RISK FACTORS
Investing in our securities involves a high degree of risk. Before purchasing our common stock, you should carefully
consider each of the following risk factors as well as the other information contained in this prospectus supplement, the accompanying base prospectus, any related free writing prospectus and the
documents incorporated by reference herein or therein, including our consolidated financial statements and the related notes. Each of these risk factors, either alone or taken together, could
adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition, as well as adversely affect the value of an investment in our securities. The risks described below are not the only ones we
face. Additional risks of which we are not presently aware or that we currently believe are immaterial may also impair our business operations and financial position. If any of the events described
below were to occur, our financial condition, our ability to access capital resources, our results of operations and/or our future growth prospects could be materially and adversely affected and the
market price of our common stock could decline. As a result, you could lose some or all of any investment you may have made or may make in our securities.
RISKS RELATED TO THIS OFFERING AND OUR COMMON STOCK
You will experience immediate dilution in the book value per share of the common stock you purchase in this
offering.
Because the price per share of our common stock being offered is substantially higher than the book value per share of our common stock, you
will suffer substantial dilution in the net tangible book value of the common stock you purchase in this offering. If you purchase shares of common stock in this offering, you will suffer immediate
and substantial dilution of $0.63 per share in the net tangible book value of our common stock. See the description under the heading "Dilution" below for a more detailed discussion of the dilution
you will incur if you purchase common stock in this offering.
Our management will have broad discretion over the use of the net proceeds from this offering.
We currently anticipate using the net proceeds from this offering for general corporate purposes, including working capital and other general
and administrative purposes. We may also use the net proceeds from this offering for acquisitions of complementary products, technologies or businesses, but we do not have any current plans,
agreements or commitments for any specific acquisitions at this time. We have not reserved or allocated specific amounts for any of these purposes and we cannot specify with certainty how we will use
the net proceeds, and the timing and amount of our actual expenditures will be based on many factors, including, among others, cash flows from operations and any growth of our business. Accordingly,
our management will have broad discretion in applying the net proceeds of this offering and you will not have the opportunity, as part of your investment decision, to assess whether the proceeds are
being used appropriately. The net proceeds may be used for corporate purposes that do not increase our operating results or market value. Until the net proceeds are used, they may be placed in
investments that do not produce income or that lose value.
Our results of operations fluctuate significantly and are difficult to predict, and any failure to meet
investor or analyst expectations could cause the price of our common stock to decline.
Our operating results have fluctuated significantly in the past, and we expect they will continue to fluctuate from quarter-to-quarter and
year-to-year in the future due to a variety of factors, many of which are beyond our control. Factors relating to our business that may contribute to these quarterly and annual fluctuations include,
among others, the other risk factors described in this prospectus supplement. Due to the various factors described herein and others, the results of any prior quarterly or annual periods should not be
relied upon as an indication of our future operating performance. If our quarterly results of operations fall below the expectations of securities analysts or investors, the price of our common stock
could decline substantially. As a result of the significant fluctuations of our
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operating
results in prior periods, period-to-period comparisons of our operating results may not be meaningful and investors in our common stock should not rely on these comparisons.
Our principal stockholders have significant voting power and may take actions that may not be in the best
interest of our other stockholders.
As of August 10, 2017, 8.1% of our outstanding common stock was held by our directors and officers, including 7.8% held by Chun K. Hong,
our Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of our board of directors. As a result, Mr. Hong has the ability to exert substantial influence over all matters requiring approval by our stockholders,
including the election and removal of directors, any proposed merger, consolidation or sale of all or substantially all of our assets and other significant corporate transactions. This concentration
of control could be disadvantageous to other stockholders with interests different from those of Mr. Hong.
Anti-takeover provisions under our charter documents and Delaware law could delay or prevent a change of
control and could also limit the market price of our stock.
Our certificate of incorporation and bylaws contain provisions that could delay or prevent a change of control of our company or changes in our
board of directors that our stockholders might consider favorable. In addition, these provisions could limit the price that investors would be willing to pay in the future for shares of our common
stock. The following are examples of provisions which are included in our certificate of incorporation and bylaws, each as amended:
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our board of directors is authorized, without prior stockholder approval, to designate and issue preferred stock, commonly referred to as
"blank check" preferred stock, with rights senior to those of our common stock;
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stockholder action by written consent is prohibited;
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nominations for election to our board of directors and the submission of matters to be acted upon by stockholders at a meeting are subject to
advance notice requirements; and
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our board of directors is expressly authorized to make, alter or repeal our bylaws.
In
addition, we are governed by the provisions of Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, which may prohibit certain business combinations with stockholders owning
15% or more of our outstanding voting stock. These and other provisions in our certificate of incorporation and bylaws, and of Delaware law, could make it more difficult for stockholders or potential
acquirers to obtain control of our board of directors or initiate actions that are opposed by the then-current board of directors, including delaying or impeding a merger, tender offer, or proxy
contest or other change of control transaction involving our company. Any delay or prevention of a change of control transaction or
changes in our board of directors could prevent the consummation of a transaction in which our stockholders could receive a substantial premium over the then-current market price for their shares.
The price of and volume in trading of our common stock has and may continue to fluctuate significantly.
Our common stock has been publicly traded since November 2006. The price and trading volume of our common stock are volatile and have in the
past fluctuated significantly. This volatility could continue, in which case an active trading market in our common stock may never be sustained and stockholder may not be able to sell their shares at
the desired time or the desired price. The market price at which our common stock trades may be influenced by many factors, including, among others, the
following:
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our operating and financial performance and prospects, including our ability to achieve and sustain profitability in the future;
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investor perception of us and the industry in which we operate;
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the availability and level of research coverage of and market making in our common stock;
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changes in earnings estimates or buy/sell recommendations by analysts;
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any financial projections we may provide to the public, any changes to these projections or our failure to meet these projections;
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our announcement of significant strategic transactions or relationships or the initiation of legal proceedings, including patent infringement
actions;
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the results of legal proceedings in which we are involved;
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sales of newly issued common stock or other securities or the perception that such sales may occur; and
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general political, economic and market conditions, including volatility or uncertainty in these conditions.
In
addition, shares of our common stock and the public stock markets in general have experienced, and may continue to experience, extreme price and trading volume volatility, at times
irrespective of the state of the business of any particular company. These fluctuations may adversely affect the market price of our common stock.
In
2007, following a drop in the market price of our common stock, securities litigation was initiated against us. Given the historic volatility of our securities and securities in our
industry, we may become engaged in this type of litigation again in the future. Securities litigation, like other types of litigation, is expensive and time-consuming and could subject us to
unfavorable results.
We do not currently intend to pay dividends on our common stock, and any return to investors is expected to
come, if at all, only from potential increases in the price of our common stock.
We intend to use all available funds to finance our operations. Accordingly, while payment of dividends rests within the discretion of our board
of directors, no cash dividends on our common shares have been declared or paid by us in the past and we have no intention of paying any such dividends in the foreseeable future. Any return to
investors is expected to come, if at all, only from potential increases in the price of our common stock.
We may not be able to maintain our NASDAQ listing.
During 2015 and into early 2016, as well as during April and early May of 2017, there have been periods in which we were not compliant with
various applicable continued listing standards of the NASDAQ Stock Market ("NASDAQ"), including NASDAQ's rule requiring that the bid price of our common stock close at or above a minimum of $1.00 per
share. Although we received compliance letters from NASDAQ notifying us that we had regained compliance with the applicable continued listing requirements and we believe we are currently in compliance
with all such requirements for the NASDAQ Capital Market, we may again fail to comply with these requirements in the future. In that case, we would receive additional deficiency letters from NASDAQ
and our common stock could be delisted from trading on the NASDAQ Capital Market. Such a delisting could cause our common stock to be classified as a "penny stock," among other potentially detrimental
consequences, any of which could significantly impact our stockholders' ability to sell their shares of our common stock or to sell these shares at a price that a stockholder may deem acceptable.
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If securities or industry analysts issue an adverse opinion regarding our stock, our stock price and trading
volume could decline.
The trading market for our common stock is influenced by the research and reports that securities or industry analysts may publish about us, our
business, our market or our competitors. We currently have limited research coverage by securities and industry analysts. If any of the analysts who may cover us change their recommendation regarding
our common stock adversely, or
provide more favorable relative recommendations about our competitors, the trading price of our common stock would likely decline. If any analyst who may cover us were to cease coverage of our Company
or fail or to regularly publish reports on us, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which in turn could cause the trading price of our common stock or trading volume to decline.
RISKS RELATED TO OUR BUSINESS
We have historically incurred losses and may continue to incur losses.
Since the inception of our business in 2000, we have only experienced one fiscal year (2006) with profitable results. In order to regain
profitability, or to achieve and sustain positive cash flows from operations, we must reduce operating expenses and/or increase our revenues and gross margins. Although we have in the past engaged in
a series of cost reduction actions, such expense reductions alone may not make us profitable or allow us to sustain profitability if it is achieved and eliminating or reducing strategic initiatives
could limit our opportunities and prospects. Our ability to achieve profitability will depend on increased revenue growth from, among other things, monetization of our intellectual property, increased
demand for our memory subsystems and other product offerings and our ability to expand into new and emerging markets. We may not be successful in any of these pursuits and we may never achieve
profitability or sustain profitability if achieved.
We may not have sufficient working capital to fund our planned operations and, as a result, we may need to
raise additional capital in the future, which may not be available when needed, on acceptable terms or at all.
