UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM
(Mark One)
ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For the fiscal year ended
OR
TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 FOR THE TRANSITION PERIOD FROM TO |
Commission File Number
(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its Charter)
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c/o Cambium Networks, Inc. |
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Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
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Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None
Indicate by check mark if the Registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☐
Indicate by check mark if the Registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Act. Yes ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant: (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.
Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to submit such files).
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
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If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act.
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal controls over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report
If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to §240.10D-1(b). ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☐ No
The aggregate market value of the ordinary shares held by non-affiliates on June 30, 2022 (the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter), based on the last sale price of the common shares on that date of $14.65 was $
As of February 23, 2023 there were
DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE
Table of Contents
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Page |
PART I |
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Item 1. |
4 |
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Item 1A. |
14 |
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Item 1B. |
38 |
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Item 2. |
39 |
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Item 3. |
39 |
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Item 4. |
39 |
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PART II |
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Item 5. |
40 |
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Item 6. |
41 |
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Item 7. |
Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations |
42 |
Item 7A. |
52 |
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Item 8. |
53 |
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Item 9. |
Changes in and Disagreements With Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure |
53 |
Item 9A. |
53 |
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Item 9B. |
53 |
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Item 9C. |
Disclosure Regarding Foreign Jurisdictions that Prevent Inspection |
53 |
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PART III |
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Item 10. |
54 |
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Item 11. |
54 |
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Item 12. |
Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Shareholder Matters |
54 |
Item 13. |
Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence |
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Item 14. |
54 |
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PART IV |
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Item 15. |
55 |
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Item 16 |
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Note regarding forward-looking statements
This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. All statements other than statements of historical fact contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, including statements regarding our future results of operations and financial position, business strategy and plans and objectives of management for future operations, are forward-looking statements. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements.
In some cases, forward-looking statements may be identified by terms such as “may,” “should,” “expects,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “could,” “intends,” “target,” “projects,” “contemplates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “predicts,” “potential” or “continue” or the negative of these terms or other similar expressions. The forward-looking statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K are only predictions. We have based these forward-looking statements largely on our current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends that we believe may affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this report and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions described in Item 1A, “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Because forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, some of which cannot be predicted or quantified, they should not be relied upon as predictions of future events. The events and circumstances reflected in our forward-looking statements may not be achieved or occur and actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Some of the key factors that could cause actual results to differ from our expectations include:
We caution you that the foregoing list may not contain all of the forward-looking statements made in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
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Except as required by applicable law, we do not plan to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements contained herein, whether as a result of any new information, future events or otherwise.
Summary Risk Factors
The following is a summary of the principal risks described below in Part I, Item 1A “Risk Factors” in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. We believe that the risks described in the “Risk Factors” section are material to investors, but other factors not presently known to us or that we currently believe are immaterial may also adversely affect us. The following summary should not be considered an exhaustive summary of the material risks facing us, and it should be read in conjunction with the “Risk Factors” section and the other information contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
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Trademarks and Service Marks
“Cambium”, “Cambium Networks”, “cnPilot”, “cnMaestro”, ‘cnMedusa”, “cnArcher”, “cnReach”, “cnHeat”, “cnRanger”, “cnWave”, “cnVision”, “LinkPlanner”, “Xirrus”, "Canopy" and "cnMatrix", the Cambium and Xirrus logos and other trademarks or service marks of Cambium Networks, Ltd. appearing in this Annual Report are the property of Cambium Networks Corporation. This Annual Report contains additional trade names, trademarks and service marks, which are the property of their respective owners.
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PART I
Item 1. Business.
Business Overview
What we do
Cambium Networks is a global technology company that designs, develops, and manufactures wireless broadband and Wi-Fi networking infrastructure solutions for a wide range of applications, including broadband access, wireless backhaul, Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), public safety communications and Wi-Fi access. Our products are used by businesses, governments, and service providers to build, expand and upgrade broadband networks. Our product lines fall into three broad, interrelated categories: Fixed Wireless Broadband (FWB), Enterprise networking, and Subscription and Services. The FWB portfolio spans point-to-point (PTP) and point-to-multi-point (PMP) architectures over multiple standards, including IEEE 802.11 and 3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Program), and frequency bands, including licensed, unlicensed and lightly licensed spectrum. The Enterprise portfolio includes Wi-Fi access points, wireless aware switches, and other networking devices.
The Subscription and Services portfolio includes network planning and design as well as cloud or on-premises network management and control. The latter capability, delivered through subscription to cnMaestro X, forms the foundation of our ONE Network, a cloud-based network management architecture that allows users to remotely configure, monitor, and manage their wireless network. It provides a single, centralized view of all network devices, including both FWB and Enterprise, as well as real-time performance and usage data, and allows users to make changes to the network configuration and settings. Advanced services offered in conjunction with this platform include application visibility and control which is used to optimize end user experiences; integrated security gateway and SD-WAN for small and medium business; and automated and intelligent network optimization.
Our strategy
Our strategy is to enable our customers to build broadband and internet access networks that deliver exceptional digital experiences at an affordable total cost of ownership. The foundation of our strategy is the Cambium ONE Network which brings integration and automation to our entire portfolio. It removes a great deal of complexity, making it easier to plan, deploy and operate a broadband network from core to edge, using a wide range of wireless technologies, standards, and radio frequency (RF) spectrum.
Our software and other tools enable network services that address a primary operating cost and constraint to growth faced by most network operators. Our approach is to simplify and automate the design, deployment, optimization, and management of broadband and Wi-Fi access networks through intelligent automation. For example, the policy-based automation feature on our cnMatrix switches enables the establishment of policies for each end-point device type and then automatically propagates those policies across all switch ports in the network, regardless of the actual port each device is plugged into.
Managing operating expenses, such as energy consumption, is increasingly of importance to network operators. Our solutions can aid in the reduction of energy consumption costs by requiring fewer devices to operate the network to achieve a given coverage and capacity. Our portfolio does not have the overhead required for mobile infrastructure that can contribute to energy consumption. For example, where electricity is unreliable or not available, our purpose-built FWB products have been successfully deployed using only solar and battery power.
In our product development we strive to minimize capital outlays required by end users of our products. First, we innovate on top of industry standard technologies to optimize the performance per dollar invested in the network. Second, our software-defined radios, with their ease of remote configuration via cnMaestro, together with our commitment to backward compatibility, extends the life of our products, while also minimizing truck-rolls otherwise needed by the end user to configure and install new products.
Increasingly, performance and cost are important metrics for most network operators. A key differentiation between network products and services providers for most network operators will be the availability of integrated services layered on top of the network. We enable our end users to customize networks with bespoke or third-party services provided by or enabled by us.
Meeting new trends
The post-COVID era has redefined the workspace in the midst of a rebalancing between the enterprise and home. Businesses and individuals both expect seamless, secure communication and connectivity, whether from the conference room or the living room. The number of applications and devices on the network - from gaming, streaming media, and home automation, to enterprise applications running in the cloud, as well as applications that enhance automation and security, will continue to increase on a global basis. Some applications need more bandwidth. Other applications need lower latency.
As a result of continuing of labor shortages across industries, businesses are leveraging IIoT devices in digital transformation initiatives. Increasingly, wireless broadband is being chosen over fiber or CAT5 to economically connect security cameras. Simultaneously, networking technologies and standards continue to iterate, providing new capabilities and choice points for network
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operators. The result is a network edge that has evolved from a static connection to a highly complex, constantly evolving platform supporting a growing array of services.
Our FWB and Wi-Fi access, switching technologies, and software are designed to be cost-efficient and deliver high-quality digital experiences and device connectivity around the world. Our goal is to enable edge-of-the-network intelligence and the ability to adapt and respond to change. We are building and enabling a suite of services, deployed at scale with minimal human intervention, that will enable the network to be dynamic.
Expanding our addressable markets
Today, fierce competition to provide broadband access in rural, suburban, and urban markets is driving down subscription prices while simultaneously driving up performance requirements. We expect to respond to growing trends such as the following:
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Our technology and products
Our ONE Network strategy takes advantage of advances in wireless standards, software defined radios and open Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) to enable the centralized management of a range of network technologies. Our products and services enable network operators to build a platform using heterogeneous wireless technologies without requiring a separate management platform for each one. Our addition of intelligent automation improves operational performance and efficiency in networks that include our products’ ability to optimize the network at the application layer, enabling our products to enhance network performance.
Point-to-Point (PTP) fixed wireless backhaul
Our PTP solutions are typically connected to high-speed, high-bandwidth wireline or fiber networks, and provide wireless broadband backhaul to a facility, a networked device, or to a PMP access point. Our PTP solutions can be deployed throughout a network over distances of more than 100 kilometers and provide speeds greater than 5 Gbps.
We offer PTP solutions that are designed to operate in unlicensed spectrum from 220 MHz to 5.9 GHz and 57 to 66 GHz, and in licensed spectrum from 6-38 and 71-86 GHz. In addition, our PTP 700 operates in NATO Band IV from 4.4-5.9 GHz, as well as in the 7 GHz and 8 GHz bands, and meets stringent federal operating, performance, and security standards. The mainstay of our backhaul offering is the PTP 670 for commercial applications and PTP 700 for defense and national security applications. In addition, our PTP 820 and 850 series offers carrier-grade microwave backhaul in licensed spectrum, and our PTP 550 offers price-performance leadership in spectral efficiency in sub-6 GHz unlicensed spectrum.
In addition to dedicated point-to-point platforms, as technology has evolved, solutions have developed that while principally supporting point-to-multi-point architectures, also support point-to-point applications, including the recently introduced 60 GHz cnWave V3000 and the ePMP Force 425. Revenues from these products are included in the PMP product category in our revenues by product category reporting, as that is their primary application.
Point-to-Multipoint (PMP) fixed wireless
Our PMP solutions extend wireless broadband access from tower mounted FWB access points to customer premise equipment (CPE) providing broadband access to residences and enterprises covering wide areas with a range of 10 to 30 kilometers. Our PMP solutions are increasingly used to backhaul video surveillance systems and public Wi-Fi.
Our PMP portfolio ranges from our PMP 450 series to our ePMP solutions for network operators that need to optimize for both price and performance to our cnReach family of narrow-bandwidth connectivity products for industrial communications. The PMP 450 series is optimized for performance in high-density and demanding physical environments, and includes the PMP 450m with integrated cnMedusa massive multi-user multiple input/multiple output, or MU-MIMO, technology. The PMP 450 product line also supports the FCC’s Citizen Broadband Radio Service, or CBRS. The FCC completed the auction of CBRS Priority Access Licenses, or PAL, in the third quarter of 2020, complementing the existing availability of General Authorized Access, or GAA, licenses. Network operators are adopting the PMP 450 solution to exercise both PAL and GAA licenses.
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For less demanding environments, ePMP provides a high-quality platform at a more affordable price. The ePMP 3000 supports 4x4 MU-MIMO and is complemented by a broad portfolio of ePMP Force 300 subscriber radios. In December 2022, we commenced commercial shipment of the ePMP 4600 series, which utilizes the 6 GHz band, expected to be commercially released by the FCC and other regulatory bodies around the world in 2023.
cnRanger, our Fixed LTE solution, operated in the 2 GHz (Bands 38, 40, 41) and 3 GHz (Bands 42, 43, 48). Like the PMP 450 platform, the 3 GHz cnRanger solution supports the CBRS service, while the 2 GHz bands support the FCC’s Educational Broadband Service, or EBS, classification.
Our cnReach IIoT solutions offer connectivity for distributed sensors and controls across industrial deployments, delivering real-time monitoring, measurement and analytics to optimize system performance. Our products can be deployed in a variety of industrial verticals such as oil and gas, electrical utilities, water management, rail and transportation operations and smart cities. cnReach focuses on SCADA systems for process control and monitoring, providing affordable, narrowband wireless connectivity, operating below 1 GHz, to support distribution automation, substation switches, circuit control and telemetry.
In the fourth quarter of 2020, we began shipping our 60 GHz solution, cnWave, which enables Gbps networking using the 60 GHz band and a distributed architecture that enables scaled networks with dynamic routing for reliability and resiliency.
In 2022, we commenced commercial shipments of 28 GHz cnWave 5G Fixed, which operates in the 3GPP n257 (26.50 – 29.50 GHz), n258 (24.25 – 27.50 GHz), and n261 (27.50 – 28.35 GHz) bands. The platform incorporates both uplink and downlink MU-MIMO to optimize data rate to the CPE for residential and enterprise customers.
Enterprise solutions
Our Enterprise portfolio includes our cloud-managed Wi-Fi solutions, our cnMatrix cloud-managed wireless-aware switching solution, our Xirrus Wi-Fi solutions, and our Wi-Fi 6 portfolio of Wi-Fi 6 access points which support both cnMaestro and Xirrus XMS management.
Our enterprise-grade Wi-Fi 6/6E solutions provide distributed access to individual users or devices in indoor settings, such as office complexes, and outdoor settings, such as private spaces and outdoor public Wi-Fi hotspots, over distances from two meters to 1 kilometer with high capacity. Our Wi-Fi access point portfolio includes solutions enterprise, government, education, small business and home applications and offers a range of Wi-Fi access points and RF technology that enable network optimization based on desired geographic coverage and user density.
In June 2020, we introduced our first Wi-Fi 6 access point, the XV3-8, which supports both cnPilot and Xirrus solutions. In 2021 and 2022 we continued to extend our Wi-Fi 6/6E portfolio, including the addition of the XE5-8, a five-radio Wi-Fi 6/6E 8×8/4×4 access point (AP) designed to deliver high-density, future-proof performance for building next generation wireless networks. With five user servicing radios, the XE5-8 delivers the highest density Wi-Fi 6 solution in the industry. Wi-Fi 6E support extends the capacity of Wi-Fi into the 6 GHz band, more than tripling the wireless spectrum available. In 2022, we also introduced the XV2-22H Wi-Fi 6 Wall Plate Access Point. The XV2-22H indoor Wi-Fi 6 AP offers 2.97 Gbps of bandwidth and an integrated switch. Ideal for hospitality, MDU, education, and small/medium business applications.
The following table shows a summary of our product portfolio:
Cambium Networks Product Portfolio Summary |
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Network Management |
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cnMaestro X - Cloud-Based Management Software |
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Network Services |
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QoE and NSE 3000 Advance Services Platforms |
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cnMatrix - Wireless Aware Switching |
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Product Platform |
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PTP 820/850 |
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PTP 550/670/700 |
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PMP 450 |
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ePMP |
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cnWave |
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Wi-Fi 6/6E |
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cnReach |
Design Focus |
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Licensed Microwave Backhaul |
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Industry Leading Sub-6 GHz Backhaul Performance |
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Unparalleled Scalability for Multipoint networks |
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Price/Performance PTP and PMP Leadership |
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Gb to the Edge for Urban, high-density Suburban, and Rural markets |
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Software Defined Radios, Cloud Managed, High Performance |
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Licensed Narrowband in rugged I/O rich package |
Throughput |
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2+ Gbps |
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450 - 1400 Mbps |
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1.4 Gbps/Sector |
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1.2 Gbps/ Sector |
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15 Gbps/DN |
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1+ Gbps/AP |
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KB to MB |
Spectrum (GHz except as noted) |
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6 - 38 |
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4.400 - 5.925 |
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900 MHz, |
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2.4, |
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24.25 - 29.50 |
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2.4, 5, 6 |
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220, 450, 700, |
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Ethernet Switches
Our cnMatrix Ethernet enterprise switching solutions simplify network deployment and operation. cnMatrix provides the intelligent interface between wireless and wired networks. cnMatrix’s policy-based automation (PBA) accelerates network deployment, mitigates human error, increases security, and improves reliability. When deployed with Cambium Networks Wi-Fi access points and the cnMaestro management system, network operators have an affordable, feature-rich, high-quality unified wired/wireless enterprise grade network. In the first quarter of 2021, we introduced and began shipping the cnMatrix TX 2020R-P. The TX 2020R-P is the first of a series of switches designed specifically to support PMP and PTP fixed wireless broadband networks, incorporating the cnMatrix enterprise-class feature set and incorporating additional features and services pertinent to network operators deploying fixed wireless broadband networks. The TX 2012R-P was introduced in April 2021 and is the second platform in the TX series.
Network Management Platform
Our cloud-based cnMaestro and cnMaestro X network management platform provide users with an integrated, intelligent, easy to use tool for end-to-end network management of our portfolio from the network operating center to be managed to the edge of the network by an individual CPE. cnMaestro’s interface allows users to easily onboard large numbers of new devices, configure existing devices, monitor the entire network and troubleshoot.
We have recently introduced two subscription services that complement and rely on cnMaestro: Network Service Edge (NSE 3000), and Quality of Experience (QoE). Network Service Edge delivers advanced security, network, and SD-WAN services for small and medium enterprise networks. These services are integrated into Cambium’s ONE Network solution that enables organizations to deploy and manage security policies across the wireless and wired network, all fully managed and controlled as part of a single framework.
Our QoE solution is hardware agnostic, operating across both wireless and fiber networks, and offers a range of services to network operators utilizing our networking solutions as well as third-party competitive offerings. The subscription-based solution includes granular application shaping, dynamic queue-based rate limiting, congestion management and application insights, which provides broadband service providers immediate access to the information and controls to optimize end user experiences and be the service provider of choice.
