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On August 14, 2007, Mattel recalled over 18 million products because it was possible that they could pose a danger to children due to the use of strong magnets that may detach. Mattel re-wrote its policy on magnets, finally issuing a recall in August 2007.<ref name=recall1>{{cite web|url=http://service.mattel.com/us/recall/default.asp?recall_id=52431 |title=Mattel to announce toy recall |publisher=Service.mattel.com |accessdate=June 9, 2011}}</ref> The recall included 7.1&nbsp;million [[Polly Pocket]] toys produced before November 2006; 600,000 [[Barbie]] and Tanner Playsets; 1 million [[Doggie Daycare]]; Shonen Jump's One Piece; and thousands of Batman Manga toys due to exposed [[magnets]].<ref name=recall1/>
On August 14, 2007, Mattel recalled over 18 million products because it was possible that they could pose a danger to children due to the use of strong magnets that may detach. Mattel re-wrote its policy on magnets, finally issuing a recall in August 2007.<ref name=recall1>{{cite web|url=http://service.mattel.com/us/recall/default.asp?recall_id=52431 |title=Mattel to announce toy recall |publisher=Service.mattel.com |accessdate=June 9, 2011}}</ref> The recall included 7.1&nbsp;million [[Polly Pocket]] toys produced before November 2006; 600,000 [[Barbie]] and Tanner Playsets; 1 million [[Doggie Daycare]]; Shonen Jump's One Piece; and thousands of Batman Manga toys due to exposed [[magnets]].<ref name=recall1/>

In May 2013 Mattel partnered with Scrabble-EA to replace the Scrabble app on Facebook that had attracted a happy community over the years. They deleted all the stats, friends and games of the community and put up an app inferior to the previous app run by Gamehouse. The community were outraged.


Mattel was named by ''[[Fortune (magazine)|Fortune]]'' magazine as one of the top 100 companies to work for in 2013, noting that only 1,292 positions were newly filled out of 164,045 job applications during the previous year, as well as the fact that more than 1,000 employees have been with the company longer than 15 years.<ref>http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/best-companies/2013/snapshots/96.html?iid=bc_lp_arrow1</ref>
Mattel was named by ''[[Fortune (magazine)|Fortune]]'' magazine as one of the top 100 companies to work for in 2013, noting that only 1,292 positions were newly filled out of 164,045 job applications during the previous year, as well as the fact that more than 1,000 employees have been with the company longer than 15 years.<ref>http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/best-companies/2013/snapshots/96.html?iid=bc_lp_arrow1</ref>

Revision as of 09:44, 3 June 2013

Mattel, Inc.
Company typePublic company
Nasdaq: MAT
NASDAQ-100 Component
S&P 500 Component
IndustryToys and games
Founded1945
FounderHarold Matson
Elliot Handler
HeadquartersEl Segundo, California, US
Key people
Bryan G. Stockton
(Chairman and CEO)
RevenueIncrease US$ 6.2 billion (FY 2011) [1]
Increase US$ 1.0 billion (FY 2011)[1]
Increase US$ 768 million (FY 2011)[1]
Total assetsIncrease US$ 5.6 billion (FY 2011)[1]
Total equityDecrease US$ 2.6 billion (FY 2011)[1]
Number of employees
28,000 (December 2011)[1]
SubsidiariesFisher-Price, HIT Entertainment
WebsiteMattel.com
Mattel headquarters in El Segundo, California.

Mattel, Inc. /məˈtɛl/ is a toy manufacturing company founded in 1945 with headquarters in El Segundo, California. In 2008, it ranked #413 on the Fortune 500.[2] The products and brands it produces include Fisher Price, Barbie dolls, Monster High dolls, Hot Wheels and Matchbox toys, Masters of the Universe, American Girl dolls, board games, WWE Toys, and early-1980s video game systems.

The company's name is derived from Harold "Matt" Matson and Elliot Handler, who founded the company in 1945.

History

The company was founded in 1945 by Harold "Matt" Matson and Elliot Handler. Handler's wife, Ruth Handler, later became president, and she is credited with establishing the Barbie product line for the company in 1959.[citation needed] After the release of the Barbie doll, Mattel revolutionized the toy industry with its talking dolls and toys. Major successes in the 1960s with the talking Chatty Cathy doll in 1960 and See 'N Say toys in 1965 moved Mattel to its position as the number one toymaker in America.