We believe that, taking into account our planned activities and our sources of capital, we have sufficient cash resources to satisfy our capital
needs for at least the next 12 months. However, our estimates of our operating revenues and expenses and working capital requirements could be incorrect, and we may use our cash resources
faster than we anticipate. Further, some or all of our ongoing or planned investments may not be successful and could result in further losses.
Our
capital requirements will depend on many factors, including, among others:
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the acceptance of, and demand for, our products and the component products we resell to customers directly;
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our success, and that of our strategic partners, in developing and selling products derived from our technology;
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the extent and timing of any investments in developing, marketing and launching new or enhanced products or technologies;
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the costs of developing, improving and maintaining our internal design, testing and manufacturing processes;
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the costs associated with defending and enforcing our intellectual property rights;
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our results of operations, including our levels of net product revenues and any other revenues we may receive, including NRE, license, royalty
or other fees;
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the amount and timing of vendor payments and the collection of receivables, among other factors affecting our working capital;
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our receipt of cash proceeds from the exercise of outstanding stock options or warrants to acquire our common stock;
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the nature and timing of acquisitions and other strategic transactions in which we participate, if any; and
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the costs associated with the continued operation, and any future growth, of our business.
We
expect to rely in the near term on cash provided by our operations, funds raised pursuant to recent issuances of debt and equity securities, such as our November 2015 issuance of the
SVIC Note, our September 2016 public offering of common stock, this offering, our new funding arrangement with TRGP for costs associated with certain of our legal proceedings, and borrowing
availability under our credit facility with Silicon Valley Bank ("SVB"). However, our estimates of our operating revenues and expenses and working capital requirements could be incorrect, and we may
use our cash resources faster than we anticipate. Further, some or all of our ongoing or planned investments may not be successful and could result in further losses. Until we can generate sufficient
revenues to finance our cash requirements from our operations, which we may never do, we may need to increase our liquidity and capital resources by one or more measures, which may include, among
others, reducing operating expenses, restructuring our balance sheet by negotiating with creditors and vendors, entering into strategic partnerships or alliances, raising additional financing through
the issuance of debt, equity or convertible securities or pursuing alternative sources of capital, such as through asset or technology sales or licenses or other alternative financing arrangements.
Further, even if our near-term liquidity expectations prove correct, we may still seek to raise capital through one or more of these financing alternatives. However, we may not be able to obtain
capital when needed or desired, on terms acceptable to us or at all.
Inadequate
working capital would have a material adverse effect on our business and operations and could cause us to fail to execute our business plan, fail to take advantage of future
opportunities or fail to respond to competitive pressures or customer requirements. A lack of sufficient funding may also
require us to significantly modify our business model and/or reduce or cease our operations, which could include implementing cost-cutting measures or delaying, scaling back or eliminating some or all
of our ongoing and planned investments in corporate infrastructure, research and development projects, business development initiatives and sales and marketing activities, among other activities.
Modification of our business model and operations could result in an impairment of assets, the effects of which cannot be determined. Furthermore, if we continue to issue equity or convertible debt
securities to raise additional funds, our existing stockholders may experience significant dilution, and the new equity or debt securities may have rights, preferences and privileges that are superior
to those of our existing stockholders. If we incur additional debt, it may increase our leverage relative to our earnings or to our equity capitalization or have other material consequences. If we
pursue asset or technology sales or licenses or other alternative financing arrangements to obtain additional capital, our operational capacity may be limited and any revenue streams or business plans
that are dependent on the sold or licensed assets may be reduced or eliminated. Moreover, we may incur substantial costs in pursuing any future capital-raising transactions, including investment
banking, legal and accounting fees, printing and distribution expenses and other similar costs, which would reduce the benefit of the capital received from the transaction.
We have incurred a material amount of indebtedness to fund our operations, the terms of which have required
us to pledge substantially all of our assets as security. Our level of indebtedness and the terms of such indebtedness could adversely affect our operations and liquidity.
We have incurred debt under our convertible note issued to SVIC, our credit facility with SVB, and our new funding arrangement with TRGP. In
connection with these debt and other arrangements, we have granted security interests to SVIC, SVB and TRGP in our various assets, such that all of our
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tangible
and intangible assets, including our complete patent portfolio, are subject to one or more outstanding liens held by one or more of these parties. The SVIC and SVB debt instruments and the
TRGP investment agreement contain customary representations, warranties and indemnification provisions, as well as affirmative and negative covenants that, among other things, restrict our ability
to:
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incur additional indebtedness or guarantees;
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incur liens;
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make investments, loans and acquisitions;
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consolidate or merge;
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sell or exclusively license assets, including capital stock of subsidiaries;
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alter our business;
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change any provision of our organizational documents;
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engage in transactions with affiliates;
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make certain decisions regarding certain of our outstanding legal proceedings without consulting with or obtaining consent from certain of
these parties; and
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pay dividends or make distributions.
The
SVIC and SVB debt instruments and the TRGP investment agreement also include events of default, including, among other things, payment defaults, any breach by us of representations,
warranties or covenants, certain bankruptcy events and certain material adverse changes. If an event of default were to occur under any of these instruments or agreements and we were unable to obtain
a waiver for the default, the counterparties could, among other remedies, accelerate our obligations under the debt instrument or other agreement and exercise their rights to foreclose on their
security interests, which would cause substantial harm to our business and prospects.
Additionally,
incurrence and maintenance of this or other debt could have material adverse consequences on our business and financial condition, such
as:
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requiring us to dedicate a portion of our cash flows from operations and other capital resources to debt service, thereby reducing our ability
to fund working capital, capital expenditures and other cash requirements;
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increasing our vulnerability to adverse economic and industry conditions;
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limiting our flexibility in planning for or reacting to changes and opportunities in our business and industry, which may place us at a
competitive disadvantage; and
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limiting our ability to incur additional debt when needed, on acceptable terms or at all.
We are and expect to continue to be involved in costly legal and administrative proceedings to enforce or
protect our intellectual property rights and to defend against claims that we infringe the intellectual property rights of others.
As is common in the semiconductor industry, we have experienced substantial litigation regarding patent and other intellectual property rights.
We are currently involved in litigation and proceedings at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ("USPTO") and Patent Trial and Appeal Board ("PTAB") based on alleged third-party infringement of our
patents, and lawsuits claiming that we are infringing others' intellectual property rights also have been and may in the future be brought against us.
The
process of obtaining and protecting patents is inherently uncertain. In addition to the patent issuance process established by law and the procedures of the USPTO, we must comply
with
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administrative
procedures of the Joint Electron Device Engineering Council ("JEDEC") to protect our intellectual property within its industry standard-setting process. These procedures evolve over
time, are subject to variability in their application and may be inconsistent with each other. Failure to comply with the USPTO's or JEDEC's administrative procedures could jeopardize our ability to
claim that our patents have been infringed.
Our
business strategy includes litigating claims against others, such as our competitors, customers and former employees, to enforce our intellectual property, contractual and commercial
rights including, in particular, our patent portfolio and our trade secrets, as well as to challenge the validity and scope of the proprietary rights of others. This or other similar proceedings could
also subject us to counterclaims or countersuits against us, or the parties we sue could seek to invalidate our patents or other intellectual property rights through reexamination or similar processes
at the USPTO or similar bodies. Moreover, any legal disputes with customers could cause them to cease buying or using our products or the component products we resell to customers directly or delay
their purchase of these products and could substantially damage our relationship with them.
Making
use of new technologies and entering new markets increases the likelihood that others might allege that our products or the component products we resell infringe on their
intellectual property rights. The likelihood of this type of lawsuit may also be increased due to the limited pool of experienced technical personnel that we can draw upon to meet our hiring needs. As
a result, a number of our existing employees have worked for our existing or potential competitors at some point during their careers, and we anticipate that a number of our future employees will have
similar work
histories. Moreover, lawsuits of this type may be brought, even if there is no merit to the claim, as a strategy to prevent us from hiring qualified candidates, drain our financial resources and
divert management's attention away from our business.
Litigation
is inherently uncertain. An adverse outcome in existing or any future litigation could force us to, among other things:
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relinquish patents or other protections of our technologies if they are invalidated, which would enable our competitors and others to freely
use this technology;
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compete with products that rely upon technologies and other intellectual property rights that we have developed and that we believe we have the
right to protect from third-party use;
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accept terms of an arrangement to license our technologies to a third party that are not as favorable as we might expect;
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cease manufacturing and/or selling products or using certain processes that are claimed to be infringing a third party's intellectual property;
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pay damages (which in some instances may be three times actual damages), including royalties on past or future sales, if we are found to
infringe a third party's intellectual property;
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seek a license from a third-party intellectual property owner to use its technology in our products or the component products we resell, which
may not be available on reasonable terms or at all; or
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redesign any products that are claimed to be infringing a third party's intellectual property, which may not be possible to do in a timely
manner, without incurring significant costs or at all.
Moreover,
any litigation, regardless of its outcome, would involve a significant dedication of resources, including time and costs, would divert management's time and attention and could
negatively impact our results of operations. As a result, any current or future infringement claims by or against third parties could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition or
results of operations.
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We are and expect to continue to be involved in legal proceedings at the ITC and related enforcement actions
to stop allegedly infringing SK hynix RDIMM and LRDIMM products from entering the United States, as well as legal proceedings in district court to seek damages for the alleged patent infringement. Our
involvement in these proceedings, as well as steps we have taken to implement certain of our strategies in connection with these proceedings, subject us to a number of risks.
