Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/855658/000085565815000035/a201410-k.htm
Timestamp: 2019-04-26 02:03:23+00:00

Document:
The information required by Part III of this Report, to the extent not set forth herein, is incorporated herein by reference from the registrant's definitive proxy statement relating to the 2015 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, which definitive proxy statement shall be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission within 120 days after the end of the fiscal year to which this Report relates.
This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements that involve estimates, assumptions, risks and uncertainties. Any statements about expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance are not historical facts and may be forward-looking. Words or phrases such as “anticipates,” “believes,” “could,” “estimates,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “predicts,” “projects,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “continue,” “ongoing,” “future,” “potential” and similar words or phrases identify forward-looking statements. Examples of forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements about: our strategies and beliefs regarding the markets we serve or may serve; growth opportunities and growth in markets we may serve; acceptance of programmable logic devices and displacement of other general purpose logic solutions; our plans to introduce new FPGA families in high-growth market niches where we believe that we have sustainable and differentiated positions; the costs of making and developing various general purpose logic products; our intention to continually introduce new products and enhancements and reduce manufacturing costs; a significant portion of our revenue being through our sell-through distributors; the impact of our global tax structure and expectations regarding taxes and tax adjustments; our expectations that a significant portion of our revenue will continue to be dependent on the Consumer, Communications, and Industrial end markets; the Asia Pacific market being the primary source of our revenue; the impact of new accounting pronouncements; our expectations regarding customer preferences and product use; our future product development and marketing plans; our ability to maintain or develop successful foundry relationships to produce new products; our expectations regarding seasonal trends; our expectations regarding defenses to claims against our intellectual property; our making significant future investments in research and development; our beliefs concerning the adequacy of our liquidity and facilities, our ability to meet our operating and capital requirements and obligations; and the expected date of closing of our proposed acquisition of Silicon Image, Inc. and the potential benefits of the merger.
Forward-looking statements involve estimates, assumptions, risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. The following factors, among others, could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements: global economic conditions and uncertainty, the concentration of our sales in the Consumer and Communications end markets, particularly as it relates to the concentration of our sales in the Asia Pacific region, market acceptance and demand for our new products, any disruption of our distribution channels, unexpected charges, delays or results relating to our restructuring plans, the effect of the downturn in the economy on capital markets and credit markets, the impact of competitive products and pricing, unanticipated taxation requirements, or positions of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, unexpected impacts of recent accounting guidance, the risk that the merger transaction will not close when expected or at all or on terms that differ from those contemplated; the risk that the operations of the two companies will not be integrated successfully; the failure to achieve the anticipated benefits and synergies of the transaction; the risk that our or Silicon Image’s business will be adversely impacted during the pendency of the transaction; costs associated with the transaction; matters arising in connection with the parties’ efforts to comply with and satisfy applicable regulatory approvals and closing conditions relating to the transaction; and other events that could adversely impact the completion of the transaction, including industry or economic conditions outside of the control of us and Silicon Image. In addition, actual results are subject to other risks and uncertainties that relate more broadly to our and Silicon Image’s overall business, including those more fully described in our filings with the SEC, including but not limited to the items discussed in “Risk Factors” in Item 1A of Part I of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, and those more fully described in Silicon Image’s filings with the SEC including its annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2013, and its quarterly reports filed on Form 10-Q for the 2014 fiscal year.
You should not unduly rely on forward-looking statements because actual results could differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements. In addition, any forward-looking statement applies only as of the date on which it is made. We do not plan to, and undertake no obligation to, update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that occur after the date on which such statements are made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
Lattice Semiconductor Corporation (“Lattice,” the “Company,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) designs, develops and markets programmable logic products, end market solutions and related software. We also provide design services, customer training, field engineering and technical support.
Lattice was incorporated in Oregon in 1983 and reincorporated in Delaware in 1985. Our headquarters facility is located at 5555 N.E. Moore Court, Hillsboro, Oregon 97124, and our website is www.latticesemi.com. Information contained or referenced on our website is not incorporated by reference into, and does not form a part of, this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Our common stock trades on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol LSCC.
