IBM 2013 Annual Report Download - page 10

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I am deeply proud of the global IBM team for bringing us here,
and I am grateful to you, our shareholders, for your unwavering
support. I hope you share our excitement about your company’s
path and the shared opportunity we have, together, to build
a brighter future on a smarter planet.
Virginia M. Rometty
Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer
IBM will remain a leader in high-performance and high-end
systems, storage and cognitive computing, and we will continue
to invest in R&D for advanced semiconductor technology.
The second challenge involves the world’s growth markets.
While IBM’s growth in Latin America and Middle East and
Africa was strong, enterprise spending slowed in other key
growth markets. We are intensifying focus on new growth
opportunities. Overall, the opportunity in the world’s growth
markets remains attractive.
On being essential
As we have learned throughout our history, the key to success is
getting the big things right, innovating and investing accordingly,
and challenging our organization, operations and especially our
culture to adapt.
When you do all those things, you do more than stay abreast
of change. You lead it. You invent entirely new capabilities—
such as cognitive computing and Watson. You translate these
innovations into sustainable economic value—such as building
cloud infrastructure that is enterprise-class and societally robust.
And you make yourself a laboratory for the future—of work, of
engagement, of the modern enterprise.
The progress we are making on these strategic imperatives is
highly encouraging. No company in our industry is positioned
as strongly as 103-year-old IBM for the world now taking shape.
We are confident in our vision, our strategy and our prospects.
Every generation of IBMers has the opportunity—and, I believe,
the responsibility—to invent a new IBM. This is our time. We
are working to make this not just a successful business, but an
essential institution for our clients and the world in a new era.
This letter includes selected references to certain non-GAAP financial measures that are made
to facilitate a comparative view of the company’s ongoing operational performance. For information
about the company’s financial results related to (i) operating net income, operating pre-tax income,
operating pre-tax margin and operating earnings per share and (ii) free cash flow, which are in each
case non-GAAP measures, see the company’s Forms 8-K submitted to the SEC on January 21, 2014
and February 28, 2013 (Attachment II—Non-GAAP Supplementary Materials).