Our network planning tools include cnHeat and LINKPlanner. cnHeat is a network planning subscription service that provides a heat map coverage model display of locations that are available for FWB connectivity that aids in network planning. cnHeat utilizes LiDAR or equivalent geospatial data to accurately model the geography being evaluated, coupled with highly accurate RF modeling, to render a visual and quantitative assessment of anticipated RF coverage and performance. cnHeat allows network operators to optimize site selection for coverage, supporting their total cost of ownership and return on investment. LINKPlanner is a comprehensive tool, developed over the past 12 years, used to plan PTP and PMP networks. LINKPlanner allows users to visualize and analyze hypothetical network deployment scenarios to evaluate performance and reliability allowing for cost-effective expansion and deployment of their networks. cnArcher is a smartphone app that accelerates installation and deployment of our fixed wireless products by field technicians.
Sales and marketing
We sell our products primarily through a network of distributors who sell to other channel partners, including value-added resellers, system integrators, and end customers (end users), as well as through our direct sales force. End users include public or private network operators, including broadband and/or wireless LAN managed service providers; broadband internet service providers; mobile network operators; mid-market enterprises, such as education, hospitality, multi-dwelling units, and retail; state and local government; industrial, including energy, mining, rail operators and utilities; and military agencies. Channel partners may work directly with end users to identify their networking needs and they may also provide installation, configuration, and ongoing support services. As of December 31, 2022, we had over 12,600 channel partners, which includes over 160 distributors.
Our sales organization typically engages directly with large Internet service providers and enterprise managed service providers and certain enterprises even though product fulfillment generally is provided by our channel partners. We also engage in joint selling and marketing with our service provider, system integrator, and reseller channel partners to their customers’ end users. Our sales organization includes field and inside sales personnel, as well as regional technical managers with deep technical expertise who are responsible for pre-sales technical support and solutions engineering for internet service providers, enterprise networking managed service providers, systems integrators and resellers. As of December 31, 2022, we had 134 sales personnel located in 20 countries.
Our distributors play a central role by promoting and distributing our products in target vertical markets, providing value-added support to the service providers and reseller channels by bringing core strengths in technical support and professional services. This is in addition to logistics, and sales and marketing support. Our distributors typically stock and manage inventory of our products.
We typically work with channel partners through our Connected Partner program, which is a structured program designed to support and enable partners to sell and support our products. The program includes training and education, marketing support,
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technical support, and other resources such as product discounts, deal registration, demonstration equipment, virtual and in-person events, and promotions to help channel partners succeed in selling and supporting our products.
Our marketing activities can be Cambium Networks led as well as distributor or channel partner led. Our marketing activities are focused on building brand awareness and generating leads with our target market segments of service providers, enterprise, industrial, and government. In addition, we work with our distributors and other channel partners to enable joint marketing that targets the enterprise end users. We leverage a broad mix of communications platforms including website and social media presence, public relations, webinars, trade shows and private events.
Customer support
We provide multiple layers of support: technical support, information-sharing with an experienced community of users, software downloads, warranty services, and repair. We support our enterprise class solutions with a range of flexible service plans and optional 24/7 availability that provide assurance to network operators that their always-on, mission critical communications requirements will be met. With every product purchase, we provide technical support on a best-effort basis. Hardware issues are diagnosed via joint troubleshooting with the end user, and the issue will be addressed according to standard warranty status and the root cause of the issue. This may be sufficient for some customers who can largely manage and operate their network without assistance and hold adequate spares. For others, we provide three support programs staffed by our skilled technical support team and product support engineers to keep the network operating smoothly and efficiently and may provide 24x7x365 technical support and premium warranty support and allow network operators to select the service level that best meets their needs. Our support organization both supports channel partners in supporting their direct customers and provides first-line support to our direct customers. Technical support is also available on-line via chat and automated ticketing systems.
Training
We provide a wide range of training and educational material, from comprehensive user guides and installation guides, to self-directed interactive training, to in-person instructor-led immersion courses to ensure our end-users and channel partners are familiar with the design, implementation, usage, and management of our products. The training and certification system is administered through a learning management system that provides the user a record of course work, exam results, certifications and access to on-demand self-directed training resources that complement instructor-led sessions scheduled frequently around the world.
Cambium Community Forum
The Cambium Networks Community Forum is a platform for users of our solutions to connect with each other, ask questions, and share information and experiences. It is a place where users can find help and support, as well the latest developments and features of Cambium Networks products. The forum is also a place where users can share their own tips and best practices for using our products, and where they can stay up to date with the latest news and updates from us.
Our Community Forum is moderated by our staff with direct and active engagement by our development engineering and product management personnel. Leveraging the Community Forum, we collect network operator and channel partner feedback on potential product improvements and new product ideas, including through the administration of beta testing on our products. As of December 31, 2022, there were approximately 46,000 registered forum members on our Community Forum.
Manufacturing and supply
We rely on third-party contract manufacturers and original design manufacturers for our manufacturing requirements. Our global sourcing strategy emphasizes the procurement of materials and product manufacturing in competitive geographies. For some of our products, we do substantially all of the design work; for other products, we outsource both the design (in whole or in part) and the manufacture of the product; and for several products we distribute and sell a product designed and manufactured by a third party under our name on a white label basis. We generally require that the manufacturing processes and procedures are certified to International Organization for Standardization (“ISO”) 9001 standards.
Our third-party manufacturers typically procure the components needed to build our products based on our demand forecasts. These forecasts represent our estimates of future demand for our products based on historical trends and analyses from our sales and product management functions as adjusted for overall market conditions. Generally, for our primary third-party manufacturers, we update these forecasts monthly. This allows us to leverage the purchasing power of our third-party manufacturers. Our products rely on key components, purchased from a limited number of suppliers, including certain sole source providers. Lead times for materials and components vary significantly, and depend on factors such as the specific supplier, complexity, contract terms, demand and availability of a component at a given time. From time to time, we may experience price volatility or supply constraints for certain components that are not available from multiple qualified sources or where our suppliers are geographically concentrated. We, like the rest of our industry, have experienced shortages in semiconductors and other key components used for our hardware, which have driven increased costs for components and shipping. To alleviate shortages, we have and may continue to purchase certain scarce components directly on the open market. We may also acquire component inventory in anticipation of supply constraints and enter
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into longer-term pricing commitments with vendors to improve the priority, price and availability of supply. In periods of shortages, we have in the past and may in the future need to build inventory of select components.
We outsource the warehousing and delivery of our products at these fulfillment facilities to a third-party logistics provider for worldwide fulfillment. Our direct fulfillment facilities are in Louisville, Kentucky, Venlo, Netherlands and Shanghai, China from where we ship to our distributor partners and network operators.
Research and development
Our research and development organization is located primarily in San Jose and Thousand Oaks, California, Rolling Meadows, Illinois, Ashburton, United Kingdom and Bangalore, India. We also work with contract engineers in various locations globally. Our research and development team has deep expertise and experience in wireless technology, antenna design and network architecture and operation. We expect to continue to expand our product offerings and solutions capabilities in the future and to invest significantly in continued research and development efforts.
Intellectual property
Our success depends in part on our ability to protect our core technology and innovations. We rely on federal, state, common law and international rights, as well as contractual restrictions, to protect our intellectual property. We control access to our proprietary technology by entering into confidentiality and invention assignment agreements with our employees and contractors, and confidentiality agreements with third parties, such as Internet service providers, vendors, individuals and entities that may be exploring a business relationship with us. In addition to these contractual arrangements, we also rely on a combination of trade secrets, copyrights, patents, trademarks, service marks and domain names to protect our intellectual property. We pursue the registration of our trademarks, service marks and domain names in the United States and England and in certain other locations outside of these jurisdictions. These laws, procedures and restrictions provide only limited protection and the legal standards relating to the validity, enforceability and scope of protection of intellectual property rights are uncertain and still evolving. Furthermore, effective patent, trademark, copyright and trade secret protection may not be available in every country in which our products are available.
We seek patent protection for certain of our key innovations, protocols, processes and other inventions. As of December 31, 2022, we had 42 issued U.S. patents and 149 patents issued in various foreign jurisdictions as well as 9 U.S. and 41 foreign patent applications pending. We file patent applications in the United States and other countries where we believe there to be a strategic technological or business reason to do so. Although we actively attempt to utilize patents to protect our technologies, we believe that none of our patents, individually, are material to our business.
Competition
The markets for FWB and Enterprise solutions are highly competitive and subject to rapid technological change. We compete in a wide range of related categories, each with its set of competitors worldwide that vary in size and in the products and solutions offered. We expect competition to persist, intensify and increase in the future. We review our competitive situation as follows:
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As our target markets continue to develop and expand, and as the technology for wireless broadband and enterprise networking continues to evolve, we expect competition to increase from both established and emerging market participants.
The market for our products and solutions is influenced by a variety of factors, including the following:
We believe we compete favorably on each of these factors.
Regulatory requirements
In addition to regulations of general application to global businesses, we are subject to a number of regulatory requirements specific to our industry, including, without limitation:
The applicable regulatory agencies in each jurisdiction adopt regulations to manage spectrum use, establish and enforce priorities among competing uses, limit harmful radio frequency interference and promote policy goals such as broadband deployment. These spectrum regulations regulate allocation, licensing, and equipment authorizations. Since our customers purchase devices to operate in specific spectrum bands allocated by the regulatory authorities, our products must meet the technical requirements set forth for such spectrum allocation(s).
In some bands, the operator, such as our customer, must seek prior regulatory authority to operate using specified frequencies, and the resulting spectrum license authorizes the licensee, for a limited term, to operate in a spectrum consistent with licensed technical parameters within a specified geographic area. We must design and manufacture our products to comply with these technical parameters.
Our products generally are subject to compliance testing prior to approval, and, as a condition of authority in each jurisdiction, we must ensure that our products have the proper labels and documentation specifying such authority. We generally use
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telecommunications certification bodies to obtain certification for our devices in each jurisdiction in which we intend to market and sell our products.
We are also subject to rules, regulations and laws that involve a variety of matters including privacy, data protection and personal information, tax, trade, encryption technology, environmental sustainability (including climate change), human rights, product certification, and national security. Rules governing our use of personal data, such as the General Data Protection Regulation in the European Union, the California Consumer Privacy Act, and other applicable regulations in the United States and around the world continue to evolve and increase, together with current and proposed e-privacy and direct marketing rules governing direct and email marketing. These rules govern how we use personal data of our employees, customers and others with whom we might do business, including in our marketing activities.
A failure, or alleged failure, by us to comply with regulations or laws could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results, or financial condition. For additional information about government regulation and laws applicable to our business, see “Item 1A. Risk Factors,” including the risk factor entitled “New regulations or standards or changes in existing regulations or standards in the United States or internationally related to our products may result in unanticipated costs or liabilities, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and future sales,” “If we fail to comply with environmental requirements, our business, financial condition, operating results and reputation could be adversely affected” and "Our business, operating results and financial condition could be materially harmed by regulatory uncertainty applicable to our products and services.”
Environmental matters
We are subject to various environmental and other regulations governing product safety, materials usage, packaging and other environmental impacts in the United States and in various countries where our products are manufactured and sold. We are also subject to regulatory developments, including SEC disclosure regulations relating to "conflict minerals," relating to ethically responsible sourcing of the components and materials used in our products. To date, compliance with federal, state, local, and foreign laws enacted for the protection of the environment has had no material effect on our capital expenditures, earnings, or competitive position.
We maintain compliance with various regulations related to the environment, including the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment and the Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment regulations adopted by the European Union. To date, our compliance efforts with various United States and foreign regulations related to the environment has not had a material effect on our operating results.
Human capital management
We pride ourselves on developing and maintaining a strong reputation for innovation and integrity and conduct our business affairs honestly and in an ethical manner. We are proud to be named by Built In Chicago as one of the 100 best large companies to work for in Chicago in 2022. We expect our corporate culture to embody trust and respect for individuals, teamwork and innovation; Cambium is a place where employees are proud to work, and where customers, suppliers and partners want to work with us. One of
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our most valuable assets is our integrity. We are guided by our core values of growth and profitability; outstanding global teamwork; relentless innovation and edge; making and meeting commitments; respecting and developing our people; and serving our community.
We are focused on hiring, training, and retaining exceptional talent. As of December 31, 2022, we had approximately 650 full-time employees, of whom 419 are located outside the United States. None of our U.S. employees are subject to a collective bargaining agreement. In certain foreign jurisdictions, where required by local law or custom, some of our employees are represented by local workers’ councils and/or industry collective bargaining agreements. We have not experienced any work stoppages, and we consider our relationship with our employees to be good. We have a broad base of diverse talent in more than 20 countries and we believe that attracting, developing and retaining the best talent is critical to our success and achievement of our strategic objectives.
We appreciate one another’s differences and strengths and are proud that our workforce comprises employees with a diversity of backgrounds and perspectives. Diversity, inclusion and belonging have long been a part of our culture, and we work to continually expand our diversity, inclusion and belonging initiatives and to conform to the principles of equal opportunity. We do not discriminate based on race, religion, national origin, disability, medical condition, marital status, sex, gender, age, military or veteran status, sexual orientation or any other protected characteristic as established by federal, state or local laws. Further, we have policies in place that prohibit harassment of all kinds and we prohibit retaliation in all forms and are committed to encouraging a culture where employees can freely ask questions and raise concerns.
Although we are working in both remote and hybrid environments as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, we work collaboratively, without hierarchy, and our management team is readily available to all employees, with additional quarterly global town hall events that allow for open question and answer dialogue.
We offer what we believe is a competitive compensation package, tailored to the job function and geography of each employee. Our team is global, and we offer competitive and meaningful compensation and benefits programs that meet the diverse needs of our employees, while also reflecting local market practices. Our U.S. benefits plan includes health benefits, life and disability insurance, various voluntary insurances, flexible time off and leave programs, an employee assistance plan, an educational assistance policy, and a 401(k) plan with a competitive employer match. Our international benefits plans are competitive locally and generally provide similar benefits. We believe our compensation structure aligns with our shareholders’ long-term interests by balancing profitability and growth, as well as current market practices, and reflects our commitment to pay for performance. Competition for qualified personnel in the technology space is intense, and our success depends in large part on our ability to recruit, develop and retain a productive and engaged workforce. Accordingly, investing in our employees and their well-being, offering competitive compensation and benefits, promoting diversity and inclusion, adopting progressive human capital management practices and community outreach constitute core elements of our corporate strategy. In addition to competitive salaries and bonuses or sales commissions, we offer a robust employment total rewards package that promotes employee well-being and includes health care, extended parental leave, and paid time off, including extended leave for new parents (moms, dads and partners) to care for a newborn or newly adopted child.
We also offer rewards and recognition programs to our employees, including peer-led recognition of employees who best exemplify our values. We believe that these recognition programs help drive strong employee performance. We conduct annual employee performance reviews, where each employee is evaluated by their manager as well as a self-assessment. Employee performance is assessed based on a variety of key performance metrics, including the achievement of corporate objectives and objectives specific to the employee’s department or role.
We grant equity-based compensation to many of our employees and have extended the opportunity for equity ownership through our employee share purchase plan in the United States, the United Kingdom and India. Additionally, we offer benefits to support our employees’ physical and mental health by providing tools and resources to help them improve or maintain their health and encourage healthy behaviors and facilitate a number of employee support groups.
Available information
Our Internet address is www.cambiumnetworks.com and our investor relations website is located at http://investors.cambiumnetworks.com. We make available free of charge on our investor relations website under the sub-heading “Financials” our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to those reports as soon as reasonably practicable after such materials are electronically filed with (or furnished to) the SEC. Information contained on our websites is not incorporated by reference into this Annual Report on Form 10-K. In addition, the public may read and copy materials we file with the SEC at the SEC’s Public Reference Room at 100 F Street, NE, Washington, DC 20549. The public may obtain information on the operation of the Public Reference Room by calling the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330. In addition, the SEC maintains an Internet site, www.sec.gov, that includes filings of and information about issuers that file electronically with the SEC.
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Item 1A. Risk Factors.
This Report contains forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the risk factors set forth below. These risks and uncertainties are not the only ones we face. Our business, financial condition, results of operations or prospects could also be harmed by risks and uncertainties not currently known to us or that we currently do not believe are material. If any of the risks actually occur, our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects could be adversely affected.
Risks related to our business
Our operating results can be difficult to predict and may fluctuate significantly, which could result in a failure to meet investor expectations or our guidance and a decline in the trading price of our shares.
Our quarterly and annual operating results have fluctuated in the past and may fluctuate significantly in the future. In particular, the timing and size of our sales of our products are difficult to predict and can result in significant fluctuations in our revenues from period to period. For instance, we have historically received and fulfilled a substantial portion of sales orders and generated a substantial portion of revenues during the last few weeks of each quarter. In addition, we generally recognize all product revenues in the same period in which the related products are sold. Because our operating results are relatively fixed in the short term, any failure to meet expectations regarding sales could have an immediate and material effect on our earnings. If our revenues or operating results fall below the expectations of investors or securities analysts or below any estimates we may provide to the market, the trading price of our shares would likely decline, which could have a material and adverse impact on investor confidence and employee retention.
Our operating results may fluctuate due to a variety of factors, many of which are outside of our control, and which we may not foresee. In addition to other risks listed in this “Risks Factors” section, factors that may affect our operating results include:
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The effects of these or other factors individually or in combination could result in fluctuations and unpredictability in our operating results, our ability to forecast those results and the trading price of our shares. As a result, our past results should not be relied upon as an indication of our future performance.
The introduction of new products and technology is key to our success, and if we fail to predict and respond to emerging technological trends and network operators’ changing needs, we may be unable to remain competitive.
