Tablets vs Toys

Move Over Legos & Barbie

Tablets were a hot gift this holiday season, and may be diverting funds that otherwise would be spent on toys, according to the New York Post.  The toy biz is set to post a 3-4% decline in 2012, the worst year-over-year change in 30 years, according to a BMO Securities analyst interviewed by the Post.  This is believable given early reports that tracked fewer container-loads of toys coming into the country before the holidays. Tablets are being given as gifts to kids as young as three years old and toy executives are "terrified" of the trend, according to UPI.  An analyst from Needham & Company described the situation.  "The top two guys, Mattel and Hasbro, they are terrified," he said.  "They should be terrified, but the official party line is they’re not terrified.