TomTom 2005 Annual Report Download - page 15

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ever,฀was฀introduced฀in฀the฀spring฀of฀2004.฀In฀the฀autumn฀
of฀that฀year฀we฀launched฀TomTom฀MOBILE,฀a฀new฀
navigation฀solution฀designed฀to฀turn฀smartphones฀into฀
in-car฀navigators.
In฀February฀2005฀Marina฀Wyatt,฀a฀CFO฀with฀listed฀
company฀experience฀with฀Colt฀Telecom฀and฀Psion,฀joined฀
the฀company฀and฀helped฀TomTom฀to฀go฀public฀on฀the฀
Amsterdam฀Stock฀Exchange฀in฀May฀2005.
Harry฀van฀de฀Kraats฀joined฀as฀HR฀Director฀in฀June฀2005฀
after฀previously฀working฀for฀10฀years฀in฀various฀HR฀
management฀positions฀at฀Unilever.฀As฀the฀company฀
grows,฀we฀believe฀it฀is฀key฀to฀attract฀and฀retain฀good฀and฀
experienced฀people.฀
Market,฀Strategy฀and฀Prospects
We฀operate฀in฀under-penetrated฀markets.฀In฀Western฀
Europe,฀only฀around฀10%฀of฀the฀200฀million฀cars฀on฀the฀
road฀are฀equipped฀with฀navigation฀devices,฀while฀in฀
various฀surveys฀more฀than฀40%฀of฀car฀drivers฀indicate฀
that฀they฀would฀be฀very฀interested฀in฀a฀navigation฀
solution.฀The฀market฀is฀growing฀rapidly.฀
The฀North฀American฀market฀is฀lagging฀behind฀the฀
European฀market฀with฀approximately฀5%฀of฀cars฀
equipped฀with฀navigation฀devices฀there.฀However,฀
consumer฀acceptance฀is฀growing.฀Our฀advertising฀
campaign฀in฀the฀US฀in฀the฀fourth฀quarter฀of฀2005฀was฀
very฀successful฀and฀as฀a฀direct฀result฀we฀are฀now฀seeing฀
increased฀interest฀from฀retailers฀in฀the฀category฀as฀a฀
whole.฀This฀has฀translated฀into฀more฀shelf฀space฀for฀
personal฀navigation฀devices฀and฀into฀more฀awareness฀of฀
personal฀navigation฀on฀the฀shop฀floor.
Our฀goal฀is฀to฀be฀the฀leading฀provider฀of฀high-quality฀and฀
easy฀to฀use฀personal฀navigation฀products฀that฀have฀broad฀
consumer฀appeal.฀We฀aim฀to฀achieve฀this฀goal฀by:
•
฀ ฀Expanding฀our฀portfolio฀of฀products.฀We฀believe฀that฀
providing฀a฀broad฀portfolio฀of฀personal฀navigation฀
products฀and฀services฀is฀critical฀to฀our฀business.฀
We฀intend฀to฀accomplish฀this฀by฀expanding฀our฀range฀
of฀integrated฀personal฀navigation฀products฀and฀
enhancing฀the฀navigation฀experience.฀In฀particular,฀
we฀believe฀that฀adding฀more฀functionality฀to฀the฀
TomTom฀GO฀and฀expanding฀this฀family฀of฀products฀to฀
target฀new฀segments฀of฀the฀navigation฀market฀will฀be฀
key฀drivers฀of฀our฀continued฀growth;
•
฀ ฀Continuing฀to฀innovate.฀We฀believe฀that฀our฀focus฀on฀
innovation฀is฀instrumental฀in฀our฀continued฀success.฀
We฀plan฀to฀maintain฀our฀competitive฀advantage฀by฀
continuing฀to฀focus฀on฀technical฀innovation฀and฀the฀
expansion฀of฀our฀product฀engineering฀and฀design฀
capabilities;
•
฀ ฀Increasing฀the฀depth฀and฀breadth฀of฀our฀distribution฀
channels.฀We฀intend฀to฀enhance฀our฀relationships฀with฀
our฀distributors฀and฀retailers฀by฀increasing฀our฀retail฀
store฀distribution฀and฀developing฀new฀distribution฀
channels;
•
฀ ฀Building฀the฀TomTom฀brand.฀We฀believe฀that฀consumer฀
decisions฀to฀purchase฀our฀products฀are฀influenced฀by฀
brand฀recognition.฀Our฀goal฀is฀to฀build฀the฀TomTom฀
brand฀into฀the฀most฀widely฀recognised฀brand฀in฀
personal฀satellite฀navigation฀in฀our฀key฀markets;
•
฀ ฀Expanding฀our฀global฀footprint.฀To฀date,฀our฀business฀
has฀been฀focused฀on฀the฀Western฀European฀market,฀
North฀America฀and฀Australia.฀We฀aim฀to฀continue฀to฀
expand฀our฀international฀operations฀while฀continuing฀to฀
strengthen฀our฀competitive฀position฀in฀our฀existing฀
markets;
•
฀ ฀Continuing฀to฀invest฀in฀highly฀qualified฀personnel.฀We฀
believe฀that฀the฀quality฀and฀skills฀of฀our฀employees฀
have฀been฀critical฀to฀our฀success.฀We฀intend฀to฀
continue฀to฀place฀emphasis฀on฀creating฀a฀culture฀that฀
fosters฀innovation,฀creativity฀and฀teamwork.฀We฀also฀
intend฀to฀continue฀to฀recruit฀talented,฀innovative฀and฀
entrepreneurial฀personnel฀in฀order฀to฀support฀our฀
technology฀development฀and฀growth฀strategies;