The wireless broadband market is generally characterized by rapidly changing technology, changing needs of network operators, evolving regulations and industry standards and frequent introductions of new products and services. Historically, new product introductions have been a key driver of our revenue growth. To succeed, we must effectively anticipate and adapt in a timely manner to network operator requirements and changing standards and regulatory requirements and continue to develop or acquire new products and features that meet market demands, technology trends and evolving regulatory requirements and industry standards. Our new product development may also be driven by component shortages that may require us to redesign our products. Our ability to keep pace with technological developments, satisfy increasing network operator requirements, and achieve product acceptance depends upon our ability to enhance our current products and develop and introduce or otherwise acquire the rights to new products on a timely basis and at competitive prices. The process of developing new technology is complex and uncertain, and can take time to develop as well as to perfect once released. The development of new products and enhancements typically requires significant upfront investment, which may not result in material improvements to existing products or result in marketable new products or cost savings or revenues for an extended period of time, if at all. Network operators have delayed, and may in the future delay, purchases of our products while awaiting release of new products or product enhancements. In addition, the introduction of new or enhanced products requires that we carefully manage the transition from older products to minimize disruption in channel partner ordering practices. If we fail to anticipate industry trends and evolving regulations by developing or acquiring rights to new products or product enhancements and timely and effectively introducing such new products and enhancements, or network operators do not perceive our products to have compelling technological advantages, our business would be adversely affected.
Terrorism, war, and other events may harm our business, operating results and financial condition.
The continued threat of terrorism and heightened security and military action in response thereto, or any other current or future acts of terrorism, war (such as the on-going Russia and Ukraine war), and other events (such as economic sanctions and trade restrictions, including those related to the on-going Russia and Ukraine war) may cause further disruptions to the economies of the United States and other countries and create further uncertainties or could otherwise negatively impact our business, operating results, and financial condition. The Russia-Ukraine conflict, other areas of geopolitical tension around the world, or the worsening of that conflict or tensions, and the related challenging macroeconomic conditions globally and in various countries in which we and our customers operate may materially adversely affect our customers, vendors, and partners, and the duration and extent to which these factors may impact our future business and operations, results of operations, financial condition, and cash flows remain uncertain. Likewise, events such as loss of infrastructure and utilities services such as energy, transportation, or telecommunications could have similar negative impacts. To the extent that such disruptions or uncertainties result in delays or cancellations of customer orders or the manufacture or shipment of our products, our business, operating results, and financial condition could be materially and adversely affected.
Competitive pressures may harm our business, revenues, growth rates and market share.
The markets for FWB and Enterprise solutions are highly competitive and subject to rapid technological change. We compete in a wide range of related categories, each with its set of competitors worldwide that vary in size and in the products and solutions offered. We expect competition to persist, intensify and increase in the future.
In all our markets, we compete with a number of wireless equipment providers worldwide that vary in size and in the products and solutions offered. Some of the competitors in our markets include the following:
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As our target markets continue to develop and expand, and as the technology for wireless broadband continues to evolve, we expect competition to increase.
Demand for our solutions versus those of our competitors is influenced by a variety of factors, including the following:
We expect increased competition from our current competitors, as well as emerging companies and established companies that may enter our markets. Further, we have in the past and may again experience price competition from lower cost vendors selling to network operators that have lower budget or less demanding applications than our products have been designed to serve. We also expect that even higher cost competitors may engage in price competition to establish greater market share, which may adversely affect our ability to grow our revenues and profitability. Competition could result in loss of market share, increased pricing pressure, reduced profit margins, or increased sales and marketing expense, any of which would likely cause serious harm to our business, operating results or financial condition.
A number of our current or potential competitors have longer operating histories, greater name recognition, significantly larger customer bases and sales channels and significantly greater financial, technical, sales, marketing and other resources than we do. Our competitors may be able to anticipate, influence or adapt more quickly to new or emerging technologies and changes in network operator requirements, devote greater resources to the promotion and sale of their products and services, initiate or withstand substantial price competition, bundle similar products to compete, take advantage of acquisitions or other opportunities more readily, and develop and expand their product and service offerings more quickly than we can.
Some of our competitors have been acquired or entered into partnerships or other strategic relationships to offer a more comprehensive solution than they had previously offered. We expect this trend to continue. The companies resulting from such consolidation may create more compelling products and be able to offer greater pricing flexibility, making it more difficult for us to compete effectively. In addition, continued industry consolidation might adversely affect network operators’ perceptions of the viability of smaller and even medium-sized wireless broadband equipment providers and, consequently, their willingness to purchase from those companies.
Additionally, the markets for development, distribution and sale of our products are rapidly evolving. New entrants seeking to gain market share by introducing new technology and new products may make it more difficult for us to sell our products, and could create increased pricing pressure, reduced profit margins due to increased expenditure on sales and marketing, or the loss of market share or expected market share, any of which may significantly harm our business, operating results and financial condition. Competitive pressures may also result from increased political tensions globally, and our ability to manufacture products meeting country of origin or country of manufacture requirements increasingly imposed by countries or end users. We may be unable to easily meet these location of manufacture requirements, which may adversely impact our ability to compete with other competitors who can. The success of new products depends on several factors, including appropriate new product definition, component costs, timely completion and introduction of products, differentiation of new products from those of our competitors and market acceptance of these products. We may not be able to successfully anticipate or adapt to changing technology on a timely basis, or at all. New technologies could render our existing products less attractive and if such technologies are widely adopted as the industry standard for wireless Internet service providers, our business financial condition, results of operations and prospects could be materially adversely affected.
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We face risks related to actual or threatened health epidemics and other outbreaks, which could significantly disrupt our manufacturing, sales and other operations.
The global spread of COVID-19 created significant volatility, uncertainty and economic disruption. The restrictions imposed to prevent the spread of COVID-19 disrupted economic activity, resulting in reduced commercial and consumer confidence and spending, increased unemployment, closure or restricted operating conditions for businesses, volatility in the global capital markets, instability in the credit and financial markets, labor shortages, regulatory relief for impacted consumers and disruption in supply chains. While COVID-19 vaccines mitigated mortality risk, new COVID-19 variants proved to remain a threat. The lifting of lockdowns in certain areas started a slow economic recovery. The resulting increase in consumer demand has created significant challenges for supply chains as a result of labor and raw material shortages, which could lead to reduced earnings for many industries. In addition, due to the ongoing pandemic and global semiconductor chip shortage, we have experienced disruption and delays in our supply chain and significant price increases with certain of our manufacturing partners, and those disruptions, delays and price increases may continue. For example, in the second half of 2021, our results of operations were negatively impacted by increased expenses resulting from supply chain disruptions. There are also restrictions and delays on logistics, such as air and ocean cargo carriers, as well as increased logistics costs due to limited capacity and high demands for freight forwarders. If our supply chain operations are affected or are curtailed by the outbreak of diseases such as COVID-19, our supply chain, manufacturing and product shipments will be delayed, which could adversely affect our business, operations and customer relationships. We may need to seek alternate sources of supply which may be more expensive, unavailable or may result in delays in shipments to us from our supply chain and subsequently to our customers. Further, if our distributors’ or end user customers’ businesses are similarly affected, they might delay or reduce purchases from us, which could adversely affect our results of operations.
In addition, freight and logistics constraints caused in part by restrictions imposed by governments to combat the COVID-19 pandemic and additionally due to container and carriage shortages, have resulted in increased costs and constrained available transport, for us and our channel partners, all at a time when global demand has increased. If our supply chain operations continue to be affected or are curtailed by the outbreak of diseases such as COVID-19, our supply chain, manufacturing and product shipments will be delayed, which could adversely affect our business, operations and customer relationships. We have sought and may continue to seek alternate sources of supply which may be more expensive, unavailable or may result in delays in shipments to us and from our supply chain and subsequently to our customers.
Any alterations or modifications that we are required to make as a result of a global pandemic has in the past and may in the future, adversely impact our business, our customers and prospects, or our financial results.
The extent to which a global pandemic will impact our business and financial results will be dependent on future developments such as the length and severity of the crisis, the potential resurgence of COVID-19 or other pandemic and its variants in the future, future government actions in response to the crisis, the acceptance and effectiveness of vaccines to address the pandemic, and the overall impact of the pandemic on the global economy and capital markets, among many other factors, all of which are highly uncertain and unpredictable. There can be no assurance that any global pandemic or other health crisis will not have a material and adverse effect on our business, financial results and financial condition.
We rely on third-party manufacturers, which subjects us to risks of product delivery delays and reduced control over product costs and quality.
We outsource the manufacturing of our products to third-party manufacturers pursuant to which the third parties manufacture and supply our products subject to orders from us often based on our demand forecasts. Our reliance on third-party manufacturers reduces our control over the manufacturing process, including reduced control over quality, product costs and product supply and timing. From time to time, we have experienced and may in the future experience delays in shipments or issues concerning product quality from our third-party manufacturers. If any of our third-party manufacturers suffer interruptions, delays or disruptions in supplying our products, including by natural disasters or work stoppages or capacity constraints, our ability to ship products to distributors and network operators would be delayed. Additionally, if any of our third-party manufacturers experience quality control problems in their manufacturing operations and our products do not meet network operators’ requirements, we could be required to cover the repair or replacement of any defective products. These delays or product quality issues could have an immediate and material adverse effect on our ability to fulfill orders and could have a negative impact on our operating results. In addition, such delays or issues with product quality could harm our reputation and our relationship with our channel partners.
Our agreements do not typically obligate our third-party manufacturers to supply products to us in specific quantities or for an extended term, which could result in short notice to us of supply shortages and increases in the prices we are charged for manufacturing services. We believe that our orders may not represent a material portion of the total orders of our primary third-party manufacturers, and, as a result, fulfilling our orders may not be prioritized in the event they are constrained in their abilities or resources to fulfill all of their customer obligations in a timely manner. Although we provide demand forecasts to some of our third-party manufacturers, some of our third-party manufacturers may assess charges, or we may have liabilities for excess inventory if we overestimate our demand, each of which could negatively affect our gross margins. During the normal course of business, in order to manage manufacturing lead times and help ensure adequate component supply, we enter into agreements with contract manufacturers and suppliers that allow them to procure inventory based upon criteria as defined by us, such as forecasted demand. We may be liable
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to purchase excess product or aged material from our suppliers following reasonable mitigation efforts. Conversely, because lead times for required materials and components vary significantly and depend on factors such as the specific supplier, contract terms and the demand for each component at a given time, if we underestimate our requirements, our third-party manufacturer may have inadequate materials and components required to produce our products. This could result in an interruption of the manufacturing of our products, delays in shipments and deferral or loss of revenues. For example, as a result of increased global demand for some components used in our products, particularly semiconductor-related components, foundries have experienced capacity shortages and have responded by allocating existing supply among their customers, including us. This capacity shortage coupled with an increase in demand for our affected products, due in part to a global increase in demand for bandwidth has resulted in supply shortages that have caused increased lead times for some of our products. We may suffer delays introducing new products to the market and in sales of existing products as a result of parts unavailability or shortages, resulting in loss or delay of revenue.
If our third-party manufacturers experience financial, operational, manufacturing capacity or other difficulties, or experience or continue to experience shortages in required components, or if they are otherwise unable or unwilling to continue to manufacture our products in required volumes or at all, our supply may be disrupted, we may be required to seek alternate manufacturers and we may be required to re-design our products. It would be time-consuming and costly, and could be impracticable, to begin to use new manufacturers and designs and such changes could cause significant interruptions in supply and could have an adverse impact on our ability to meet our scheduled product deliveries and may subsequently lead to the loss of sales, delayed revenues or an increase in our costs, which could materially and adversely affect our business and operating results.
We require third-party components, including components from limited or sole source suppliers, to build our products. The unavailability of these components could substantially disrupt our ability to manufacture our products and fulfill sales orders.
We rely on third-party components to build our products, and we generally rely on our third-party manufacturers to obtain the components necessary for the manufacture of our products. We use our forecast of expected demand to determine our material requirements. Lead times for materials and components we order vary significantly, and depend on factors such as the specific supplier, contract terms and demand for a component at a given time. If forecasts exceed orders, we may have excess and/or obsolete inventory, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition. If orders exceed forecasts, or available supply, we may have inadequate supplies of certain materials and components, which could have a material adverse effect on our ability to meet customer delivery requirements and to recognize revenue. If we underestimate our requirements or our third-party suppliers are not able to timely deliver components, our third-party manufacturers may have inadequate materials and components required to produce our products. This could result in an interruption in the manufacture of our products, delays in shipments and fulfillment of customer orders, and deferral or loss of revenues. Our third-party manufacturers may not be able to secure sufficient components at reasonable prices or of acceptable quality to build our products in a timely manner, adversely impacting our ability to meet demand for our products. In addition, if our component suppliers cease manufacturing needed components, we could be required to redesign our products to incorporate components from alternative sources or designs, a process which could cause significant delays in the manufacture and delivery of our products. Unpredictable price increases for such components may also occur. The unavailability of these components could substantially disrupt our ability to manufacture our products and fulfill sales orders.
In addition, we currently depend on a limited number of suppliers for several critical components for our products, and in some instances, we use sole or single source suppliers for our components to simplify design and fulfillment logistics. Neither we nor our third-party manufacturers carry substantial inventory of our product components. Many of these components are also widely used in other product types. Shortages are possible and our ability to predict the availability of such components may be limited. In the event of a shortage or supply interruption from our component suppliers, we or our third-party manufacturers may not be able to develop alternate or second sources in a timely manner, on commercially reasonable terms or at all, and the development of alternate sources may be time-consuming, difficult and costly. Any resulting failure or delay in shipping products could result in lost revenues and a material and adverse effect on our operating results. If we are unable to pass component price increases along to our end customers or maintain stable pricing, our gross margins could be adversely affected and our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects could suffer.
Supply shortages for key components in our products may result in extended lead times or supply changes, which could disrupt or delay our scheduled product deliveries to our end customers and may result in the loss of sales and end customers.
Our ability to manage our supply chain may be adversely affected by factors including shortages of, and extended lead times for, components used to manufacture our products, a reduction or interruption of supply, prioritization of component shipments to other vendors, cessation of manufacturing of such components by our suppliers and geopolitical conditions such as the U.S. trade war with China and the impact of public health epidemics like the COVID-19 pandemic. Insufficient component supply, or any increases in the time required to manufacture our products, have and may continue to lead to inventory shortages that could result in increased customer lead times for our products, delayed revenue or loss of sales opportunities altogether as potential end customers turn to competitors’ products that are more readily available. Shortages in the supply of components or other supply disruptions, including, without limitations, due to reductions in supply as a result of COVID-19 or as a result of the current global shortage of chipsets and other semiconductor components, may not be predicted in time to design-in different components or qualify other suppliers.
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Qualifying new suppliers to compensate for such shortages may be time-consuming and costly and may increase the likelihood of errors in design or production. Similar delays may occur in the future.
In order to reduce manufacturing lead times and plan for adequate component supply, from time to time, we may issue purchase orders for components and products that are non-cancelable and non-returnable. In addition, we may purchase components and products that have extended lead teams to ensure adequate supply to support long-term customer demand and mitigate the impact of supply disruptions. If we are unable to use all of the components we have purchased, we may have excess inventory or obsolescence, or increased inventory or carrying costs, which could have an adverse impact on our results of operation or financial condition.
Governmental regulations may also impact our ability to procure required components, such as regulations enacted by the U.S. limiting the ability to procure certain components from China. If we are unable to procure required components from sources outside of jurisdictions restricted by government regulation, we may be unable to produce and sell products that we are able to sell to customers in regions subject to such restrictions.
We may face increased costs or other logistics challenges in the shipment of our products, which may increase cost of revenues or result in a delay of shipments to customers.
Logistics challenges have and may continue to impact our operations, as a result of container shortages which have and may continue to lengthen availability of containers and increased carriage costs, resulting in increases in relevant freight costs, all at a time when global demand has increased. Ports have and may continue to experience increasing lead times with delays in the container freight market as port delays, worker shortages and the impact of any global pandemic impact the ability to import and export goods, particularly from China, resulting in an increase in logistics and freight costs. These logistics and freight challenges and increasing costs could have a material adverse effect on our ability to meet customer delivery requirements, result in increased costs and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
We outsource manufacturing to third-party manufacturers operating outside of the U.S., subjecting us to risks of international operations.
Our third-party manufacturers predominantly operate outside of the U.S. causing us to face risks to our business based on changes in tariffs, trade barriers, export regulations, political conditions and contractual restrictions. Products that we have manufactured for us in China, Mexico, and elsewhere may also be subject to any uncertainty of trade relations between such countries and the United States, which could cause the cost of our products manufactured there to rise, or result in our inability to continue to manufacture in such country, resulting in a need to find alternative sources of manufacture, which could result in the delay of manufacture and supply of our products, increase our cost of manufacture, and cause a delay in our shipments to customers and a delay or cancellation of orders. Our future operating results and financial condition could be materially affected to the extent any of these actions occur.
We rely on distributors and value-added resellers for the substantial majority of our sales, and the failure of our channel partners to promote and support sales of our products would materially reduce our expected future revenues.
We rely on channel partners for a substantial majority of our sales and our future success is highly dependent upon establishing and maintaining successful relationships with distributors and other channel partners. Recruiting and retaining qualified channel partners and training them in our technology and products require significant time and resources. Our reliance on channel partners for sales of our products results in limited visibility into demand and channel inventory levels which in turn adversely impacts our ability to accurately forecast our future revenues. By relying on our channel partners, we may have less contact with end users, thereby making it more difficult for us to establish brand awareness, service ongoing network operator requirements and respond to evolving needs for new product functionality.
