TO OUR SHAREHOLDERS:
Entering 2009 we understood we were facing the most
significant management challenge seen in many years. That
expectation was realized in the first half of the year —which
was characterized by considerable uncertainty in many of our
markets, combined with a collapse of confidence among our
customers. Second-half conditions reflected less uncertainty
and early signs of recovery but remained tentative. This lack
of market clarity created painful choices as we strove to balance
prudent short-term cost cutting and longer-term investments
in the initiatives that provide the platform for future growth.
Despite aggressive cost cuts we avoided the elimination of
any key development programs or start-up businesses.
Revenue for 2009 was down approximately 15 percent
compared to 2008. Non-GAAP operating income was
down approximately 32 percent compared to 2008 and
diluted non-GAAP EPS was $1.04 compared to $1.54 in
2008. Although all businesses suffered from the economy,
Engineering and Construction segment results were most
adversely affected. Field Solutions segment results reflected
the effects of slower government spending, overall economic
conditions, and the comparison to exceptionally strong
2008 results. Mobile Solutions segment financial results
were not impressive, although underlying momentum continues
to build as we were awarded a number of large contracts (with
significant recurring revenues). The Advanced Devices segment
produced lower revenue and profitability due to the economy.
We currently expect meaningful performance improvement
in most of our markets during 2010. In contrast to a year
ago, when our efforts were focused on mitigating the damage
created by a relative economic meltdown, we have returned
to an environment in which we can hold ourselves account-
able for managing to targeted outcomes. This return to growth
assumes a modest economic recovery and a return of business
confidence sufficient to encourage investment.
Last year we identified a number of short-term priorities that
guided us through the crisis. Although our environment has
improved, the priorities remain valid as we selectively transition
back to pursuing an agenda of growth.
Retain and reinforce our organizational capabilities
Navigating the difficult environment of the last two years
has placed substantial stress on the organization and on our
employees, who remain a unique resource. The organiza-
tion reacted to adversity with competency, maturity and
commitment and, as a result, we are poised to engage our
opportunities.
The continued development of our organization is the central
consideration in our future success. If we are to achieve the
potential we see in our strategy, we need to pursue
a standard that includes the conventional concepts of
organizational excellence but with additional, unique
elements that enable us to make a compelling contribution
to the markets in which we participate.
Our core organizational concept remains centered on
focused divisions with an emphasis on responsiveness,
accountability and transparency. This has resulted in a
relatively large number of businesses, with each assigned a
clear market task and the resources necessary to achieve it.
These relatively autonomous units have been the engines
that have created much of our market and financial success
over the last ten years. We continue to augment this core
structure to better leverage the expanding Trimble technology
capabilities, to address the requirements of international
markets, to pursue larger-scale industry opportunities,
and to more effectively participate in alliances with other
companies. Our primary goal in managing this complexity is
to perfect a values-driven culture with a particular emphasis
on effective collaboration.
Maintain and reinforce our business model
The current Trimble portfolio is capable of generating a
non-GAAP operating margin of greater than 20 percent—a
level we achieved prior to the late 2008 economic crisis.
This margin performance, combined with our relatively low
level of capital intensity, provides the basis for generating
long-term returns greater than our cost of capital. Our
emphasis during 2008 was on protecting this model by scaling
our costs to altered revenue levels—while maintaining a
balance between the short and long terms. Our non-GAAP
operating margin in 2009 was 15.3 percent, which is below
historical levels but still provides us with a solid foundation for
improvement. It also reflects the robustness of our financial
model in adverse circumstances and the adaptability of the
Trimble organization.
The foundation for delivering superior financial organi-
zational performance remains our emphasis on providing
increasing levels of value to our users. This becomes
an organizational mandate that forces the Trimble orga-
nization to think in terms of providing solutions, not just
products. To make this concept more than a cliché requires
a real commitment to the customer—which can be a test in
difficult times. An example of our commitment is the Trimble
Dimensions user conferences we held in 2009—one in Las
Vegas and one in China. These provided a comprehensive
educational forum for our users and allowed Trimble to
emphasize its role as a solutions provider. Although these
events represented significant costs to us in a difficult year,
we were gratified by the results. Each event had more than
2,000 participants and allowed us to demonstrate our
commitment to the market.
