Hasbro eyes stronger China expansion

Hasbro, a global toy and entertainment company listed in NASDAQ, will strengthen its expansion in China by launching more products to cater to Chinese consumers' needs, the company's top management said.

"The Chinese market has always been a core growth area for Hasbro, and will continue to lead and drive the growth of Hasbro's licensing business in the Asia-Pacific region," said Claire Gilchrist, Vice President of Hasbro Consumer Products' Asia-Pacific division. "Hasbro will launch more products to cater to Chinese consumers' tastes, and take our strong brand lineup into all aspects of Chinese consumer life to become an integral part of their lives."

According to the 2017 Global Licensing Survey, released by the Licensing Industry Merchandisers' Association in May this year, China's licensing market is entering a burst of growth to become the world's fifth-largest licensing market. Since 2015, China's licensing market size has ranked second in Asia.

With the advent of China's mobile Internet era, consumers born in the 1980s and afterwards have become the main consumption force, and so have raised the demand for more vertical and layered content, as well as cultural consumption.

"In addition to the continuous promotion of our two major core brands, Transformers and My Little Pony, Hasbro will make great efforts in promoting Play-Doh, which performs excellently among arts and crafts and creative toys, as well as the launch of a strong Consumer Products program supporting Nerf across multiple categories including apparel and sporting goods," Gilchrist added.