• Toys and Games: Market SizeThe total French market for toys and games was worth close to €3.8 billion (US$4.2 billion) in 2003, representing a 2.9% increase on 2002.

• Toys and Games: Market SectorsTraditional toys and games remain by far the biggest sector but their share has decreased over the review period by 11.7 percentage points to 67.9% with a value of €2,560 million.

• Toys and Games: Share of MarketIn 2003, Mattel led the market with a 9.5% share of value sales.

• Toys and Games: Marketing ActivityTotal advertising expenditure in France is expected to reach €8.1 billion in 2003, this represents a 1% increase over the previous year.

• Toys and Games: Corporate OverviewThe market for toys and games in France although quite mature is still fairly fragmented with over 2,000 companies overall in 2003.

• Toys and Games: Sony CorporationSony's turnover decreased by 9.5% in 2003 to reach US$57.1 billion.

• Toys and Games: Mattel IncMattel appears to be on its way to recovery after a few difficult years of negative profit and even decrease of turnover.

• Toys and Games: Hasbro IncTurnover amounted to US$3.1 billion in 2003, an increase of 11.5% on 2002 revenues.

• Toys and Games: Nintendo Company LtdTurnover amounted to US$4.2 billion in 2003, a marginal increase of 0.5% on 2002 revenues.

• Toys and Games: DistributionSupermarkets/Hypermarkets remain by far the strongest distribution channel accounting for 47% of all toys and games sales in 2003.

• Toys and Games: Consumer ProfilePer capita expenditure was valued at around €63.3 in 2003.

• Toys and Games: Market ForecastsThe market for toys and games is forecast to grow by almost 46% between 2004 and 2008, to reach a total value of over €5.6 billion.

• Toys and Games: Sector ForecastsVideo games should further strengthen and it is expected that it will become the leading sector by 2008, surpassing traditional toys and games, with a growth rate over the forecast period of 122% reaching €2.8 billion by 2008.