On September 1, 2016, we took action to protect and defend our innovations by filing legal proceedings for patent infringement against SK
hynix and two of its subsidiaries in the ITC and in district court. We are seeking an exclusion order in the ITC that directs U.S. Customs and Border Protection to stop allegedly infringing SK hynix
RDIMM and LRDIMM products from entering the United States. ITC investigations typically proceed on an expedited basis. The evidentiary hearing in the ITC investigation occurred in May 2017, with a
final initial determination expected to be issued by the ITC in October 2017, but there can be no guarantee that our proceedings will follow such a timeline.
Intellectual
property litigation is expensive and time-consuming, regardless of the merits of any claim, and could divert management's attention from operating our business. Even if we
are successful at the ITC, we would then need to enforce the order which is expensive, time consuming and could divert management's attention from operating our business. In addition, lawsuits in the
ITC and in district courts are subject to inherent uncertainties due to the complexity of the technical issues involved, and we may not be successful in our actions. Moreover, if we are countersued by
SK hynix and lose the suit, we could be required to pay substantial damages or lose some of our intellectual property protections. Furthermore, we may not be able to reach a settlement with SK hynix
to license our patent
portfolio, and even if we are able to reach a settlement, the terms of the arrangement may not be as favorable as we anticipated. Any of the foregoing could cause us to incur significant costs,
decrease the perceived value of our intellectual property and materially adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.
We
have recently taken steps to solidify our position and strategy in connection with our proceedings against SK hynix. In May 2017, we established a funding arrangement with TRGP, which
generally provides that TRGP will directly fund the costs incurred by us or on our behalf in connection with the SK hynix proceedings, and in exchange for such funding, we have agreed to pay to TRGP
the amount of its funding plus an escalating premium starting at a low-to-mid double-digit percentage of the amount of its funding if and when we recover any proceeds from the proceedings, and we have
granted to TRGP a first priority lien on the claims underlying the proceedings and any proceeds received from the proceedings and a second priority lien on our patents that are the subject of the
proceedings. We established this funding arrangement in order to provide us with increased security that we will be able to vigorously pursue our claims against SK hynix through their final
resolution, but the arrangement also involves certain risks, including, among others, our obligation to use a portion of any proceeds we may receive from these proceedings to repay the funded amounts
at a premium, which premium would increase the longer the proceedings remain unresolved, and our obligation to consult with or obtain consent from TRGP in connection with certain decisions or other
matters relating to the SK hynix proceedings.
In
addition, in April 2017, we adopted a short-term rights agreement to implement a standard "poison pill." In general terms, for so long as the rights issued under the rights agreement
are outstanding, which is expected to be no longer than 12 months, the rights agreement prevents any person or group from acquiring a significant percentage of our outstanding capital stock or
attempting a hostile takeover of our Company by significantly diluting the ownership percentage of such person or group. As a result, the rights agreement has a significant anti-takeover effect. Our
board of directors approved the rights agreement as part of our strategy in connection with our proceedings against SK hynix, with the intent of disconnecting our market capitalization from the damage
calculations and any settlement negotiations that may develop in connection with these proceedings. However, the rights
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agreement
may not have the intended, or any, impact on these proceedings or any related settlement negotiations, but would have the anti-takeover effect of any standard "poison pill" and thus would
involve the risks associated with these anti-takeover effects, which are described elsewhere in these risk factors.
We may be unsuccessful in monetizing our intellectual property portfolio.
We have dedicated substantial resources to the development and protection of technology innovations essential to our business, and we expect
these activities to continue for the foreseeable future. We also intend to aggressively pursue monetization avenues for our intellectual property portfolio, potentially including licensing, royalty or
other revenue-producing arrangements. However, our revenues are currently generated by resales of component products and sales of our products and we may never be successful in generating a revenue
stream from our intellectual property, in which case our investments of time, capital and other resources into our intellectual property portfolio may not provide adequate, or any, returns.
Although
we may pursue agreements with third parties to commercially license certain of our products or technologies, we may never successfully enter into any such agreement. Further,
the terms of any such agreements that we may reach with third-party licensees are uncertain and may not provide sufficient royalty or other licensing revenues to us to justify our costs of developing
and maintaining the licensed intellectual property or may otherwise include terms that are not favorable to us. Additionally, the pursuit of licensing arrangements would require by its nature that we
relinquish certain of our rights to our technologies and intellectual property that we license to third parties, which could limit our ability to base our own products on such technologies or could
reduce the economic value that we receive from such technologies and intellectual property. Additionally, the establishment of arrangements to monetize our intellectual property may be more difficult
or costly than expected, may require additional personnel and investments and may be a significant distraction for management. In connection with any monetization avenues we may develop, our licenses
and royalty revenue may be uncertain from period to period and we may be unable to attract sufficient licensing customers, which would materially and adversely affect our results of operations.
Our
ability to establish licensing, royalty or similar revenues, and maintain or increase any such revenues we are able to establish, depends on a variety of factors, including the
novelty, utility, performance, quality, breadth, depth and overall perceived value of our intellectual property portfolio, all as compared to that of our competitors, as well as our sales and
marketing capabilities. If secured, licensing or royalty revenues may also be negatively affected by factors within and outside our control, including reductions in our customers' sales prices, sales
volumes and the terms of the license arrangements. If we are not successful in monetizing our intellectual property portfolio, we may never recoup the costs associated with developing, maintaining,
defending and enforcing this portfolio and our financial condition and prospects would be harmed.
The vast majority of our revenues in recent periods have been generated from resales of component products,
including products sourced from Samsung, and any decline in our resales of these products could significantly harm our performance.
The vast majority of our revenues in recent periods have been generated from resales of component products, including primarily NAND flash that
we purchase for the purpose of resale from Samsung and alternative suppliers. For our fiscal year ended December 31, 2016 and the six months ended July 1, 2017, resales of these
component products accounted for approximately 21% and 91% of our net product revenues, respectively. We purchase many of these products, including primarily NAND flash, from Samsung under the terms
of our JDLA with Samsung in order to resell these products to end-customers that are not reached in Samsung's distribution model, including storage customers, appliance customers, system builders and
cloud and datacenter customers. We have also
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sourced
these products from alternative suppliers to the extent sufficient product is not available from Samsung to meet customer demand.
These
component product resales are subject to a number of risks. For example, demand for these products could decline at any time for a number of reasons, including, among others,
product obsolescence, introduction of more advanced or otherwise superior competing products by our competitors, the ability of our customers to obtain these products or substitute products from
alternate sources, customers reducing their need for these products generally, or the other risk factors described in this prospectus supplement. Further, we have no long-term purchase agreements or
other commitments with respect to sales of these or any of our other products. As a result, demand for these products from us could decline at any time, and any reduced sales of these products could
materially adversely impact our revenues. In addition, increased resales of component products as a percentage of our total product revenues have a significant negative impact on our gross margin, as
the cost of the component products we purchase for resale from Samsung or alternative suppliers is added to our cost of sales for these products. As a result, our gross margin on the resale of
component products is significantly lower than our gross margin on sales of our own products. Further, to the extent we are not able to procure sufficient component products for resale from Samsung
under the terms of the JDLA to satisfy customer orders for these products, we would need to seek to procure these products from alternative suppliers, which may not be available on terms comparable to
those we have negotiated with Samsung under the JDLA and may be subject to other supply and manufacturing risks discussed elsewhere in these risk factors. As a result, any inability to source
sufficient component products from Samsung could increase our cost of sales associated with resales of these products if we are forced to pay higher prices to obtain these products from other
suppliers. The occurrence of any one or more of these risks could cause our performance to materially suffer
Our performance has historically been substantially dependent on sales of NVvault, and we may never be able
to replace the revenues lost from the rapid decline in NVvault sales in recent periods.
We have historically been substantially dependent on sales of our NVvault NVDIMM used in cache-protection and data-logging applications,
including our NVvault battery-free, the flash-based cache system. For our fiscal years ended December 27, 2014 and January 2, 2016, sales of NVvault accounted for 44% and 20% of total
net product revenues, respectively. However, we have experienced a sharp decline in NVvault sales in recent periods, and sales of NVvault accounted for only 1% and 0.2%of total net product revenues in
our fiscal year ended December 31, 2016 and the six months ended July 1, 2017, respectively. This rapid decline has been due in large part to the loss of our former most significant
NVvault customer, Dell, beginning in 2012. We recognized no NVvault sales to Dell in the year ended December 31, 2016 or the six months ended July 1, 2017, and we expect no future demand
from Dell for these products.
In
order to leverage our NVvault technology and secure one or more new key customers, we continue to pursue additional qualifications of NVvault with other original equipment
manufacturers ("OEMs") and to target new customer applications, such as online transaction processing, virtualization, Big Data analytics, high speed transaction processing, high-performance database
applications and in-memory database applications. We also introduced EXPRESSvault in March 2011 and the next-generation of EXPRESSvault (EV3) in July 2015, and we continue to pursue qualification of
the next-generation DDR3 NVvault and DDR4 NVvault with customers. Our future operating results will depend on our ability to commercialize these NVvault product extensions, as well as our other
products such as HybriDIMM and other high-density and high-performance solutions. However, HybriDIMM is still under development and may require additional investment and the services and attention of
key employees who have competing demands on their available time. Further, although we believe our JDLA with Samsung may advance the development of our HybriDIMM product, our partnership with Samsung
and any other steps we take to further the development of this or any of our
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other
products could fail. Moreover, the rate and degree of customer adoption of our NVvault product extensions and other next-generation products has been slower and smaller than expected to date,
and these products may never gain significant customer or market acceptance. If we are not successful in expanding our qualifications or marketing of new or enhanced products, we may never be able to
secure revenues sufficient to replace lost NVvault revenues and our results of operations and prospects could be materially harmed.