Use this period as an opportunity to improve
The benefit of hard times is the requirement to reconsider
fundamentals. Practices that were acceptable in easier times
can be re-evaluated and improved. While our culture is typically
self-demanding and values continual improvement, the
difficult circumstances during 2009 intensified expectations.
In spite of cost reductions, in 2009 we improved in a number
of key areas including customer satisfaction, product quality,
and manufacturing cost.
A key element in this improvement process is our Trimble
Delivers program which was established a number of years
ago to drive fundamental change within Trimble. Trimble
Delivers has successfully addressed a broad array of issues
across the organization utilizing tools such as Six Sigma and
Lean Manufacturing techniques. More importantly, over the
long term, it is institutionalizing a culture of improvement.
Improve our strategic position
We entered 2009 with a strong balance sheet, strong operating
cash flows, a strong organization, an abundance of ideas,
and the determination to succeed. We were resolved to not
passively wait out the recession but to use it as an opportu-
nity to strengthen our long-term advantage. This opportunity
requires us to effectively exploit the few broad themes that
define our strategy.
The first theme is that of market penetration. We define this
as the percentage of users actually using our technology
against the total number of users that could potentially benefit
from the use of the technology. Virtually all Trimble businesses
have penetration levels of substantially less than 50 percent.
During 2009 we continued to reinforce and develop our
capabilities to penetrate the market. A key point of focus has
been our third-party distribution channel, which has been
faced with unprecedented challenges due to the economy.
Because our product solutions require concept selling and
are built up over time, any erosion of capabilities in the
distribution channel during a recession may make it difficult
to respond effectively upon recovery. We are gratified by the
response of our independent dealers to the challenges of the
last two years. They responded quickly and decisively to the
deterioration in the market, and Trimble intervention was
required in only a handful of cases. Additionally, although
the economy delayed the expansion of the SITECH channel in
2009, we continue to establish new SITECH dealers globally
and we expect the channel to become a major source of
market leverage for us.
geographic comfort zone of North America and Western
Europe. During 2009 we continued to expand and develop
our international capabilities, with much of the effort con-
centrated in emerging markets such as China, India, Russia,
Brazil, and Africa. Examples of this increased activity level
include two new joint ventures in China, the establishment
of a sales office in Nairobi, and the initiation of assembly
operations in Brazil.
A third theme is the commitment to technological innovation.
Despite a reduction of R&D spending in 2009, our spending
level was over 12 percent of revenue, consistent with our
long-term trend. We continued to aggressively introduce
new products in 2009 and we expect to continue this
trend in 2010. Despite the need to constrain our spending
in 2009, we continued to develop our product capabilities
in our emerging market areas including software products
for utilities, forestry, building information modeling (BIM),
and power, process and plant. We also introduced a com-
prehensive new product class for our Spectra Precision- and
Nikon-branded survey instruments.
A fourth strategic theme is the targeted and selective use
of acquisitions. Our efforts in 2009 were focused on
extending our technology platform in agriculture, BIM,
and fleet management. Our criteria for acquisition remains
unchanged—to create or expand market beachheads or
to fill in technology or product gaps. While acquisitions
are not central to our core strategy, we expect we will
continue to use them selectively to explore adjacencies
and extend our overall strategic leadership.
Although the conditions of the last 18 months have
created greater strategic ambiguity, we believe Trimble’s
fundamentals remain grounded, with the potential to pro-
duce significant long-term shareholder returns. Our path
to creating long-term value remains centered on achieving
compelling market leadership, generating financial
performance well within the top quartile of the universe
of comparable companies, and creating an organization
uniquely capable of engaging the opportunities.
Going forward, we hope to look back on the business
environment in 2009 as an unpleasant, but educational,
memory. We believe we came out of the year stronger
than we entered.
My thanks to everyone who contributed.
