A novel strain of coronavirus ("Covid-19") was first identified in December 2019, and in March 2020, the World Health Organization categorized Covid-19 as a pandemic. The Covid-19 pandemic is affecting our customers, suppliers, service providers and employees to varying degrees, and the ultimate impacts of Covid-19, including the potential impact of known and future variants, on our business, results of operations, liquidity and prospects are not fully known at this time. Overall, the Covid-19 outbreak has not had a significant impact on our business to date. However, the following factors have affected and may continue to affect our business:

·	Our key factories are located in Minnesota and Singapore. Both of these locations have been subject to government mandated shelter-in-place orders. Because our operations have been deemed essential, we were able to keep our factories up and running while the shelter-in-place mandates were in effect. If the pandemic worsens, it is possible that our operations may not be deemed essential under future government mandated shelter-in-place orders, and we may be required to shut-down factory operations. We have periodically implemented split-shifts for our factory operations to minimize the number of employees in our facilities at any given time, but these measures have not affected our production capacity. Since the start of the pandemic, many of our non-factory employees have spent the majority of their time working remotely. To date, the shelter-in-place mandates and remote work arrangements have had a minimal impact on operations, but material negative effects on our business could result if the pandemic worsens and continues for an extended period of time.

·	Sales of some products, mainly our SQ3000 Multi-Function systems and MX memory module inspection products, require customer acceptance due to performance or other criteria that is considered more than a formality. Most of our customer’s factories have remained open during the Covid-19 pandemic because they are deemed to be essential under government shelter-in-place mandates. However, global travel restrictions and quarantine measures have hindered our ability to obtain customer acceptances of certain products at various times during the Covid-19 pandemic. Continuing or new global travel restrictions and quarantine measures could hinder our ability to obtain customer acceptances in a timely manner in the future, and therefore impact the timing of revenue recognition.

·	The Covid-19 pandemic has caused disruptions in the global supply chain, including shortages of raw materials, parts and labor, and shipping and logistics issues, including delays in ocean freight and port congestion. Key supply chain disruptions impacting our business have been resolved to date. On-hand inventories have been sufficient to enable us to mitigate any supply disruptions with minimal impact on our sales or ability to service customers. Shipments of some SQ3000 systems will be deferred to the first quarter of 2022 due to customer delays in obtaining needed equipment from other suppliers for a complete full-line solution. Supply chain disruptions are expected to continue for the foreseeable future and may increase if the pandemic worsens or continues for an extended period of time.

Although we cannot estimate the continuing impact of the Covid-19 outbreak at this time, it may have an adverse effect on our results of future operations, financial position and liquidity for the remainder of 2021 and beyond.

On March 27, 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (the "CARES Act") was signed into law in the United States. The CARES Act, among other things, includes provisions relating to refundable payroll tax credits, deferment of employer side social security payments, net operating loss carryback periods and alternative tax credit refunds. The CARES Act also appropriated funds for the Small Business Administration Paycheck Protection Program loans that are forgivable in certain circumstances to promote continued employment. Additional relief packages were passed in December 2020 and March 2021. We have analyzed these pieces of legislation and presently do not believe they will have a material impact on our financial condition, results of operations or liquidity. However, we will continue to monitor the impact these pieces of legislation could have on our business in the future.

The Singapore Government implemented a jobs support program in 2020 that was intended to support businesses and encourage retention of employees during the period of economic uncertainty caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Under the jobs support program, the Singapore Government co-funded a portion of the gross monthly wages paid to local employees, which reduced our operating expenses in the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020 by $76,000 and $371,000, respectively. We did not receive any material benefit from the Singapore jobs support program in the three or nine months ended September 30, 2021, nor do we expect to receive any material benefits in future periods.