We are subject to risks relating to our focus on developing our HybriDIMM and NVvault products and a lack of
market diversification.
We have historically derived a substantial portion of our revenues from sales of our high-performance modular memory subsystems to
OEMs in the server, high-performance computing and communications markets, as well as from sales of component products to storage customers, appliance customers, system builders and cloud and
datacenter customers. Although we expect these memory subsystems to continue to account for a portion of our revenues, we have experienced declines in sales of these products in recent periods and
these declines could continue or intensify in the future. We believe that market acceptance of these products or derivative products that incorporate our core memory subsystem technology is critical
to our success, and any continued decline in sales of these products could have a material adverse impact on our performance and long-term prospects.
We
have invested significant research and development time and costs into the design of application-specific integrated circuits ("ASIC") and hybrid devices, including our NVvault family
of products and most recently our next-generation HybriDIMM memory subsystem. These products are subject to increased risks as compared to our legacy products. For
example:
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we are dependent on a limited number of suppliers for the DRAM ICs, NAND flash and ASIC devices that are essential to the functionality of
these products, and in the past we have experienced supply chain disruptions and shortages of DRAM and NAND flash required to create our NVvault family of products as a result of issues that are
specific to our suppliers or the industry as a whole;
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our products are generally subject to a product approval and qualification process with customers before purchases are made and we have
experienced a longer qualification cycle than anticipated with some of these products, including our HyperCloud memory subsystems;
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our NVvault products or other new products such as HybriDIMM may contain currently undiscovered flaws, the correction of which could result in
increased costs and time to market; and
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we are required to demonstrate the quality and reliability of our products to and qualify them with our customers, which requires a significant
investment of time and resources prior to the receipt of any revenues from these customers.
These
and other risks attendant to the production of our memory subsystem products could impair our ability to obtain customer or market acceptance of these products or obtain such
acceptance in a timely manner, which would reduce our achievable revenues from these products and limit our ability to recoup our investments in the products.
Additionally,
if the demand for servers deteriorates or if the demand for our products to be incorporated in servers continues to decline, our operating results would be adversely
affected, and we would be forced to diversify our product portfolio and our target markets in order to replace revenues lost from decreased sales of these products. We may not be able to achieve this
diversification, and our inability to do so may adversely affect our business, operating performance and prospects.
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Sales to a small number of varying customers represent a significant portion of our net product revenues, and
the loss of, or a significant reduction in sales to, any one of these customers could materially harm our business.
Sales to a small number of customers represent a substantial portion of our net product revenues. Approximately 16% of our net product revenues
in the three months ended July 1, 2017 were to one customer, which was a new customer in the second quarter of 2016, and approximately 11% of our net product revenues in the six months ended
July 1, 2017 were to a different customer, which was a new customer in the fourth quarter of 2016. Additionally, in the three and six months ended July 2, 2016, approximately 47% and
11%, and 35% and 12% of our net product revenues in the respective periods were to two customers, neither of which purchased many products or contributed a meaningful portion of our revenues in the
corresponding 2017 periods. The composition of major customers and their respective contributions to our net product revenues have varied and will likely continue to vary from period to period as our
existing and prospective customers progress through the life cycle of the products they produce and sell.
We
do not have long-term agreements with any of our customers and, as result, any or all of them could decide at any time to discontinue, decrease or delay their purchase of our products
or the component products we resell to these customers directly. In addition, the prices that customers pay for these products could change at any time. Further, we may not be able to sell some of our
products developed for one customer to a different customer because our products are often customized to address specific customer requirements, and even if we are able to sell these products to
another customer, our margin on these products may be reduced. Additionally, although customers are generally allowed only limited rights of return after purchasing our products or the component
products we resell, we may determine that it is in our best interest to accept returns from certain large or key customers even if we are not contractually obligated to accept them in order to
maintain good relations with these customers. Any returns beyond our expectations could negatively impact our operating results. Moreover, because a few customers account for a substantial portion of
our net product revenues, the failure of any one of these customers to pay on a timely basis would negatively impact our cash flows. As a result, the loss of any of our customers or a reduction in
sales to or difficulties collecting payments from any of them could significantly reduce our net product revenues and adversely affect our operating results.
Our
ability to maintain or increase our net product revenues to our key customers depends on a variety of factors, many of which are beyond our control. These factors include our
customers' continued sales of servers and other computing systems that incorporate our memory subsystems and our customers' continued incorporation of our products or the component products we resell
to these customers directly into their systems. Because of these and other factors, sales to these customers may not continue and the amount of such sales may not reach or exceed historical levels in
any future period.
We are subject to risks of disruption in the supply of component products.
Our ability to fulfill customer orders for or produce qualification samples of our products is dependent on a sufficient supply of
field-programmable gate arrays ("FPGAs"), ASICs, DRAM ICs and NAND flash, which are essential components of our memory subsystems. In addition, we purchase some of these component products from
Samsung under the terms of the JDLA and from alternative suppliers for the purpose of resale to end-customers that are not reached in Samsung's distribution model. We have no long-term supply
contracts for any of these component products. Further, there are a relatively small number of suppliers of these components and we typically purchase them from only a subset of these suppliers. As a
result, our inventory purchases have historically been concentrated in a small number of suppliers, including an affiliate of Samsung, from which we obtained a large portion of our total inventory
purchases in 2016 and the first six months of 2017. We also use consumables and
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other
components, including printed circuit boards ("PCBs"), to manufacture our memory subsystems, which we sometimes procure from single or limited sources to take advantage of volume pricing
discounts.
From
time to time, shortages in DRAM ICs and NAND flash have required some suppliers to limit the supply of these components. In the past, we have experienced supply chain disruptions
and shortages of DRAM and NAND flash required to create our HyperCloud, NVvault and Planar X VLP products, and we have been forced to procure component products that we resell to customers directly
from alternative suppliers to the extent we are not able to procure from Samsung sufficient quantities of these products to satisfy customer orders. We are continually working to secure adequate
supplies of the components necessary to fill customers' orders in a timely manner. If we are unable to obtain a sufficient supply of DRAM ICs, NAND flash or other essential components to avoid
interruptions in the delivery of our products as required by our customers or the delivery of these components to customers to whom we resell them directly, these customers may reduce future orders
for these products or not purchase these products from us at all, which would cause our net product revenues to decline and harm our operating results. In addition, our reputation could be harmed due
to failures to meet our customers' demands and, even assuming we are successful in resolving supply chain disruptions, we may not be able to replace any lost business and we may lose market share to
our competitors. Further, if our suppliers are unable to produce qualification samples of our products on a timely basis or at all, we could experience delays in the qualification process with
existing or prospective customers, which could have a significant impact on our ability to sell our products. Moreover, if we are not able to obtain these components in the amounts needed on a timely
basis and at commercially reasonable prices, we may not be able to develop or introduce new products, we may experience significant increases in our cost of sales if we are forced to procure these
components from alternative suppliers and are not able to negotiate favorable terms with these suppliers, or we may be forced to cease our resales of components we sell to customers directly.
Our
dependence on a small number of suppliers and the lack of any guaranteed sources for the essential components of our products and the components we resell to customers directly
expose us to several risks, including the inability to obtain an adequate supply of these components, increases in their costs, delivery delays and poor quality. Additionally, our customers qualify
certain of the components provided by our suppliers for use in their systems. If one of our suppliers experiences quality control or other problems, it may be disqualified by one or more of our
customers. This would disrupt our supplies of these components, and would also reduce the number of suppliers available to us and may require that we qualify a new supplier, which we may not be able
to do.
Declines
in customer demand for our products in recent periods have caused us to reduce our purchases of DRAM ICs and NAND flash for use as components in our products. Such declines or
other fluctuations could continue in the future. If we fail to maintain sufficient purchase levels with some suppliers, our ability to obtain supplies of these raw materials may be impaired due to the
practice of some suppliers to allocate their products to customers with the highest regular demand.
Frequent
technology changes and the introduction of next-generation versions of these component products may also result in the obsolescence of our inventory on-hand, which could involve
significant time and costs to replace, reduce our net product revenues and gross margin and adversely affect our operating performance and financial condition.
Our customers require that our products undergo a lengthy and expensive qualification process without any
assurance of sales.
Our prospective customers generally test and evaluate our memory subsystems before purchasing our products and integrating them into their
systems. This extensive qualification process involves rigorous reliability testing and evaluation of our products, which may continue for nine months or
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longer
and is often subject to delays. In addition to qualification of specific products, some of our customers may also require us to undergo a technology qualification if our product designs
incorporate innovative technologies that the customer has not previously encountered. Such technology qualifications often take substantially longer than product qualifications and can take over a
year to complete. Qualification by a prospective customer does not ensure any sales to that prospective customer, in which case we would receive no or limited revenues in spite of our investment of
time and other resources in this qualification process, which could adversely affect our operating results.
Even
after successful qualification and sales of our products to a customer, because the qualification process is both product-specific and platform-specific, our existing customers
sometimes require us to re-qualify our products or to qualify our new products for use in new platforms or applications. For example, as our OEM customers transition from prior generation
architectures to current generation architectures, we must design and qualify new products for use by these customers. In the past, this design and qualification process has taken up to nine months to
complete, during which time our net product revenues from these customers declined significantly. Additionally, after our products are qualified with existing or new customers, the customer may take
several months to begin purchasing the product or may decide not to purchase the product at all.
