Garmin 2009 Annual Report Download - page 9

On฀behalf฀of฀the฀nearly฀8,500฀Garmin฀associates฀worldwide,฀I’d฀like฀to฀thank฀
you for your support during a very challenging year. Like the rest of the
world,฀Garmin฀was฀affected฀by฀the฀slowdown฀in฀the฀global฀economy฀in฀
2009.฀Many฀companies฀that฀weren’t฀prepared฀for฀the฀recession฀suffered฀
greatly฀—฀some฀even฀going฀out฀of฀business.฀Others฀chose฀to฀“hunker฀
down”฀and฀do฀nothing฀until฀the฀storm฀passed.
As฀is฀our฀custom,฀Garmin฀chose฀a฀different฀route฀—฀innovating฀through฀
adversity.฀We฀redoubled฀our฀efforts฀to฀ensure฀that฀our฀company฀continues฀
to฀lead฀the฀way฀in฀exciting฀and฀useful฀consumer฀electronics.฀Whether฀through฀
the฀developments฀of฀eye-catching฀form฀factors,฀stunningly฀elegant฀user฀
interfaces,฀ or฀ industry-leading฀ features,฀ functions฀ and฀ technologies,฀
Garmin฀came฀through฀2009฀with฀an฀eye฀on฀the฀future.
In฀ 2009,฀ we฀ increased฀ our฀ market฀ share฀ and฀ improved฀ our฀ margins฀
despite฀efforts฀by฀some฀others฀to฀compete฀on฀cost฀alone.฀We฀succeeded฀
because฀while฀price฀is฀an฀important฀factor,฀it’s฀certainly฀not฀the฀only฀one.฀
Consumers฀also฀look฀for฀a฀brand฀they฀can฀trust฀as฀well฀as฀features,฀functions฀
and฀service฀—฀all฀components฀that฀Garmin฀provides.
But฀we฀weren’t฀content฀to฀stop฀there.฀Through฀a฀strategic฀alliance฀with฀
ASUSTek,฀we฀brought฀the฀nüvifone™ M20 and G60 to market in 2009.
These฀ two฀ handsets฀ were฀ designed฀ as฀ the฀ rst-ever฀ navigation-centric฀
smartphones,฀and฀while฀we฀wish฀these฀devices฀could฀have฀been฀brought฀
to฀ the฀ market฀ sooner,฀ we฀ continue฀ to฀ believe฀ that฀ consumers฀ want฀
robust,฀ dependable฀ and฀ easy-to-use฀ navigation฀ integrated฀ with฀ the฀
power฀of฀the฀internet฀and฀voice฀calling.฀We฀look฀forward฀to฀introducing฀
new฀handsets฀in฀2010฀to฀grow฀this฀part฀of฀our฀business.
Furthermore,฀we฀are฀deepening฀our฀relationships฀with฀automakers,฀and฀
2009฀ saw฀ Garmin฀ navigation฀ technology฀ in฀ Hyundai,฀ Suzuki,฀ Chrysler,฀
Ford,฀BMW,฀ MINI฀ and฀ Citroen.฀ We฀ are฀ condent฀that฀we฀are฀uniquely฀
positioned฀to฀experience฀the฀development฀of฀more฀OEM฀relationships฀in฀
the future.
While฀our฀automotive/mobile฀market฀is฀our฀most฀visible฀segment,฀we฀
continue฀to฀innovate฀in฀other฀markets฀as฀well.฀In฀the฀outdoor฀recreation฀
and฀ tness฀ market,฀ we฀ introduced฀ the฀ Approach™,฀ a฀ golf฀ GPS฀ with฀ a฀
brilliant฀touchscreen฀ and฀ thousands฀ of฀ preloaded฀ courses.฀ We฀debuted฀
an฀array฀of฀tness฀watches,฀designed฀for฀everyone฀from฀the฀most฀casual฀
of฀runners฀ to฀ elite฀ triathletes.฀ And฀ we฀ integrated฀a฀digital฀camera฀into฀
our touchscreen Oregon®฀handheld,฀giving฀hikers฀a฀way฀to฀photograph฀
a scenic vista and automatically mark its location for future reference.
While฀the฀economy฀has฀no฀doubt฀affected฀our฀aviation฀and฀marine฀busi-
nesses,฀we฀continue฀to฀invest฀in฀new฀product฀initiatives.฀For฀boaters,฀we฀
brought฀large,฀high-performance฀touchscreen฀displays฀coupled฀with฀excep-
tional฀features฀to฀the฀Garmin฀Marine฀Network,฀winning฀some฀key฀OEM฀
accounts฀along฀the฀way.฀In฀aviation,฀we฀announced฀the฀landmark฀G3000฀
integrated฀touchscreen฀cockpit,฀and฀we฀received฀FAA฀certication฀for฀our฀
G500฀retrot฀avionics฀suite.฀We฀are฀condent฀Garmin฀is฀well฀positioned฀
to benefit as these markets recover.
Along฀the฀way,฀Garmin’s฀worldwide฀IP฀portfolio฀grew฀to฀over฀400฀patents฀
and฀250฀trademark฀registrations฀—฀a฀true฀testament฀to฀our฀innovation฀
and฀one฀that’s฀been฀recognized฀across฀the฀industry.
Behind฀all฀ these฀ accomplishments฀ are฀ nearly฀8,500฀talented฀associates฀
worldwide฀who฀call฀Garmin฀ home.฀ I฀ am฀ condent฀ that฀ 2010฀ will฀ be฀ a฀
year฀of฀even฀greater฀innovation฀and฀accomplishments.฀Thank฀you฀for฀your฀
continued support.
Cliff Pemble, President and COO
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Dear shareholders