A second strategic theme is that of internationalization. To
achieve our potential we need to move beyond our traditional
Steve Berglund
President and CEO
MARKETS SERVED
PRODUCT EXAMPLES
REPRESENTATIVE CUSTOMERS
Engineering and
Construction
51% of total revenue
Field Solutions
26% of total revenue
Mobile Solutions
14% of total revenue
Advanced Devices
9% of total revenue
Survey
Integrated surveying solutions:
GNSS systems
Total stations
Inertial/GNSS positioning and orientation systems
Digital levels and theodolites
Spatial imaging:
3D laser scanners
Spatial stations
Processing, analyzing and information management software
Engineering products:
Data collectors/field computers
Field and office application software
Construction
Machine control systems
GNSS-based site positioning and measuring systems
Building Information Model (BIM) software
Laser and optical leveling and alignment tools
Field and office application software
Life cycle project management solutions
Construction operations and asset management solutions
Infrastructure
GNSS reference networks and software
GeoSpatial
Road asset management systems
Pavement inspection systems
Aerial LIDAR/imaging systems
Photogrammetry and LIDAR software
Power, Process and Plant
3D laser scanning and imaging systems
Positioning solutions for asset management
Agriculture
Manual and automated steering systems for farm vehicles
Flow and overlap control for chemical, fertilizer, seed application
Grade control systems for irrigation and drainage
Reporting and planning software
Mapping and GIS
Handheld GNSS data collectors
Field and office application software
Utilities
Utility field inspection and asset management tools
Fleet and Mobile Worker Management
Mobile resource management solutions
Scheduling and dispatch
Vehicle diagnostics
Field service software
Forestry
Forestry fleet management and optimization solutions
Public Safety
Electronic citations and field-based reporting
Embedded GNSS Products
Chipsets and boards
Embedded silicon and firmware
Timing
3G and 4G base station clocks for telecommunications
Time and frequency boards and instruments
Applanix
Integrated inertial/GNSS positioning and orientation systems
Indoor mobile mapping solutions
Defense
GPS receivers for aircraft
Military time and frequency boards
Trimble Outdoors™ Service
Mapping software on GPS-enabled mobile phones
Web-based mapping application
Surveyors
Civil engineers
Construction contractors
Transportation companies
Cities and government agencies
Cadastral agencies and companies
Utilities
Oil and gas engineers
Mapping contractors
Architects
Specialized applications such as:
Railway monitoring
Tunneling
Mining
Earthmoving contractors
General construction contractors
Concrete contractors
Mechanical, electrical, plumbing contractors
Wall and ceiling contractors
Transportation agencies
Civil engineers and design firms
Construction rental companies
Utilities
Natural resource agencies
Government agencies
Transportation agencies
Aerial mapping companies
Government agencies
Oil refinery engineering and operations
Power and petrochemical plant engineering
and operations
Farmers
Agricultural contractors
Government agencies
Environmental/natural resource agencies
Utilities
Transportation companies
Water, electric and gas utilities
Construction supply contractors
Transportation and distribution companies
Private fleets
Telco fleets
Direct store delivery
Field service
Oil and gas
Utilities
Government agencies
Forestry management companies
Land management companies
Police and sheriffs’ departments
Electronics OEMs
Portable appliance manufacturers
Wireless infrastructure providers
Wireless location solution providers
Surveying and mapping contractors
Building owners and facility managers
U.S. Department of Defense
Allied defense ministries
Defense contractors
Outdoor enthusiasts
FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
Revenue
in $ millions
EBITDA
in $ millions
Cash Flow from Operations
in $ millions
1400
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
240
200
160
120
80
40
0
05 06 07 08 09
05 06 07 08 09
05 06 07 08 09
COMPARISON OF 5-YEAR CUMULATIVE TOTAL RETURN*
Among Trimble Navigation Limited, the NASDAQ composite index and the S&P information technology sector index
$300
$250
$200
$150
$100
$50
$0
12/04 12/05 12/06 12/07 12/08 12/09
* The following graph compares the cumulative 5-year total return provided shareholders on Trimble Navigation
Limited’s common stock relative to the cumulative total returns of the NASDAQ Composite index and the S&P
Information Technology index. An investment of $100 (with reinvestment of all dividends) is assumed to have been
made in our common stock and in each of the indexes on 12/31/2005 and its relative performance is tracked through
12/31/2009. The Company has never paid dividends on its Common Stock and has no present plans to do so.
The Company adopted a 52-53 week fiscal year effective upon the end of fiscal year 1997, and the actual date of the
Company’s 2009 fiscal year end was January 1, 2010. Any variations due to any differences between the actual date
of a particular fiscal year end and the calendar year end for such year are not expected to be material.
Copyright © 2010, Standard & Poor’s, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
The stock price performance included in this graph is not necessarily indicative of future stock price performance.