Likewise,
changes in our products, our manufacturing facilities, our production processes or our component suppliers may require a new qualification process. For example, when our memory
and NAND flash component vendors discontinue production of components, it may be necessary for us to design and qualify new products for our customers. As a result, some customers may require us, or
we
may decide, to purchase an estimated quantity of discontinued memory components necessary to ensure a steady supply of existing products until products with new components can be qualified. Purchases
of this nature may affect our liquidity. Additionally, our estimation of quantities required during the transition may be incorrect, which could adversely impact our results of operations through lost
revenue opportunities or charges related to excess and obsolete inventory.
We
must devote substantial resources, including design, engineering, sales, marketing and management efforts, to qualify our products with prospective customers in anticipation of sales.
Significant delays or other difficulties in the qualification process could result in an inability to keep up with rapid technology change or new, competitive products. If we delay or do not succeed
in qualifying a product with an existing or prospective customer, we would not be able to sell that product to that customer, which may result in our holding excess and obsolete inventory and could
reduce our net product revenues and customer base, any of which could materially harm our operating results and business.
If we are unable to timely and cost-effectively develop new or enhanced products that meet our customers'
requirements and achieve market acceptance or technologies that we can monetize, our revenues and prospectus could be materially harmed.
Our industry is characterized by rapid technological change, evolving industry standards and rapid product obsolescence. As a result, continuous
development of new technology, processes and product innovations is necessary in order to be successful. We believe that the continued and timely development of new products and improvement of
existing products are critical to our business and prospects for growth.
In
order to develop and introduce new or enhanced products and technologies, we need to:
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retain and continue to attract new engineers with expertise in high-performance modular memory subsystems and our key technology competencies;
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identify and adjust to the changing requirements of our existing and potential future customers;
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identify and adapt to emerging technological trends and evolving industry standards in our markets;
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continue to develop and enhance our design tools, manufacturing processes and other technologies that allow us to produce attractive and
competitive products;
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design and introduce cost-effective, innovative and performance-enhancing features that differentiate our products and technologies from those
of our competitors;
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secure licenses to enable us to use any technologies, processes or other rights essential to the manufacture or use of any new products we may
design, which licenses may not be available when needed, on acceptable terms or at all;
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maintain or develop new relationships with suppliers of components required for any new or enhanced products and technologies;
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qualify any new or enhanced products for use in our customers' products; and
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develop and maintain effective marketing strategies.
We
may not be successful at any of these activities. As a result, we may not be able to successfully develop new or enhanced products or we may experience delays in this process.
Failures or delays in product development and introduction could result in the loss of, or delays in generating, net products sales or other revenues and the loss of key customer relationships. Even
if we develop new or enhanced products or technologies, they may not meet our customers' requirements or gain market acceptance, as our product development efforts are inherently risky due to the
challenges of foreseeing changes or developments in technology or anticipating the adoption of new standards. Moreover, we have invested significant resources in our product development efforts, which
would be lost if we fail to develop successful products. If any if these risks were to occur, our net product revenues, prospects and reputation could be materially adversely affected.
We face intense competition in our industry, and we may not be able to compete successfully in our target
markets.
Our products are primarily targeted to OEMs in the server, high-performance computing and communications markets. In addition, we resell
certain component products to storage customers, appliance customers, system builders and cloud and datacenter customers. These markets are intensely competitive, as numerous companies vie for
business opportunities at a limited number of large OEMs and other customers. We face competition from DRAM suppliers, memory module providers and logic suppliers for many of our products,
including EXPRESSvault, NVvault and HybriDIMM. We also face competition from the manufacturers and distributors of the component products we resell to customers, as these manufacturers and
distributors could decide at any time to sell these component products to these customers directly. Additionally, if and to the extent we enter new markets or pursue licensing arrangements to monetize
our technologies and intellectual property portfolio, we may face competition from a large number of competitors that produce solutions utilizing similar or competing technologies.
Some
of our customers and suppliers may have proprietary products or technologies that are competitive with our products or the components we resell to them, or could develop internal
solutions or enter into strategic relationships with, or acquire, other high-density memory module or component providers. Any of these actions could reduce our customers' demand for our products or
the component products we resell. Some of our significant suppliers of memory integrated circuits may be able to manufacture competitive products at lower costs by leveraging internal efficiencies, or
could choose to reduce our supply of memory integrated circuits, which could adversely affect our ability to manufacture our memory subsystems on a timely basis, if at all.
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Certain
of our competitors have substantially greater financial, technical, marketing, distribution and other resources, broader product lines, lower cost structures, greater brand
recognition and longer standing relationships with customers and suppliers. Some of our competitors may also have a greater ability to influence industry standards than we do. Additionally, some of
our competitors may have more extensive or more established patent portfolios than we do. We may not be able to compete effectively against any of these organizations.
Our
ability to compete in our current target markets and future markets will depend in large part on our ability to successfully develop, introduce and sell new and enhanced products or
technologies on a timely and cost-effective basis and to respond to changing market requirements. We expect our competitors to continue to improve the performance of their current products and
potentially reduce their prices. In addition, our competitors may develop future generations and enhancements of competitive products or new or enhanced technologies that may offer greater performance
and improved pricing or render our technologies obsolete. If we are unable to match or exceed the improvements made by our competitors, our market position and prospects could deteriorate and our net
product revenues could decline.
A limited number of relatively large potential customers dominate the markets for the products we sell.
Our target markets are characterized by a limited number of large companies. Consolidation in one or more of our target markets may further
increase this industry concentration. As a result, we anticipate that sales of our products and the component products we resell will continue to be concentrated among a small number of large
customers in the foreseeable future. We believe that our financial results will depend in significant part on our success in establishing and maintaining relationships with and effecting substantial
sales to these potential customers. Even if we establish and successfully maintain these relationships, our financial results will be largely dependent on these customers' sales and business results.
If a standardized memory solution that addresses the demands of our customers is developed, our net product
revenues and market share may decline.
Many of our memory subsystems are specifically designed for our OEM customers' high-performance systems. In a drive to reduce costs and assure
supply of their memory module demand, our OEM customers may endeavor to design JEDEC standard DRAM modules into their new products. Although we also manufacture JEDEC modules, this trend could reduce
the demand for our higher-priced customized memory solutions, which would have a negative impact on our operating results. In addition, the adoption of a JEDEC standard module instead of a previously
custom module might allow new competitors to participate in a share of our customers' memory module business that previously belonged to us.
If
our OEM customers were to adopt JEDEC standard modules, our future business may be limited to identifying the next generation of high-performance memory demands of OEM customers and
developing solutions that address these demands. Until fully implemented, any next generation of products may constitute a significantly smaller market, which could reduce our revenues and harm our
competitive position.
If we fail to protect our proprietary rights, our customers or our competitors might gain access to our
proprietary designs, processes and technologies, which could adversely affect our operating results.
We rely on a combination of patent protection, trade secret laws and restrictions on disclosure to protect our intellectual property rights. We
have submitted a number of patent applications regarding our proprietary processes and technology. It is not certain when or if any of the claims in our patent applications will be allowed. As of
July 1, 2017, we had 68 U.S. and foreign patents issued, one
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German
utility model and 40 pending patent applications worldwide. Although we intend to continue filing patent applications with respect to the new processes and technologies that we develop, patent
protection may not be available for some of these processes or technologies, in which case they may remain unprotected from use by third parties, including our competitors.
Our
efforts to protect our intellectual property rights may not:
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prevent challenges to or the invalidation or circumvention of our intellectual property rights;
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keep our competitors or other third parties from independently developing similar products or technologies, duplicating, reverse engineering or
otherwise using our products or technologies without our authorization or designing around any patents that may be issued to us;
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prevent disputes with third parties regarding ownership of our intellectual property rights;
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prevent disclosure of our trade secrets and know-how to third parties or into the public domain;
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result in valid patents, including international patents, from any of our pending or future applications; or
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otherwise adequately protect our intellectual property rights.
Monitoring
for any unauthorized use of our technologies is costly, time-consuming and difficult. This is particularly true in foreign countries, such as the People's Republic of China
("PRC"), where we have established a manufacturing facility and where the laws may not protect our proprietary rights to the same extent as applicable U.S. laws.
If
some or all of the claims in our patent applications are not allowed or if any of our intellectual property protections are limited in scope by the USPTO, a court or applicable
foreign authorities or are circumvented by third parties, we could face increased competition for our products and be unable to execute on our strategy of monetizing our intellectual property. Any of
these outcomes could significantly harm our business, operating results and prospects.
Our operating results may be adversely impacted by worldwide economic and political uncertainties and
specific conditions in the markets we address and in which we or our strategic partners or competitors do business, including the cyclical nature of and volatility in the memory market and
semiconductor industry.
Adverse changes in domestic and global economic and political conditions have made it extremely difficult for our customers, our vendors and us
to accurately forecast and plan future business activities, and these conditions have caused and could continue to cause U.S. and foreign businesses to slow or decrease spending on our products and
services and the products we resell to customers directly. For instance, the current political instability in Korea could impact our operations and financial condition as a result of our dependence on
Samsung, a South Korean based company, as a key supplier and strategic partner, and our ongoing legal proceedings against SK hynix. In addition, sales of our products and the products we resell to
customers directly are dependent upon demand by OEMs in the server, high-performance computing and communications markets, as well as by storage customers, appliance customers, system builders
and cloud and datacenter customers. These markets are characterized by wide fluctuations in product supply and demand. Additionally, these markets have been cyclical and have experienced significant
downturns, often connected with or in anticipation of maturing product cycles, reductions in technology spending and declines in general economic conditions. During these downturns, product demand
diminishes, production capacity exceeds demand, inventory levels increase and average selling prices decline, all of which would materially adversely impact our business and operating results.
