Ingram Micro 2008 Annual Report Download - page 14

for our traditional IT products. We believe that our diverse customer set in North America positions us to
participate in any technology infrastructure spending that may result from the pending federal stimulus
plan. For example, our position in the North American government sector has been strengthened by our
GovEd Alliance, which provides government- and education-focused resellers access to a number of tools
and programs designed to enable sales to government entities and best practices shared with a community
of government resellers. We try to limit exposure to the impact of business fluctuations by maintaining a
balance in the customer segments we serve. We periodically rebalance our customer mix in keeping with
profitability goals. To this end, we chose to proactively exit a portion of our retail and corporate business
in EMEA and China during 2008.
•Geographic Diversification. Our presence in a larger number of markets than any other broad-based
technology products distributor provides us with a more balanced global portfolio with which to mitigate
risk. In our more mature markets we are leveraging our solid foundation as a market leader to spur
additional growth by bringing new products and services to market. We are positioned to take advantage
of higher growth potential in emerging markets. In these markets, wehave established strong management
teams versed in best practices provided by key management from established markets. We are the largest
IT distributor in the world, by net sales. Based on currently available data, we believe that we are the
market share leader, by net sales, in North America, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America and a strong number
two in Europe. These regional businesses provide a unique global footprint that is unmatched by any of
our broad-based distribution competitors. Ingram Micro is the only global broad-based distributor with
distribution operations in the Asia-Pacific region. Our broad global footprint enables us to serve our
resellers and suppliers with our extensive sales and distribution network while mitigating the risks
inherent in individual markets. Our global market coverage provides a competitive advantage with
suppliers looking for worldwide market penetration. The scale and flexibility of our operations enables
Ingram Micro to provide the infrastructure behind the technology value chain in all its new and traditional
forms. We are resolute in our efforts to continually optimize our global operations.
We have local sales offices and/or Ingram Micro representatives in 35 countries: North America (United
States and Canada), EMEA (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy,
Israel, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and United Kingdom), Asia-
Pacific (Australia, Bangladesh, the People’s Republic of China including Hong Kong, India, Indonesia,
Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam), and Latin America
(Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, and Peru). Additionally, we serve many other markets where we do not
have an in-country presence through our various export sales offices, including our general telesales
operations in numerous geographies. We sell our products and services to resellers in approximately
150 countries.
As of January 3, 2009, we had 108 distribution centers worldwide. We offer more than 1,500 suppliers
access to a global customer base of more than 170,000 resellers of various categories including VARs,
corporate resellers, direct marketers, retailers, Internet-based resellers, and government and education
resellers.
For a discussion of our geographic reporting segments, see “Item 8. Financial Statements and Supple-
mental Data.” A discussion of foreign exchange risks relating to our international operations is included
under the captions “Market Risk” and “Market Risk Management” in “Item 7. Management’s Discussion
and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.”
•Competitive Differentiation through Superior Execution. We are committed to enhancing customer
loyalty and share of business by continually strengthening our value proposition. Through our understanding
and fulfillment of the needs of our reseller and supplier partners, we provide our customers with the supply
chain tools they require to increase the efficiency of their operations, enabling them to minimize inventory
levels, improve customer delivery, and enhance profitability. We provide business information to our
customers, suppliers, and end-users by leveraging our information systems. We give resellers, and in some
cases their customers, real-time access to our product inventory data. By providing improved visibility to all
participants in the supply chain, we allow inventory levels throughout the channel to more closely reflect
4