Adobe 2010 Annual Report Download - page 39

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Name
Age
Positions
Richard T. Rowley 54 Vice President, Principal Accounting Officer
Mr. Rowley joined Adobe in November 2006 as Vice President, C
orporate Controller and
Principal Accounting Officer. Prior to joining Adobe, Mr. Rowley served as Vice President,
Corporate Controller, Treasurer and Principal Accounting Officer at Synopsys, Inc., a
semiconductor design software company, from December 20
02 to September 2005 and from
1999 to December 2002, Mr. Rowley served as Vice President, Corporate Controller and
Principal Accounting Officer. From 1994 to 1999, Mr. Rowley served in several finance-
related
positions at Synopsys. Mr. Rowley is a certified public accountant.
ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
As previously discussed, our actual results could differ materially from our forward-looking statements. Factors that
might cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, those discussed below. These and many other
factors described in this report could adversely affect our operations, performance and financial condition.
If we cannot continue to develop, market and distribute new products and services or upgrades or enhancements to existing
products and services that meet customer requirements, our operating results could suffer.
The process of developing new high technology products and services and enhancing existing products and services is
complex, costly and uncertain, and any failure by us to anticipate customers’ changing needs and emerging technological
trends accurately could significantly harm our market share and results of operations. We must make long-term investments,
develop or obtain appropriate intellectual property and commit significant resources before knowing whether our predictions
will accurately reflect customer demand for our products and services. Our inability to extend our core technologies into new
applications and new platforms, including the mobile and non-pc devices market, and to anticipate or respond to
technological changes could affect continued market acceptance of our products and services and our ability to develop new
products and services. Additionally, any delay in the development, production, marketing or distribution of a new product or
service or upgrade or enhancement to an existing product or service could cause a decline in our revenue, earnings or stock
price and could harm our competitive position. We maintain strategic relationships with third parties with respect to the
distribution of certain of our technologies. If we are unsuccessful in establishing or maintaining our strategic relationships
with these third parties, our ability to compete in the marketplace or to grow our revenues would be impaired and our
operating results would suffer.
We offer our desktop application-based products primarily on Windows and Macintosh platforms. We generally offer
our server-based products on the Linux platform as well as the Windows and UNIX platforms. To the extent that there is a
slowdown of customer purchases of personal computers on either the Windows or Macintosh platform or in general, to the
extent that we have difficulty transitioning product or version releases to new Windows and Macintosh operating systems, or
to the extent that significant demand arises for our products or competitive products on other platforms before we choose and
are able to offer our products on these platforms our business could be harmed. To the extent new releases of operating
systems or other third-party products, platforms or devices make it more difficult for our products to perform, and our
customers are persuaded to use alternative technologies, our business could be harmed.
Introduction of new products, services and business models by existing and new competitors could harm our competitive
position and results of operations.
The markets for our products and services are characterized by intense competition, evolving industry standards and
business and distribution models, disruptive software and hardware technology developments, frequent new product and
service introductions, short product and service life cycles, price cutting, with resulting downward pressure on gross margins,
and price sensitivity on the part of consumers. Our future success will depend on our ability to enhance our existing products
and services, introduce new products and services on a timely and cost-effective basis, meet changing customer needs, extend
our core technology into new applications, and anticipate and respond to emerging standards, business models, software
delivery methods and other technological changes. If any competing products or services achieve widespread acceptance, our
operating results could suffer. In addition, consolidation has occurred among some of the competitors in our markets. Any
further consolidations among our competitors may result in stronger competitors and may therefore harm our results of
operations. For specific information regarding our competition and the risks arising out of the competitive environment in
which we operate, see the section entitled “Competition” contained in Item 1 of this report.