Toys R Us Launches “tabeo”; competes with “Meep”, “Lexibook Junior” and “Kurio”

Toys r Us started its 4^th quarter a little early last week by blasting its way into the news.  The combination of a speech by Jerry Storch, CEO, defending big box retailing; the announcement of a “Hot Toy Reservation Policy” and the launch of the “tabeo” tablet were designed to demand attention from the nation’ media; it worked.

In my last posting I commented on Mr. Storch’s speech about Big Box retailing (See: “Toys R Us; Jerry Storch Stands up for Big Box Retailing”).  In this posting I want to look at the significance of Toys R Us’s decision to enter the tablet market via its “tabeo” tablet. 

The “tabeo”, available only at Toys R Us, is designed for children, containing both kid based content and safety features.  It will retail for $149.99 and comes with 50 free apps.  There are an additional 7,000 apps available covering everything from educational to reading to entertainment.  

In coming out with “tabeo”, Toys R Us will be competing with Technosource’s Kurio, Lexibook Junior and the Meep from Oregon Scientific.  All of these are currently available from Toys R Us.  All

of them are parity priced with “tabeo”.  All four look very much alike.

It is interesting that Toys R Us chose to enter a field that has competing players and more on the way.  It will also find itself competing with the lower priced Leapfrog Leappad ($99) and “adult” products like Kindle Fire ($159) and the iPad ($399 to $499) which, whether intended or not, have proven to be kid friendly. 

The big questions I see are:

• Is there demand for another children’s tablet? 
• Can Toys R Us make the case to parents that they need another tablet in addition to their iPad or Kindle Fire? 
• How will “tabeo” differentiate itself from the Technosource, Lexibook and Oregon Scientific products? 
• How will Toys R Us merchandise tabeo relative to those of its competitors?

It gets complicated when you are both a retailer and a manufacturer.  It should be interesting.

 

Comments

[John Clair]

Richard, you mention "the announcement of a “Hot Toy Reservation Policy”". What does that mean exactly? It sounds interesting.