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Will we soon see the end of Barbie?
Traditional children's playthings are now competing with a saturation of digital games and gadgets. And Barbie dolls are no exception.
Sales of the iconic leggy blonde doll have dropped for a fourth straight period with a huge 21 per cent fall just in the last quarter.
According to Bloomberg, Mattell, the company behind Barbie, has seen a 22 per cent plunge in its net income, from $422.8 million to $331.8 million in the last quarter.
While it has been a tough time for Mattell, the company’s Chairman and CEO Bryan Stockton remains optimistic.
“As we're keen on saying at Mattel, there will be a Christmas, it will come on or around December 25, and I'm confident there will be more Mattel toys under the tree than any other toy company in the world,” Stockton said in a recent earnings call with investors.
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Competing with technology
Traditional children’s playthings are now competing with a saturation of digital games and gadgets.
And Barbie dolls are no exception.
Mattell is trying to keep up with the trend by infusing more media and technology in the Barbie brand, such as animated TV shows, a Barbie Photo Fashion doll and a Barbie Train and Ride Horse ‘which features gesture recognition software that reacts to Barbie's commands.’
“Barbie continues to merge the latest trends with technology by focusing on innovation, customisation and creative play across the toy line,” Stockton said in last year’s earnings call.
In 2013, Mattell released a digital makeover product that turned an iPad into a digital mirror so kids could play with virtual makeup.
Competing with fresh, edgier toys
But Barbie isn’t just struggling to compete with technology.
The ideologies aligned with the toy have a certain place when it comes to kids’ creative play.
According to Timothy Kiplin Mattell’s Executive Vice President of Global Brands Team, “Barbie speaks to the aspirational roles that we know girls like to play out.”
On the other hand, Mattell’s latest success story is a toy line called Monster High, which is edgier and sets itself apart from other dolls on the market.
The Monster High dolls are more ‘alternative’ individual looking dolls, who are characterised as being related to famous monsters such as Frankenstein and Dracula.
“Monster High resonates because it speaks to that simple truth, about celebrating your differences and about self-acceptance,” said Kilpin.
Nevertheless, Stockton reiterates an optimistic future for the iconic doll.
“Barbie is not out of the woods yet, but we continue to make solid progress,” Stockton said.
“Barbie’s going to continue to be a brand that we spend a lot of time and attention on.”
Read Mattell's full investor earnings call.
This article originally appeared on Yahoo7 Finance
