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4FY 03 Autodesk, Inc.
Divisional Review
Feedback on the AutoCAD 2004 family of
products ranges from positive to glowing. In
addition, Autodesk’s Design Web Format
(DWF), as well as the DWF-based Autodesk
Express Viewer, are gaining widespread adop-
tion as a smart and secure way to share critical
design information across widely dispersed
project teams.The free viewer has been down-
loaded more than a quarter million times in its
first two months of availability, allowing users
downstream to share digital design data more
easily and laying the groundwork for Autodesk
in the lifecycle management market.
MANUFACTURING SOLUTIONS DIVISION
Companies in the manufacturing industry face
a specific set of challenges: global markets and
competition, mass-specialization, a tough macro-
economic environment, and, most basically, the
need to reduce costs and accelerate time to
market. With an array of products and services
designed to deliver faster ROI and simplified
product development, the Manufacturing
Solutions Division (MSD) launched its strategy
of bringing product lifecycle management
(PLM) to the mainstream market.
Net revenues for MSD totaled $119 million,
down 9 percent from the previous year, as
customers tightened overall spending and
specifically delayed technology purchases.
The division made a strategic acquisition of
truEInnovations, which has file and data man-
agement technology that will provide vaulting
capabilities to our existing product line.
Significant gains in MSD included over 150
percent growth of the installed base of the
Autodesk Inventor Series, the flagship 3D
Autodesk is divided into two business seg-
ments: the Design Solutions Group, which
contains our core competency of design tech-
nology, and Discreet, our entertainment group.
Discreet
From special effects at the movies to larger-
than-life computer and console games,
Discreet delivers digital content creation,
visual effects, editing, and 3D streaming media
applications. Net revenues for Discreet were
$129 million in fiscal 2003—down 17 percent
from $156 million last year. Sales were affected
by the severe economic slowdown in the
media, advertising, and entertainment sectors.
Part of the decline was also due to the timing
of our new product releases that shipped late
in the year. As a result of lower sales figures,
Discreet took action to scale its business to the
reduced revenue level, lowering staff levels
and operating costs.
The division launched important new versions
of our advanced systems for high-end visual
effects and editing.These releases—including
inferno, flame, and flint—position Discreet well
for success in fiscal 2004. For the eighth year in
a row, the creators of all the nominees for the
Academy Award for Visual Effects used
Discreet’s visual effects compositing system,
demonstrating Discreet’s wide adoption in its
target industries.
Design Solutions Group
Composed of the Platform Technology Division,
the Manufacturing Solutions Division, the
Building Solutions Division, and the Infrastructure
Solutions Division (formerly known as the
Geographic Information Systems Division),
the Design Solutions Group (DSG) represented
84 percent of total net revenues in fiscal year
2003, or $696 million—an annual decrease
of 12 percent.
In fiscal 2003, DSG focused on developing
great desktop design products and creating
solutions to address lifecycle management of
the data that customers create with our tech-
nologies.We know that for every person who
creates digital design data, an estimated 7
to 10 people use that data downstream.
Companies trying to improve efficiency are
paying close attention to how data flows
through their organizations.This represents
a tremendous opportunity for Autodesk,
because our solutions will help customers
make the most of the ways they share and
manage data.
PLATFORM TECHNOLOGY DIVISION AND OTHER
Developer of AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT soft-
ware, the Platform Technology Division (PTD)
continues to provide a foundation for many
products in the core design markets. In fiscal
2003, PTD focused its efforts on research and
development of AutoCAD 2004 (released in Q1
of fiscal 2004), the fastest, easiest AutoCAD
ever. Net revenues for this division were $401
million, off 13 percent from last year.