We report based on a 52 or 53-week fiscal year ending on the Saturday closest to December 31. Our fiscal 2014 was a 53-week year, with a 14-week fourth quarter, that ended January 3, 2015. Our fiscal 2013, 2012, 2011, and 2010 were 52-week years that ended December 28, 2013, December 29, 2012, December 31, 2011, and January 1, 2011, respectively. Our fiscal 2015 will be a 52-week year and will end on January 2, 2016. All references to quarterly or yearly financial results are references to the results for the relevant fiscal period.
Three types of digital integrated circuits are used in most electronic systems: microprocessors, memory and logic.
Microprocessors are used for control and computing tasks.
Memory is used to store programming instructions and data.
Logic is employed to manage the interchange and manipulation of digital signals within a system.
Logic circuits are found in a wide range of digital electronic equipment, including: communications, computing, consumer, industrial, scientific, medical, automotive, and military applications.
The general-purpose logic market for semiconductor solutions can be generally subdivided into two primary categories, fixed and programmable.
Fixed logic solutions are generally defined as either Application-Specific Integrated Circuits or Application-Specific Standard Products.
Application-specific integrated circuits (“ASICs”) are custom devices for a single function, which generally entail significant design risks, non-recurring expenses and longer development cycles. ASICs have historically been perceived as having advantages of lower unit costs, higher performance and lower power when compared to other programmable logic solutions.
Application-specific standard products (“ASSPs”) are standardized logic devices marketed to multiple manufacturers, with limited flexibility to customize an end system. ASSPs have historically been perceived as having similar advantages as ASICs (ie: cost, performance and power) relative to programmable logic solutions with the additional benefit of being readily available as an off-the-shelf standard product, thereby avoiding some of the risk and non-recurring engineering associated with ASICs.
Programmable logic solutions, including those offered by Lattice, are commonly referred to as Programmable Logic Devices ("PLDs") and are generally defined as standard semiconductor products, often purchased by systems manufacturers in a “blank” state, which can be quickly custom-configured using software into a virtually unlimited number of specific logic functions.
Based on industry sources, we believe that the programmable logic market was approximately $5.0 billion in 2014 (Wall Street Research, December 2013).
Faster time to market and increased design flexibility. These advantages are enabled by development software allowing users to implement and revise their designs quickly. ASICs and ASSPs, on the other hand, require significant development time and offer limited, if any, flexibility to make design changes.
PLDs are standard components, meaning that the same device can be sold to many different users for a variety of applications, while ASICs and ASSPs are customized for an individual use or specific application.
There are two main subcategories of PLDs, each represents a distinctly different silicon architectural approaches which are typically suited for use in different logic applications.
Field programmable gate arrays (“FPGAs”) are traditionally characterized by a narrow-input logic cell and use a distributed interconnect scheme. FPGAs may also contain dedicated blocks of fixed circuits such as memory, high-speed input/output interfaces or processors and are well-suited for 'data-path' applications.
Complex programmable logic devices (“CPLDs”) are traditionally characterized by a regular building block structure of wide-input logic cells, called macrocells, and use a centralized logic interconnect scheme and are generally perceived as being well-suited for 'control-oriented' applications.
We believe that a substantial portion of general purpose programmable logic customers have needs for, and can utilize, both the FPGA and CPLD architectures. We offer solutions utilizing both of these silicon architectures to serve multiple markets in a wide variety of applications. We also offer another increasingly popular programmable logic device type known as Mixed Signal. A Mixed Signal device combines either an FPGA or CPLD architecture programmable digital logic component with an analog circuitry component to create a single product. Throughout this Annual Report we generally use the term FPGA when referring to all of our FPGA, CPLD and Mixed Signal devices.
Fundamentally, we have changed the landscape of the traditional FPGA industry by focusing on low-energy, small form factor, cost competitive solutions. Focusing our efforts to expand this niche in the FPGA industry and leveraging these pervasive attributes, we have expanded the Served Available Market for FPGAs. Opening up the previously under-served Consumer market to programmable logic has overcome a historical perception that FPGAs are predominantly large, power-hungry and expensive. This strategy has also enhanced our position in more traditional end markets as more applications can benefit from low-power, small form factor and greater affordability. We believe that the volume of devices which are always-on, always-connected and connected-to-everything (the “Internet of Things”) will continue to expand, providing growth opportunities in many of the markets we already serve. Our strategy is to lead the middle-to-low-end of the FPGA market where high density, system-level integration and cutting edge process technology are less necessary, and to displace ASICs and ASSPs in applications where low power, small form factor, low cost and rapid time to market are critical to the success of our customers.
