Symantec 2003 Annual Report Download - page 25

Symantec 2003 23
Our marketing activities include:
•advertising in trade, technical and business publications;
•on-line advertising;
•radio broadcast advertising;
•public relations;
•targeted customer communications through the Symantec Web
site, including regularly scheduled Web-based seminars and online
newsletters;
•cooperative marketing with distributors, resellers and industry
partners;
•direct mailings and emailings to existing end-users and prospects;
•the use of tools such as trialware and Symantec™ Security Check,
a Web-based tool for users to assess the security vulnerabilities
on their computers (consumer only);
•participation in focused trade and computer shows, sponsorship
of security analyst conferences, and execution of Symantec road
shows, seminars and user group conferences; and
•primary market research to understand evolving customer needs
and buying behaviors.
For our consumer products, we typically offer two types of rebate
programs within most countries: volume incentive rebates to channel
partners and promotional rebates to end-users. The distributor or
reseller earns a volume incentive rebate primarily based upon their
sale of products to end-users. From time to time, we also make rebates
available to individual users of various products acquired through major
retailers. We regularly offer upgrade rebates to existing customers pur-
chasing a new version of a product. Both volume incentive rebates and
end-user rebates are accrued as an offset to revenue when revenue is
originally recorded.
International Sales
Revenues from sales outside of the United States represented approxi-
mately 49%, 47% and 48% of our net revenues during fiscal 2003,
2002 and 2001, respectively. Our international revenues consisted of
sales primarily in the Europe, Middle East and Africa, or EMEA, region
and sales from these regions collectively represented approximately
30%, 27% and 27% of our net revenues during fiscal 2003, 2002 and
2001, respectively.
The majority of our net revenues from EMEA are derived from sales by
affiliates of our major United States distributors. Additionally, we sell
our products through authorized distributors, which may be restricted
to specified territories. For most of our consumer products, we translate
the documentation, software and packaging into the local language and
prepare marketing programs for each local market.
We have marketing offices in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada,
China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong,
Hungary, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, the
Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia,
Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland,
Taiwan, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. These
local offices facilitate our marketing and distribution in international
markets. Our international operations are subject to various risks com-
mon to international operations, including but not restricted to:
•government regulations;
•export and import restrictions;
•currency fluctuations;
•repatriation restrictions; and
•in some jurisdictions, reduced protection for our copyrights
and trademarks.
Symantec Security Response
Symantec™ Security Response is a team of dedicated intrusion experts,
security engineers, virus hunters and global technical support teams
that work in tandem to provide extensive coverage for enterprises and
consumers. Symantec Security Response provides customers with com-
prehensive, global, 24x7 Internet security expertise to guard against
today’s blended Internet threats, which are threats that are multi-
faceted in their operating methods and effects.
Symantec Security Response addresses blended threats by providing a
thorough analysis of Internet security threats, evaluating how threats
work together, then offering recommendations on protection. This
allows us to respond to complex security threats in a more holistic,
preventive manner. A Symantec Security Response analysis can show
how multiple threats work together, how this could impact a customer,
and how to protect against these threats.
Symantec Security Response delivers knowledgeable, proactive security
protection through product security policies and best practice guide-
lines that can be updated and distributed through automated processes.
Additionally, Symantec Security Response provides rapid reactive secu-
rity protection through its incident response program, including emer-
gency antivirus signatures, definitions and policies, as well as outbound
communications such as alerting services.
Symantec Security Response not only provides time-sensitive security
advisories using Web updates, but also provides alerting services, tech-
nical support and media alerts. Symantec Security Response is commit-
ted to educating the general public about key security threats and
trends through published white papers and speaking engagements
worldwide.