That last item does have a Playmobil reference. If you scroll down past the article about Apple's problems you will find it, or read it here (the figures mentioned here relate to UK sales and profits, and UK market conditions):
Playmobil profits slump as squeezed parents cut back on toys
Profits have tanked at German toy maker Playmobil as parents cut spending during the cost of living crisis.
Senior reporter Daniel Woolfson has the story:
The company’s sales surged during the pandemic as locked-down shoppers spent more on toys, but they declined as the pandemic faded.
Sales at Playmobil’s UK subsidiary fell from £25.8m last year to £18.3m this year, while profits were sliced in half, dropping from £1.1m to £536k over the year to March 31, company accounts show.
It comes as bosses at the toymaker’s headquarters in Zirndorf, Germany, have enlisted consultants at McKinsey to help turn the business around, according to reports in German newspaper Nürnberger Nachrichten.
Playmobil director René Feser said: “Driven by high inflation (in food and energy prices in particular) which has not been matched by wage increases, industrial unrest and generally-suppressed consumer sentiment, a large proportion of households are having to reduce their spending in non-essential areas such as toys.”
It marks the second year in a row that Playmobil’s sales have plunged since the highs of the pandemic. This time last year they had dropped £6m, down from £31.4m in 2021, which it blamed on “an increased focus on out-of-home entertainment and socialising”.
People had continued to seek out “alternative forms of amusement” instead of toys, Mr Freser said. “Playmobil sales have declined further and even the market overall.”
He added that the new toys - or “novelties” - launched over the last year had fallen flat with shoppers. “Customer and consumer reactions to the novelties in the range have characterised it as relatively unattractive compared to previous years.”
The Telegraph has approached Playmobil for further comment.
Founded in 1974 by Hans Beck, Playmobil is one of the world’s best known toy brands. It has reportedly sold more than 3bn figurines across the world.
Like its main rival, Lego, Playmobil has launched a vast range of different characters and sets over the years, spanning everything from construction workers and paramedics to historical knights, fantasy characters and animals.
However this has, on occasion, landed the company in hot water. It has previously been criticised for selling play sets depicting bank robberies, as well as medical emergencies such as bike crashes.
A spokesman for the company told the Daily Mail in 2014: “One thing our customer feedback tells us is that it is important that children can be taught, through play, the importance of recognising good from evil and ‘baddies’ from ‘goodies’, as well as understanding scenes from real life, such as accidents and emergencies.”