Where time to market is critical to our customers, the reprogrammability of FPGAs allows designers to move quickly and easily to add features, correct mistakes and fill gaps in functions. Additionally, our focus on the development of customizable design solutions for our FPGAs (“IP Cores”) provides customers with reliable, pre-tested, reusable functions that can be quickly adopted, allowing our customers to focus more of their time and energy on the unique aspects of their product. This can provide FPGAs a distinct time to market advantage over competing solutions.
Another advantage for certain of our FPGA solutions is their relatively advanced process technologies, often one or more generations ahead of competing ASICs, microcontrollers and ASSPs. This generational advantage from a lithography standpoint allows lower-end FPGAs to compete directly on power and cost while offering a distinct advantage in form factor. We expect the fixed cost of ASIC and ASSP development to significantly increase on more advanced technology nodes, allowing FPGAs to better address high volume applications and gain market share from ASIC and ASSP suppliers.
Higher density FPGAs are generally larger, more expensive and consume greater power. Integrating multiple functions, including high-end processors, on a single device often requires the use of more expensive process technologies, resulting in higher development and manufacturing costs. We have chosen not to compete at the high-end of this traditional FPGA market. Rather, we focus on providing flexible solutions in the middle and low-end of the market by leveraging established process nodes to create multiple generations of cost effective devices on more mature process technologies. By pairing lower cost technologies with the latest IP Cores, we are able to quickly and efficiently deliver added functionality while optimizing cost, power consumption and form factor.
Revenue from the Communications end market accounted for 42% of our revenue in fiscal 2014 and historically has been our largest end market. Our products are used throughout the communications infrastructure with our LatticeECP families focused on high-speed serial communications channels ("SERDES") based, high bandwidth applications. Our MachXO, MachXO2 and MachXO3 products address IO-intensive, control plane applications and our iCE40 products support simple glue logic and connectivity applications.
Worldwide communications infrastructure continues to grow and evolve to meet the ever increasing bandwidth and coverage demands of consumers with industry sources expecting a substantial increase in data traffic over the next several years. In addition, we believe that Heterogeneous Networks ("HetNets") will become a more critical vehicle for increasing available bandwidth and filling coverage gaps in existing communications and data networks. We believe our ability to offer low power, small form factor FPGAs and the latest IP Cores will drive our continued success in the communications market.
During fiscal 2014, we derived 25% of our revenue from the Consumer end market. While we historically served the Consumer market with products like the ispMach 4000ZE and MachXO2 in applications including e-readers, GPS navigation units and other mobile devices, the acquisition of SiliconBlue Technologies in December 2011 expanded our presence in the consumer market. Our products can now be found in smartphones, tablets, wearables, and other wireless, battery operated devices. Our iCE40 and MachXO2 product lines combine to achieve a distinctive balance of logic and non-volatile memory. Leveraging our low power and small form factor solutions allows us to deliver a compelling value proposition for manufacturers of consumer products. As a result, we shipped over 130 million iCE40, MachXO2, and ispMach 4000ZE devices into the rapidly growing Consumer end market in fiscal 2014 alone.
The expected continued proliferation of wireless, network connected, and battery operated devices in the consumer market provides many growth opportunities for FPGAs in applications such as smartphones, tablets, wearables, e-readers, GPS navigation units, high definition televisions and digital SLR cameras. Based on at least one industry source, we believe that global market shipments of wearable devices will grow to over 130 million units in 2018 (iHS iSuppli, January 2014). In addition, smartphone customers are becoming increasingly feature savvy, demanding higher resolutions cameras, multiple cameras to measure depth or take panoramic images, voice detection and recognition, and intelligent sensor management. All of these functions can use an FPGA alongside an image sensor and application processor to meet these demands.
