13th-Jan-22, 07:30 AM
No need for sketchy impressions and assumptions… With Hornby being a public limited company, there’s quite a lot of corporate information in the public domain - including annual and half year reports via the ‘investor relations’ link at the bottom of all the different Hornby brands’ websites. Or directly here: https://www.hornby.plc.uk/annual-reports/
The latest half year report has figures for how and where products are sold…
That gives Scalextric the largest percentage non-UK reach of any of the main Hornby brands. The drop in that overseas percentage since 2019 is certainly influenced by an extremely strong domestic market during the pandemic.
Particularly strong in the past 24 months has been the sales of ARC Pro digital sets and accessories - they have been selling as quickly as they can be made. It might not be the perfect digital system, but it is certainly selling very well in the UK home market. The Magic app seems to have been embraced by this new audience too. I hope Cristiano is making some Euros out of that.
Rick - I always enjoy your extremely confident sweeping statements of ‘fact’. However, I don’t always see what you do…
The independent Australian distributor is able to commission increasingly attractive Aussie-only releases - more likely to be in response to a healthy Antipodean market than one that is flat or declining. And although Scalextric USA (now part of Hornby Hobbies) doesn’t have exclusive regional releases in the same way, the demands of the North American market are always considered in the range planning process, with models and sets chosen to appeal to that market. Hornby USA also distributes Slot.it and Policar in North America, of course.
Ten Scalextric digital powerbases? To my mind, there have been four distinct designs - the original; the APB; the ill-judged, but understandable budget 4-car pb; and ARC Pro. In my opinion, the latter is by far the best-suited to the Scalextric audience - it is very accessible to a wide demographic. It is a different market to the one Scorpius operates in.
And let’s never kid ourselves, digital is a tiny part of the Scalextric (or Carrera) sales. The main market is for the family-oriented sets (Micro Scalextric / Carrera Go!!!), then collectors. A long way behind are home racers, digital home racers. Completely insignificant in terms of sales are organised racing groups and clubs (analogue or digital) - despite this, the Scalextric team take time and effort listening to what we want. In the UK, digital racing is predominantly Scalextric digital - with a handful of 1:32 club racers enjoying oXigen.
The latest half year report has figures for how and where products are sold…
That gives Scalextric the largest percentage non-UK reach of any of the main Hornby brands. The drop in that overseas percentage since 2019 is certainly influenced by an extremely strong domestic market during the pandemic.
Particularly strong in the past 24 months has been the sales of ARC Pro digital sets and accessories - they have been selling as quickly as they can be made. It might not be the perfect digital system, but it is certainly selling very well in the UK home market. The Magic app seems to have been embraced by this new audience too. I hope Cristiano is making some Euros out of that.
Rick - I always enjoy your extremely confident sweeping statements of ‘fact’. However, I don’t always see what you do…
The independent Australian distributor is able to commission increasingly attractive Aussie-only releases - more likely to be in response to a healthy Antipodean market than one that is flat or declining. And although Scalextric USA (now part of Hornby Hobbies) doesn’t have exclusive regional releases in the same way, the demands of the North American market are always considered in the range planning process, with models and sets chosen to appeal to that market. Hornby USA also distributes Slot.it and Policar in North America, of course.
Ten Scalextric digital powerbases? To my mind, there have been four distinct designs - the original; the APB; the ill-judged, but understandable budget 4-car pb; and ARC Pro. In my opinion, the latter is by far the best-suited to the Scalextric audience - it is very accessible to a wide demographic. It is a different market to the one Scorpius operates in.
And let’s never kid ourselves, digital is a tiny part of the Scalextric (or Carrera) sales. The main market is for the family-oriented sets (Micro Scalextric / Carrera Go!!!), then collectors. A long way behind are home racers, digital home racers. Completely insignificant in terms of sales are organised racing groups and clubs (analogue or digital) - despite this, the Scalextric team take time and effort listening to what we want. In the UK, digital racing is predominantly Scalextric digital - with a handful of 1:32 club racers enjoying oXigen.
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