Is India turning Spin Crazy?

Are Indian millennials turning time-wasters or is it just a temporary fad that India is among one of the biggest markets for Fidget Spinners?

We are just half way through 2017 but what was meant to be a gadget to help autistic children improve their motor skills might in all probability emerge the toy of the year if the backlash from concerned parents and authorities does not junk it.

Yes, we are talking about the now ubiquitous but till very recently a totally unknown thing the Fidget Spinner the market for which in the US alone is estimated at around $500 million this year according to one estimate. While it is now among the most searched and bought items over the Internet, what many also consider the time-waster of the year, has spilled out on to the streets in countries like India.  

It is the most hyped fad to date this year with FS gurus, mostly teenagers, emerging on YouTube videos and websites explaining everything thing about the toy, the same as reputed publications like Forbes and Washington Post. Indian media is just about catching up on this phenomenon though Internet users have already taken to it as they do any fad.

Internet search trends bear testimony to this with Mumbai, with a score of 62, among the top-5 cities across the globe to search for the tem. Speaking of India, Bangalore and Hyderabad follow Mumbai among cities where most people searched for it. 

One reason why Fidget Spinners have become a craze can also be attributed to cheap Chinese gadgets. While Amazon appears to be the most popular for buying them online with prices ranging from Rs 600 for the top-end spinner to a little over Rs 100 for the common one, the street variety, which may not be very different from the one you get online, could be anywhere from Rs 80 to Rs 400 depending up on your bargaining ability.

However, the much lesser known and popular Fidget Cubes, that are more scientifically designed and promise to increase concentration are priced anywhere from Rs 300 to Rs 700 apiece depending on the complexity and make. But clearly the Fidget Cube definitely promises to raise interest in the coming days if investment activity is anything to go by with start-up company Antsy Labs raising nearly $6.5 million from 1.55 lakh backers on Kickstarter.com.

But coming back to the Fidget Spinners while school kids are the biggest customers in the West, in India the demographics are quite different at least so far. The highest clientele is mostly from the millennials who with their access to technology and perhaps more time on hands, particularly in the IT industry, are more prone to such fads. However, school kids are catching on fast with the cheaper varieties now available at traffic lights.