The Industrial end markets represented 33% of total revenues in fiscal 2014. Although a somewhat fragmented market, we believe we can service much of the Industrial end market with existing MachXO product families packaged in small form factors and ball pitches that meet customer needs. Additionally, those same products that create winning solutions for control plane and data path applications in the Communications market can also meet the video application requirements for surveillance and switching in the Industrial market. Further, the iCE40 family, developed for consumer mobile applications, can provide customers ready-made solutions for battery powered handheld devices at low cost. The same process technology advantage which we enjoy in the Consumer market also applies to the Industrial market.
Our MachXO product families feature both high-performance and low-power versions that align with a variety of server applications. The potential for growth in server farms and the widespread adoption of cloud computing could lead to greater demand for smaller, lower power, solutions that can deliver high data rates at affordable operating costs. With innovative features including Wafer Level Chip Scale Packaging (“WLCSP”) and very small ball pitch packages, we have the ability to supply customers with the smallest form factor FPGAs currently available.
Similar to the Consumer market, we believe that the Industrial markets may also see accelerated development as smartphone semiconductors become more prevalent in non-mobile applications including test and measurement, medical imaging, factory automation and process control, video surveillance and switching, driver assistance, and infotainment.
We actively participate in the PLD market using both FPGA and CPLD silicon architectures. During fiscal 2014, 34% of our revenue was derived from FPGA products, compared to 31% in 2013 and 34% in 2012. During fiscal 2014, 66% of our revenue was derived from CPLD products, compared to 69% in 2013 and 66% in 2012. We strive to meet our customers' needs by offering innovative and differentiated solutions that include not only silicon and packaged devices, but also design tools and intellectual property.
The LatticeECP families are designed for customers who need PLDs that provide Digital Signal Processing (“DSP”) capabilities, a significant amount of memory and SERDES, but do not want the cost or power premiums of high-end FPGAs. The LatticeECP3 family is able to serve this market due to careful circuit design choices aimed at achieving lower cost and architectural enhancements that reduce power consumption.
Introduced in April 2014, the ECP5 family is well suited for high-capability high-volume applications where low power, small form-factor, and low cost are crucial. In wireless and wireline applications, the ECP5 enables data path bridging and interfacing, providing the flexible connectivity required in small-cell applications as well as smart transceiver solutions for broadband access equipment. ECP5 also offers PCI Express side-band connectivity for microservers and can implement the entire image processing function in an industrial video camera application while consuming less than 2W of power.
The MachXO families of versatile non-volatile reconfigurable FPGAs are designed for applications traditionally implemented using CPLDs or low-density FPGAs. MachXO families are used in a variety of end markets including consumer, communications, and industrial.
Announced in late 2014, the MachXO3L family is an instant-on, multi time programmable FPGA architecture designed primarily for applications traditionally addressed by fixed silicon or low-capacity PLDs. MachXO3L products are targeted for a broad range of high value, cost sensitive applications that require general purpose I/O expansion, interface bridging, hardware acceleration and power-up management. Additionally, it offers the benefits of increased system integration by providing ultra-small packages, embedded memory, built-in Phase-locked Loops ("PLL"), MiPi and high performance LVDS I/O.
The iCE40 families are designed to meet the shrinking power budgets and space constrained environments of handheld products. Emphasizing the smallest overall solution size, the lowest power consumption and aggressive high volume pricing, the iCE40 families are directly competitive with ASIC and ASSP alternatives. Where system designers could wait months for ASIC and ASSP solutions, our iCE40 families enable them to realize their design in days.
With package technologies as small as 0.35mm, and IP including PLLs, oscillators, LED drivers, and serial interfaces, iCE40 products can serve the basic I/O expansion, bridging and processor acceleration needs of broad market applications as well as consumer mobile applications in devices such as smartphones, tablets and wearables.
Introduced in July 2014, the iCE40 Ultra family delivers exceptional integration for infrared remote, barcode, touch, user identification, and pedometer functions. These and other customization capabilities allow makers of mobile consumer devices to quickly implement features that differentiate their products. iCE40 Ultra delivers more functionality, in smaller form factors, than competing solutions. The iCE40 Ultra family also features reduced power consumption (by 75%) compared to previous devices. When combined, these features enable designers to create more compact systems and enable longer battery lives.
