Company: GCTS
Filing Date: 2025-03-25
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0000950170-25-044438
Chunk: 137

Company: GCT Semiconductor Holding, Inc.
Filing Date: 2025-03-25
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1B
Chunk 137
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Downturns in the semiconductor industry have been attributed to a variety of factors, including the COVID‑19 pandemic, ongoing trade disputes between the United States and China, weakness in demand and pricing for semiconductors across applications, and excess inventory. In addition, from the end of 2022, the semiconductor industry experienced a downturn due to inventory corrections and 

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reduced consumer demands. These downturns have directly impacted GCT’s business, suppliers, distributors, and end customers. More recently the semiconductor industry has normalized however there have been lingering effects that continue to effect certain segments including that for 4G LTE, where channel inventories continue to exist and where demand has been reduced due to expedited customer transition from 4G LTE to 5G.

Because a significant portion of our expenses are fixed in the near term or are incurred in advance of anticipated sales, we may not be able to reduce our expenses rapidly enough to offset any unanticipated shortfall in revenue. If this situation were to occur, it could adversely affect our operating results, cash flow, and financial condition. In addition, the semiconductor industry has periodically experienced increased demand and production constraints. As a fabless semiconductor company, we rely exclusively on third-party foundries, including certain major semiconductor foundries such as UMC, Samsung and TSMC, for the manufacturing and supplies of its wafers and products. We do not have any formal foundry agreements that guarantee a minimum level of manufacturing capacity. In times of significant increasing demand for capacity, these foundries may experience production shortages and may not allocate sufficient manufacturing capacity to us. If this happens, we may not be able to produce sufficient quantities of our products to meet the increased demand. Any disruption in our supply chain can make it more difficult for us to obtain sufficient wafer, assembly, and test resources from our subcontract manufacturers. Any factor adversely affecting the semiconductor industry in general, or the particular segments of the industry that our products target, may adversely affect our ability to generate revenue and impact our operating results.

In addition, a shortage of manufacturing capacity can also impact the product development strategies of our major customers, which may, in turn, affect our business operations. For example, in 2022, the supply shortage caused our largest customer to change its priority on product development from 4G to the next generation of 5G products, which resulted in the reduction of 4G activity and a decline in demand for our products. Our business is expected to increase again with this customer after