Garmin 2009 Annual Report Download - page 6

Download and view the complete annual report

Please find page 6 of the 2009 Garmin annual report below. You can navigate through the pages in the report by either clicking on the pages listed below, or by using the keyword search tool below to find specific information within the annual report.

Page out of 130

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14
  • 15
  • 16
  • 17
  • 18
  • 19
  • 20
  • 21
  • 22
  • 23
  • 24
  • 25
  • 26
  • 27
  • 28
  • 29
  • 30
  • 31
  • 32
  • 33
  • 34
  • 35
  • 36
  • 37
  • 38
  • 39
  • 40
  • 41
  • 42
  • 43
  • 44
  • 45
  • 46
  • 47
  • 48
  • 49
  • 50
  • 51
  • 52
  • 53
  • 54
  • 55
  • 56
  • 57
  • 58
  • 59
  • 60
  • 61
  • 62
  • 63
  • 64
  • 65
  • 66
  • 67
  • 68
  • 69
  • 70
  • 71
  • 72
  • 73
  • 74
  • 75
  • 76
  • 77
  • 78
  • 79
  • 80
  • 81
  • 82
  • 83
  • 84
  • 85
  • 86
  • 87
  • 88
  • 89
  • 90
  • 91
  • 92
  • 93
  • 94
  • 95
  • 96
  • 97
  • 98
  • 99
  • 100
  • 101
  • 102
  • 103
  • 104
  • 105
  • 106
  • 107
  • 108
  • 109
  • 110
  • 111
  • 112
  • 113
  • 114
  • 115
  • 116
  • 117
  • 118
  • 119
  • 120
  • 121
  • 122
  • 123
  • 124
  • 125
  • 126
  • 127
  • 128
  • 129
  • 130

Without฀a฀doubt,฀2009฀is฀a฀year฀that฀we฀won’t฀soon฀forget.฀In฀2009,฀Garmin฀celebrated฀its฀20th฀anniversary฀
of฀providing฀best-in-class฀products฀ for฀ our฀ customers฀ around฀ the฀ globe.฀ We฀ are฀ all฀ very฀ humbled฀ by฀ this฀
milestone,฀and฀we฀are฀excited฀at฀the฀prospect฀of฀developing฀innovative฀new฀products฀and฀services฀for฀the฀
next฀20฀years฀and฀beyond.
As฀we฀made฀preparations฀to฀celebrate฀our฀20th฀anniversary,฀the฀global฀economy฀was฀severely฀shaken.฀The฀
housing฀market฀sagged.฀Worldwide฀credit฀dried฀up.฀Consumers฀scaled฀back฀on฀discretionary฀spending,฀as฀
we฀all฀sought฀to฀protect฀what฀we฀had.
Thankfully,฀I฀can฀report฀that฀Garmin฀has฀survived฀these฀challenges฀and฀has฀emerged฀as฀strong฀as฀ever,฀due฀
to฀decisive฀and฀consistent฀business฀execution.฀We฀tightened฀our฀belts฀and฀made฀difcult฀decisions฀early฀in฀
2009฀that฀improved฀our฀protability฀throughout฀the฀year,฀and฀allowed฀us฀to฀deliver฀strong฀results฀to฀our฀
shareholders.
Our฀vertical฀integration฀model฀—฀“in-sourcing”฀jobs฀and฀innovation฀instead฀of฀exporting฀to฀outside฀entities฀—฀
has kept us lean and able to adapt quickly to a dynamic, volatile economy.
As฀ a฀ result,฀ we’ve฀ grown฀ our฀ market฀ share฀ of฀ personal฀ navigation฀ devices฀ (PNDs)฀ throughout฀ the฀ world,฀
and฀we฀have฀strengthened฀our฀position฀in฀all฀other฀markets฀that฀we฀serve.฀Our฀success฀has฀translated฀into฀
signicant฀cash฀ow฀generation,฀as฀we฀had฀approximately฀$1.9฀billion฀in฀cash฀and฀marketable฀securities฀at฀
the฀close฀of฀2009฀and฀we฀continue฀to฀pay฀an฀annual฀dividend.฀Having฀a฀strong฀balance฀sheet฀is฀important,฀
particularly฀in฀this฀recovering฀economy,฀and฀offers฀us฀exibility฀in฀our฀strategic฀plans฀and฀innovative฀endeavors.
Even฀in฀ challenging฀times,฀our฀ associates฀around฀the฀ world฀continue฀to฀ be฀committed฀to฀innovation.฀ We฀
have฀added฀new฀products,฀features,฀and฀content฀to฀our฀PND฀lines฀that฀save฀time฀for฀a฀wide฀range฀of฀consumers฀
from฀ business฀ travelers฀ to฀ soccer฀ moms.฀ We฀ have฀ implemented฀ ground-breaking฀ technologies฀ and฀ user฀
interfaces฀in฀ our฀ aviation฀ and฀marine฀ segments฀ that฀ make฀ ying฀and฀ boating฀ more฀ enjoyable฀and฀safer.฀
And฀we฀have฀pioneered฀advancements฀in฀our฀outdoor฀and฀tness฀categories฀that฀help฀our฀customers฀lead฀
healthier,฀richer฀lives.฀We฀have฀also฀introduced฀the฀nüvifone™, the first device built from the ground up as a
navigation-centric฀smartphone.
As฀we฀close฀the฀book฀on฀our฀20th฀year฀in฀business,฀we฀look฀forward฀to฀2010,฀which฀marks฀the฀10th฀year฀of฀
Garmin฀as฀a฀publicly฀traded฀company.฀Whether฀you’re฀a฀long-time฀shareholder฀or฀a฀recent฀one,฀we฀appreciate฀
your฀faith฀in฀us,฀and฀we฀look฀forward฀to฀a฀very฀exciting฀and฀protable฀year฀ahead.
Dr.฀Min฀H.฀Kao,฀Chairman฀and฀CEO
4
4
Dear shareholders