In the late 1980s, Mattel was the PAL manufacturer chosen by Nintendo to make and market the Nintendo Entertainment System. This had followed a failed attempt by Nintendo to enter a simular worldwide deal with Atari. After not securing an agreement with Atari, even later entering into various lawsuits with that company, Nintendo decided instead to take a risk and bring their console to North America on their own, while cutting PAL manufacturing and marketing costs by entering into a deal with Mattel. Mattel had previously made the Intellivision in 1979, and had some experience in the Video Games industry at that time. Nintendo had, in a previous incarnation, also been a toy manufacturer and the two companies believed they had much in common.

After the system became a huge success in America, this deal was later considered a mistake, in hindsight, by Nintendo, as the Mattel version of the console was outsold in the PAL regions by the main rival, the Sega Master System. Nintendo had misjudged Mattels enthusiam for the console, which they had not considered a core product.[3]

In May 1999, at the height of the dot-com bubble, Mattel acquired The Learning Company for $3.5 billion in stock[4] or 4.5 times annual sales.[5] The Learning Company had in 1997 accumulated losses of $475 million.[6]

In December 2000, Mattel sued the band Aqua, saying their song "Barbie Girl" violated the Barbie trademark and turned Barbie into a sex object, referring to her as a "blonde bimbo." The lawsuit was rejected in 2002.[7]

In 2002, Mattel closed its last factory in the United States, originally part of the Fisher-Price division, outsourcing production to China which began a chain of events that led to a scandal involving lead contamination.[8]

On August 14, 2007, Mattel recalled over 18 million products because it was possible that they could pose a danger to children due to the use of strong magnets that may detach. Mattel re-wrote its policy on magnets, finally issuing a recall in August 2007.[9] The recall included 7.1 million Polly Pocket toys produced before November 2006; 600,000 Barbie and Tanner Playsets; 1 million Doggie Daycare; Shonen Jump's One Piece; and thousands of Batman Manga toys due to exposed magnets.[9]

In May 2013 Mattel partnered with Scrabble-EA to replace the Scrabble app on Facebook that had attracted a happy community over the years. They deleted all the stats, friends and games of the community and put up an app inferior to the previous app run by Gamehouse. The community were outraged.

Mattel was named by Fortune magazine as one of the top 100 companies to work for in 2013, noting that only 1,292 positions were newly filled out of 164,045 job applications during the previous year, as well as the fact that more than 1,000 employees have been with the company longer than 15 years.[10]

Mattel Electronics

History

In the early 1980s, Mattel – through its M Network division – released game cartridges for Atari 2600 consoles. In the mid 1980s, Mattel Electronics decided to make it's own video game console, the Intellivision. After this failed, the company formed a deal with Nintendo in order to bring the Nintendo Entertainment System to the PAL regions. This was later believed to have been a mistake on Nintendos part, as their North American success with the console(and it's Japanese counterpart, the Famicom) was not replicated in the PAL regions, and they were outsold in these regions by the Sega Master System. This resulted in Nintendo being unhappy with the arrangement with Mattel, and cutting ties with the company. Nintendo released the Gameboy without Mattel involvement and as a result, it was far more sucessful than the NES was.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Mattel 2011 Annual Report, Form 10-K, Filing Date Feb 23, 2012" (PDF). secdatabase.com. Retrieved July 8, 2012.
  2. ^ "Fortune 500 List (2008)". Fortune. May 5, 2008. Retrieved July 31, 2008.
  3. ^ "Guru Larry's Retrospective on the regional variations and releases of the European Nintendo Entertainment System". Blisteredthumbs.net. Retrieved October 2, 2012.
  4. ^ "Mattel sells Learning Co. – Buy high, sell low". Los Angeles Business Journal. January 1, 2001. Retrieved July 31, 2008. [dead link]
  5. ^ "Learning from Mattel" (PDF). Tuck School of Business. Retrieved July 31, 2008.
  6. ^ Dignan, Larry (December 14, 1998). "Mattel/The Learning Co. in $3.8B merger". ZDNet news. Archived from the original on December 23, 2007. Retrieved December 6, 2007.
  7. ^ "Barbie loses battle over bimbo image". BBC News. July 25, 2002. Retrieved August 8, 2007.
  8. ^ "CTV article on recall". Ctv.ca. Retrieved June 9, 2011.
  9. ^ a b "Mattel to announce toy recall". Service.mattel.com. Retrieved June 9, 2011.
  10. ^ http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/best-companies/2013/snapshots/96.html?iid=bc_lp_arrow1

52. Kettelkamp, Sean; Chatty Cathy and Her Talking Friends, Schiffer Publishing (1998)

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