Commitments and Contingencies

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Commitments and Contingencies

Commitments and Contingencies

Data Storage Purchase Commitment

In June 2019, we entered into a purchase agreement for cloud data storage with a 3 year term beginning July 1, 2019. The purchase agreement includes a total commitment of $50.0 million, with an up-front prepayment of $15.0 million that was made in July 2019. The current balance of the prepayment is included within prepaid expenses and other current assets on our consolidated balance sheet. Storage fees under this agreement were $7.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2019, and were recorded in cost of service sales. The remaining purchase commitment at December 31, 2019 was $43.0 million.

Purchase commitments

We routinely enter into cancelable and non-cancelable purchase orders with many of our key vendors. Based on the strategic relationships with many of these vendors, our ability to cancel these purchase orders and maintain a favorable relationship would be limited. As of December 31, 2019, we had approximately $137.9 million of open purchase orders.

Litigation

Product Litigation

As a manufacturer of weapons and other law enforcement tools used in high-risk field environments, we are often the subject of products liability litigation concerning the use of our products. We are currently named as a defendant in eight lawsuits in which the plaintiffs allege either wrongful death or personal injury in situations in which a TASER CED was used by law enforcement officers in connection with arrests or training. While the facts vary from case to case, these product liability claims typically allege defective product design, manufacturing, and/or failure to warn. They seek compensatory and sometimes punitive damages, often in unspecified amounts.

We continue to aggressively defend all product litigation. As a general rule, it is our policy not to settle suspect injury or death cases. Exceptions are sometimes made where the settlement is strategically beneficial to us. Due to the confidential nature of our litigation strategy and the confidentiality agreements that are executed in the event of a settlement, we do not identify or comment on specific settlements by case or amount. Based on current information, we do not believe that the outcome of any such legal proceeding will have a material effect on our financial position, results of operations, or cash flows. We are self-insured for the first $5.0 million of any product claim made after 2014. No judgment or settlement has ever exceeded this amount in any products case. We continue to maintain product liability insurance coverage, including an insurance policy fronting arrangement, above our self-insured retention with various limits depending on the policy period.

Other Litigation

We are a defendant in a litigation matter filed by Digital Ally Inc. (“Digital”) in the District of Kansas alleging patent infringement regarding our Axon Signal technology. Axon was granted summary judgment of non-infringement on June 17, 2019 and judgment was entered in our favor on all of Digital's claims. Digital's appeal is scheduled for oral argument on April 6, 2020.

We are also a defendant in a consumer class action lawsuit filed in the District of Nevada on April 9, 2019 by Douglas Richey (“Richey”). The case alleges the TASER Pulse, X2 and X26P CEDs have a faulty safety switch based on Richey’s Pulse allegedly discharging inside its neoprene case in a jacket pocket without injury. Any such discharge was likely due to static electricity, as disclosed in our consumer warnings. We will vigorously defend this claim and the propriety of any class certification.

The litigation information in this note is current through the date of these financial statements.

U.S. Federal Trade Commission Enforcement Action

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) filed an enforcement action on January 3, 2020 regarding Axon’s May 2018 acquisition of Vievu LLC from Safariland LLC. The FTC alleges the merger was anticompetitive and adversely affected the body worn camera ("BWC") and digital evidence management systems ("DEMS") market for “large metropolitan police departments.” The administrative hearing is set for May 19, 2020. If successful, the FTC may require us to divest Vievu and other assets, which could be material to Axon. We are vigorously defending the matter. At this time, we cannot predict the eventual scope, duration, or outcome of this request and accordingly we have not recorded any liability in the accompanying financial statements.

Also on January 3, 2020, we sued the FTC in the District of Arizona for declaratory and injunctive relief alleging the FTC’s structure and administrative processes violate Article II of the U.S. Constitution and our Fifth Amendment rights to due process and equal protection. We further seek a declaration on the merits of the Vievu acquisition’s lawfulness. Motions for a preliminary injunction and a stay of the FTC administrative proceedings remain pending.

General

From time to time, we are notified that we may be a party to a lawsuit or that a claim is being made against us. It is our policy to not disclose the specifics of any claim or threatened lawsuit until the summons and complaint are actually served on us. After carefully assessing the claim, and assuming we determine that we are not at fault or we disagree with the damages or relief demanded, we vigorously defend any lawsuit filed against us. We record a liability when losses are deemed probable and reasonably estimable. When losses are deemed reasonably possible but not probable, we determine whether it is possible to provide an estimate of the amount of the loss or range of possible losses for the claim, if material for disclosure. In evaluating matters for accrual and disclosure purposes, we take into consideration factors such as our historical experience with matters of a similar nature, the specific facts and circumstances asserted, the likelihood of our prevailing, the availability of insurance, and the severity of any potential loss. We reevaluate and update accruals as matters progress over time.

Based on our assessment of outstanding litigation and claims as of December 31, 2019, we have determined that it is not reasonably possible that these lawsuits will individually, or in the aggregate, materially affect our results of operations, financial condition or cash flows. However, the outcome of any litigation is inherently uncertain and there can be no assurance that any expense, liability or damages that may ultimately result from the resolution of these matters will be covered by our insurance or will not be in excess of amounts recognized or provided by insurance coverage and will not have a material adverse effect on our operating results, financial condition or cash flows.

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

Under certain circumstances, we use letters of credit and surety bonds to guarantee our performance under various contracts, principally in connection with the installation and integration of our Axon cameras and related technologies. Certain of our letters of credit contracts and surety bonds have stated expiration dates, with others being released as the contractual performance terms are completed. We expect to fulfill all contractual performance obligations related to outstanding guarantees. At December 31, 2019, we had outstanding letters of credit of approximately $2.7 million, which are expected to expire in May 2020 and September 2021. Additionally, we had approximately $24.0 million of outstanding surety bonds at December 31, 2019, with $0.5 million expiring in 2020, $2.3 million expiring in 2021, $2.3 million expiring in 2022, $7.5 million expiring in 2023 and the remaining $10.5 million expiring in 2024.