Mr. Kannappan: Plantronics was founded 41 years ago, and we invented the lightweight headset. The company has grown substantially since that point, expanding into new markets for call centers, for office professionals, for people using headsets with mobile phones and for people using headsets with personal computers. Our business has been impacted by the economic recession; in the call center business in particular, businesses are selling fewer products, so they have fewer incoming calls for orders, and consequently they have less need for customer service and support after the sale. In the office market, reduced spending and lower turnover levels impact us because headsets are typically replaced when people change jobs. The mobile business has also been impacted by a reduction in the rate of cellular subscriber growth. At the same time, the opportunity looking forward appears to be extremely strong. The fundamentals driving this opportunity include the availability of new wireless technologies that will allow people to talk more easily with their hands free, and the growing adoption of voice command and voice-dialing technologies, which enable people to simply talk rather than to use a dial pad or a keyboard.
TWST: What are the prospects overseas?
Mr. Kannappan: In Europe, we've seen earlier adoption of wireless
technologies, and in particular, of Bluetooth_ technology. We expect
that Bluetooth will be adopted more broadly in Europe before the United
States. Overall, our expectation is that more rapid international growth
is possible, because the adoption of call centers, the adoption of
headsets in the office, and the adoption of headsets for mobile and the
PC are still lagging behind US levels.
Tickers included in this excerpt: PLT
For more information call (212) 952 7433. The Wall Street Transcript does not endorse any of the comments made by interviewees, and does not make stock recommendations.