In response it made a succession of foreign deals, mainly in Europe, in its area of electronics and engineering, with the main aim of gaining know-how and better products.

ECONOMIST: Inbound and outbound deals

It sells mainly consumer electronics and has 15 million users and distribution facilities in almost 60 cities.

FORBES: China Just One Reason Wal-Mart Stock Gets To $75

Aside from tiny operations in China (to make gaming electronics for Macau casinos) and Canada (mainly scoreboards), this is the first big manufacturing expansion outside of Brookings.

FORBES: Magazine Article