t Funskool India it�s time to draw the battle lines afresh. A 60:40 joint venture between tyre maker MRF and Hasbro Incorporated, USA, the toymaker (Rs 40 crore turnover in 2003-04) currently commands a 20 per cent share of the Rs 200-crore organised toy market. This makes it the number one toymaker in the country, ahead of the relatively new entrant, Mattel. The company is looking at a 12-per cent increase in turnover during the current financial year (2004-05) from exports (which currently constitute a third of its turnover) and domestic sales put together. No mean task this, given that the market, dominated traditionally by the unorganised players, has lately seen a deluge of cheap, imported Chinese toys.

So why the sudden aggression? Simple. India has 35 per cent of its population in the under-14 age group as compared to Germany and Japan, where only 21 per cent of the population is below 14. In addition, as urban families increasingly become double income ones with the kids staying home alone, the toy market - with its enormous capacity to assuage the guilt of parents who spend little time with their children - is all set to boom. ... more