Ingram Micro 2010 Annual Report Download - page 12

security and mobility products — has generated new customer segments for our traditional IT products.
Our Ingram Micro Logistics business, which serves clients outside the IT industry, also has expanded our
customer set. Our position in the North American government sector has been strengthened by our GovEd
Alliance and our IMStimulus Program, which assists resellers and their end-user customers in capturing
funding for IT projects made available by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 in the
Healthcare, Education, Public Safety, Infrastructure, Energy and Broadband markets. Ingram Micro
North America’s IMHealth Program enables us to take advantage of one of the fastest growing vertical
markets. For example, through our distribution agreement with NextGen Healthcare Information Sys-
tems, Inc., our resellers can provide scalable healthcare information technology solutions to medical
practice providers.
We try to limit exposure to the impact of business fluctuations by maintaining a balance in the customer
segments we serve. We attempt to periodically rebalance our customer mix in keeping with profitability
goals.
•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 manage
and mitigate risk. During the recent recession, our global position allowed us to take advantage of markets
in Asia and Latin America that suffered a shallower economic downturn while preparing to capture
growth with the improvement in economic health in North America and Europe. 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 by leveraging our 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
and Latin America and number two in EMEA and Asia Pacific. 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 operations in 26 countries: North America (United States and Canada), EMEA (Austria,
Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the
United Kingdom), Asia Pacific (Australia, the People’s Republic of China including Hong Kong, India,
Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and Thailand), 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 geog-
raphies. We sell our products and services to resellers in approximately 150 countries.
As of January 1, 2011, we had 100 distribution centers worldwide (greater than 5,000 square feet in size).
We offer more than 1,400 suppliers access to a global customer base of more than 185,000 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 High Quality Execution. We are committed to enhancing customer
loyalty 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
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