TomTom 2005 Annual Report Download - page 10

10
Chief฀Executive’s฀statement฀
The฀year฀2005฀was,฀by฀all฀standards,฀a฀phenomenal฀year฀
for฀TomTom.฀We฀sold฀over฀2฀million฀units฀of฀our฀products฀
and฀generated฀

720฀million฀of฀revenue,฀close฀to฀
quadrupling฀the฀previous฀year’s฀revenue.฀As฀our฀business฀
grew฀to฀these฀levels฀the฀number฀of฀employees฀increased฀
from฀196฀at฀year฀end฀2004฀to฀435฀at฀year฀end฀2005.฀
The฀main฀reason฀for฀our฀success฀can฀be฀traced฀back฀to฀
March฀2004,฀when฀we฀introduced฀our฀first฀fully฀integrated,
fit฀for฀purpose,฀take฀out฀of฀the฀box฀and฀play,฀navigation฀
device,฀the฀TomTom฀GO.฀This฀was฀an฀immediate฀hit฀
and฀helped฀increase฀mass฀market฀awareness฀of฀in-car฀
navigation.฀Market฀acceptance฀for฀this฀product฀exceeded฀
our฀expectations฀and฀in฀2005฀we฀were฀the฀leading฀
provider฀of฀these฀devices฀for฀the฀second฀consecutive฀
year฀in฀the฀European฀market.฀
People฀don’t฀want฀to฀get฀lost฀and฀we฀believe฀that฀there฀is฀
a฀large฀market฀for฀high-quality,฀easy฀to฀use฀and฀affordable฀
navigation฀products฀that฀do฀not฀require฀specialised฀
installation.฀We฀will฀continue฀to฀introduce฀new,฀innovative฀
products฀and฀services฀to฀address฀the฀needs฀of฀consumers
in฀this฀area.฀
The฀introduction฀of฀the฀TomTom฀GO฀marked฀a฀milestone฀
for฀the฀company;฀we฀successfully฀transformed฀ourselves฀
from฀a฀pure฀software฀player฀into฀a฀supplier฀of฀consumer฀
products.฀We฀have฀developed฀a฀flexible฀and฀scalable฀
business฀model฀in฀which฀we฀outsource฀many฀of฀the฀non-
core฀activities.฀This฀enables฀us฀to฀focus฀our฀in-house฀
activities฀on฀the฀design฀and฀development฀of฀our฀products฀
and฀on฀managing฀the฀relationships฀with฀our฀retailers฀and฀
end฀customers.฀
We฀have฀grown฀quickly฀by฀building฀on฀what฀we฀have฀
achieved฀in฀our฀14-year฀history.฀Our฀current฀success฀is฀
based฀on฀a฀deep฀understanding฀of฀software฀for฀mobile฀
devices,฀consumer฀electronics,฀distribution฀channels฀and฀
marketing฀communication.฀Our฀navigation฀software฀can฀
be฀used฀directly฀on฀all฀our฀hardware฀and฀is฀compatible฀
with฀all฀major฀operating฀systems฀for฀computers,฀PDAs฀
and฀smartphones.฀
For฀TomTom,฀the฀future฀will฀be฀one฀of฀continued฀innovation
in฀our฀products฀and฀services.฀In฀2006,฀we฀will฀see฀new฀
versions฀of฀the฀TomTom฀GO฀and฀together฀with฀the฀TomTom
RIDER,฀TomTom฀GO’s฀counterpart฀for฀the฀motorcycle,฀
and฀our฀entry฀level฀product฀the฀TomTom฀ONE,฀we฀will฀
continue฀to฀address฀peoples’฀navigation฀needs.฀We฀have฀
also฀announced฀a฀number฀of฀cooperation฀initiatives฀with฀
car฀manufacturers฀and฀with฀mobile฀phone฀operators.฀
With฀TomTom฀PLUS,฀our฀network฀based฀information฀
service,฀we฀will฀be฀able฀to฀offer฀a฀set฀of฀services฀that฀will฀
facilitate฀mobility฀and฀communication.฀This฀complements฀
our฀profile฀as฀an฀innovative฀developer฀of฀functional฀and฀
easy฀to฀use฀personal฀navigation฀products฀and฀will฀allow฀
us฀to฀build฀long฀lasting฀relationships฀with฀our฀customers.
I฀am฀convinced฀that฀we฀are฀on฀the฀eve฀of฀the฀mass฀
acceptance฀of฀personal฀navigation฀solutions.฀It฀is฀a฀
fascinating฀and฀exciting฀position฀to฀be฀in฀and฀I฀am฀certain฀
that฀everyone฀at฀TomTom฀shares฀this฀feeling.฀I฀would฀
like฀to฀thank฀everyone฀who฀contributed฀to฀our฀success฀
in฀the฀past฀year.฀In฀the฀first฀place,฀TomTom’s฀staff,฀of฀
course,฀but฀also฀our฀partners฀and฀retailers฀who฀have฀
confidently฀and฀enthusiastically฀contributed฀to฀TomTom’s฀
success.฀And฀last฀but฀not฀least฀the฀hundreds฀of฀
thousands฀of฀users฀in฀a฀growing฀number฀of฀countries฀
who฀prove฀every฀day฀that฀our฀products฀are฀addressing฀
their฀personal฀navigation฀needs.
Harold฀Goddijn,฀Chief฀Executive
13฀February,฀2006