Electronic Arts 2011 Annual Report Download - page 86

Inventory, Working Capital, Backlog, Manufacturing and Suppliers
We manage inventory by communicating with our customers prior to the release of our products, and then using
our industry experience to forecast demand on a product-by-product and territory-by-territory basis. Historically,
we have experienced high turnover of our products, and the lead times on re-orders of our products are generally
two to three weeks. Further, as discussed in “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and
Results of Operations,” we have practices in place with our customers (such as price protection) that reduce
product returns.
We typically ship orders immediately upon receipt of the order. To the extent that any backlog may or may not
exist at the end of a reporting period, it would be an unreliable indicator of future results of any period.
In many instances, we are able to acquire materials on a volume-discount basis. We have multiple potential
sources of supply for most materials, except for the disk or cartridge component of our PLAYSTATION 3,
PlayStation 2, PSP, Wii and Nintendo DS and 3DS products.
Seasonality
Our business is highly seasonal with the highest levels of consumer demand and a significant percentage of our
sales occurring in the holiday season quarter ending in December and a seasonal low in sales volume in the
quarter ending in June. While our sales generally follow this seasonal trend, there can be no assurance that this
trend will continue. In addition, we defer the recognition of a significant amount of net revenue related to our
online-enabled packaged goods and digital content over an extended period of time (generally six months). As a
result, the quarter in which we generate the highest sales volume may be different than the quarter in which we
recognize the highest amount of net revenue. Our results can also vary based on a number of factors, including
title release dates, cancellation or delay of a key event or sports season to which our product release schedule is
tied, consumer demand for our products, shipment schedules and our revenue recognition policies.
Employees
As of March 31, 2011, we had approximately 7,600 regular, full-time employees, over 4,500 of whom were
outside the United States. We believe that our ability to attract and retain qualified employees is a critical factor
in the successful development of our products and that our future success will depend, in large measure, on our
ability to continue to attract and retain qualified employees. Approximately 3 percent of our employees, all of
whom work for DICE, our Swedish development studio, are represented by a union.
Executive Officers
The following table sets forth information regarding our executive officers as of May 24, 2011:
Name Age Position
John S. Riccitiello .................. 51 Chief Executive Officer
Eric F. Brown ...................... 46 Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer
Frank D. Gibeau .................... 42 President, EA Games Label
Peter R. Moore ..................... 56 President, EA SPORTS Label
Jeff Karp .......................... 46 Executive Vice President, EA Play Label
Nancy Smith ....................... 57 Executive Vice President, Global Publishing
Joel Linzner ....................... 59 Executive Vice President, Business and Legal Affairs
Gabrielle Toledano .................. 44 Executive Vice President, Human Resources and Facilities
Kenneth A. Barker .................. 44 Senior Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer
Stephen G. Bené .................... 47 Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate
Secretary
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