Lexmark 2007 Annual Report Download - page 4

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Continue to Invest in the Long Term
In 2007, we continued to expand our investments in R&D with the goal of strengthening and broadening our product
line in the areas of color laser, laser multifunction products (MFPs), and inkjet all-in-ones (AIOs). These investments
are producing a steady stream of new products. In 2007, our products received significant industry recognition,
winning awards from leading industry magazines and test laboratories. In addition to awards for our monochrome
lasers, we also earned honors for our color lasers, wireless inkjet AIOs and laser MFPs.
We are also continuing to invest in developing the Lexmark brand. In 2007, we evolved our advertising campaign,
which highlights that 75 percent of the largest banks, retailers and pharmacies use Lexmark, to also emphasize the
industry-leading performance of our products and the recognition Lexmark received versus the competition. We
ran our advertising through the year in our top countries (U.S., U.K., France and Germany). In the fourth quarter, we
focused our advertising on our new line of wireless inkjet products, targeting small office and home office users.
Importantly, Lexmark continues to maintain a strong financial position, with good cash generation and a solid balance
sheet, which enables us to invest in the future of the business and compete effectively even during challenging times.
Looking ahead, we have more work to do in the consumer market segment to complete our planned strategy transition,
strengthen our product line and improve our distribution to better reach higher usage customers. In the business
market segment we also have more work to do to fully leverage our investments in R&D and sales force expansion.
However, we remain optimistic due to our significant strengths in the distributed output market. We internally develop
all three of the market’s core print technologies: color inkjet, mono laser and color laser. We believe this allows us to be
more responsive to our customers. We leverage this responsiveness through our industry focus and our close and fre-
quent customer interaction. This has allowed us to develop unique and differentiating workflow solutions and services
capabilities to meet the needs of our industry customers.
But I believe our greatest strength is our people. At Lexmark, our people make the difference. It’s their commitment
to our vision of creating customers for life that enables us to continue to win and renew our business with some of the
largest enterprises in the world. It’s their continued dedication to our customers that will enable us to work through our
current challenges to emerge as a stronger company.
In closing, I want to thank our customers, employees, business partners and investors for your continued support.
Sincerely,
Paul J. Curlander
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Lexmark International, Inc.
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