Additionally, such a downturn could decrease the perceived value of our intellectual property portfolio and result in reduced ability to pursue our goal of monetizing this portfolio.
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We
may experience substantial period-to-period fluctuations in our operating results due to factors affecting the markets in which we operate. A decline or significant shortfall in
demand in any of these markets could have a material adverse effect on demand for our products and the products we resell to customers directly and, consequently, on our net product revenues. In
addition, because many of our costs and operating expenses are relatively fixed, if we are unable to control our expenses adequately in response to reduced product revenues, our gross margins,
operating income and cash flows would be negatively impacted.
During
challenging economic times our customers may face issues gaining timely access to sufficient credit, which could impair their ability to make timely payments to us. This may
impair our liquidity and cash flows and require us to increase our allowance for doubtful accounts. Furthermore, our vendors may face similar issues gaining access to credit, which may limit their
ability to supply components or provide trade credit to us. We cannot predict the timing, strength or duration of any economic slowdown or subsequent economic recovery, either generally or in our
markets. If the economy or markets in which we operate experience such a slowdown, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected. Additionally,
the combination of our lengthy sales cycle coupled with any challenging macroeconomic conditions could compound the negative impact of any such downturn on the results of our operations.
Our lack of a significant backlog of unfilled orders and the difficulty inherent in estimating customer
demand makes it difficult to forecast our short-term requirements, and any failure to optimally calibrate our production capacity and inventory levels to meet customer demand could adversely affect
our revenues, gross margins and earnings.
We make significant decisions regarding the levels of business we will seek and accept, production schedules, component procurement, personnel
needs and other resource requirements based on our estimates of customer demand. We do not have long-term agreements with any of our customers. Instead, sales are made primarily pursuant to standard
purchase orders that we often receive no more than two weeks in advance of the desired delivery date and that may be rescheduled or cancelled on relatively short notice. The short-term nature of the
commitments by many of our customers and the fact that our customers may cancel or defer purchase orders for any reason reduces our backlog of firm orders and our ability to accurately estimate future
customer requirements for our products or the component products we resell to customers directly. This fact, combined with the quick turn-around times that apply to most orders, makes it difficult to
forecast our production and inventory needs and allocate production capacity efficiently. As a result, we attempt to forecast the demand for the components needed to manufacture our products and to
resell to customers directly, but any such forecasts could turn out to be wrong. Further, lead times for components vary significantly and depend on various factors, such as the specific supplier and
the demand and supply for a component at a given time.
Our
production expense and component purchase levels are to a large extent fixed in the short term. As a result, we may be unable to adjust spending on a timely basis to compensate for
any unexpected shortfall in customer orders. If we overestimate customer demand, we may have excess inventory of components, which may not be able to be used in other products or resold and may become
obsolete before any such use or resale. If there is a subsequent decline in the prices of these components, the value of our inventory would fall. As a result, we may need to write-down the value of
our component inventory, which may result in a significant decrease in our gross margin and financial condition. Also, to the extent that we order components or manufacture our products in
anticipation of future demand that does not materialize or in the event a customer cancels or reduces outstanding orders, we could experience an unanticipated increase in our component or finished
goods inventory. In the past, we have had to write-down inventory due to obsolescence, excess quantities and declines in
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market
value below our costs. Any significant shortfall of customer orders in relation to our expectations could hurt our operating results, cash flows and financial condition.
Conversely,
any rapid increases in demand by our customers could strain our resources and reduce our margins. If we underestimate customer demand, we may not have sufficient inventory of
necessary components on hand to meet that demand. We also may not have sufficient manufacturing capacity at any given time to meet any demands for rapid increases in production of our products. These
shortages of inventory and capacity could lead to delays in the delivery of our products or the component products we resell, which may force us to forego sales opportunities, reduce our net product
revenues and damage our customer relationships.
Declines in our average sales prices, driven by volatile prices for components and other factors, may result
in declines in our revenues and gross profit.
Our industry is competitive and historically has been characterized by declines in average sales price, based in part on market prices for DRAM
ICs, NAND flash and other component products, which historically have constituted a substantial portion of the total cost of our memory subsystems and in recent periods have constituted the vast
majority of the cost of resales of these products to customers directly. Our average sales prices may decline due to several factors, including overcapacity in the worldwide supply of these
components, increased manufacturing efficiencies, implementation of new manufacturing processes and expansion of manufacturing capacity by component suppliers.
Once
our prices with a customer are negotiated, we are generally unable to revise pricing with that customer until our next regularly scheduled price adjustment. As a result, if market
prices for essential components increase, we generally cannot pass the price increases on to our customers for products purchased under an existing purchase order. Consequently, we are exposed to the
risks associated with the volatility of prices for these components and our cost of sales could increase and our gross margins could decrease in the event of price increases. Alternatively, if there
are declines in the prices of these components, we may need to reduce our selling prices for subsequent purchase orders, which may result in a decline in our net product revenues.
In
addition, since a large percentage of our product revenues are to a small number of customers, these customers have exerted, and we expect they will continue to exert, pressure on us
to make price concessions. If not offset by increases in volume of sales or the sales of newly-developed products with
higher margins, decreases in average sales prices could have a material adverse effect on our business and operating results.
Our manufacturing operations involve significant risks.
We maintain a manufacturing facility in the PRC at which we produce most of our products. This internal manufacturing process allows us to
utilize our own materials and processes, protect our intellectual property and develop the technology for manufacturing. However, our manufacturing activities require significant resources to
maintain. For instance, we must continuously review and improve our manufacturing processes in order to maintain satisfactory manufacturing yields and product performance, try to lower our costs and
otherwise remain competitive. As we manufacture more complex products, the risk of encountering delays, difficulties or higher costs increases. The start-up costs associated with implementing new
manufacturing technologies, methods and processes, including the purchase of new equipment and any resulting manufacturing delays and inefficiencies, could negatively impact our results of operations.
Additionally,
we could experience a prolonged disruption, material malfunction, interruption or other loss of operations at our manufacturing facility or we may need to add manufacturing
capacity to satisfy any increased demand for our products. Under these circumstances, we may be forced to rely on third parties for our manufacturing needs, which could increase our manufacturing
costs, decreases our
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profit
margin, decrease our control over manufacturing processes, limit our ability to meet customer demand and delay new product development until we could secure a relationship with a third-party
manufacturer, which we may not be able to do in a timely manner, on acceptable terms or at all. If any of these risks were to occur, our operations, performance and customer relationships could be
severely harmed. In addition, we may need to expand our existing manufacturing facility or establish a new facility. Any need to expand or replace our manufacturing facility would be expensive and
time-consuming and could also subject us to factory audits by our customers that could themselves result in delays, unexpected costs or customer losses if we cannot meet the standards of any such
audits. Further, we may not be able to replace or increase our manufacturing capacity at all. The occurrence of any of these events could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial
condition and results of operations.
We depend on third parties to design and manufacture custom components for some of our products and the
component products we resell to customers directly, which exposes us to risks.
Significant customized components, such as ASICs, that are used in HyperCloud and some of our other products, as well as all of the component
products we resell, are designed and manufactured by third parties. The ability and willingness of third parties to enter into these engagements with us and perform in accordance with these
engagements is largely outside of our control. If one or more of our design or manufacturing partners experiences a manufacturing disruption, fails to dedicate adequate resources to the production of
our products or the components we purchase for resale, experiences financial instability or otherwise fails to perform its obligations to us in a timely manner or at satisfactory quality levels, our
ability to bring products to market or deliver products to our customers, as well as our reputation, could suffer and our business and prospects could be materially harmed. In the event of any failure
by our component manufacturers, we may have no readily available alternative source of supply for these components, since, in our experience, the lead time needed to establish a relationship with a
new design or manufacturing partner is substantial, and the time for our OEM customers to re-qualify our products with components from a new vendor is also significant. Additionally, if we need to
replace one of our component manufacturers, we may not be able to do so in a timely manner, on acceptable terms or at all. Further, we may not be able to redesign the customized components used in our
products to be manufactured by a new manufacturer, in which case we could infringe on the intellectual property of our current design or manufacturing partner when we redesign the custom components.
Such an occurrence could force us to stop selling certain of our products or the component products we resell or could expose us to lawsuits, license payments or other liabilities.
Our
dependence on third-party manufacturers exposes us to many other risks, including, among others: reduced control over delivery schedules, quality, manufacturing yields and costs; the
potential lack of adequate capacity during periods of excess demand; limited warranties on products supplied to us; and potential misappropriation of our intellectual property or the intellectual
property of others. We are dependent on our manufacturing partners to manufacture components with acceptable quality and manufacturing yields, to deliver these components to us on a timely basis and
to allocate a portion of their manufacturing capacity sufficient to meet our needs. However, these component manufacturers may not be able to achieve or maintain acceptable yields or deliver
sufficient quantities of components on a timely basis or at an acceptable cost. Additionally, our manufacturing partners may not continue to devote adequate resources to produce our products or the
component products we resell, or continue to advance the process design technologies on which the qualification and manufacturing of our products or the component products we resell are based.
Further, we could be exposed to liability if component manufacturers are found to infringe the intellectual property rights of others and we are held responsible for any such infringement. Any of
these risks could limit our ability to meet customer demand and materially adversely affect our business and operating results.
