Support.com 2009 Annual Report Download - page 7

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Table of Contents
computers to run faster, more reliably and more securely. Our principal consumer software products include products designed for:
Registry Repair and Optimization. Our Advanced Registry Optimizer™ software is designed to identify and repair errors in the registry database on
personal computers running Microsoft Windows. Repairing these errors can improve performance and stability of a user’s PC.
Hard Drive Maintenance. Our Hard Disk Tune-Up™ software is a rapid disk maintenance program. It helps improve the performance of a computer by
defragmenting programs and data stored on the hard drive, which speeds access to stored information.
Memory Management and Optimization. Our MemTurbo™ performance utility can increase available memory and improve computer performance by
freeing up unused application memory and managing how applications request and subsequently return memory to the operating system.
Sales and Marketing
Services. We sell our services through channel partners and directly to consumers. To date, a substantial majority of our revenues have come from
services sold through channel partners. Our channel partners include leading retail, software, PC/CE and internet service brands.
Channel partnerships typically begin with a pilot phase and, if successful, progress to broader roll-outs. Programs for channel partners can take several
months to more than a year to progress from a pilot stage to a broader roll-out. Given the significance of our retail channel partnerships, seasonality of consumer
electronics retail sales can affect our revenues. Historically, other factors have had a greater impact on our revenues, such as the overall growth in our markets
and the timing of releases by third parties of our new or upgraded devices and operating systems that we support.
We acquire channel partners through our business development organization, which consists of sales professionals and industry experts. We support
channel partners through our account management organization which is composed of program managers and industry experts. Our marketing organization
designs and implements marketing campaigns for channel partners and our direct-to-consumer offerings.
We offer our services directly to consumers, through our website www.support.com and our toll free number 1-800-PCSUPPORT. We also reach
consumers through advertising in online and offline media, public relations, affiliate and referral programs and social media.
Software. We sell our software directly to consumers and through channel partners. Our software products are principally distributed directly to
consumers online. Online advertising allows consumers to click-through immediately to our software offerings where they can order and download our products
on demand. In addition to full-featured software products available for a one-time license fee, consumers may also download “free-trial” demonstration versions
with limited functionality before making a purchase decision. The marketing costs for customer acquisition in this highly competitive market can be substantial,
and a majority of our direct software license revenue for this business currently is the result of advertising placements.
We also work with channel partners as part of our consumer software sales and marketing programs, which enables us to reach additional customers. Our
channel partners for consumer software are primarily software companies selling complementary products.
Research and Development
Technology is at the core of our business model, and as a result our investment in research and development is substantial. We believe our continuing
investment in research and development creates significant competitive
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Source: Support.com, Inc., 10-K, March 12, 2010 Powered by Morningstar® Document Research℠