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## What are the growth trends in your industry? 

Accor ding to information published in April 2003 by IDC, a leading provider of technology intelligence and market data, spending on worldwide information technology (IT) is pr ojected to grow at a compound annual rate of approxi- mately 6 percent through 2007. Our goal is to grow sales at a rate exceeding the overall growth of IT spending. 

Sales of enterprise computer systems make up a significant portion of overall IT spending. IDC data indi- cate that $675 billion will be spent worldwide in 2003 on enterprise hardware, software and services. That is r oughly 80 percent of the projected total IT spending. In the United States alone, $310 billion is expected to be spent on enterprise hardware, software and services in 2003, which is 83 percent of the country’s total IT spending. For the longer term, IDC projects compound annual growth of 4 to 7 percent through 2007 for enter- prise hardware, software and services. 

## How do you plan to use the cash resulting from the sale of the electronic components distribution business? 

We have already used some of the proceeds to pay down debt and will continue to work on reducing our debt as appropriate. The remaining proceeds from the sale will also enhance our ability to fund the growth of our ongoing 

business, as well as give us the financial flexibility to make acquisitions that would expand our business. 

## What kinds of acquisitions would the Company consider? 

Any acquisition that we make would provide us the oppor- tunity to accelerate the growth of our business by expanding our customer base, extending our reach into new markets and/or broadening the range of solutions we offer. In addition, the acquisition must be accretive to earnings over an appropriate period of time and consis- tent with our financial targets (as stated in the Letter to Shar eholders on page 5). 

## What will the Company be like five years from now? 

Simply stated, our goal is to achieve growth at more sus- tainable, higher levels of profitability. Everything that we have done with our strategic transformation is consis- tent with that goal. We intend to achieve our targets by being the best in our industry at what we do. With our singular focus, we now have the ability to become the largest, as well as the best, particularly in North America. Five years from now and beyond, we expect to be the r ecognized leader in our industry, producing steady, prof- itable growth and consistently improved returns for our shar eholders. 

singular focus. 

Through our strong relationships with suppliers and resellers, we deliver solutions to meet the business challenges of end-users. 