—————————————Trimble Navigation Limited NASDAQ Composite S&P Information Technology
MANAGEMENT INFORMATION
EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
SHAREHOLDER INFORMATION
Steven W. Berglund
President and Chief Executive Officer
Rajat Bahri
Chief Financial Officer
Richard A. Beyer
Vice President
Bryn Fosburgh
Vice President
Ulf J. Johansson, Ph.D
Chairman
Business Consultant
Director, Telefon AB LM Ericsson
Nickolas W. Vande Steeg
Vice Chairman
Trustee, Azusa Pacific University
Venture Capital Investor
Business Consultant
Director, Wabtec Corporation
Corporate Headquarters
Trimble Navigation Limited
935 Stewart Drive
Sunnyvale, California 94085
Phone: (408) 481-8000
www.trimble.com
Independent Auditors
Ernst & Young LLP
San Jose, California
Christopher W. Gibson
Vice President
Steven W. Berglund
President and Chief Executive Officer
John B. Goodrich
Secretary
Business Consultant
William Hart
Venture Capital Investor
Business Consultant
Merit E. Janow
Professor
International Economic
Law and International Affairs,
Columbia University
Bradford W. Parkinson, Ph.D
Professor (Emeritus)
Department of Aeronautics and
Astronautics, Stanford University
Mark S. Peek
Chief Financial Officer, VMware, Inc.
Mark A. Harrington
Vice President
Jim Veneziano
Vice President
Dennis L. Workman
Vice President
Ann Ciganer
Vice President
Strategic Policy
John E. Huey
Treasurer
James A. Kirkland
Vice President and General Counsel
Jürgen Kliem
Vice President
Strategy and
Business Development
Bruce E. Peetz
Vice President
Advanced Technology and Systems
Julie Shepard
Vice President of Finance
Mary Kay Strangis
Vice President of Human Resources
Transfer Agent & Registrar
American Stock Transfer & Trust Company
59 Maiden Lane
Plaza Level
New York, New York 10038
(800) 937-5449
Investor Relations Contact
(408) 481-7838
investor_relations@trimble.com
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
The Company’s annual report on Form 10-K, as
filed with the Securities Exchange Commission,
accompanies this annual report to shareholders
and is also available on the Investor Relations
section of the Company’s website at: www.
trimble.com
Trimble Investor Information
Traded: The NASDAQ Stock Exchange
Symbol: TRMB
©2010, Trimble Navigation Limited. All rights
reserved. Trimble, the Globe and Triangle logo,
SITECH and Spectra Precision are registered
trademarks of Trimble Navigation Limited or
its subsidiaries, registered in the United States
and/or in other countries. Trimble Outdoors is
a trademark of Trimble Navigation Limited. All
other trademarks are the property of their re-
spective owners.
Australia
Eppings, NSW
Fortitude Valley, QLD
Melbourne, VIC
Canada
Kamloops, British Columbia
Vancouver, British Columbia
Richmond Hill, Ontario
Toronto, Ontario
Montréal, Québec
China
Beijing
Shanghai
France
Fontenay-sous-Bois
Germany
Biberach an der Riß
Braunschweig
Höhenkirchen-Siegertsbrunn
Jena
Kaiserslautern
Kirchheim u.T.-Jesingen
Raunheim
Stuttgart
Wunstorf
India
Chennai
New Delhi
Ireland
Cork
Italy
United Arab Emirates
Vimercate (MI)
Dubai
Japan
Tokyo
Kenya
Nairobi
Korea
Seoul
Mexico
Tecate, BC
The Netherlands
Eersel
New Zealand
Christchurch
Russia
Moscow
Singapore
South Africa
Gauteng
Spain
Madrid
Sweden
Danderyd
Thailand
Bangkok
United Kingdom
Derby
Glossop
Hook
Ipswich
United States
Huntsville, AL
Tempe, AZ
Folsom, CA
Fremont, CA
Long Beach, CA
Redding, CA
Sunnyvale, CA
Ukiah, CA
Englewood, CO
Westminster, CO
Deerfield Beach, FL
Alpharetta, GA
Ames, IA
Oelwein, IA
Pondera, IA
Mound City, IL
Waltham, MA
Dayton, OH
Corvallis, OR
Plano, TX
Chantilly, VA
CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS
Trimble Navigation Limited
935 Stewart Drive
Sunnyvale, California 94085
(408) 481-8000
www.trimble.com