Company: MWA
Filing Date: 2025-11-19
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0001350593-25-000066
Chunk: 279

Company: Mueller Water Products, Inc.
Filing Date: 2025-11-19
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1A
Chunk 279
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 products or services and new customers are not obtained to replace them.

Strong competition could adversely affect prices and demand for our products and services, which would adversely affect our operating results and financial condition.

The United States and Canadian markets for water infrastructure and flow control products are very competitive.  While there are only a few competitors for most of our product and service offerings, many of our competitors are well-established companies with strong brand recognition.  We compete on the basis of a variety of factors, including the quality, price and innovation of our products, services and service levels, and product specifications and availability.  Our ability to retain customers in the face of competition depends on our ability to market our products and services to our customers and end users effectively.

The United States markets for water metering products and systems are highly competitive.  Our primary competitors benefit from strong market positions and many end users are slow to transition to new products or new brands.  Our ability to attract new customers depends on our technological advancements and ability to market our products and services to our customers and end users effectively.

In addition to competition from United States and Canadian companies, we face the threat of competition from outside of North America.  The intensity of competition from these companies is affected by fluctuations in the value of the United States dollar against foreign local currencies, the cost to ship competitive products into North America and the availability of trade remedies, if any.  Competition may also increase as a result of competitors located in the United States and Canada shifting their operations to lower-cost countries or otherwise reducing their costs.

Our competitors may reduce the prices of their products or services, improve their quality and functionality or enhance their marketing or sales activities.  Any of these potential developments could adversely affect our prices and demand for our products and services.

The long-term success of our newer systems and solutions, including the related products, software and services, such as smart metering, leak detection, pressure monitoring and pipe condition assessment, depends on market acceptance.

Our technology-enabled smart metering, leak detection, pressure monitoring and pipe condition assessment products and services have much less market history than many of our traditional products.  Our investments in smart metering have primarily focused on the market for AMI and have been based on our belief that water utilities will transition over time from traditional manually-read meters to automatically-read meters.  The market for AMI continues to evolve, and the United States markets for water meter products and systems are highly competitive.  Water utilities have traditionally been slow adopters of new technology and may not adopt AMI as