Plantronics 2002 Annual Report Download - page 25

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Please find page 25 of the 2002 Plantronics 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.

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capital improvements, these efforts allowed us to deliver $76.8 million in cash flow from
operating activities. We will continue our systematic internal improvement process in fiscal 2003
with the goal of further leveraging our core competencies into yet stronger competitive advantages.
Confidence in Plantronics’ future is strong among our employees/associates, who now
number over 2,300 worldwide. Their confidence stems from their own first-hand knowledge
and understanding of our opportunities as well as our plans to transform opportunities
into profits. Despite the relentless background of layoffs and losses in the telecom industry
and the decline in their profit sharing, our internal survey indicated that 97% of our
associates felt our current business direction was positive. External votes of confidence are
also strong as we further strengthened our position as the partner-of-choice with the leaders
in the communications industry.
Delivering on a people-centric mission like ours at Plantronics requires the development
of products that are even smaller and more intuitive, and it requires products that
compensate for noisy environments or people’s own loss of hearing. Our products must “fit”
into the applications and the wireless technologies that people are using to communicate.
To be prepared with the right products, our spending on product and technology
development actually rose $3.3 million last year despite the 20% drop in our sales and we
intend to further increase our spending this year, because we believe it will position us
well when an economic recovery begins.
1970: Introduced the StarSet® headset, an over-the-ear
headset with a unique clear voice tube; total headset
shipments reached 1,000,000.
1972: Plantronics opened Plamex, our manufacturing
facility in Tijuana Mexico.
1983: Introduced Supra®, the world’s most popular headset.
1984: Plantronics named official headset of the 1984
Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
1970’s 1980’s
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