EMC 2004 Annual Report Download - page 55

Download and view the complete annual report

Please find page 55 of the 2004 EMC annual report below. You can navigate through the pages in the report by either clicking on the pages listed below, or by using the keyword search tool below to find specific information within the annual report.

Page out of 128

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14
  • 15
  • 16
  • 17
  • 18
  • 19
  • 20
  • 21
  • 22
  • 23
  • 24
  • 25
  • 26
  • 27
  • 28
  • 29
  • 30
  • 31
  • 32
  • 33
  • 34
  • 35
  • 36
  • 37
  • 38
  • 39
  • 40
  • 41
  • 42
  • 43
  • 44
  • 45
  • 46
  • 47
  • 48
  • 49
  • 50
  • 51
  • 52
  • 53
  • 54
  • 55
  • 56
  • 57
  • 58
  • 59
  • 60
  • 61
  • 62
  • 63
  • 64
  • 65
  • 66
  • 67
  • 68
  • 69
  • 70
  • 71
  • 72
  • 73
  • 74
  • 75
  • 76
  • 77
  • 78
  • 79
  • 80
  • 81
  • 82
  • 83
  • 84
  • 85
  • 86
  • 87
  • 88
  • 89
  • 90
  • 91
  • 92
  • 93
  • 94
  • 95
  • 96
  • 97
  • 98
  • 99
  • 100
  • 101
  • 102
  • 103
  • 104
  • 105
  • 106
  • 107
  • 108
  • 109
  • 110
  • 111
  • 112
  • 113
  • 114
  • 115
  • 116
  • 117
  • 118
  • 119
  • 120
  • 121
  • 122
  • 123
  • 124
  • 125
  • 126
  • 127
  • 128

Table of Contents
EMC CORPORATION
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
A. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
Company
EMC Corporation and its subsidiaries offer a wide range of systems, software, services and solutions that help organizations get more value from their
information and get the most out of their information technology (IT) assets. EMC helps individuals and organizations store, share, manage, protect and apply
information to collaborate, solve problems, save money, exploit new opportunities and enhance operational results.
EMC has led the market in developing solutions for customers to manage information intelligently based on its changing value to an organization over
time. With a strategy known as information lifecycle management, we help organizations organize, protect, move and manage information on the lowest-cost
storage system appropriate for the level of protection and the speed of access needed at each point in information's life. Information lifecycle management
simultaneously lowers the cost and reduces the risk of managing information, no matter what format it is in–documents, images or e-mail–as well as the data
that resides in databases. Information lifecycle management provides for cost-effective business continuity and more efficient compliance with government
and industry regulations. We also provide specialized virtual infrastructure software that can help organizations respond to changing IT requirements by
dynamically altering their computing and storage environments without interruption to their businesses. Our unique capabilities deliver lower total operating
costs, optimized service and performance and a more responsive IT infrastructure.
Accounting Principles
The financial statements and accompanying notes are prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of
America.
Principles of Consolidation
The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of EMC and its subsidiaries. All significant intercompany transactions and balances have been
eliminated.
Basis of Presentation
In 2004, we changed the method of presenting the statement of cash flows from the indirect method to the direct method, which is the preferred method of
presentation. The prior years have been conformed to this method of presentation.
In 2004, we also concluded that it was appropriate to classify our auction rate securities as current investments. Previously, such investments had been
classified as cash and cash equivalents. Accordingly, we have revised the classification to report these securities as short-term investments in our consolidated
balance sheets. We have also made corresponding adjustments to our consolidated statements of cash flows to reflect the gross purchases and sales of these
securities as investing activities rather than as a component of cash and cash equivalents. This change in classification does not affect previously reported cash
flows from operations or from financing activities in our consolidated statements of cash flows or our previously reported consolidated statements of
operations for any period.
Certain other reclassifications have been made to prior years' amounts to conform to the current year's presentation.
52