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If our products or the component products we resell do not meet quality standards or are defective or used in
defective systems, we may be subject to quality holds, warranty claims, recalls or liability claims.
Our customers require our products and the component products we resell to meet strict quality standards. If these products do not meet these
standards, our customers may discontinue purchases from us until we are able to resolve the quality issues that are causing us to not meet the standards, which we may not be able to do. These "quality
holds" could be costly and time-consuming to resolve and could have a significant adverse impact on our revenues and operating results.
If
these products are defectively manufactured, contain defective components or are used in defective or malfunctioning systems, we could be subject to warranty and product liability
claims, product recalls, safety alerts or advisory notices.
Although
we generally attempt to contractually limit our exposure to incidental and consequential damages, if these contract provisions are not enforced or if liabilities arise that are
not effectively limited, we could incur substantial costs in defending or settling product liability claims. While we currently have product liability insurance coverage, it may not provide coverage
under certain circumstances and it may not be adequate to satisfy claims made against us. We also may be unable to maintain insurance in the future at satisfactory rates or in adequate amounts.
Warranty
and product liability claims, product recalls, safety alerts or advisory notices, regardless of their coverage by insurance or their ultimate outcome, could have a material
adverse effect on our business, financial condition and ability to attract and retain customers.
We may become involved in non-patent related litigation and administrative proceedings that may materially
adversely affect us.
From time to time, we may become involved in various legal proceedings relating to matters incidental to the ordinary course of our business,
including commercial, employment, class action, whistleblower and other litigation and claims, as well as governmental and other regulatory investigations and proceedings. Such matters can be
time-consuming, divert management's attention and resources and cause us to incur significant expenses. Furthermore, because litigation is inherently unpredictable, the results of these actions could
subject us to monetary damages or other liabilities and have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Our indemnification obligations for the infringement by our products of the intellectual property rights of
others could require us to pay substantial damages.
As is common in our industry, we have a number of agreements in which we have agreed to defend, indemnify and hold harmless our customers and
suppliers from damages and costs that may arise from the infringement by our products of third-party patents, trademarks or other proprietary rights. The scope of these indemnities varies, but may, in
some instances, include indemnification for damages and expenses, including attorneys' fees. The term of these indemnification obligations is generally perpetual after execution of an agreement and
the maximum potential amount of future payments we could be required to make under these indemnification obligations is often unlimited. Any indemnification claims by customers could require us to
incur significant legal fees and could potentially result in our payment of substantial damages, and our insurance generally would not cover these fees or damages. As a result, the occurrence of any
of these risks could result in a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.
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We depend on a few key employees, and our business could be harmed if we lose the services of any of these
employees or are unable to attract and retain other qualified personnel.
To date, we have been highly dependent on the experience, relationships and technical knowledge of certain key employees. We believe that our
future success will be dependent on our ability to retain the services of these key employees, develop their successors and properly manage the transition of their roles should departures occur. The
loss of these key employees or their inability to provide their services could delay the development and introduction of new or enhanced products, negatively impact our ability to sell our existing
products, limit our ability to pursue our other business goals and strategies and otherwise harm our business. We do not have employment agreements with any of these key employees other than Chun K.
Hong, our President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of our board of directors. We maintain "Key Man" life insurance on Mr. Hong, but we do not carry "Key Man" life insurance on any of our
other key employees.
Our
future success also depends on our ability to attract, retain and motivate highly skilled engineering, manufacturing and other technical and sales personnel. Competition for
experienced personnel is intense. We may not be successful in attracting new engineers or other technical personnel or in retaining or motivating our existing personnel. If we are unable to hire and
retain engineers with the skills necessary to keep pace with the evolving technologies in our markets, our ability to continue to
provide our existing products and to develop new or enhanced products will be negatively impacted, which would harm our business. In addition, a general shortage of experienced engineers could lead to
increased recruiting, relocation and compensation costs to attract such engineers, which may exceed our expectations and resources. These increased costs may make hiring new engineers difficult or may
increase our operating expenses.
A
significant portion of our workforce consists of contract personnel. We invest considerable time and expense to train these contract personnel; however, they typically may terminate
their relationships with us at any time. As a result, we may experience high turnover rates in this contract personnel workforce, which may require us to expend additional resources to attract, train
and retain replacements. Additionally, if we convert any of these contract personnel into permanent employees, we may have to pay finder's fees to the contract agency. These risks associated with our
contract personnel workforce may involve increased costs or delays or failures in meeting customer requirements or developing new or enhanced products, any of which could materially adversely affect
our business and operating performance.
We rely on our internal and third-party sales representatives to market and sell our products and the
component products we resell, and any failure by these representatives to perform as expected could reduce our sales.
We primarily market and sell our products and the component products we resell to customers directly through a direct sales force and a network
of independent sales representatives. We have expended significant resources to build our internal sales and marketing function, but compared to many of our competitors, we have relatively little
experience creating a sales and marketing platform and developing a team to implement it. We may be unsuccessful in these efforts.
These
sales representatives generally may terminate their relationships with us at any time. As a result, our performance depends in part on our ability to retain existing and attract
additional sales representatives that will be able to market and support our products or the component products we resell effectively, especially in markets in which we have not previously distributed
these products. Our efforts to attract, train and retain these sales representatives to be knowledgeable about our industry, products and technologies are costly and time-consuming. If these efforts
fail, our investments in these sales representatives may not produce the expected benefits and our ability to market and sell our products or the component products we resell may be limited, which
could materially harm our
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financial
condition and operating results. Further, our reliance upon independent sales representatives subjects us to risks, as we have very little control over their activities and they are
generally free to
market and sell other, potentially competing products. As a result, these independent sales representatives could devote insufficient time or resources to marketing our products or the component
products we resell, could market them in an ineffective manner or could otherwise be unsuccessful in selling adequate quantities of these products.
Economic, geographic and political and other risks associated with our international sales and operations
expose us to significant risks.
Part of our growth strategy involves making sales to foreign corporations and delivering products to facilities located in foreign countries. To
facilitate this process and to meet the long-term projected demand for our products, we have established a manufacturing facility in the PRC, which performs most of our worldwide manufacturing
activities. Selling and manufacturing in foreign countries subjects us to additional risks not present with our domestic operations, as we are operating in business and regulatory environments in
which we have limited experience. Further, the geographic distance from our headquarters in Irvine, California, compounds the difficulties of running a manufacturing operation in the PRC. For
instance, we may not be able to maintain the desired amount of control over production capacity and timing, inventory levels, product quality, delivery schedules, manufacturing yields and costs.
Moreover, we will need to continue to overcome language and cultural barriers to effectively conduct these international operations. Our failure to meet applicable regulatory requirements or overcome
cultural barriers could result in legal consequences or production delays and increased turnaround times, which would adversely affect our business. In addition, changes to the labor laws of the PRC
could increase the cost of employing the local workforce. The increased industrialization of the PRC, as well as general economic and political conditions in the PRC, could also increase the cost of
local labor or the other costs of doing business in the PRC. Any of these factors could negatively impact the cost savings we experience from locating our manufacturing facility in the PRC.
Additionally, our management has limited experience creating or overseeing foreign operations, and the ongoing management of our PRC facility may require our management team to divert substantial
amounts of their time and attention, particularly if we encounter operational, legal or cultural difficulties or disruptions at our PRC facility.
To
date, all of our net product revenues have been denominated in U.S. dollars. In the future, however, some of our net product revenues may be denominated in Chinese Renminbi ("RMB").
The Chinese government controls the procedures by which RMB is converted into other currencies, which generally requires government consent. As a result, RMB may not be freely convertible into other
currencies at all times. If the Chinese government institutes changes in currency conversion procedures or imposes additional restrictions on currency conversion, our operations and our operating
results could be negatively impacted. In addition, Chinese law imposes restrictions on the movement of funds outside of the PRC. If we need or decide to repatriate funds from our Chinese operations,
we would be required to comply with the procedures and regulations of applicable Chinese law. Any failure to comply with these procedures and regulations could adversely affect our liquidity and
financial condition. Further, if we are able to repatriate funds from our Chinese operations, these funds would be subject to U.S. corporate income tax. In addition, fluctuations in the exchange rate
between RMB and U.S. dollars may adversely affect our expenses and results of operations, the value of our assets and liabilities and the comparability of our period-to-period results.
In
addition, international turmoil and the threat of future terrorist attacks, both domestically and internationally, have contributed to an uncertain political and economic climate,
both in the United States and globally, and have negatively impacted the worldwide economy. The economies of the PRC and other countries in which we make sales have been highly volatile in the recent
past, resulting in significant fluctuations in local currencies and other instabilities. These conditions could continue or
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worsen,
which could adversely affect our foreign operations and some of our customers or suppliers and our performance.
Our
international sales are subject to a number of additional risks, including regulatory risks, timing and availability of export licenses, difficulties in accounts receivable
collections, difficulties in managing distributors, lack of a significant local sales presence, difficulties in obtaining governmental approvals, compliance with a wide variety of complex foreign laws
and treaties and potentially adverse tax consequences. In addition, the United States or foreign countries may implement quotas, duties, tariffs, taxes or other charges or restrictions upon the
importation or exportation of our products or the products we resell to customers directly, leading to a reduction in sales and profitability in that country. This risk of increased trade barriers or
charges has become more pronounced following the results of the recent U.S. presidential election, as the trade policies of the current U.S. presidential administration, including withdrawal from the
Trans-Pacific Partnership and proposed revision to the North American Free Trade Agreement, could threaten or otherwise have a significant negative effect on our ability to continue to conduct our
international operations in the manner and at the costs as we have in the past. Any increased costs or regulatory obstacles with respect to our international operations, including our manufacturing
facility in the PRC and our international sales, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and prospects for growth.