Sales through distributors have been highly concentrated in a few distributors, with over 41%, 37%, and 29% of our revenues in 2020, 2021 and 2022, respectively, coming from our three largest distributors. In addition, certain of our distributors may rely disproportionately on sales to a small number of end customers. Termination or degradation of a relationship with a major distributor, or of a distributor with its major customer, could result in a temporary or permanent material loss of revenues. We may not be successful in finding other distributors on satisfactory terms, or at all, and our distributors may fail to maintain or replace business with their major customer, either of which could adversely affect our ability to sell in certain geographic markets or to certain network operators, adversely impacting our revenues, cash flow and market share.
We generally do not require minimum purchase commitments from our channel partners, and our agreements do not prohibit our channel partners from offering products or services that compete with ours or from terminating our contract on short notice. Many of our channel partners also sell products from our competitors. Some of our competitors may have stronger relationships with our channel partners than we do and we have limited control, if any, over the sale by our channel partners of our products instead of our competitors’ products, or over the extent of the resources devoted to market and support our competitors’ products, rather than our products or solutions. Our competitors may be more effective in providing incentives to existing and potential channel partners to favor their products or to prevent or reduce sales of our products. Our failure to establish and maintain successful relationships with our channel partners would materially and adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition.
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Our third-party logistics and warehousing provider may fail to deliver products to our channel partners and network operators in a timely manner, which could harm our reputation and operating results.
We rely on our third-party logistics and warehousing provider, with distribution hubs currently in the United States, the Netherlands and China, to fulfill the majority of our worldwide sales and deliver our products on a timely basis. Any change in the location of our distribution hubs, such as changes in distribution location anticipated to be made by us in 2023, and any delay in delivery of our products to distributors or network operators could create dissatisfaction, harm our reputation, result in the loss of future sales and, in some cases, subject us to penalties. A change in the location of our distribution centers may result in delays in our ability to ship products to customers from such newly established distribution centers, or adversely impact our ability to meet import or export requirements. We rely on our third-party logistics and warehousing provider to accurately segregate and record our inventory for us and to report to us the receipt and shipments of our products. Our third-party logistics and warehousing provider also manages and tracks the delivery of our products from the warehouse and safeguards our inventory, which accounts for a vast majority of our inventory balance. The failure of our third-party logistics and warehousing provider to perform these key tasks sufficiently, or any disruption to its business as a result of restrictions imposed as a result of health crises, natural disasters, work stoppages, cyber attacks or other business disruptions, could disrupt their operations and therefore the shipment of our products to channel partners or end users or cause errors in our recorded inventory or in our customs or other regulatory documentation, any of which could adversely affect our business and operating results.
Our ability to sell our products is highly dependent on the quality of our support and services offerings, and our failure to offer high-quality support and services could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition.
End users of our products rely on our products for critical applications and, as such, high-quality support is critical for the successful marketing and sale of our products. If we or our channel partners do not provide adequate support in deploying our products or in resolving post-deployment issues quickly, our reputation may be harmed and our ability to sell our products could be materially and adversely affected. In addition, our business continues to evolve, as we offer select products only in conjunction with required support or services purchased in addition to product purchases. There can be no assurance that our ability to require purchase of support and services will be successful.
If we or our distributors and channel partners are unable to attract new end users or sell additional products to end users that currently use our products, our revenue growth would be adversely affected, and our revenues could decrease.
To increase our revenues, we depend on the adoption of our solutions by end users that purchase our products through our channel partners. End users typically need to make substantial investments when deploying network infrastructure, which can delay a purchasing decision. Once a network operator has deployed infrastructure for a particular portion of its network, it is often difficult and costly to switch to another vendor’s equipment. If we or our channel partners are unable to demonstrate that our products offer significant performance, functionality or cost advantages to the competitor’s product, it would be difficult for us to generate sales to that network operator once a competitor’s equipment has been deployed.
Our future success also depends significantly on additional purchases of our products by end users that have previously purchased our products. End users may choose not to purchase additional products because of several factors, including dissatisfaction with our products or pricing relative to competitive offerings, reductions in network operators’ spending levels or other causes outside of our control. If we are not able to generate repeat purchases from end users, our revenues may grow more slowly than expected or may decline, and our business and operating results would be adversely affected.
Our gross margin varies from period to period and may decline in the future.
Our gross margin varies from period to period, may be difficult to predict and may decline in future periods. Variations in our gross margin are generally driven by shifts in the mix of products we sell, the timing and related cost of fulfilling orders and other factors. In addition, the market for wireless broadband solutions is characterized by rapid innovation and declining average sale prices as products mature in the marketplace. The sales prices and associated gross margin for our products may decline due to change in sales strategy, competitive pricing pressures, demand, promotional discounts and seasonal changes in demand. Larger competitors with more diverse product and service offerings may reduce the price of products or services that compete with ours or may bundle them with other products and services. If we meet such price reductions but do not similarly reduce our product manufacturing costs, our margins would decline. Any decline in our gross margins could have an adverse impact on the trading price of our shares.
Our products are technologically complex and may contain undetected hardware defects or software bugs, which could result in increased warranty claims, increased costs, loss of revenues and harm to our reputation.
Our products are technologically complex and, when deployed, are critical to network operations. Our products rely on our proprietary embedded software, and have in the past contained and may in the future contain undetected errors, bugs or security vulnerabilities, or suffer reliability or quality issues. Some defects in our products may only be discovered after a product has been installed and used by network operators. Any errors, bugs, defects, security vulnerabilities or quality or reliability issues discovered in our products after commercial release could result in increased warranty claims, damage to our reputation and brand, loss of market
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shares or loss of revenues, any of which could adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition. In addition, our products operate in part in outdoor settings and must withstand environmental effects such as severe weather, lightning or other damage. Our products may also contain latent defects and errors from time to time related to embedded third-party components.
We have in the past and may in the future become subject to warranty claims that may require us to make significant expenditures to repair or replace defective products, or redesign our products to eliminate product vulnerabilities. We may in the future also be the subject of product liability claims. Such claims could require a significant amount of time and expense to resolve and defend against and could harm our reputation by calling into question the quality of our products. We also may incur costs and expenses relating to a recall of one or more of our products. The process of identifying recalled products that have been widely distributed may be lengthy and require significant resources and we may incur significant replacement costs, contract damage claims from network operators and harm to our reputation. Additionally, defects and errors may cause our products to be vulnerable to security attacks, cause them to fail to help secure networks or temporarily interrupt network traffic. Although we disclaim responsibility for certain warranty and product liability claims as well as product recalls or security problems, any substantial costs or payments made in connection with warranty and product liability claims, product recalls or security problems could cause our operating results to decline and harm our brand.
If our channel partners do not effectively manage inventory of our products, fail to timely resell our products or overestimate expected future demand, they may reduce purchases in future periods, causing our revenues and operating results to fluctuate or decline.
Our channel partners purchase and maintain inventories of our products to meet future demand and have only limited rights to return the products they have purchased from us. Our channel partners are not generally committed to volume purchases of our products in any period, although some of our products carry minimum order quantities. Accordingly, if our channel partners purchase more product than is required to meet demand in a particular period, causing their inventory levels to grow, they may delay or reduce additional future purchases, causing our quarterly results to fluctuate and adversely impacting our ability to accurately predict future earnings.
If we are not able to effectively forecast demand or manage our inventory, we may be required to record write-downs for excess or obsolete inventory.
We maintain inventory of finished goods and, to a lesser extent, raw materials that we believe are sufficient to allow timely fulfillment of sales, subject to the impact of supply shortages. Growth in our sales and new product launches may require us to build inventory in the future. Higher levels of inventory expose us to a greater risk of carrying excess or obsolete inventory, which may in turn lead to write-downs. We may also record write-downs in connection with the end-of-life for specific products. Decisions to increase or maintain higher inventory levels are typically based upon uncertain forecasts or other assumptions. Because the markets in which we compete are volatile, competitive and subject to rapid technology and price changes, if the assumptions on which we base these decisions turn out to be incorrect, our financial performance could suffer and we could be required to write-off the value of excess products or components inventory. In addition, in order to manage manufacturing lead times and help ensure adequate component supply, we enter into agreements with contract manufacturers and suppliers that allow them to procure inventory based upon criteria as defined by us, such as forecasted demand. We may be liable to purchase excess product or aged material from our suppliers following reasonable mitigation efforts, resulting in an adverse impact on our cash flows, operating expenses, results of operation and financial condition.
We are exposed to the credit risk of our channel partners, which could result in material losses.
We generate a substantial majority of our revenues through sales to our distributors. Distributors may not have the resources required to meet payment obligations, or may delay payments if their end customers are late making payments. Our exposure to credit risks of our channel partners and their end customers may increase if such entities are adversely affected by global or regional economic conditions. Given the broad geographic coverage of our distributor relationships, we have in the past and may in the future experience difficulties surrounding the collection of payments. Any significant delay or default in the collection of significant accounts receivable could result in the need for us to obtain working capital from other sources and could adversely impact our operating results and financial condition.
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If we do not effectively deploy and train our direct sales force, we may be unable to increase sales.
Although we rely on channel partners to fulfill the substantial majority of our sales, our direct sales force plays a critical role driving our sales through direct engagement with network operators. We have invested and will continue to invest substantially in our sales organization. Our sales headcount has grown from 124 as of December 31, 2019 to 134 as of December 31, 2022, as we focus on growing our business, entering new markets and increasing our market share, and we expect to continue to incur significant expenses as we continue to invest in sales and marketing in order to achieve revenue growth. There is significant competition for sales personnel with the skills and technical knowledge that we require. Our ability to achieve significant revenue growth will depend, in large part, on our success in recruiting, training, retaining and integrating sufficient numbers of sales personnel to support our growth, particularly in international markets. New hires require significant training and may take significant time before they achieve full productivity. Our recent hires may not become productive as quickly as we expect, and we may be unable to hire and retain sufficient numbers of qualified individuals needed to increase our sales. If we are unable to hire and train a sufficient number of effective sales personnel, or the sales personnel we hire do not achieve expected levels of productivity, our business, operating results and financial condition could be materially adversely affected.
Our sales cycles can be long and unpredictable and our sales efforts require considerable time and expense. As a result, our sales and revenues are difficult to predict and may vary substantially from period to period.
Our sales efforts involve educating channel partners and network operators about the technical capabilities, applications and benefits of our products. Network operators typically require long sales cycles to select a product supplier and place sales orders. The sale process usually begins with an evaluation, followed by one or more network trials, followed by vendor selection and finally installation, testing and deployment. Network operator purchasing activity depends upon the stage of completion of expanding network infrastructures and the availability of funding, among other factors. We spend substantial time and resources on our sales efforts without any assurance that our efforts will produce any sales. In addition, purchases of our products are frequently subject to budget constraints, multiple approvals, and unplanned administrative, processing and other delays. Moreover, the evolving nature of the market may lead prospective network operators to postpone their purchasing decisions pending resolution of network standards or adoption of technology by others. Network operators may also postpone a purchase decision pending the release of new or enhanced products by us or others. As a result, it is difficult to predict whether a sale will be completed, the particular period in which a sale will be completed or the period in which revenues from a sale will be recognized, resulting in lumpy sales from period to period. Our operating results may therefore vary significantly from quarter to quarter.
A portion of our revenues are generated by sales to government entities, which are subject to a number of challenges and risks.
We derive a portion of our revenues from contracts with government agencies and we believe the success and growth of our business will in part depend on our continued and increasing sales to U.S. and foreign, federal, state and local governmental end customers in the future. However, demand from government agencies is often unpredictable, and we may be unable to maintain or grow our revenues from this market. Sales to government agencies are subject to substantial risks, including but not limited to the following:
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The occurrence of any of the foregoing could cause governments and governmental agencies to delay or refrain from purchasing our products in the future which could materially and adversely affect our operating results.
We generate a significant amount of revenues from sales outside of the United States, and we are therefore subject to a number of risks associated with international sales and operations.
We have extensive international operations and generate a significant amount of revenues from sales to channel partners in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Asia-Pacific and South America. For example, sales outside of the United States accounted for 49% of our total revenues in 2020, 51% in 2021, and 55% in 2022. We rely on our third-party logistics and warehousing provider, with distribution hubs currently in the United States, the Netherlands and China to fulfill the majority of our worldwide sales and to deliver our products to our customers. We have estimated the geographical distribution of our product revenues based on the ship-to destinations specified by our distributors when placing orders with us. Our ability to grow our business and our future success will depend on our ability to continue to expand our global operations and sales worldwide.
As a result of our international reach, we must hire and train experienced personnel to manage our international operations. If we experience difficulties in recruiting, training, managing and retaining an international staff, and specifically staff related to sales management and sales personnel, we may experience difficulties expanding our sales outside of the United States. If we are not able to maintain these relationships internationally or to recruit additional channel partners, our future international sales could be limited. Business practices in the international markets that we serve may differ from those in the United States and may require us in the future to include terms other than our standard terms in contracts.
Our international sales and operations are subject to a number of risks, including the following:
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These and other factors could harm our ability to generate future international revenues. Expanding our existing international operations and entering into additional international markets will require significant management attention and financial commitments. Our failure to successfully manage our international operations and the associated risks effectively could limit our future growth or materially adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition.
A substantial portion of our product portfolio relies on the availability of unlicensed RF spectrum and if such spectrum were to become unavailable through overuse or licensing, the performance of our products could suffer and our revenues from their sales could decrease.
A substantial portion of our product portfolio operates in unlicensed RF spectrum, which is used by a wide range of consumer devices and is becoming increasingly crowded. If such spectrum usage continues to increase through the proliferation of consumer electronics and products competitive with ours, the resultant higher levels of noise in the bands of operation our products use could decrease the effectiveness of our products, which could adversely affect our ability to sell our products. Our business could be further harmed if currently unlicensed RF spectrum becomes licensed in the United States or elsewhere. Network operators that use our products may be unable to obtain licenses for RF spectrum. Even if the unlicensed spectrum remains unlicensed, existing and new governmental regulations may require we make changes in our products. For example, to provide products for network operators who utilize unlicensed RF spectrum, we may be required to limit their ability to use our products in licensed or otherwise restricted RF spectrum. The operation of our products by network operators in the United States or elsewhere in a manner not in compliance with local law could result in fines, operational disruption, or harm to our reputation.
The loss of key personnel or an inability to attract, retain and motivate qualified personnel may impair our ability to expand our business.
Our success is substantially dependent upon the continued service and performance of our senior management team and key technical, marketing and production personnel. Our employees, including our senior management team, are generally at-will employees, and therefore may terminate employment with us at any time with no advance notice. The replacement of any members of our senior management team or other key personnel likely would involve significant time and costs and may significantly delay or prevent the achievement of our business objectives.
Our future success also depends, in part, on our ability to continue to attract and retain highly skilled personnel. Competition for highly skilled personnel is frequently intense, particularly for highly skilled research and development personnel. Any failure to successfully attract or retain qualified personnel to fulfill our current or future needs may negatively impact our growth.
We may acquire other businesses which could require significant management attention, disrupt our business, dilute shareholder value and adversely affect our operating results.
To execute on our business strategy, we may acquire or make investments in complementary companies, products or technologies. Our integration of acquired businesses may not be successful and we may not achieve the benefits of the acquisition. We may not be able to find suitable acquisition candidates, and we may not be able to complete such acquisitions on favorable terms, if at all. If we do complete additional acquisitions, we may not ultimately strengthen our competitive position or achieve our goals, and any acquisitions we complete could be viewed negatively by our channel partners, investors and financial analysts. In addition, if we are unsuccessful at integrating such acquisitions, or the technologies associated with such acquisitions, into our company, the revenues and operating results of the combined company could be adversely affected. Any integration process may require significant time and resources, and we may be unable to manage the process successfully. We may not successfully evaluate or utilize the acquired technology or personnel, or accurately forecast the financial impact of an acquisition transaction, including unexpected liability or accounting charges. We may pay cash, incur debt or issue equity securities to pay for any future acquisition, each of which could adversely affect our financial condition or the value of our shares. The sale of equity or issuance of debt to finance any such acquisitions could result in dilution to our shareholders. The incurrence of indebtedness would result in increased fixed obligations and could also include covenants or other restrictions that would impede our ability to manage our operations.
Risks related to our industry
New regulations or standards or changes in existing regulations or standards in the United States or internationally related to our products may result in unanticipated costs or liabilities, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and future sales.
Our products are subject to governmental regulations in a variety of jurisdictions. To achieve and maintain market acceptance, our products must comply with these regulations as well as a significant number of industry standards. In the United States, our products must comply with various regulations defined by the Federal Communications Commission, or FCC, Underwriters Laboratories and others. We must also comply with similar international regulations, particularly those issued by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute, or ETSI, as such directives are or may be adopted as regulations by governments in member states. In addition, radio emissions, such as our products, are subject to health and safety regulation in the United States and in other
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countries in which we do business, including by the Center for Devices and Radiological Health of the Food and Drug Administration, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and various state agencies. Member countries of the European Union have enacted similar standards concerning electrical safety and electromagnetic compatibility and emissions, and chemical substances and use standards. As these regulations and standards evolve, and if new regulations or standards are implemented, we could be required to modify our products or develop and support new versions of our products, and our compliance with these regulations and standards may become more burdensome. The failure of our products to comply, or delays in compliance, with the various existing and evolving industry regulations and standards could prevent or delay introduction of our products, which could harm our business. Changes in standards could cause our products to be required to be redesigned in order to meet these changing standards. Foreign regulatory agencies may delay or fail to certify our products for political or other reasons other than product quality or performance. Network operator uncertainty regarding future policies may also affect demand for wireless broadband products, including our products. Our inability to alter our products to address these requirements and any regulatory changes may have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition.
