Lego is now number two (overtaking Hasbro)

[griffin]

Taking on the board-games market 4 years back boosted their revenue massively, to the point of taking on Hasbro's dominance in that field.
After losing the exclusivity on the regular brick design (and facing bankruptcy), Lego started focusing on areas that prevented imitations/competition - like the board-games, computer games and Licensed/themed block sets. Anyone else trying to produce cheap versions to compete would be encroaching on their IP.
It makes sense - if you can't compete with the cheaper competition with your old products, find/create new products that you can sell exclusively, at inflated prices.

[Jetfire in the sky]

Taking on the board-games market 4 years back boosted their revenue massively, to the point of taking on Hasbro's dominance in that field.
After losing the exclusivity on the regular brick design (and facing bankruptcy), Lego started focusing on areas that prevented imitations/competition - like the board-games, computer games and Licensed/themed block sets. Anyone else trying to produce cheap versions to compete would be encroaching on their IP.
It makes sense - if you can't compete with the cheaper competition with your old products, find/create new products that you can sell exclusively, at inflated prices.

+1