Mattel Provides An Important Lesson in Being a Global Player
Mattel shocked Wall Street, and frankly every citizen of the toy industry last week, with a strong fourth quarter. Coming on the heels of a flood of recalls in 2007 for it and the entire industry, it was a welcome dose of good news. Mattel’s stock went up as did expectations for the entire toy sector.
Mattel reported a 15% increase in its 4th quarter profit. What was interesting was from where the increase came. It certainly wasn’t from the United States. Sales were actually off by 3% there. It came from the rest of the world. A Bloomberg.com article entitled “Mattel Rises on International Sales; Shares Gain,” credits the increase as resulting, at least in part, from an 18% increase in international sales.
There is an important message here for any U.S. toy company that still insists on selling only within the borders of the United States: Export your products to a broad portfolio of countries. As Mattel found out this week, it can be a source of revenue, profit and good news.
