Plantronics 2010 Annual Report Download - page 18

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10
Mr. Vanhoutte joined Plantronics in 2003 as Managing Director of Europe, Middle East, and Africa (“EMEA”). From 2001 until
2003, he served as Corporate Vice President of Marketing at Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications. From 2000 to 2001, Mr.
Vanhoutte served as Vice President of Strategic Market Development at Ericsson’s Personal Communications Division. From 1998
until 2000, he served as Senior Vice President of Products, Marketing and Sales at MCI WorldCom’s International Division in
London. From 1994 until 1998, Mr. Vanhoutte held various marketing and general management positions at Dell Computer
Corporation including, General Manager for the Business Systems Division in the U.S., Managing Director for Dell Direct in the
United Kingdom and Ireland, and Vice President of Products, Marketing & Services for EMEA. Beginning in 1991, he worked for
Nokia Data as Vice President of Marketing, which was merged into Fujitsu-ICL Systems Inc. where he continued as Vice President of
Marketing, Personal Systems and Client-Server Division until 1994. From 1985 until 1991, Mr. Vanhoutte worked in various
European marketing and division manager roles with Wang Laboratories. He started his career at Arthur Andersen’s Benelux
Information Consulting Division in 1977 where he specialized in structured programming and office automation. Mr. Vanhoutte
studied Applied Economics and Engineering at the University of Leuven, Belgium.
Mr. Wuerz joined Plantronics in 2007 as Senior Vice President of Worldwide Operations. Prior to Plantronics, Mr. Wuerz spent 28
years at HP where he held several senior positions. Most recently, Mr. Wuerz was the Worldwide Vice President of Operations and
Supply Chain for the Desktop Personal Computer organization, including consumer, commercial and workstation PCs. Prior to this
role, Mr. Wuerz held the same title for HP’s Consumer Desktop Personal Computer organization. In addition to Mr. Wuerz’s
operations roles at HP, he also held senior positions in other functional areas, including Research and Development and Human
Resources. Mr. Wuerz holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Missouri – Rolla and a Master of
Science in Electrical Engineering degree from Stanford University.
Executive officers serve at the discretion of the Board of Directors. There are no family relationships between any of the directors and
executive officers of Plantronics.
ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
Investors in our stock should carefully consider the following risk factors in connection with any investment in our stock. Our stock
price will reflect the performance of our business relative to, among other things, our competition, expectations of securities analysts
or investors, and general economic market conditions and industry conditions. Our business, financial condition and results of
operations could be materially adversely affected if any of the following risks occur. Accordingly, the trading price of our stock could
decline, and investors could lose all or part of their investment.
Economic conditions could continue to materially adversely affect the Company.
Our operations and performance depend significantly on worldwide economic conditions. Uncertainty about current global economic
conditions poses a risk as consumers and businesses have postponed spending in response to tighter credit, negative financial news
and/or declines in income or asset values, which have had a material negative effect on demand for our products. Other factors that
influence demand include job loss and creation, volatility in fuel and other energy costs, conditions in the residential real estate and
mortgage markets, labor and healthcare costs, access to credit, consumer confidence, and other macroeconomic factors affecting
consumer spending behavior. These and other economic factors have had a material adverse effect on demand for our products and on
our financial condition and operating results and may continue to have such an effect in the future.
As a result of the worldwide economic conditions described above, revenue in all portions of our business declined in the fourth
quarter of fiscal 2009 and in most portions of our business in the first and second quarters of fiscal 2010 in comparison to the
comparable periods in the prior years. In the third and fourth quarters of fiscal 2010, net revenues grew by 9% and 27%, respectively,
compared to the same periods in the prior year; however, revenues are still lower than fiscal 2008 levels for these periods and there is
no assurance that there will not be another economic slowdown or downturn. If worldwide economic conditions do not improve or if
they weaken below current levels, our forecasted demand may not materialize to the levels we require to achieve our anticipated
financial results, which, in turn, could have a material adverse effect on our revenue, profitability and the market price of our stock.