Autodesk 2012 Annual Report Download - page 95

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ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS
OF OPERATIONS
The discussion in our MD&A contains trend analyses and other forward-looking statements within the meaning of
Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements
are any statements that look to future events and consist of, among other things, our business strategies, including those
discussed below in “Strategy” below, anticipated future net revenue, future operating margin and other future financial results
(by product type and geography) and operating expenses, the effect of unemployment and availability of credit, the effects of
the U.S. credit downgrade and weak global economic conditions, our backlog, expected trends in certain financial metrics,
expected market trends, including the growth of cloud, mobile and social computing, the impact of acquisitions and investment
activities, the effect of fluctuations in exchange rates and our hedging activities on our financial results, the impact of natural
disaster on our operations and financial results, our abilities to successfully expand adoption of our products, our ability to
gain market acceptance of new businesses and sales initiatives, and our ability to successfully increase sales of product suites
as part of our overall sales strategy, our belief that the strength of our channel network, technological leadership, brand
recognition, breadth of product line, and large installed base are benefiting us as global economies recover, the impact of
economic volatility and geopolitical activities in certain countries, particularly emerging economy countries, and the resulting
effect on our financial results, and the impact of our restructuring activities. In addition, forward-looking statements also
consist of statements involving expectations regarding product acceptance, continuation of our stock repurchase program,
statements regarding our liquidity and short-term and long-term cash requirements, as well as, statements involving trend
analyses and statements including such words as “may,” “believe,” “could,” “anticipate,” “would,” “might,” “plan,”
“expect,” and similar expressions or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. These forward-looking
statements speak only as of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K and are subject to business and economic risks. As
such, our actual results could differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements as a result of the factors
set forth above in Item 1A, “Risk Factors,” and in our other reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
We assume no obligation to update the forward-looking statements to reflect events that occur or circumstances that exist after
the date on which they were made.
Strategy
Autodesk’s vision is to help people imagine, design and create a better world. We do this by developing software for the
world’s designers, architects, engineers, and digital artists—the people who create the world's products, buildings,
infrastructure, films, and games. Autodesk serves customers in three primary markets: architecture, engineering and
construction; manufacturing; and digital media and entertainment.
Our goal is to provide our customers with the world’s most valuable, innovative, and engaging software and services. Our
product and services portfolio allow our customers to digitally visualize, simulate, and analyze their projects, helping them to
better understand the consequences of their design decisions; save time, money, and resources; and become more innovative.
Today, complex challenges such as globalization, urbanization, and sustainable design are driving our customers to new
levels of performance and competitiveness, and we are committed to helping them address those challenges and take advantage
of new opportunities. To achieve these goals, we are capitalizing on two of our strongest competitive advantages: our ability to
bring advanced technology to mainstream markets, and the breadth and depth of our product portfolio.
By innovating in existing technology categories, we bring powerful new design capabilities to volume markets. Our
products are designed to be easy-to-learn and use, and to provide customers with a low cost of deployment, a low total cost of
ownership, and a rapid return on investment. In addition, our software architecture allows for extensibility and integration with
other products. The breadth of our technology and product line gives us a unique competitive advantage, because it allows our
customers to address a wide variety of problems in ways that transcend industry and disciplinary boundaries. This is
particularly important in helping our customers address the complex challenges mentioned above. We also believe that our
technological leadership and global brand recognition have positioned us well for long-term growth and industry leadership.
In addition to the competitive advantages afforded by our technology, our large global network of distributors, resellers,
third-party developers, customers, educational institutions, faculty and students is a key competitive advantage. This network of
relationships provides us with a broad and deep reach into volume markets around the world. Our distributor and reseller
network is extensive and provides our customers with the resources to purchase, deploy, learn, and support our products
quickly and easily. We have a significant number of registered third-party developers who create products that work well with
Autodesk products and extend them for a variety of specialized applications. Users with expertise in our products are broadly
and globally available from educational institutions and in the existing workforce. We offer extensive educational programs,
including student versions of software, curricula, and faculty development. We have an extensive global community of students
who are experienced with our software and poised to become the next generation of professional users – thus reducing the cost
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2012 Annual Report