In addition, changes in government regulations providing funding for capital investment in new industries, products or services, such as any government funding of products supporting wireline connectivity rather than wireless connectivity, could adversely impact products that are purchased by our customers and adversely impact our business, results of operations and financial condition. Further, government requirements around the world requiring or providing preference to, domestically produced goods may limit our ability to sell our products to customers in such jurisdictions, impacting our ability to grow our sales in such jurisdictions, adversely impacting our revenues, operations and financial condition.
We are subject to governmental export and import controls that could impair our ability to compete in international markets and subject us to liability if we are not in compliance with applicable laws.
Our technology and products are subject to export control and import laws and regulations, including the U.S. Export Administration Regulations, U.S. customs regulations, the economic and trade sanctions regulations administered by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Controls, and applicable U.K., EU and Netherlands export and import laws and regulations. Exports, re-exports and transfers of our products and technology must be made in compliance with these laws and regulations. U.S., U.K. and EU export control laws and economic sanctions include a prohibition on the shipment of certain products and technology to embargoed or sanctioned countries, governments and persons. We take precautions to prevent our products and technology from being shipped to, downloaded by or otherwise transferred to applicable sanctions targets, but our products could be shipped to those targets by our channel partners despite such precautions. If our products are shipped to or downloaded by sanctioned targets in the future in violation of applicable export laws, we could be subject to government investigations, penalties and reputational harm. Certain of our products incorporate encryption technology and may be exported, re-exported or transferred only with the required applicable export license from the U.S., U.K., or the EU through an export license exception.
If we fail to comply with applicable export and import regulations, customs and trade regulations, and economic sanctions and other laws, we could be subject to substantial civil and criminal penalties, including fines and incarceration for responsible employees and managers, and the possible loss of export or import privileges as well as harm our reputation and indirectly have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition. In addition, if our channel partners fail to comply with applicable export and import regulations, customs regulations, and economic and sanctions and other laws in connection with our products and technology, then we may also be adversely affected, through reputational harm and penalties. Obtaining the necessary export license for a particular sale may be time-consuming, may result in the delay or loss of sales opportunities and approval is not guaranteed.
Any change in export or import, customs or trade and economic sanctions laws, and regulations, shift in the enforcement or scope of existing laws and regulations, or change in the countries, governments, persons or technologies targeted by such laws and regulations, could also result in decreased use of our products, or in our decreased ability to export or sell our products to existing or potential network operators with international operations. Any decreased use of our products or limitation on our ability to export or sell our products could affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We do business in countries with a history of corruption and transact business with foreign governments, which increases the risks associated with our international activities.
We are subject to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended, or the FCPA, the U.K. Bribery Act of 2010, and many other laws around the world that prohibit improper payments or offers or authorization of payments to governments and their employees, officials, and agents and political parties for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business, inducing an individual to not act in good faith, direct business to any person, or secure any advantage. We have operations, deal with and make sales to governmental entities in countries known to experience corruption, particularly certain emerging countries in Asia, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and South America. Our activities in these countries create the risk of illegal or unauthorized payments or offers of payments or other things of value by our employees, consultants or channel partners that could be in violation of applicable anti-corruption laws, including the FCPA. In many foreign countries where we operate, particularly in countries with developing economies, it may be a local custom for businesses to engage in practices that are prohibited by the FCPA or other similar laws and
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regulations. Although we have taken actions to discourage and prevent illegal practices including our anti-corruption compliance policies, procedures, training and monitoring, the actions taken to safeguard against illegal practices, and any future improvements in our anti-corruption compliance practices, may not be effective, and our employees, consultants or channel partners may engage in illegal conduct for which we might be held responsible. Violations of anti-corruption laws may result in severe criminal or civil sanctions, including suspension or debarment from government contracting, and we may be subject to other liabilities and significant costs for investigations, litigation and fees, diversion of resources, negative press coverage, or reputational harm, all of which could negatively affect our business, operating results and financial condition. In addition, the failure to create and maintain accurate books and records or the failure to maintain an adequate system of internal accounting controls may subject us to sanctions.
If we fail to comply with environmental requirements, our business, financial condition, operating results and reputation could be adversely affected.
We are subject to various environmental laws and regulations including laws governing the hazardous material content of our products and laws relating to the recycling of electrical and electronic equipment as well as packaging and recycling requirements. The laws and regulations to which we are subject include the European Union’s Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive, or RoHS, and Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive, or WEEE, as implemented by EU member states. Similar laws and regulations exist or are pending in other regions, including in the United States, and we are, or may in the future be, subject to these laws and regulations.
RoHS restricts the use of certain hazardous materials, including lead, mercury and cadmium, in the manufacture of certain electrical and electronic products, including some of our products. We have incurred, and expect to incur in the future, costs to comply with these laws, including research and development costs, and costs associated with assuring the supply of compliant components. Certain of our products are eligible for an exemption for lead used in network infrastructure equipment. If this exemption is revoked, or if there are other changes to RoHS (or its interpretation) or if similar laws are passed in other jurisdictions, we may be required to reengineer our products to use components compatible with these regulations. This reengineering and component substitution could result in additional costs to us or disrupt our operations or logistics.
WEEE requires producers of electrical and electronic equipment to be responsible for the collection, reuse, recycling and treatment of their products. Currently, our distributors generally take responsibility for this requirement, as they are often the importer of record. However, changes to WEEE and existing or future laws similar to WEEE may require us to incur additional costs in the future.
If we are unable to comply with these or similar laws or regulations, we could incur fines, penalties, restrictions on our ability to manufacture our products or restrictions or limitations on our ability to import or export our products to or from various jurisdictions.
Any failure to comply with current and future environmental laws could result in the incurrence of fines or penalties and could adversely affect the demand for or sales of our products.
If we are not able to satisfy data protection, security, privacy and other government- and industry-specific requirements or regulations, our business, results of operations and financial condition could be harmed.
Personal privacy, data protection, information security and telecommunications-related laws and regulations have been widely adopted in the United States, Europe and in other jurisdictions where we offer our products. The regulatory frameworks for these matters, including privacy, data protection and information security matters, is rapidly evolving and is likely to remain uncertain for the foreseeable future. We expect that there will continue to be new proposed laws, regulations and industry standards concerning privacy, data protection, information security and telecommunications services in the United States, the European Union and other jurisdictions in which we operate or may operate, and it is not known what impact such future laws, regulations and standards may have on our business.
We also expect that existing laws, regulations and standards may be interpreted in new manners in the future. Future laws, regulations, standards and other obligations, and changes in the interpretation of existing laws, regulations, standards and other obligations could require us to modify our products, restrict our business operations, increase our costs and impair our ability to maintain and grow our channel partner base and increase our revenues. The cost of compliance with, and other burdens imposed by new privacy laws may limit the use and adoption of our products and services and could have an adverse impact on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Although we work to comply with applicable privacy and data security laws and regulations, industry standards, contractual obligations and other legal obligations, those laws, regulations, standards and obligations are evolving and may be modified, interpreted and applied in an inconsistent manner from one jurisdiction to another, and may conflict with one another. As such, we cannot assure ongoing compliance with all such laws, regulations, standards and obligations. Any failure or perceived failure by us to comply with applicable laws, regulations, standards or obligations, or any actual or suspected security incident, whether or not resulting in unauthorized access to, or acquisition, release or transfer of personally identifiable information or other data, may result in governmental enforcement actions and prosecutions, private litigation, fines and penalties or adverse publicity, and could cause channel partners to lose trust in us, which could have an adverse effect on our reputation and business.
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Our actual or perceived failure to adequately protect personal data could result in claims of liability against us, damage our reputation or otherwise materially harm of business.
Global privacy and data protection-related laws and regulations are evolving, extensive, and complex. Compliance with these laws and regulations can be difficult and costly. In addition, evolving legal requirements restricting or governing the collection, use, processing, or cross-border transmission of personal data, including for regulation of cloud-based services, could materially affect our customers’ ability to use, and our ability to sell, our products and services. The interpretation and application of these laws and regulations in some instances is uncertain, and our legal and regulatory obligations are subject to frequent changes. For example, the European Union’s (“EU”) General Data Protection Regulation (“EU GDPR”) applies to the extent that our activities: (i) are conducted from an 'establishment' in the EU; or (ii) related to products or services offered to individuals in the EU or the monitoring of their behavior. The EU GDPR imposes a range of compliance obligations on controllers regarding the processing of personal data, including among others: (i) accountability and transparency requirements, which require controllers to demonstrate and record compliance with the EU GDPR and to provide more detailed information to data subjects regarding processing; (ii) enhanced requirements for obtaining valid consent; (iii) obligations to consider data protection as any new products or services are developed and to limit the amount of personal data processed; (iv) obligations to comply with data protection rights of data subjects including a right of access to and rectification of personal data, a right to obtain restriction of processing or to object to processing of personal data and a right to ask for a copy of personal data to be provided to a third party in a usable format and erasing personal data in certain circumstances; (v) obligations to implement appropriate technical and organizational security measures to safeguard personal data; and (vi) obligations to report certain personal data breaches to the relevant supervisory authority without undue delay (and no later than 72 hours where feasible) and/or concerned individuals. In the event of non-compliance, the EU GDPR provides for robust regulatory enforcement and fines of up to €20 million or 4% of the annual global revenue, whichever is greater. In addition, the EU GDPR confers a private right of action on data subjects and consumer associations to lodge complaints with supervisory authorities, seek judicial remedies and obtain compensation for damages resulting from violations of the EU GDPR.
European data protection laws, including the EU GDPR, generally also restrict the transfer of personal data from Europe to the US and most other countries that are not recognized as having “adequate” data protection laws, unless the parties to the transfer have implemented specific safeguards to protect the transferred personal data. One of the primary safeguards allowing US companies to import personal data from Europe has historically been certification to the EU-US Privacy Shield framework administered by the US Department of Commerce. However, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) issued a decision in July 2020 invalidating the EU-US Privacy Shield framework as a data transfer mechanism (Schrems II) and imposing further restrictions on the use of standard contractual clauses (SCCs), including a requirement for companies to carry out a transfer privacy impact assessment, which, among other things, assesses laws governing access to personal data in the recipient country and considers whether supplementary measures that provide privacy protections additional to those provided under the SCCs will need to be implemented to ensure an ‘essentially equivalent’ level of data protection to that afforded in Europe. Following that decision, the Swiss Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner took a similar view and considered that data transfers based on the Swiss-US Privacy Shield framework are no longer lawful (despite the fact that Schrems II is not directly applicable in Switzerland (unless the Swiss based company is subject to the EU GDPR) and the Swiss-US Privacy Shield has not been officially invalidated).
Further, the European Commission published new EU SCCs in June 2022, which place onerous obligations on the contracting parties. At present, there are few, if any, viable alternatives to the SCCs. However, on October 7, 2022, the US President introduced an Executive Order to facilitate a new Trans-Atlantic Data Privacy Framework which will act as a successor to the invalidated Privacy Shield. On December 13, 2022, the European Commission also published its draft adequacy decision to reflect its view that the new executive order and Trans-Atlantic Data Privacy Framework, is able to meet the concerns raised in Schrems II. If the draft adequacy decision is approved and implemented, the agreement will facilitate the transatlantic flow of personal data and provide additional safeguards to data transfer mechanisms (including EU SCCs and Binding Corporate Rules) for companies transferring personal data from the EU to the US. However, before parties rely on the new framework, there are still legislative and regulatory steps that must be undertaken both in the US and in the EU. As such, any transfers by us or our third-party vendors, collaborators or others of personal data from Europe to the US or elsewhere may not comply with European data protection laws, may increase our exposure to European data protection laws’ heightened sanctions for cross-border data transfer restrictions may restrict our activities in Europe and may limit our ability to collaborate with service providers, contractors and other companies subject to European data protection laws. Loss of our ability to transfer personal data from Europe may also require us to increase our data processing capabilities in those jurisdictions at significant expense.
Following the UK’s departure from the EU (Brexit), the EU GDPR’s data protection obligations continue to apply to the UK in substantially unvaried form under the so-called “UK GDPR” (i.e., the EU GDPR as it continues to form part of law in the UK by virtue of section 3 of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, as amended (including by the various Data Protection, Privacy and Electronic Communications (Amendments etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations)). The UK GDPR exists alongside the UK Data Protection Act 2018 that implements certain derogations in the UK GDPR into English law. Under the UK GDPR, companies not established in the UK but that process personal data either in relation to the offering of products or services to individuals in the UK, or to monitor their behavior will be subject to the UK GDPR, the requirements of which are (at this time) largely aligned with those under the EU GDPR. This may lead to similar compliance and operational costs with potential fines of up to £17.5 million or 4% of global turnover. As a result, we are potentially exposed to two parallel data protection regimes, each of which authorizes fines and the potential for
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divergent enforcement actions. It should also be noted that the UK Government published its own form of EU SCCs, known as the International Data Transfer Agreement and International Data Transfer Addendum to the new EU SCCs. The UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has also published its version of the transfer impact assessment and revised guidance on international transfers, although entities may choose to adopt either the EU or UK style transfer impact assessment. In terms of international data transfers between the UK and US, it is understood that the UK and the US are negotiating an adequacy agreement.
Regulation of privacy, data protection and data security has also become more stringent in the United States. For example, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), which took effect on January 1, 2020, gives California residents expanded rights to access and delete their personal information, opt out of certain personal information sharing, and receive detailed information about how their personal information is used. The CCPA provides for civil penalties for violations, as well as a private right of action for data breaches that is expected to increase data breach litigation. The CCPA may increase our compliance costs and potential liability. The CCPA was substantially expanded on January 1, 2023, when the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) amendments to the CCPA became fully operative. The CPRA amendments, among other things, gives California residents the ability to limit use of certain sensitive personal information, further restrict the use of cross-contextual advertising, establish restrictions on the retention of personal information, expand the types of data breaches subject to the CCPA’s private right of action, provide for increased penalties for CCPA violations concerning California residents under the age of 16, and establish a new California Privacy Protection Agency to implement and enforce the new law. Other states, such as Colorado, Connecticut, Utah, and Virginia, have already passed similar comprehensive privacy laws that have or will also go into effect in 2023, and several more are considering their own versions of privacy legislation, demonstrating a strong trend towards more stringent state privacy, data protection and data security legislation in the U.S., which could increase our potential liability and adversely affect our business where these laws apply to us.
Our actual or perceived failure to comply with applicable laws and regulations or other obligations relating to personal data, or to protect personal data from unauthorized access, use, or other processing, could subject us to liability to our customers, data subjects, suppliers, business partners, employees, and others, give rise to legal and/or regulatory action, could damage our reputation or could otherwise materially harm our business, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results, and financial condition.
Risks related to our intellectual property
Cyber-attacks, data breaches or malware may disrupt our operations, harm our operating results and financial condition, and damage our reputation or otherwise materially harm our business; and cyber-attacks or data breaches on our customers’ networks, or in cloud-based services provided by or enabled by us, could result in claims of liability against us, damage our reputation or otherwise materially harm our business.
We experience cyber-attacks and other attempts to gain unauthorized access to our systems on a regular basis, and we anticipate continuing to be subject to such attempts. Despite our implementation of security measures, (i) our products and services, and (ii) the servers, data centers, and cloud-based solutions on which our and third-party data is stored, are vulnerable to cyber-attacks, data breaches, malware, and disruptions from unauthorized access, tampering or other theft or misuse, including by employees, malicious actors or inadvertent error. Such events could in the future compromise or disrupt access to or the operation of our products, services, and networks or those of our customers, or result in the information stored on our systems or those of our customers being improperly accessed, processed, disclosed, lost or stolen. We have not to date experienced a material event; however, the occurrence of any such event in the future could subject us to liability to our customers, suppliers, business partners and others, give rise to legal and/or regulatory action, could damage our reputation or otherwise materially harm our business, and could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results, and financial condition. Efforts to limit the ability of malicious actors to disrupt our operations or undermine our own security efforts may be costly to implement and may not be successful. Breaches of security in our customers’ or suppliers' networks, or in cloud-based services provided by or enabled by us, regardless of whether the breach is attributable to a vulnerability in our products or services, could result in claims of liability against us, damage our reputation or otherwise materially harm our business.
Vulnerabilities and critical security defects, prioritization decisions regarding remedying vulnerabilities or security defects, failure of third-party providers to remedy vulnerabilities or security defects, or customers not deploying security releases or deciding not to upgrade products, services or solutions could result in claims of liability against us, damage our reputation, or otherwise materially harm our business.
The products and services we sell to customers, and our cloud-based solutions, inevitably contain vulnerabilities or critical security defects which have not been remedied and cannot be disclosed without compromising security. We also make prioritization decisions in determining which vulnerabilities or security defects to fix and the timing of these fixes. Customers may also delay the deployment or implementation of fixes offered or made available by us. In addition, we rely on third-party providers of software and cloud-based services, and we cannot control the rate at which they remedy vulnerabilities. When customers do not deploy specific releases, or decide not to upgrade to the latest versions of our products, services or cloud-based solutions containing the release, they may be left vulnerable. Vulnerabilities and critical security defects, prioritization errors in remedying vulnerabilities or security defects, failure of third-party
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providers to remedy vulnerabilities or security defects, or customers not deploying specific releases or deciding not to upgrade products, services or solutions could result in claims of liability against us, damage our reputation or otherwise materially harm our business.
We rely on the availability of third-party licenses, the loss of which could materially harm our ability to sell our products.
