Now, higher sales ordinarily create value, but only if the costs of making the additional sales don't increase disproportionately. Recall, for instance, the opening case. Televising sports competitions to multiple countries generates advertising revenue in excess of the increased transmission costs. In fact, additional sales from abroad may enable a company to reduce its per unit costs by covering its fixed costs say, up-front research costs over a larger number of sales. Because of lower unit costs, it can boost sales even more. So increased sales are a major motive for expanding into international markets, and many of the world's largest companies-such as Volkswagen (Germany), Ericsson (Sweden), IBM (United States), Michelin (France), Nestlé (Switzerland, and Sony Japan) derive more than half their sales outside their home countries. Bear in mind, though, that international business is not the purview only of large companies. In the United States, 97 percent of exporters are small and mid-sized firms (SMMs), which account for about a third of U.S direct export value. Further, many sell products to large companies, which install them in finished products slated for sale abroad