The chief executive officer of Barbie maker Mattel has stepped down after the company announced a hefty retreat in global sales during the critical holiday season in the last quarter of 2014.

In January last year, resigned Mattel executive Bryan Stockton also announced pale sales numbers, saying the company failed to sell enough Barbie dolls. It appears the waning fortunes of the iconic perfectly dressed lady-in-plastic have cost Stockton the top job at the toy giant.

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Mattel board director Christopher Sinclair, who used to be chief executive of Pepsi, will temporarily replace Stockton, the company said.

On Monday, Mattel announced worldwide sales during the shopping season fell a disappointing 6 percent to nearly $2 billion.

Mattel's core business of selling Barbie dolls took a hit after apparently losing favor with young girls who have turned their attention and purchasing power to merchandise from Disney blockbuster, Frozen.  The company has been trying to diversify but with little success.

A November survey by a retail industry association did confirm Mattel's worst fears - products from the film Frozen unseated the company's aging plastic beauty as the most preferred girls' toy, the first since the survey was taken more than a decade ago.

Mattel has tried to change the face of Barbie with what appears to be modern interpretations of the doll. Five years ago, news anchor Barbie and computer engineer Barbie were shown front and center in a display of career-doll Barbies at the Toy Fair in New York.

Last year, the toy-maker offered Entrepreneur Barbie who was carrying a mobile, tablet and briefcase to appeal to future career girls and their parents at the fair.

Mattel's resigned executive counted on doll brands such as American Girl and Monster High to offset shrinking sales of Barbie, but the toys never reached Barbie's popularity.

The company is in a tight spot after it lost its license to make Disney Princess dolls to Hasbro starting 2016.

TagsBarbie, mattel, Frozen, dolls