We rely on certain software or other intellectual property licensed from third parties. It may be necessary in the future to seek new licenses or renew existing licenses. There can be no assurance that the necessary licenses would be available on acceptable terms, if at all. If we are unable to maintain these licenses, or obtain licenses to alternative third-party intellectual property, on acceptable terms, we may be precluded from selling our products, may be required to re-design our products to eliminate reliance on such third-party intellectual property or otherwise experience disruption in operating our business. Third parties owning such intellectual property may engage in litigation against us seeking protection of their intellectual property rights, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results, and financial condition.
If we are unable to protect our intellectual property rights, our competitive position could be harmed or we may incur significant expenses to enforce our rights.
We protect our proprietary information and technology through license agreements, nondisclosure agreements, noncompetition covenants, and other contractual provisions and agreements, as well as through patent, trademark, copyright and trade secret laws in the United States and similar laws in other countries. These protections may not be available in all jurisdictions and may be inadequate to prevent our competitors or other third-party manufacturers from copying, reverse engineering or otherwise obtaining and using our technology, proprietary rights or products. For example, the laws of certain countries in which our products are manufactured or licensed do not protect our proprietary rights to the same extent as the laws of the United States. In addition, third parties may seek to challenge, invalidate or circumvent our patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets, or applications for any of the foregoing. We have focused patent, trademark, copyright and trade secret protection primarily in the United States and Europe, although we distribute our products globally. As a result, we may not have sufficient protection of our intellectual property in all countries where infringement may occur. There can be no assurance that our competitors will not independently develop technologies that are substantially equivalent or superior to our technology or design around our proprietary rights. In each case, our ability to compete could be significantly impaired. To prevent substantial unauthorized use of our intellectual property rights, it may be necessary to prosecute actions for infringement and/or misappropriation of our proprietary rights against third parties. Any such action could result in significant costs and diversion of our resources and management’s attention, and we may not be successful in such action.
Claims by others that we infringe their intellectual property rights could harm our business.
Our industry is characterized by vigorous protection and pursuit of intellectual property rights. A number of companies hold a large number of patents that may cover technology necessary to our products. We have in the past received and expect to continue to receive claims by third parties that we infringe their intellectual property rights.
In addition, we have received correspondence from certain patent holding companies who assert that we infringe certain patents related to wireless communication technologies. A court adjudicating a claim that we infringe these patents may not rule in our favor should these patent holding companies file suit against us. As our business expands, we enter into new technologies, and the number of products and competitors in our market increases, we expect that infringement claims may increase in number and significance. It is not uncommon for suppliers of certain components of our products, such as chipsets, to be involved in intellectual property-related lawsuits by or against third parties. Our key component suppliers are often targets of such assertions, and we may become a target as well. Any claims or proceedings against us, whether meritorious or not, could be time-consuming, result in costly litigation, require significant amounts of management time or result in the diversion of significant operational resources, any of which could materially and adversely affect our business and operating results.
Intellectual property lawsuits are subject to inherent uncertainties due to the complexity of the technical issues involved, and we cannot be certain that we will be successful in defending ourselves against intellectual property claims. In addition, we currently have a limited portfolio of issued patents compared to our larger competitors, and therefore may not be able to effectively utilize our intellectual property portfolio to assert defenses or counterclaims in response to patent infringement claims or litigation brought against us by third parties. Patent holding companies may seek to monetize patents they previously developed, have purchased or otherwise obtained. Many companies, including our competitors, may now, and in the future, have significantly larger and more mature patent portfolios than we have, which they may use to assert claims of infringement, misappropriation and other violations of intellectual property rights against us. In addition, future litigation may involve non-practicing entities or other patent owners who have no relevant products or revenue and against whom our own patents may therefore provide little or no deterrence or protection, and many other potential litigants have the capability to dedicate substantially greater resources than we do to enforce their intellectual property rights and to defend claims that may be brought against them.
A successful claimant could secure a judgment that requires us to pay substantial damages or prevents us from distributing certain products, obtaining the services of certain employees or independent contractors, or performing certain services. In addition, we might be required to seek a license for the use of such intellectual property, which may not be available on commercially acceptable terms or at all. Alternatively, we may be required to develop non-infringing technology, which could require significant
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effort and expense and may ultimately not be successful. Any claims or proceedings against us, whether meritorious or not, could be time consuming, result in costly litigation, require significant amounts of management time, result in the diversion of significant operational resources, or require us to enter into royalty or licensing agreements.
Although we may be able to seek indemnification from our component suppliers and certain of our third-party manufacturers who have provided us with design and build services, these third-party manufacturers or component suppliers may contest their obligations to indemnify us, or their available assets or indemnity obligation may not be sufficient to cover our losses.
Our obligations to indemnify our channel partners or end users against intellectual property infringement claims could cause us to incur substantial costs.
We have agreed, and expect to continue to agree, to indemnify our channel partners and network operators for certain intellectual property infringement claims. If intellectual property infringement claims are made against our channel partners or network operators concerning our products, we could be required to indemnify them for losses resulting from such claims or to refund amounts they have paid to us. The maximum potential amount of future payments we could be required to make may be substantial or unlimited and could materially harm our business. We may in the future agree to defend and indemnify our distributors, network operators and other parties, even if we do not believe that we have an obligation to indemnify them or that our services and products infringe the asserted intellectual property rights. Alternatively, we may reject certain of these indemnity demands, which may lead to disputes with a distributor, network operator or other party and may negatively impact our relationships with the party demanding indemnification or result in litigation against us.
If our third-party manufacturers do not respect our intellectual property and trade secrets and produce competitive products using our design, our business would be harmed.
We outsource manufacture, and in some cases hardware or software design, to third-party manufacturers predominantly in Mexico, China, Israel and Taiwan, among other locations, and periodically evaluate manufacturers in other locations. Prosecution of intellectual property infringement and trade secret theft is more difficult in some of these jurisdictions than in the United States. Although our agreements with our third-party manufacturers generally preclude them from misusing our intellectual property and trade secrets, or using our designs to manufacture product for our competitors, we may be unsuccessful in monitoring and enforcing our intellectual property rights and may find counterfeit goods in the market being sold as our products or products similar to ours produced for our competitors using our intellectual property. Although we take steps to stop counterfeits, we may not be successful and network operators who purchase these counterfeit goods may experience product defects or failures, harming our reputation and brand and causing us to lose future sales.
Our operating results may be adversely affected and damage to our reputation may occur due to production and sale of counterfeit versions of our products.
Our products could be subject to efforts by third parties to produce counterfeit versions of our products. If we become the target of the manufacture of counterfeit goods, are unable to block their sale, are unable to detect counterfeit products in customer networks, or are unable to succeed in prosecuting counterfeiters and their distributors, such counterfeit sales, to the extent they replace otherwise legitimate sales, could adversely affect our operating results.
We use open source software in our products that may subject our firmware to general release or require us to re-engineer our products and the firmware contained therein, which may cause harm to our business.
We incorporate open source software into our products. Use and distribution of open source software may entail greater risks than use of third-party commercial software, as open source licensors generally do not provide warranties or other contractual protections regarding infringement claims or the quality of the software code. Some open source licenses contain requirements that we make available source code for modifications or derivative works we create based upon the open source software and that we license such modifications or derivative works under the terms of a particular open source license or other license granting third parties certain rights of further use. If we combine our proprietary firmware or other software with open source software in a certain manner, we could, under certain of the open source licenses, be required to release our proprietary source code publicly or license such source code on unfavorable terms or at no cost. Open source license terms relating to the disclosure of source code in modifications or derivative works to the open source software are often ambiguous and few if any courts in jurisdictions applicable to us have interpreted such terms. As a result, many of the risks associated with usage of open source software cannot be eliminated, and could, if not properly addressed, negatively affect our business.
If we were found to have inappropriately used open source software, we may be required to release our proprietary source code, re-engineer our firmware or other software, discontinue the sale of our products in the event re-engineering cannot be accomplished on a timely basis or take other remedial action that may divert resources away from our development efforts, any of which could adversely increase our expenses and delay our ability to release our products for sale. We could also be subject to similar conditions or restrictions should there be any changes in the licensing terms of the open source software incorporated into our products.
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Financial and accounting risks
If we fail to maintain an effective system of internal controls, our ability to produce timely and accurate financial statements or comply with applicable regulations could be impaired.
As a public company, we are subject to the reporting requirements of the Exchange Act, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, and the rules and regulations of Nasdaq. The requirements of these rules and regulations has and will increase our legal, accounting and financial compliance costs, make some activities more difficult, time-consuming and costly and place strain on our personnel, systems and resources.
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires, among other things, that we maintain effective disclosure controls and procedures over financial reporting. We are continuing to develop and refine our disclosure controls, internal control over financial reporting and other procedures, including controls related to revenue and expense recognition, regulatory compliance issues affecting our financial results, litigation and settlements and other matters, that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by us in the reports that we will file with the SEC is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in SEC rules and forms, and that information required to be disclosed in reports under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to our principal executive and financial officers.
Our current controls and any new controls we develop may become inadequate because of growth in our business. Further, weaknesses, including material weaknesses, in our internal controls have been discovered in the past and additional weaknesses may be discovered in the future. Any failure to develop or maintain effective controls, or any difficulties encountered in their implementation or improvement, could harm our operating results or cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations and may result in a restatement of our financial statements for prior periods. Any failure to implement and maintain effective internal controls also could adversely affect the results of periodic management evaluations and annual independent registered public accounting firm attestation reports regarding the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting that we will be required to include in our periodic reports we will file with the SEC under Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act once we cease to be an emerging growth company. Ineffective disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting could also cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial and other information, which would likely have a negative effect on the market price of our shares.
We have expended and anticipate we will continue to expend significant resources, and we expect to provide significant management oversight, to maintain and improve the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures and internal controls over financial reporting. Any future failure to maintain the adequacy of our internal controls, or consequent inability to produce accurate financial statements on a timely basis, could increase our operating costs and could materially impair our ability to operate our business. If our internal controls are perceived as inadequate or we are unable to produce timely or accurate financial statements, investors may lose confidence in our operating results and our share price could decline. In addition, if we are unable to continue to meet these requirements, we may not be able to remain listed on Nasdaq.
Our independent registered public accounting firm is not required to formally attest to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting until after we are no longer an emerging growth company. At such time, our independent registered public accounting firm may issue a report that is adverse in the event it is not satisfied with the level at which our controls are documented, designed or operating. Any failure to maintain effective disclosure controls and internal control over financial reporting could have a material and adverse effect on our business and operating results and could cause a decline in the price of our shares.
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Adverse economic conditions, continuing uncertain economic conditions or reduced information technology and network infrastructure spending may adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
Our business depends on the overall demand for wireless network technology and on the economic health and general willingness of our current and prospective end-customers to make those capital commitments necessary to purchase our products. Weak domestic or global economic conditions and continuing economic uncertainty, fear or anticipation of such conditions, a recession, international trade disputes, global pandemics such as the COVID-19 pandemic, or a reduction in information technology and network infrastructure spending even if economic conditions improve, have from time to time contributed, and may continue to contribute, to slowdowns in the markets in which we compete, resulting in reduced demand for our products as a result of constraints in capital spending, longer sales cycles, increased price competition for our products including lower sales prices, risk of excess and obsolete inventories, risk of supply constraints, and higher overhead costs as a percentage of revenue and higher interest expense, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects, higher default rates among our distributors, reduced unit sales and lower or no growth. If the conditions in the U.S. and global economies deteriorate, become uncertain or volatile, our business, operating results and financial condition may be materially adversely affected. Economic weakness, end-customer financial difficulties, limited availability of credit and constrained capital spending have resulted, and may in the future result, in challenging and delayed sales cycles, slower adoption of new technologies and increased price competition, and could negatively impact our ability to forecast future periods, which could result in an inability to satisfy demand for our products and a loss of market share.
In particular, we cannot be assured of the level of spending on wireless network technology, the deterioration of which would have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and growth rates. The purchase of our products or willingness to replace existing infrastructure is discretionary and highly dependent on a perception of continued rapid growth in consumer usage of mobile devices and in many cases involves a significant commitment of capital and other resources. Therefore, weak economic conditions or a reduction in capital spending would likely adversely impact our business, operating results and financial condition. A reduction in spending on wireless network technology could occur or persist even if economic conditions improve.
In addition, if interest rates rise or foreign exchange rates weaken for our international customers, overall demand for our products and services could decline and related capital spending may be reduced. Furthermore, any increase in worldwide commodity prices may result in higher component prices for us and increased shipping costs, both of which may negatively impact our financial results. A downturn or a recession may also significantly affect financing markets, the availability of capital and the terms and conditions of any financing arrangements, including the overall cost of financing as well as the financial health or creditworthiness of our end customers. Circumstances may arise in which we need, or desire, to raise additional capital, and such capital may not be available on commercially reasonable terms, or at all.
Our business depends on the overall demand for information technology, network connectivity and access to data and applications. Weak domestic or global economic conditions and continuing economic uncertainty, fear or anticipation of such conditions, a recession, international trade disputes, global pandemics such as the COVID-19 pandemic, or a reduction in information technology and network infrastructure spending even if economic conditions improve, could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects in a number of ways, including longer sales cycles, lower prices for our products and services, higher default rates among our distributors, reduced unit sales and lower or no growth.
The global macroeconomic environment could be negatively affected by, among other things, epidemics, instability in global economic markets, increased U.S. trade tariffs and trade disputes between the U.S., China and other countries, inflationary pressures, higher interest rates, instability in the global credit markets, the impact and uncertainty regarding global central bank monetary policy, instability in the geopolitical environment, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, political tensions between Taiwan and China, political demonstrations, and foreign governmental debt concerns which have caused, and are likely to continue to cause, uncertainty and instability in local economies and in global financial markets.
We are exposed to fluctuations in currency exchange rates, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
Our sales contracts are primarily denominated in U.S. dollars, and therefore, substantially all of our revenue is not subject to foreign currency risk; however, as a result of the strengthening U.S. dollar, there has been an increase in the cost of our products to our end customers outside of the U.S., which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. In addition, a decrease in the value of the U.S. dollar relative to foreign currencies could increase our product and operating costs in foreign locations. Further, a portion of our operating expenses is incurred outside the U.S., is denominated in foreign currencies and is subject to fluctuations due to changes in foreign currency exchange rates. If we are not able to successfully hedge against the risks associated with the currency fluctuations, our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects could be adversely affected.
The elimination of LIBOR could adversely affect our business, results of operations or financial condition.
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In July 2017, the head of the United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) announced plans to phase out the use of LIBOR by the end of 2021. In March 2021, the FCA confirmed that all LIBOR settings will either cease to be provided by any administrator or no longer be representative immediately after December 31, 2021in the case of the 1-week and 2-month US Dollar LIBOR tenors, and immediately after June 30, 2023 in the case of the remaining US Dollar LIBOR tenors. Although the impact is uncertain at this time, the elimination of LIBOR could have an adverse impact on our business, results of operations, or financial condition. Although our credit facilities with Bank of America contemplates the elimination of LIBOR-indexed loans, we may incur significant expenses to amend our LIBOR-indexed loans, and other applicable financial or contractual obligations, including our credit facilities, to a new reference rate, which may differ significantly from LIBOR. Accordingly, the use of an alternative rate could result in increased costs, including increased interest expense on our credit facilities, and increased borrowing and hedging costs in the future. At this time, no consensus exists as to what rate or rates may become acceptable alternatives to LIBOR and we are unable to predict the effect of any such alternatives on our business, results of operations or financial condition.
Our credit facility contains restrictive financial covenants that may limit our operating flexibility.
Our credit facility contains certain restrictive covenants that either limit our ability to, or require a mandatory prepayment in the event we, among other things, create or assume certain liens; create, incur or assume additional indebtedness, subject to specified permitted debt; make or hold certain investments, subject to certain exceptions; enter into certain mergers, liquidations, consolidations and other fundamental changes, subject to specified exceptions; make certain sales and other disposition of property or assets, including sale and leaseback transactions, subject to certain conditions and exceptions; make certain payments of dividends, share repurchase and other distributions, subject to certain exceptions; and enter into certain transactions with affiliates. We, therefore, may not be able to engage in any of the foregoing transactions unless we obtain the consent of our lenders or prepay certain amounts under the credit facility. The credit facility also contains certain financial covenants and financial reporting requirements. We have in the past, and may in the future, fail to comply with all of the financial or restrictive covenants of our credit facility, requiring a waiver from our lenders. Our obligations under the credit facility are secured by substantially all of our assets. We may not be able to generate or sustain sufficient cash flow or sales to meet the financial covenants or pay the principal and interest under the credit facility, and we may in the future be unable to meet our financial covenants, requiring additional waivers that our lenders may be unwilling to grant. Furthermore, our future working capital, proceeds of borrowings or proceeds of equity financings could be required to be used to repay or refinance the amounts outstanding under the credit facility and, therefore, may be unavailable for other purposes. In the event of a liquidation, our lenders would be repaid all outstanding principal and interest prior to distribution of assets to unsecured creditors, and the holders of our shares would receive a portion of any liquidation proceeds only if all of our creditors, including our lenders, were first repaid in full.
Enhanced United States tax, tariff, import/export restrictions, Chinese regulations or other trade barriers may have a negative effect on global economic conditions, financial markets and our business.
There is currently significant uncertainty about the future relationship between the United States, and various other countries, most significantly China, with respect to trade policies, treaties, tariffs and taxes. The U.S. government has and continues to make significant additional changes in U.S. trade policy and has taken certain actions that could negatively impact U.S. trade. For example, in 2018, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (the “USTR”) enacted various tariffs of 7.5%, 10%, 15% and 25% on imports into the U.S. from China, including communications equipment products and components manufactured and imported from China. Since then, China has retaliated through various trade related measures including imposing tariffs on imports into China from the United States.
