to increase. In addition, technological
advances in video games kept the category alive and growing, with digital video games
software seeing particularly strong growth. 1,000

Mattel maintains its lead

0
Mattel maintained its lead in toys and games in the United Arab Emirates in 2018. It 2004 2018 2023
held the lead in traditional toys and games with well-known global brands such as
Fisher-Price, Barbie and Matchbox, amongst others. Sony Corp, which maintained
second place in overall toys and games in 2018, led video games with its popular Sales Performance of Toys and Games
PlayStation 4 brand. Nevertheless, both companies saw declines in their value shares in % Y-O-Y Retail Value RSP Growth 2004-2023
2018, due to rising competition from smaller players.

Internet retailing and hypermarkets see distribution share growth

1.4% Forecast
25%
Within traditional toys and games in the United Arab Emirates, the major distribution
channels in 2018 were traditional toys and games stores and hypermarkets, whilst in
video games, the leading channels were electronics and appliance specialist retailers, 20%
hypermarkets and internet retailing. Hypermarkets is an extremely popular channel for
toys and games, as these outlets offer a large assortment of products all under one roof
– often at heavily discounted prices. So far, store-based retailers has not been 15%
negatively impacted by internet retailing. This is because the country is highly
dependent on bricks-and-mortar stores, and continued to see the expansion of store
numbers across channels to cater to its growing population. Stores are conveniently 10%
and strategically located in shopping centres across the country, maintaining the
dominance of store-based retailers.
5%
Toys and games is set to get back on track over the forecast period
As the population of the United Arab Emirates continues to increase, due to the influx 0%
2004 2018 2023
of expatriates into the country, the demand for toys and games is expected to stabilise
and return to better growth in current value terms in the forecast period. This will also
be supported by economic stabilisation due to EXPO 2020 and returning consumer
confidence as the VAT increase is absorbed and accepted. Therefore, demand is set to
increase over the forecast period, with most categories within toys and games growing
Sales of Toys and Games by Category
Retail Value RSP - AED million - Current - 2018 Growth Performance
once again. However, plush will require much stronger innovations to revive its
performance.
Traditional Toys and Games
1,423.3
SOURCES Video Games
1,967.4
Sources used during the research included the following: -10% 0% 15%

Summary 1 Research Sources TOYS AND GAMES 3,390.7 CURRENT % CAGR % CAGR
YEAR % 2013-2018 2018-2023
GROWTH
Trade Associations International Council of Toy Industries
Toy Indus try As s ocia tion
Two Four 54
Trade Press Abs olute Geeks
Africa Bus ines s
Al Ara biya
Al Ba wa ba

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 Trade Associations International Council of Toy Industries Competitive Landscape
Ara bia n Bus ines s
Ara bia n Ga zette Company Shares of Toys and Games
Ba ra joun % Share (NBO) - Retail Value RSP - 2018
Bus ines s Intelligence Middle Ea s t
Mattel Inc 10.4%
Cha nnel EMEA
Sony Corp 9.8%
Cinema Blend
Nintendo Co Ltd 9.0%
Globa l Licens e
Globa l Toy News Hasbro Inc 7.8%

Gulf Buis nes s Electronic Arts Inc 6.7%

Gulf Bus ines s Activision Blizzard Inc 5.8%
Gulf News LEGO Group 4.4%
Ips os Ara bNet Riot Games Inc 3.6%
itp.net
Microsoft Corp 3.5%
Kha leej Times
Valve Corp 2.9%
MCV The Ma rket for Computer & Video Ga mes
Epic Games Inc 1.7%
TechRa da r
The Na tiona l VTech Holdings Ltd 1.5%
TimeOut Duba i LeapFrog Enterprises Inc 1.2%
Toy Store Ubisoft Entertainment SA 1.2%
Two Four54 Warner Bros Entertainmen... 1.0%
Za wya
Ravensburger Ltd 0.9%
Source: Euromonitor Interna tiona l Walt Disney Co, The 0.8%
Sony Computer Entertainm... 0.7%
PUBG Corp 0.7%
Others 26.4%

Brand Shares of Toys and Games

% Share (LBN) - Retail Value RSP - 2018

PlayStation 4 7.8%
Fifa 3.8%
League of Legends 3.6%
Lego 3.5%
Nintendo Switch 2.8%
DOTA 2.8%
Call of Duty 2.5%
Fisher-Price 2.5%
Xbox One 2.3%
World of Warcraft 2.2%
Barbie 1.9%
Fortnite 1.7%
VTech 1.5%
Battlefield 1.4%
LeapFrog 1.2%
Uncharted 1.2%
Monopoly 1.1%
Cluedo 1.1%
Nintendo 2DS 1.0%
Others 54.1%

Increasing share Decreasing share No change

© Euromonitor Interna onal 2020 Page 2 of 2