To revive the declining sales of Mattel Inc., the company has come up with a doll-shaped MP3 player that turns into a live character at BarbieGirls.com, a Web site where girls can interact with each other.
The new toy which brings together web surfing, shopping and music downloads, might help in suppressing the sale of rival MGA Entertainment’s Bratz dolls.
The official launch of BarbieGirls.com came a week after it successfully cleared a public test run.
Toy analysts claim that the latest addition to the 48-year-old Barbie line should help reverse the declining sale of five years, which is the main agenda of the company. In the past few years, the girl’s best friend has lost its significance to not only to Bratz dolls, but also to flashier, high-tech items such as iPods and video games.
The Barbie Girls music players, which are targeted to girls of 10 - 13 years of age can hold up to 120 MP3 or 240 WMA-file songs. The product will hit the market in July and will cost $59.99.