The U.S. government has also enacted controls restricting the ability to send certain products and technology related to semiconductors, semiconductor manufacturing, and supercomputing to China without an export license. These new controls also apply to certain hardware containing these specified integrated circuits. Other foreign governments may in turn impose similar or more restrictive controls. The U.S. government continue to add additional entities, in China and elsewhere, to restricted party lists impacting the ability of U.S. companies to provide items to these entities. These controls or any additional restrictions may impact our ability to export certain products to China, prohibit us from selling our products to certain of our customers or restrict our ability to use certain Integrated Circuits (“ICs”) in our products.
It also is possible that the Chinese government will retaliate in ways that could impact our business. Additionally, these restrictions could disrupt the ability of China to produce semiconductors and other electronics and impact our ability to source components from China. These restrictions could impact the cost of components or inputs used to produce our products.
We cannot predict what actions may ultimately be taken with respect to trade relations between the United States and China or other countries, what products may be subject to such actions or what actions may be taken by the other countries in retaliation. If we are unable to obtain or use components for inclusion in our products, if component prices increase significantly or if we are unable to export or sell our products to any of our customers, our business, liquidity, financial condition, and/or results of operations would be materially and adversely affected.
If tariffs, trade restrictions, or trade barriers remain in place or if new tariffs, trade restrictions, or trade barriers are placed on products such as ours by U.S. or foreign governments, especially China, our costs may increase. We believe we can adjust our supply
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chain and manufacturing practices to minimize the impact of the tariffs and any impact on the supply chain of components sourced in China, but our efforts may not be successful, there can be no assurance that we will not experience a disruption in our business related to these or other changes in trade practices and the process of changing suppliers in order to mitigate any such tariff costs could be complicated, time-consuming, and costly.
The U.S. tariffs may also cause customers to delay orders as they evaluate where to take delivery of our products in connection with their efforts to mitigate their own tariff exposure. Such delays create forecasting difficulties for us and increase the risk that orders might be canceled or might never be placed. Current or future tariffs imposed by the U.S. may also negatively impact our customers' sales, thereby causing an indirect negative impact on our own sales. Even in the absence of further tariffs, the related uncertainty and the market's fear of an escalating trade war might cause our distributors and customers to place fewer orders for our products, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, liquidity, financial condition, and/or results of operations.
In June 2022, the import restrictions contained in the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act ("UFLPA") became effective. The UFLPA creates a rebuttable presumption that any goods mined, produced or manufactured, wholly or in part in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (“XUAR”) of China, or produced by a listed entity, were made with forced labor and would therefore not be entitled to entry at any U.S. port. Importers are required to present clear and convincing evidence that such goods are not made with forced labor. While we do not source items from the XUAR or from listed parties, and we have increased our supply chain diligence, there is risk that our ability to import components and products may be adversely affected by the UFLPA.
Given the relatively fluid regulatory environment in China and the United States and uncertainty how the U.S. government or foreign governments will act with respect to tariffs, international trade agreements and policies, a trade war, further governmental action related to tariffs or international trade policies, or additional tax or other regulatory changes in the future could directly and adversely impact our financial results and results of operations.
We may face exposure to unknown tax liabilities, which could adversely affect our financial condition, cash flows and results of operations.
We are subject to income and non-income based taxes in the United States and in various non-U.S. jurisdictions. We file U.S. federal income tax returns as well as income tax returns in various U.S. state and local jurisdictions and many non-U.S. jurisdictions. The United States, United Kingdom, India, Mexico, and Brazil are the main taxing jurisdictions in which we operate. Significant judgment is required in dealing with uncertainties in the application of complex tax regulations when calculating our worldwide income tax liabilities and other tax liabilities. We are not aware of any uncertain tax positions as specified by Accounting Standards Codification 740, Income Taxes. We expect to continue to benefit from our implemented tax positions. We believe that our tax positions comply with applicable tax law and intend to vigorously defend our positions. However, as described below, tax authorities could take differing positions on certain issues.
We may be subject to income tax audits in all the jurisdictions in which we operate. The years open for audit vary depending on the tax jurisdiction. In the United States, we are no longer subject to U.S. federal income tax examinations by tax authorities for years before 2019. In the non-U.S. jurisdictions, the tax returns that are open vary by jurisdiction and are generally for tax years between 2018 through 2022. We routinely assess exposures to any potential issues arising from current or future audits of current and prior years’ tax returns. When assessing such potential exposures and where necessary, we provide a reserve to cover any expected loss. To the extent that we establish a reserve, we increase our provision for income taxes. If we ultimately determine that payment of these amounts is unnecessary, we reverse the liability and recognize a tax benefit during the period in which we determine that the liability is no longer necessary. We record an additional charge in our provision for taxes in the period in which we determine that tax liability is greater than the original estimate. If the governing tax authorities have a differing interpretation of the applicable law, a successful challenge of any of our tax positions could adversely affect our financial condition, cash flows and/or results of operations.
Risks related to ownership of our ordinary shares
Because Vector Capital holds a controlling interest in us, the influence of our public shareholders over significant corporate actions will be limited.
Affiliates of Vector Capital directly or indirectly own approximately 53% of our outstanding shares through their ownership of Vector Cambium Holdings (Cayman), L.P., or VCH, L.P. As a result of its controlling interest in us, Vector Capital has the power to:
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Vector Capital is not prohibited from selling its interest in us to third parties, and has sold and will continue to periodically sell its interest in us under the current effective shelf registration statements and future registration statements that are filed by us. While Vector Capital continues to own a majority of our outstanding shares, our ability to engage in significant transactions, such as a merger, acquisition or liquidation, is limited without the consent of Vector Capital. Conflicts of interest could arise between us and Vector Capital, and any conflict of interest may be resolved in a manner that does not favor us. Vector Capital may continue to retain control of us for the foreseeable future and may decide not to enter into a transaction in which our shareholders would receive consideration for their shares that is much higher than the cost to them or the then-current market price of those shares. In addition, Vector Capital could elect to sell a controlling interest in us and shareholders may receive less than the then-current fair market value or the price paid for their shares. Any decision regarding their ownership of us that Vector Capital may make at some future time will be in their absolute discretion.
In addition, pursuant to the terms of our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association, Vector Capital and its affiliates have the right to, and have no duty to abstain from, exercising its right to engage or invest in the same or similar business as us, and do business with any of our channel partners, distributors, network operators and any other party with which we do business. In the event that any of our directors or officers who is also a director, officer or employee of Vector Capital or its affiliates acquires knowledge of a corporate opportunity or is offered a corporate opportunity, then Vector Capital or its affiliates may pursue or acquire such corporate opportunity without presenting the corporate opportunity to us without liability, and to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, such relevant director will be deemed to have fully satisfied their fiduciary duty if the knowledge of such corporate opportunity was not acquired solely in such person’s capacity as our director or officer and such person acted in good faith.
In addition, pursuant to our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association, a director who is in any way interested in a contract or transaction with us will declare the nature of his interest at a meeting of the board of directors. A director may vote in respect of any such contract or transaction notwithstanding that he may be interested therein and if he does so his vote will be counted and he may be counted in the quorum at any meeting of the board of directors at which any such contract or transaction shall come before the meeting of the board of directors for consideration. We have adopted a written audit committee charter, pursuant to which the audit committee must review all related party transactions required to be disclosed in our financial statements and approve any such related party transaction, unless the transaction is approved by another independent committee of our board.
We are a controlled company within the meaning of Nasdaq rules and, as a result, we qualify for and are relying on exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements.
Vector Capital controls a majority of the voting power of our outstanding shares and as a result, we are a controlled company within the meaning of the corporate governance standards of the Nasdaq. Under Nasdaq rules, a controlled company may elect not to comply with certain corporate governance requirements of the Nasdaq, including the requirements that:
We are utilizing these exemptions, other than the exemption relating to the independence of the board of directors, as our board of directors is now composed of a majority of independent directors. In addition, although we have adopted charters for our audit and compensation committees and intend to conduct annual performance evaluations for these committees, our compensation committee is not composed entirely of independent directors, although all members of our audit committee are independent. Accordingly, shareholders may not have the same protections afforded to shareholders of companies that are subject to all of the corporate governance requirements of Nasdaq.
35
The price of our shares may be volatile, and shareholders could lose all or part of their investment.
The trading price of our shares may fluctuate substantially. The trading price of our shares will depend on a number of factors, including those described in this “Risk factors” section, many of which are beyond our control and may not be related to our operating performance. These fluctuations could cause shareholders to lose all or part of their investment in our shares since they might be unable to sell their shares at or above the price paid for them. Factors that could cause fluctuations in the trading price of our shares include the following:
In addition, the stock market in general, and the market for technology companies in particular, have experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations that have often been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of those companies. Broad market and industry factors may seriously affect the market price of our shares, regardless of our actual operating performance. In the past, following periods of volatility in the overall market and the market prices of particular companies’ securities, securities class action litigations have often been instituted against these companies. Litigation of this type, if instituted against us, could result in substantial costs and a diversion of our management’s attention and resources.
Our memorandum and articles of association contain anti-takeover provisions that could have a material adverse effect on the rights of holders of our shares.
Our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association contain provisions to limit the ability of others to acquire control of our company through non-negotiated transactions. These provisions could have the effect of depriving our shareholders of an opportunity to sell their shares at a premium over prevailing market prices by discouraging third parties from seeking to obtain control of our company in a tender offer or similar transaction. For example, our board of directors has the authority to issue undesignated, or “blank-check,” preferred shares without shareholder approval. As a result, our board of directors could authorize and issue a series of preferred shares with terms calculated to delay or prevent a change in control of our company or make removal of management more difficult, which may not be in the interests of holders of our ordinary shares. In addition, our board is staggered and divided into three classes, with each class subject to re-election once every three years on a rotating basis, special meeting of shareholders may only be called by a specified group of directors, executives or shareholders and shareholders must comply with advance notice provisions in order to bring business before or nominate directors for election at shareholder meetings. As a result, shareholders would be prevented from electing an entirely new board of directors at any annual meeting and the ability of shareholders to change the membership of a majority of our board of directors may be delayed.
36
Because we are incorporated under Cayman Islands law, shareholders may face difficulties in protecting their interests, and the ability to protect rights through U.S. courts may be limited.
We are an exempted company incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands. Our corporate affairs are governed by our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association, the Companies Act (as amended) of the Cayman Islands and the common law of the Cayman Islands. The rights of shareholders to take action against the directors, actions by minority shareholders and the fiduciary responsibilities of our directors to us under Cayman Islands law are governed by the common law of the Cayman Islands and we have adopted an exclusive forum by law that requires certain shareholder litigations regarding such matters to be brought in Cayman Islands Courts. These exclusive forum provisions do not apply to claims under U.S. federal securities laws. The common law of the Cayman Islands is derived in part from comparatively limited judicial precedent in the Cayman Islands as well as from the common law of England, the decisions of whose courts are of persuasive authority, but are not binding, on a court in the Cayman Islands. The rights of our shareholders and the fiduciary responsibilities of our directors under Cayman Islands law are not as clearly established as they would be under statutes or judicial precedent in some jurisdictions in the United States. In particular, the Cayman Islands has a less developed body of securities laws than the United States. Some U.S. states, such as Delaware, have more fully developed and judicially interpreted bodies of corporate law than the Cayman Islands.
Shareholders of Cayman Islands exempted companies like us have no general rights under Cayman Islands law to inspect corporate records or to obtain copies of lists of shareholders of these companies. Our directors have discretion under our existing articles of association to determine whether or not, and under what conditions, our corporate records may be inspected by our shareholders, but are not obliged to make them available to our shareholders. This may make it more difficult for shareholders to obtain the information needed to establish any facts necessary for a shareholder motion or to solicit proxies from other shareholders in connection with a proxy contest.
In addition, the Cayman Islands courts are also unlikely (1) to recognize or enforce against us judgments of courts of the United States based on certain civil liability provisions of U.S. securities laws, or (2) to impose liabilities against us, in original actions brought in the Cayman Islands, based on certain civil liability provisions of U.S. securities laws that are penal in nature. There is no statutory recognition in the Cayman Islands of judgments obtained in the United States, although the courts of the Cayman Islands will in certain circumstances recognize and enforce a foreign judgment of a foreign court of competent jurisdiction without any re-examination of the merits at common law.
As a result of all of the above, our public shareholders may have more difficulty in protecting their interests in the face of actions taken by management, members of the board of directors or large shareholders than they would as shareholders of a public company incorporated in the United States.
We are an emerging growth company, and any decision on our part to comply only with certain reduced disclosure requirements applicable to emerging growth companies could make our shares less attractive to investors.
We are an emerging growth company, as defined in the JOBS Act, and, for as long as we continue to be an emerging growth company, we may choose to take advantage of exemptions from various reporting requirements applicable to other public companies but not to emerging growth companies, including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. We could be an emerging growth company for up to five years following our initial public offering in 2019, although if the market value of our shares that are held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of any June 30 before the conclusion of that five year period, or if we have total annual gross revenues of $1.07 billion or more during any fiscal year before the conclusion of that five year period, we would cease to be an emerging growth company as of the end of the fiscal year in which such threshold is met. In addition, if we issue more than $1 billion in non-convertible debt in a three-year period, we would cease to be an emerging growth company immediately. Investors may find our shares less attractive because we choose to rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our shares less attractive as a result of our choice to reduce our disclosures, there may be a less active trading market for our shares and our share price may be more volatile.
37
Our directors may have conflicts of interest because of their ownership of equity interests of, and their employment with, our majority shareholders or its affiliates.
Two of our directors hold ownership interests in Vector Capital as well as ownership in and employment positions with its affiliates. Ownership interests in Vector Capital by our directors could create, or appear to create, potential conflicts of interest when our directors are faced with decisions that could have different implications for us and for Vector Capital or its affiliates. Conflicts of interest may not be resolved in our favor.
General risks
If we are unable to manage our growth and expand our operations successfully, our business and operating results will be harmed.
We have expanded our operations significantly since inception and anticipate that further significant geographic and market expansion will be required to achieve our business objectives. The growth and expansion of our geographic sales, expansion of our products and our entry into new industry verticals places a significant strain on our management, operational and financial resources. Any such future growth would also add complexity to and require effective coordination throughout our organization. To manage any future growth effectively, we must continue to improve and expand our information technology and financial infrastructure, our operating and administrative systems and controls, and our ability to manage headcount, capital and processes in an efficient manner. We may not be able to successfully implement improvements to these systems and processes in a timely or efficient manner, which could result in additional operating inefficiencies and could cause our costs to increase more than planned. If we do increase our operating expenses in anticipation of the growth of our business and this growth does not meet our expectations, our operating results may be negatively impacted. If we are unable to manage future expansion, our ability to provide high quality products and services could be harmed, which could damage our reputation and brand and may have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition.
Our business is subject to the risks of earthquakes, fire, floods and other catastrophic events, and to interruption by manmade problems such as network security breaches, computer viruses, terrorism and war.
We have substantial operations in Illinois, California, England and India, and our third-party manufacturers are currently predominantly located in Mexico, China, Taiwan and Israel. Operations in some of these areas are susceptible to disruption due to severe weather, seismic activity, political unrest and other factors. For example, a significant natural disaster, such as an earthquake, a fire or a flood, occurring at the facilities of one of our third-party manufacturers could have a material adverse impact on their ability to manufacture and timely deliver our products. Despite the implementation of network security measures, we also may be vulnerable to computer viruses, break-ins and similar disruptions from unauthorized tampering with our solutions. In addition, natural disasters, acts of terrorism or war could cause disruptions in the businesses of our suppliers, manufacturers, network operators or the economy as a whole. To the extent that any such disruptions result in delays or cancellations of orders or impede our ability to timely deliver our products, or the deployment of our products, our business, operating results and financial condition would be adversely affected.
The continued threat of terrorism and heightened security and military action in response thereto, or any other current or future acts of terrorism, war (such as the on-going Russia and Ukraine war), and other events (such as economic sanctions and trade restrictions, including those related to the on-going Russia and Ukraine war) may cause further disruptions to the economies of the United States and other countries and create further uncertainties or could otherwise negatively impact our business, operating results, and financial condition. Likewise, events such as loss of infrastructure and utilities services such as energy, transportation, or telecommunications could have similar negative impacts. To the extent that such disruptions or uncertainties result in delays or cancellations of customer orders or the manufacture or shipment of our products, our business, operating results, and financial condition could be materially and adversely affected.
Our reputation and/or business could be negatively impacted by ESG matters and/or our reporting of such matters.
There is an increasing focus from regulators, certain investors, and other stakeholders concerning environmental, social, and governance (ESG) matters, both in the United States and internationally. ESG-related initiatives, goals, and/or commitments such as those regarding environmental matters, diversity, responsible sourcing and social investments, and other matters, could be difficult to achieve and costly to implement. The achievement of any goals that we may announce may rely on the accuracy of our estimates and assumptions supporting those goals. We could fail to achieve, or be perceived to fail to achieve, ESG-related initiatives, goals or commitments that we might set, and the timing, scope or nature of these initiatives, goals, or commitments, or for any revisions to them may not be acceptable to the Securities Exchange Commission or other regulators or stakeholders, including our shareholders. Our actual or perceived failure to achieve any ESG-related initiatives, goals, or commitments that we make could negatively impact our reputation or otherwise materially harm our business.
Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments.
None.
38
Item 2. Properties.
