By Della WilliamsLEGO may be over 50 years old but is still at the top of the Christmas wish list for millions of children worldwide! In a changing world, where children are steering more towards computer games as opposed to traditional toys, LEGO seems to be bucking the trend with its innovative new ranges.In 2012, LEGO announced record profits of £660 million, making it the number-one toy manufacturer by market share in Europe and Asia, and number three in North America – where last year sales topped $1 billion for the first time!Although the launch of their newest line – LEGO Friends has come against some criticism from consumer groups for gender stereotypes due to the pink, streamline products, The launch in January 2012 has seen the world-famous plastic brick maker net profit rise 35% to 2bn kroner (£213m) in the first six months of 2012, from 1.48bn kroner for the same period last year.The company produced its first plastic bricks in 1949, based on a British design, but the important date is 1961, when LEGO was awarded its first US patent for a Toy Building Brick.Rolling forward a few years to the present day – every year, about 19 billion LEGO bricks are manufactured. That translates to 2.16 million LEGO elements molded every hour, or 36,000 per minute!According to figures from LEGO:
- Children around the world spend 5 million hours a year playing with LEGO bricks
- There are about 62 LEGO bricks for every one of the world’s 6 billion inhabitants
- The LEGO bricks sold in one year would circle the world 5 times
With figures like these – I can see LEGO being high on a child’s Christmas wish list for years to come!