Logitech 2012 Annual Report Download - page 180

Retail Audio
Retail audio unit sales decreased 1% in fiscal year 2012 and increased 2% in fiscal year 2011, compared with
the preceding fiscal years. Sales in dollars increased 1%, 3% and 14% in the Americas, EMEA and Asia Pacific
regions, in fiscal year 2012 compared with 2011. In fiscal year 2011 compared with 2010, sales in dollars increased
23% and 7% in the Americas and Asia Pacific regions, and decreased 10% in the EMEA region. The growth in
fiscal year 2012 was led by our digital music speakers and Ultimate Ears products. Digital music speakers increased
13% in dollars and 19% in units, following a decrease of 11% in dollars and 6% in units in fiscal year 2011. The
Logitech Mini Boombox, a compact Bluetooth sound system that we began shipping in the latter part of fiscal year
2012, contributed significantly to the growth in the digital music speaker category. Retail sales of Ultimate Ears
products increased 51% fiscal years 2012, following a 1% decrease in 2011, and unit sales increased 49% and 36%
in the same periods.
Retail Video
Retail unit sales of our video products decreased 15% in fiscal year 2012, compared with an increase of 20%
in fiscal year 2011. The 15% sales decrease in fiscal year 2012 was mainly due to weakness in the webcam product
line, which continued to be negatively impacted by the combination of market trends and gaps in our product
portfolio. The future sales for webcams in the consumer market is unclear, as the embedded webcam experience
appears to be sufficient to meet the needs of many retail consumers. We continue to enhance our product line-up
by enabling experiences that cannot be easily achieved with an embedded webcam. For example, we experienced
strong growth with our initial launch of the Logitech HD Pro Webcam C920, which offers full HD 1080p video
calls on Skype, in the latter part of the fiscal year 2012. The 12% sales increase in fiscal year 2011 was due in part
to our video security products, which were negatively affected in fiscal year 2010 by the product transition to our
new Logitech Alert HD digital video security system, launched in August 2010. Sales in dollars decreased 25% and
12% in the Americas and EMEA regions, and increased 11% in the Asia Pacific region in fiscal year 2012 compared
with 2011. In fiscal year 2011 compared with 2010, sales in dollars increased 17%, 13% and 9% in the Asia Pacific,
Americas and EMEA regions.
Retail Gaming
Retail unit sales of our gaming peripherals decreased 3% in fiscal year 2012, compared with a decrease of
27% in fiscal year 2011. Retail sales increased 7% in fiscal year 2012, compared with a decrease of 3% in fiscal
year 2011. The growth was entirely due to PC gaming, with growth driven by steering wheels, but partially offset
by sales declines in console gaming. PC gaming sales increased 22% in dollars and 9% in units in fiscal year 2012,
compared with a decrease of 12% in dollars and 20% in units in fiscal year 2011. Console gaming sales decreased
28% in dollars and 47% in units in fiscal year 2012, compared with an increase of 21% in dollars and a decrease of
37% in units in fiscal year 2011. Sales in the Asia Pacific and EMEA regions grew 31% and 5% in fiscal year 2012,
while the Americas region declined 5%. In fiscal year 2011, sales in dollars declined 11% in EMEA, but grew 15%
and 6% in the Asia Pacific and Americas regions.
Retail Digital Home
Retail unit sales in our digital home category, which includes Harmony remotes, Logitech Revue, and our
Google TV peripherals, declined 17% in fiscal year 2012, compared with the growth experienced in fiscal year 2011.
Sales of Harmony remotes declined 37% in dollars and 22% in units in fiscal year 2012, compared with increases
of 46% in dollars and 79% in units in fiscal year 2011. The sales decline in fiscal year 2012 was experienced across
all regions. We are overdue for a meaningful refresh across much of the remotes category and we plan to strengthen
our Harmony line-up in the coming months. Sales of Logitech Revue and our Google TV peripherals, which were
launched during fiscal year 2011, decreased 52% in dollars but increased 46% in units due to the impact of the price
drop in our second fiscal quarter of 2012 and our exit from the product line. In fiscal year 2011, sales of Logitech
Revue and associated peripherals for Google TV were $26.7 million.
170