Cobra 2003 Annual Report Download - page 5

C O B R A ฀ A N N U A L ฀ R E P O R T ฀ 2 0 0 3 ฀
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P A G E 3
In฀2003,฀we฀remained฀leaders฀in฀
our฀core฀businesses,฀including฀
two-way฀radios,฀radar฀detection฀
and฀Citizens฀Band฀radios,฀and฀
entered฀into฀businesses฀with฀
tremendous฀growth฀potential,฀
namely฀marine฀electronics฀and฀
recreational฀global฀positioning฀
systems.฀In฀2004,฀we฀will฀
continue฀our฀strategic฀reinvention฀
of฀Cobra฀by฀entering฀the฀mobile฀
navigation฀market฀and฀launching฀
our฀first฀mapping฀GPS฀unit,฀the฀
handheld฀GPS฀1000.
Cobra’s฀2004฀line฀continues฀our฀
tradition฀of฀delivering฀innovative฀
and฀user-friendly฀products.฀
Cobra’s฀mobile฀navigation฀
products,฀the฀SkyNav™฀2000฀
and฀the฀SkyNav™฀3000,฀
received฀rave฀reviews฀at฀the฀
2004฀International฀Consumer฀
Electronics฀Show,฀including฀
a฀“Best฀in฀Mobile฀Electronics฀
Innovation฀Award”฀for฀the฀
SkyNav฀3000.฀Our฀handheld฀
GPS฀products฀feature฀the฀fastest฀
satellite฀acquisition฀time฀available฀
to฀consumers฀and฀intuitive฀
drop-down฀menus.฀Our฀premium฀
marine฀radio฀features฀the฀largest฀
LCD฀display฀in฀the฀industry฀and฀
the฀first฀integrated฀speaker/
microphone.฀Each฀of฀these฀
innovations฀makes฀the฀radio฀
easier฀to฀use฀in฀heavy฀seas฀or฀
over฀the฀noise฀of฀engines.฀Cobra฀
also฀introduced฀the฀industry’s฀
first฀full฀line฀of฀extended฀range฀
GMRS/FRS฀two-way฀radios฀with฀
3,฀6,฀8฀and฀10-mile฀ranges.
In฀conjunction฀with฀these฀
product฀launches,฀we฀are฀
establishing฀new฀marketing฀and฀
distribution฀channels.฀Those฀who฀
have฀observed฀Cobra฀for฀the฀
last฀several฀years฀know฀that฀our฀
growth฀was฀fueled฀by฀innovative฀
product฀development฀married฀
with฀aggressive฀marketing฀and฀
merchandising.฀The฀result฀was฀
growth฀from฀approximately฀
17,000฀storefronts฀in฀1998฀to฀
more฀than฀38,000฀today.฀The฀
products฀we฀launched฀in฀2003฀
and฀are฀launching฀today฀offer฀
an฀even฀greater฀opportunity฀
with฀both฀domestic฀and฀foreign฀
accounts.
Here฀in฀the฀United฀States,฀we฀
are฀establishing฀a฀presence฀in฀
the฀marine,฀outdoor฀and฀sporting฀
goods฀markets,฀including฀
serving฀premier฀retailers฀such฀as฀
Bass฀Pro฀Shops,฀Galyan’s฀and฀
Gander฀Mountain.฀Many฀of฀these฀
accounts฀have฀picked฀up฀several฀
SKUs฀across฀our฀product฀lines,฀
including฀two-way฀radios,฀marine฀
VHF฀radios฀and฀handheld฀GPS.฀
Both฀retailers฀and฀consumers฀
in฀these฀markets฀tend฀to฀stick฀
with฀their฀established฀brands,฀so฀
these฀are฀not฀easy฀markets฀to฀
penetrate.฀However,฀this฀same฀
tendency฀can฀make฀it฀rewarding฀
to฀be฀persistent฀and฀establish฀a฀
loyal฀following฀in฀this฀channel.
We฀are฀also฀penetrating฀
the฀automotive฀accessories฀
aftermarket,฀or฀the฀12-volt฀
market,฀with฀both฀our฀existing฀
and฀new฀products.฀While฀we฀
have฀had฀tremendous฀success฀
with฀customers฀such฀as฀Pep฀
Boys฀and฀Advance฀Auto฀in฀the฀
past,฀there฀is฀a฀broader฀market฀
that฀has฀become฀tremendously฀
excited฀by฀the฀new฀Cobra฀
products,฀especially฀mobile฀
navigation฀products.฀Cobra฀
views฀this฀channel฀as฀one฀that฀
can฀offer฀more฀consultative฀sales฀
assistance฀–฀a฀product฀sold฀
through฀these฀retailers฀tends฀to฀
stay฀sold.
As฀we฀look฀to฀international฀
markets,฀Cobra’s฀new฀products฀
are฀providing฀a฀broader฀offering฀
and฀critical฀mass฀to฀our฀sales฀