Our operations could be disrupted by power outages, natural disasters or other factors.
Due to the geographic concentration of our manufacturing operations in our PRC facility and our small number of component suppliers, including
Samsung for the majority of the component products we resell to customers directly, a disruption resulting from equipment or power failures, quality control issues, human errors, government
intervention or natural disasters, including earthquakes and floods, could require significant costs to repair and could interrupt or interfere with the manufacture of our products or the component
products we resell to customers directly and cause significant delays in product shipments, which could harm our customer relationships, financial condition and results of operations. In July 2014,
our PRC facility suffered water damage as a result of heavy rain and floods, which forced us to temporarily halt manufacturing at the facility while necessary repairs or replacements were made to the
facility and to certain of our manufacturing equipment. This
incident caused us to incur additional expenses, as we shifted our manufacturing activities to a third-party facility in the PRC to mitigate the disruption in product shipments to our customers. While
we believe we were able to contain this disruption, we may not be able to secure alternative manufacturing capabilities if manufacturing at the PRC facility is disrupted in the future, in which case
our relationships with our customers could be materially harmed. Additionally, while we were able to favorably resolve our claim with our insurance carrier with respect to the damage to our facility
cause by the July 2014 incident, we may not experience the same outcome if a similar event occurs in the future, in which case we would be forced to bear the significant costs to repair any damage to
our manufacturing equipment and facility.
Difficulties with our global information technology systems, including any unauthorized access, could harm
our business.
Any failure or malfunctioning of our global information technology systems, errors or misuse by system users, difficulties in migrating
stand-alone systems to our centralized systems or inadequacy of the systems in addressing the needs of our operations could disrupt our ability to timely and accurately manufacture and ship products,
divert management's and key employees' attention away from other business matters and involve significant costs and other resources to repair or otherwise resolve, any of which could have a material
adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Any such event could also disrupt our ability to timely and accurately process, report and evaluate key operating metrics
and key components of our results of operations, financial position and
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cash
flows and could adversely affect our ability to complete other important business process, such as maintenance of our disclosure controls and procedures and evaluation of our internal control
over financial reporting.
We
store data about our business, including certain customer data, information about our and our customer's intellectual property and other proprietary information, on our global
information technology systems. While our systems includes security measures designed to prevent unauthorized access, third parties may circumvent these measures and gain unauthorized access to our
systems. This unauthorized access could be the result of employee error, employee malfeasance or other causes, including intentional misconduct by computer hackers. Because the techniques used to gain
unauthorized access to information technology systems evolve frequently and generally are not recognized until successful, we may be unable to anticipate these techniques or to implement adequate
preventative measures. Any security breach could result in disruption to our business, misappropriation or loss of data, significant resources to correct, loss of confidence in us by our customers,
damage to our reputation, legal liability and a negative impact on our performance.
Our failure to comply with environmental and other applicable laws and regulations could subject us to
significant fines and liabilities or cause us to incur significant costs.
We are subject to various and frequently changing U.S. federal, state and local and foreign laws and regulations relating to the protection of
the environment, including laws governing the discharge of pollutants into the air and water, the management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes and the clean-up of contaminated sites. In
particular, some of our manufacturing processes may require us to handle and dispose of hazardous materials from time to time. For example, in the past our manufacturing operations have used
lead-based solder in the assembly of our products. Today, we use lead-free soldering technologies in our manufacturing processes, as this is required for products entering the European Union. We could
incur substantial costs, including clean-up costs, civil or criminal fines or sanctions and third-party claims for property damage or personal injury, as a result of violations of or noncompliance
with these and other environmental laws and regulations. Although we have not incurred significant costs to date to comply with these laws and regulations, new laws or changes to current laws and
regulations to make them more stringent could require us to incur significant costs to remain in compliance.
We
are also subject to a variety of laws and regulations relating to other matters, including workplace health and safety, labor and employment, foreign business practices, public
reporting and taxation, among others. It is difficult and costly to manage the requirements of every authority having jurisdiction over our various activities and to comply with their varying
standards. Any changes to existing regulations or adoption of new regulations may result in significant additional expense to us and our customers. Further, our failure to comply with any applicable
laws and regulations may result in a variety of administrative, civil and criminal enforcement measures, including monetary penalties or imposition of sanctions or other corrective requirements, any
of which could materially adversely affect our reputation and our business.
Regulations related to "conflict minerals" may cause us to incur additional expenses and could limit the
supply and increase the cost of certain metals used in manufacturing our products.
In August 2012, the SEC adopted rules requiring disclosure of specified minerals, known as conflict minerals, that are necessary to the
functionality or production of products manufactured or contracted to be manufactured by public companies. The rules require companies to verify and disclose whether or not such minerals, as used in a
company's products or their manufacture, originate from the Democratic Republic of Congo or an adjoining country. Because our products contain certain conflict minerals and we or our manufacturers use
these conflict minerals in the manufacture of our products, we are required to comply with these disclosure rules. To comply with the rules, we are required to
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conduct
a reasonable country of origin inquiry each year and, depending on the results of that inquiry, we may be required to exercise due diligence on the source and chain of custody of conflict
minerals contained in or used to manufacture our products. Such due diligence must conform to a nationally or internationally recognized due diligence framework. We are also required to file a
disclosure report with the SEC of each year relating to our conflict mineral use.
The
due diligence activities required to determine the source and chain of custody of minerals contained in our products or used in their manufacture are time-consuming and may result in
significant costs. Due to the size and complexity of our supply chain, we face significant challenges in verifying the origins of the minerals used in our products. Further, these rules could affect
the availability in sufficient quantities and at competitive prices of certain minerals used in our products and their manufacture, which could result in increased material and component costs and
additional costs associated with potential changes to our products, processes or sources of supply. Additionally, if we are unable to sufficiently verify the origin of the minerals used in our
products through the due diligence measures that we implement, we may not be able to satisfy customers who require that our products be certified as "conflict-free," which could place us at a
competitive disadvantage.
Our internal control over financial reporting may not be effective, which could have a significant and
adverse effect on our business.
Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and the related rules and regulations of the SEC, which we collectively refer to as
Section 404, require us to evaluate our internal control over financial reporting and require management to report on the effectiveness of this internal control as of the end of each year.
Effective internal control is necessary for us to produce reliable financial reports and is important in our effort to prevent financial fraud. In the course of our Section 404 evaluations, we
or our independent registered public accounting firm may identify significant deficiencies or material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting. If we fail to maintain an effective
system of internal control over financial reporting or if management or our independent registered public accounting firm discover material weaknesses, we may be unable to produce reliable financial
reports or prevent fraud, which could harm our financial condition and results of operations, result in a loss of investor confidence and negatively impact our stock price. Further, our
Section 404 evaluations may lead us to conclude that enhancements, modifications or changes to our internal control over financial reporting are necessary or desirable. Implementing any such
changes would divert the attention of management, could involve significant time and costs and may negatively impact our financial results.
If we do not effectively manage any future growth we may experience, our resources, systems and controls may
be strained and our results of operations may suffer.
Any future growth we may experience could strain our resources, management, information and telecommunication systems and operating and
financial controls. To manage future growth effectively, including any expansion of volume in our manufacturing facility in the PRC, we must be able to improve and expand our systems and controls. We
may not be able to do this in a timely or cost-effective manner. In addition, our officers have relatively limited experience in managing a rapidly growing business. As a result, they may not be able
to manage any future growth we may experience. Any failure to manage any growth we may experience or improve or expand our existing systems and controls, or unexpected difficulties in doing so, could
harm our business.
If we acquire businesses or technologies or pursue other strategic transactions in the future, these
transactions could disrupt our business and harm our operating results and financial condition.
We evaluate opportunities to acquire businesses or technologies or pursue other strategic transactions, including collaboration or joint
development arrangements such as our JDLA with Samsung that might complement our current product offerings or enhance our intellectual property
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portfolio
or technical capabilities. We have no experience acquiring other businesses or technologies. Acquisitions and other strategic transactions entail a number of risks that could adversely
affect our business and operating results, including, among others:
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difficulties in integrating the operations, technologies or products of acquired companies or working with third parties with which we may
partner on joint development or collaboration relationships;
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the diversion of management's time and attention from the daily operations of the business;
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insufficient increases in revenues to offset increased expenses associated with an acquisition or strategic transaction;
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difficulties retaining business relationships with our existing suppliers and customers or the suppliers and customers of an acquired company;
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overestimation of potential synergies or a delay in realizing these synergies;
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entering markets in which we have no or limited experience and in which competitors have stronger market positions;
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the potential loss of key employees of our Company or an acquired company;
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exposure to contingent liabilities of an acquired company;
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depletion of cash resources to fund an acquisition or other strategic transaction, or dilution of existing stockholders or increased leverage
relative to our earnings or to our equity capitalization if we issue debt or equity securities to fund the transaction;
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adverse tax consequences; and
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incurrence of material charges, such as depreciation, deferred compensation charges, in-process research and development charges, the
amortization of amounts related to deferred stock-based compensation expense and identifiable purchased intangible assets or impairment of goodwill.
If
any of these risks were to occur, we may not be able to realize the intended benefits of an acquisition or strategic transaction and our operating results, financial condition and
business prospects could be materially negatively affected.
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