Complex sentence: In France, Pathé became the largest and most successful distributor of cylinder records and phonographs, but these failed to make significant headway in foreign markets such as the United Kingdom and the United States where other brands were already in widespread use.
Split into simpler sentences: In France, Pathé became the largest and most successful distributor of cylinder records and phonographs. These, however, failed to make significant headway in foreign markets such as the United Kingdom and the United States where other brands were already in widespread use.