As of December 31, 2022, we occupied approximately 38,000 square feet of office space in Rolling Meadows, Illinois under an operating lease agreement where we have corporate and executive functions, research and development, customer support, operations and administration and finance services. In addition to our headquarters in Rolling Meadows, we lease additional space in the United States, including San Jose, California and Thousand Oaks, California. We also lease office space in various other international geographic locations, including Ashburton, England and Bangalore, India. In addition, we lease sales office space in Miami, Florida, Italy, Dubai, Mexico and Singapore. We believe our facilities are adequate and suitable for our current needs and that should it be needed, suitable additional or alternative space will be available to accommodate our operations.
For additional information regarding obligations under operating leases, see Note 15 - Leases in the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements included in Part II, Item 8: “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Item 3. Legal Proceedings.
Third parties may from time to time assert legal claims against us.
Our industry is characterized by vigorous protection and pursuit of intellectual property rights. A number of companies hold a large number of patents that may cover technology necessary to our products. We have in the past received and expect to continue to receive claims by third parties that we infringe their intellectual property rights. In addition, we may be involved, from time to time, in a variety of claims, lawsuits, investigations, and proceedings relating to contractual disputes, intellectual property rights, employment matters, regulatory compliance matters and other litigation matters relating to various claims that arise in the normal course of business. We determine whether an estimated loss from a contingency should be accrued by assessing whether a loss is deemed probable and can be reasonably estimated. We assess our potential liability by analyzing specific litigation and regulatory matters using available information. We develop our views on estimated losses in consultation with inside and outside counsel, which involves a subjective analysis of potential results and outcomes, and following such assessment, record an amount where it is probable that we will incur a loss and where that loss can be reasonably estimated. However, our estimates may be incorrect and we could ultimately incur more or less than the amounts initially recorded. We are not currently aware of any pending or threatened litigation that would have a material adverse effect on our financial statements.
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures.
Not applicable.
39
PART II
Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Shareholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities.
Market information
Our ordinary shares have been listed on the NASDAQ Global Market under the symbol “CMBM” since June 26, 2019.
Holders of record
As of December 31, 2022, there were 142 shareholders of record of our ordinary shares. Because many of our shares are held by brokers and other institutions on behalf of shareholders, we are unable to estimate the total number of shareholders represented by these record holders. The closing price of our ordinary shares on December 30, 2022 was $21.67 per share as reported on the NASDAQ Global Market.
Recent sale of unregistered securities
None.
Use of proceeds from Initial Public Offering of ordinary shares
The offer and sale of all of the shares in our IPO were registered under the Securities Act pursuant to a registration statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-21789), which was declared effective by the SEC on June 25, 2019. The remainder of the information required by this item regarding the use of our IPO proceeds has been omitted pursuant to SEC rules because such information has not changed since our last periodic report was filed.
Dividend policy
We have not declared or paid dividends on our ordinary shares since our IPO. Neither Cayman Islands law nor our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association requires our board of directors to declare dividends on our ordinary shares. Any future determination to declare cash dividends on our ordinary shares will be made at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend on our financial condition, results of operations, capital requirements, general business conditions and other factors that our board of directors may deem relevant. We do not anticipate paying cash dividends on our ordinary shares for the foreseeable future.
Equity compensation plan information
Information regarding the securities authorized for issuance under our equity compensation plans will be included in our Proxy Statement relating to our 2023 annual meeting of Shareholders to be filed with the SEC within 120 days after the end of our fiscal year ended December 31, 2022 and is incorporated herein by reference.
Issuer purchase of equity securities
None.
40
Performance graph
Notwithstanding any statement to the contrary in any of our filings with the SEC, the following information shall not be deemed “filed” with the SEC or “soliciting material” under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and shall not be incorporated by reference into any such filings irrespective of any general incorporation language contained in such filing.
The following graph compares the total cumulative shareholder return on our ordinary shares with the total cumulative return of the Russell 3000 Index and the NASDAQ Composite Index during the period commencing on June 26, 2019, the initial trading day of our ordinary shares, and ending on December 31, 2022. The graph assumes that $100 was invested at the beginning of the period in our ordinary shares and in each of the comparative indices, and the reinvestment of any dividends. Historical share price performance should not be relied upon as an indication of future share price performance.
|
6/26/2019 |
|
6/28/2019 |
|
9/30/2019 |
|
12/31/2019 |
|
3/31/2020 |
|
6/30/2020 |
|
9/30/2020 |
|
12/30/2020 |
|
3/31/2021 |
|
6/30/2021 |
|
9/30/2021 |
|
12/31/2021 |
|
3/31/2022 |
|
6/30/2022 |
|
9/30/2022 |
|
12/30/2022 |
|
||||||||||||||||
Cambium Networks Corporation |
|
100.00 |
|
|
98.87 |
|
|
100.00 |
|
|
90.10 |
|
|
52.06 |
|
|
75.88 |
|
|
173.92 |
|
|
258.56 |
|
|
481.65 |
|
|
498.45 |
|
|
373.09 |
|
|
264.23 |
|
|
243.71 |
|
|
151.03 |
|
|
174.43 |
|
|
223.40 |
|
Russell 3000 (TR) |
|
100.00 |
|
|
101.26 |
|
|
102.44 |
|
|
111.75 |
|
|
89.74 |
|
|
107.87 |
|
|
117.80 |
|
|
135.10 |
|
|
143.67 |
|
|
155.51 |
|
|
155.35 |
|
|
169.77 |
|
|
160.80 |
|
|
133.95 |
|
|
127.97 |
|
|
137.16 |
|
NASDAQ Composite (TR) |
|
100.00 |
|
|
101.23 |
|
|
101.41 |
|
|
114.05 |
|
|
99.07 |
|
|
128.50 |
|
|
142.94 |
|
|
165.28 |
|
|
170.16 |
|
|
186.63 |
|
|
186.20 |
|
|
201.94 |
|
|
183.87 |
|
|
142.91 |
|
|
137.32 |
|
|
136.23 |
|
Item 6. Reserved.
41
Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.
The following discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations was prepared to provide the reader with a view and perspective of our business through the eyes of management and should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and related notes thereto of Cambium Networks Corporation (“Cambium”, “we”, “our”, or “us”) included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. The following discussion contains forward-looking statements that reflect our plans, estimates and beliefs. Our actual results could differ materiality from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to these differences include those discussed below and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, particularly those discussed under Part I, Item 1A. “Risk Factors.” Our historical results are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for any period in the future.
Overview
Cambium Networks is a global technology company that designs, develops, and manufactures wireless broadband and Wi-Fi networking infrastructure solutions for a wide range of applications, including broadband access, wireless backhaul, Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), public safety communications and Wi-Fi access. Our products are used by businesses, governments, and service providers to build, expand and upgrade broadband networks. Our product lines fall into three broad, interrelated categories: Fixed Wireless Broadband (FWB), Enterprise networking, and Subscription and Services. The FWB portfolio spans point-to-point (PTP) and point-to-multi-point (PMP) architectures over multiple standards, including IEEE 802.11 and 3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Program) and frequency bands, including licensed, unlicensed, and lightly licensed spectrum. The Enterprise portfolio includes Wi-Fi access points, wireless aware switches, and other networking devices.
The Subscription and Services portfolio includes network planning and design as well as cloud or on-premises network management and control. The latter capability, delivered through subscription to cnMaestro X, forms the foundation of our ONE Network, a cloud-based network management architecture that allows users to remotely configure, monitor, and manage their wireless network. It provides a single, centralized view of all network devices, including both FWB and Enterprise, as well as real-time performance and usage data, and allows users to make changes to the network configuration and settings. Advanced services offered in conjunction with this platform include application visibility and control which is used to optimize end user experiences; integrated security gateway and SD-WAN for small and medium business; and automated and intelligent network optimization.
Trends impacting our business
Our business and the markets that we serve are experiencing widespread macroeconomic uncertainties, including supply chain constraints, inflation and monetary policy shifts, recession risks, continuation of the COVID-19 pandemic and restrictions on business activities imposed by governments, and potential disruptions from the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the U.S. trade war with China and other global political tensions.
Although we have experienced improvement in our manufacturing and supply chain operations, we continue to experience constraints, with some lingering component shortages, extended lead times, and elevated component and supply chain costs. We continue to work closely with our contract manufacturers and supply chain partners to ramp production following a period of delayed component sourcing and workforce disruptions. We have extended our inventory of certain key components to alleviate component shortages, and extended our demand planning and purchase commitments to alleviate delays in component sourcing and the risk of future supply chain disruptions, but we cannot be certain that such delays or disruptions will not occur, or that our extended demand planning horizon will adequately address these disruptions should they occur. In addition, inflation pressure in our supply chain, scarcity of some materials needed to build our products and disruptions to our manufacturing process have increased our cost of revenue and have impacted, and may continue to negatively impact our gross margin. Our operating cash flows have also been and may continue to be negatively impacted by increased component inventories on hand or at our contract manufacturers, awaiting supply of a limited number of scarce components necessary to build and ship the completed product. While we have increased our inventory of key components, technology shifts could result in this increased inventory becoming excess or obsolete. Although overall demand remains stable, supply chain and manufacturing related constraints could impact our ability to fulfill this demand and as a result could negatively impact our business in future periods. In addition, while we have increased our inventory of key components, technology shifts could cause this increased inventory to become excess or obsolete before it is deployed, as new product development relies on different components.
We continue to monitor the impact of macroeconomic factors, including a potential global recession, inflationary pressures and growing political tensions as a result of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and political tensions with China and elsewhere. The impact of reverse globalization, including a more nationalistic trend globally leading to increasing government requirements for domestically produced products or limiting the sourcing of components and other products from China and elsewhere, has led us to limit our reliance on third party manufacturers in China and move manufacturing to other locations, which could cause disruptions in our supply operations. In addition, although our business has experienced limited disruption as a result of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, continued escalation of the conflict may negatively impact the global economy and our future operating results and financial condition. We cannot predict the extent that these pressures may have on our financial condition, liquidity, operations, suppliers, industry, and workforce. The extent of the impact of these factors on our operational and financial performance, will depend on future
42
developments, the impact on our customers, partners, employees, contract manufacturers and supply chain, all of which continue to evolve and are unpredictable. We also believe that any extended or renewed economic disruptions or deterioration in the global economy could have a negative impact on demand from our customers in future periods. Accordingly, current results and financial condition discussed herein may not be indicative of future operating results and trends.
Basis of presentation
Revenues
Our revenues are generated primarily from the sale of our products, which consist of hardware with essential embedded software. Our revenues also include amounts for software products, extended warranty on hardware products and subscription services. We generally recognize product revenues at the time of shipment, provided that all other revenue recognition criteria have been met. Revenues are recognized net of estimated stock returns, volume-based rebates and cooperative marketing allowances that we provide to distributors. We recognize subscription services revenue ratably over the term in which the services are provided and our performance obligation is satisfied. We provide a standard warranty on our hardware products, with the term depending on the product, and record a liability for the estimated future costs associated with potential warranty claims. In addition, we also offer extended warranties for purchase and represents a future performance obligation for us. The extended warranty is included in deferred revenues and is recognized on a straight-line basis over the term of the extended warranty.
Cost of revenues and gross profit
Our cost of revenues is comprised primarily of the costs of procuring finished goods from our third-party manufacturers, third-party logistics and warehousing provider costs, freight costs and warranty costs. We outsource our manufacturing to third-party manufacturers located primarily in Mexico, China, Israel and Taiwan. Cost of revenues also includes costs associated with supply operations, including personnel related and allocated overhead costs, provision for excess and obsolete inventory, third-party license costs and third-party costs related to services we provide. Cost of revenues also includes amortization of capitalized software costs associated with products marketed to be sold.
Gross profit has been and will continue to be affected by various factors, including changes in product mix. The margin profile of products within each of our core product categories can vary significantly depending on the operating performance, features and manufacturer of the product. Generally, our gross margins on backhaul and fixed wireless access point products are greater than those on our CPE products. Because the ratio of CPE to PTP and PMP access points typically increases as network operators build out the density of their networks, increases in follow-on sales to network operators as a percentage of our total sales typically have a downward effect on our overall gross margins. Finally, gross margin will also vary as a function of changes in pricing due to competitive pressure, our third-party manufacturing and other production costs, cost of shipping and logistics, provision for excess and obsolete inventory and other factors. We expect our gross margins will fluctuate from period to period depending on the interplay of these various factors.
Operating expenses
We classify our operating expense as research and development, sales and marketing, and general and administrative expense. Personnel costs are the primary component of each of these operating expense categories, which consist of personnel costs such as salaries, sales commissions, benefits, and bonuses, as well as share-based compensation expense. In addition, we separate depreciation and amortization in their own category.
Research and development
In addition to personnel-related costs, research and development expense consists of costs associated with design and development of our products, product certification, travel, recruiting and shared facility and shared IT costs. We generally recognize research and development expense as incurred. For certain of our software projects under development, we capitalize the development cost during the period between determining technological feasibility of the product and commercial release. We amortize the capitalized development cost upon commercial release, generally over three years and is included in cost of revenues. We typically do not capitalize costs related to the development of first-generation product offerings as technological feasibility generally coincides with general availability of the software.
Sales and marketing
In addition to personnel costs for sales, marketing, service and product line management personnel, sales and marketing expense consists of our training programs, trade shows, marketing programs, promotional materials, demonstration equipment, national and local regulatory approval on our products, travel and entertainment, recruiting and shared facility and shared IT costs.
43
General and administrative
In addition to personnel costs, general and administrative expense consists of professional fees, such as legal, audit, accounting, information technology and consulting costs, insurance, shared facility and shared IT costs, and other supporting overhead costs.
Depreciation and amortization
Depreciation and amortization expense consist of depreciation related to fixed assets such as computer equipment, furniture and fixtures, and testing equipment, as well as amortization related to acquired and internal use software and definite lived intangibles.
Provision for income taxes
Our provision for income taxes consists primarily of income taxes in the jurisdictions in which we conduct business. Management assesses our deferred tax assets in each reporting period, and if it is determined that it is not more likely than not to be realized, we will record a valuation allowance in that period.
Results of operations
The following table presents the consolidated statements of operations, as well as the percentage relationship to total revenues for items included in our consolidated statements of operations for the year ended December 31, 2021 compared to the year ended December 31, 2022:
|
|
Years ended December 31, |
|
|||||
(in thousands) |
|
2021 |
|
|
2022 |
|
||
Statements of Operations Data: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Revenues |
|
$ |
335,854 |
|
|
$ |
296,899 |
|
Cost of revenues |
|
|
175,058 |
|
|
|
151,759 |
|
Gross profit |
|
|
160,796 |
|
|
|
145,140 |
|
Operating expenses |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Research and development |
|
|
51,322 |
|
|
|
49,865 |
|
Sales and marketing |
|
|
41,819 |
|
|
|
44,452 |
|
General and administrative |
|
|
25,065 |
|
|
|
24,982 |
|
Depreciation and amortization |
|
|
6,171 |
|
|
|
5,961 |
|
Total operating expenses |
|
|
124,377 |
|
|
|
125,260 |
|
Operating income |
|
|
36,419 |
|
|
|
19,880 |
|
Interest expense, net |
|
|
4,269 |
|
|
|
1,977 |
|
Other expense (income), net |
|
|
244 |
|
|
|
(114 |
) |
Income before income taxes |
|
|
31,906 |
|
|
|
18,017 |
|
Benefit for income taxes |
|
|
(5,515 |
) |
|
|
(2,183 |
) |
Net income |
|
$ |
37,421 |
|
|
$ |
20,200 |
|
|
|
Years ended December 31, |
|
|||||
|
|
2021 |
|
|
2022 |
|
||
Percentage of Revenues: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Revenues |
|
|
100.0 |
% |
|
|
100.0 |
% |
Cost of revenues |
|
|
52.1 |
% |
|
|
51.1 |
% |
Gross margin |
|
|
47.9 |
% |
|
|
48.9 |
% |
Operating expenses |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Research and development |
|
|
15.3 |
% |
|
|
16.8 |
% |
Sales and marketing |
|
|
12.5 |
% |
|
|
15.0 |
% |
General and administrative |
|
|
7.5 |
% |
|
|
8.4 |
% |
Depreciation and amortization |
|
|
1.8 |
% |
|
|
2.0 |
% |
Total operating expenses |
|
|
37.1 |
% |
|
|
42.2 |
% |
Operating income |
|
|
10.8 |
% |
|
|
6.7 |
% |
Interest expense, net |
|
|
1.3 |
% |
|
|
0.7 |
% |
Other expense (income), net |
|
|
0.1 |
% |
|
|
(0.1 |
)% |
Income before income taxes |
|
|
9.4 |
% |
|
|
6.1 |
% |
Benefit for income taxes |
|
|
(1.6 |
)% |
|
|
(0.7 |
)% |
Net income |
|
|
11.0 |
% |
|
|
6.8 |
% |
44
The following is the discussion and analysis of changes in the financial condition and results of operations for the year ended December 31, 2021 compared to the year ended December 31, 2022. The discussion and analysis of 2020 and changes in the financial condition and results of operations for the year-to-year comparisons between 2020 and 2021 that are not included in this Form 10-K may be found in "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operation" in Part II, Item 7 of our Annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") on February 24, 2022, which is incorporated by reference to this Part II, Item 7 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Comparison of the year ended December 31, 2021 to the year ended December 31, 2022
Revenues
|
|
Years ended December 31, |
|
|
Change |
|
||||||||||
(dollars in thousands) |
|
2021 |
|
|
2022 |
|
|
$ |
|
|
% |
|
||||
Revenues |
|
$ |
335,854 |
|
|
$ |
296,899 |
|
|
$ |