Plantronics 2013 Annual Report Download - page 21

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Mr. Trads joined Clarity (formerly Walker-Ameriphone) in 2003 as President. Prior to joining Plantronics, from 1994 to 1998,
Mr. Trads served as a Senior Vice President at GN Resound. From 1998 to 2003, Mr. Trads served as President of GN Resounds'
North American operation. From 1991 to 1994, Mr. Trads was Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Dancall Radio A/S, a
manufacturer of cell phones and cordless phones. Mr. Trads holds a degree in Business Administration and Management from
the Copenhagen Business School in Denmark.
Mr. Vanhoutte joined Plantronics in 2003 as Managing Director of Europe, Middle East, and Africa (“EMEA”). Effective for
fiscal year 2013, Mr. Vanhoutte served as Managing Director of Europe and Africa. Prior to joining Plantronics, from 2001 to
2003, Mr. Vanhoutte served as Corporate Vice President of Marketing at Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications. In 2001, he
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. Mr. Vanhoutte held various management positions at Dell Computer Corporation and Nokia Data, which was merged
into Fujitsu-ICL Systems Inc. Mr. Vanhoutte studied Applied Economics and Engineering at the University of Leuven, Belgium.
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
You 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.
Adverse or uncertain economic conditions may materially adversely affect us.
Our operations and performance are dependent on worldwide economic conditions. Uncertainty regarding future economic
conditions makes it more challenging for us to forecast operating results, make business decisions, and identify the risks that may
affect our business, sources and uses of cash, financial condition, and results of operations. Global economic concerns, such as
the uncertain and slow pace of economic recovery or growth worldwide and the continued economic downturn in certain regions
of Europe and the Asia Pacific region, have increased uncertainty and unpredictability for our business as consumers and businesses
postpone or forego spending, increasing risk to our future outlook. A global economic downturn, inconsistent or declining business
hiring, a recurrence of recession in the U.S. or a more severe downturn in Europe, whether short-term or prolonged, may result
in reductions in sales of our products, longer sales cycles, slower adoption of new technologies, increased price competition, and
customer and supplier bankruptcies.
Replacement cycles of our Office and Contact Center ("OCC") headset products, in particular, are impacted by lower voluntary
employee turnover as new headset demand is typically created when employees change employers and transition to new job
opportunities. In the current economic environment, post-recession inconsistent domestic and international business hiring has
perpetuated employee reluctance to change jobs and limits the opportunities for unemployed workers to reenter the workforce.
As a consequence, voluntary employee turnover rates remain below historic non-recessionary levels which, therefore, impedes
sales of our OCC headsets.
Financial institutions continue to experience significant market pressure and increasing regulatory scrutiny in connection with a
variety of factors and events, including lenders' exposure to the sovereign debt of countries like Greece, Italy, Spain, Cyprus,
Portugal and failures of financial services institutions and low liquidity levels. As a result of the pressure and regulatory scrutiny,
lenders may be more likely to further consolidate, cease to do business, or be required to meet increased compulsory capitalization
thresholds, any of which could result in further tightening of the credit markets, a low level of liquidity in many financial markets,
and increased volatility in fixed income, credit, currency, and equity markets. There could be a number of negative effects on our
business, including impaired credit availability, increased financial instability and cautionary spending practices of our customers,
suppliers, distributors, and other sales channel sources. Any of these events could harm our business, results of operations, and
financial condition.
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