Wrong, wrong and wrong. Only Apple has been successful elsewhere, and of course Android. But Google is, and always has been, international. Android was big in Europe, and only now is becoming large in the US (larger than Apple). In fact, the "internationalism" of Google is why it is hard to think that Android will ever loose the battle. MS is getting there with WP, but of course they are everywhere with Windows (PC).

Motorola: Big in the US, non-existent elsewhere.
RIM: Big in NA (almost monopoly), non-existent elsewhere (except UK and Germany with a few percent market share).

A better saying is, if you are big in your home country, your chances for success elsewhere are larger than they would have been if you were small.