As customer equipment grows more complex, so does the customer's power and clock management problems. Our Mixed Signal families (Platform Manager 2, Platform Manager, Power Manager II and ispClock) feature a combination of programmable logic and analog circuitry that allows system designers to reduce system cost and design time by quickly and easily integrating a wide variety of power or clock management functions within a single integrated device. These products can replace numerous discrete components, reducing cost and conserving board space, while providing customers with additional design flexibility and time-to-market benefits. The accuracy of our products enables more reliable system performance for our customers.
The Platform Manager 2 family is Lattice's fourth-generation programmable mixed signal device family. The Platform Manager 2 devices simplify board management design significantly by integrating programmable analog and logic to support many common functions, including power, thermal and control plane management, all in real time. By integrating these support functions, Platform Manager 2 devices not only reduce the cost of these functions compared to traditional approaches, but also can improve system reliability and provide a higher degree of flexibility, reducing the likelihood of a board re-spin.
Our programmable logic products are supported by several design and development suites with each one targeted at the specific needs of the user. Our iCE40 products are supported by our iCEcube2 design and development suite. Certain other products are supported by ispLEVER Classic. Some of our mixed signal products are supported by PAC-Designer® software. The remainder of our products are supported by the Lattice Diamond design and development tool suite.
iCEcube2 is a complete, easy to learn design flow that meets the needs of the designer and is supported both on the Windows and Linux platforms. Lattice Diamond is also a complete, modern and easy to learn FPGA design suite supported on both Windows and Linux platforms. Both iCEcube2 and Lattice Diamond allow our users to easily enter their design along with the design goals, quickly analyze and verify the design for accuracy, and then implement the design in our programmable logic solution. The flow enables logic simulation, static timing analysis, I/O pin assignment, synthesis, automatic timing-driven place and route and device programming.
For all tool suites, Synopsys' Synplify Pro advanced FPGA synthesis is included for all operating systems supported, and Aldec's Active-HDL Lattice Edition II® simulator is included for Windows. In addition to the tool support for Lattice devices provided by the OEM versions of Synplify Pro® and Active-HDL®, our devices are also supported by the full versions of Synopsys Synplify Pro® and Aldec Active-HDL®. Additionally, Mentor Graphics ModelSim SE® is supported.
Our IP core program (LatticeCORE) assists our customers' design efforts by providing pre-tested, reusable functions that can be easily used; allowing our customers to focus on their unique system architectures. These IP cores eliminate the need to “re-invent the wheel” by providing many industry-standard functions, including PCI Express, DDR, Ethernet, CPRI, 7:1 LVDS and embedded microprocessors.
We place substantial emphasis on new product development and believe that continued investment in this area is required to maintain and improve our competitive position. Our product development activities emphasize new proprietary products, advanced packaging, enhancement of existing products and process technologies, and improvement of software development tools. Product development activities occur primarily in: Hillsboro, Oregon; San Jose, California; Shanghai, China; and Alabang, Philippines.
Research and development expenses were $88.1 million in 2014, $81.0 million in 2013 and $77.6 million in 2012. We expect to continue to make significant investments in research and development.
We do not manufacture our own silicon products. We maintain strategic relationships with large semiconductor foundries to source our finished silicon wafers. This strategy allows us to focus our internal resources on product and market development, and eliminates the fixed cost of owning and operating semiconductor manufacturing facilities. We are also able to take advantage of the ongoing advanced process technology development efforts of semiconductor foundries.
Lattice and Fujitsu Limited ("Fujitsu") have entered into agreements pursuant to which Fujitsu manufactures our products on its 130nm, 90nm and 65nm CMOS process technologies, as well as on 130nm, 90nm and 65nm technologies with embedded flash memory that we have jointly developed with Fujitsu. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd. (“TSMC”) manufactures our 40nm iCE products. United Microelectronics Corporation ("UMC") manufactures certain of our 40nm products, as well as some of our 350nm and 180nm products. Seiko Epson ("Epson") manufactures some of our 500nm, 350nm, 250nm and 180nm products.
All of our assembly and test operations are performed by outside suppliers.
We rely on third party vendors to provide cost-effective and efficient supply chain services. Among other activities, these outsourced services relate to direct sales logistics, including order fulfillment, inventory management and warehousing, and shipment of inventory to third party distributors.
We perform certain test operations as well as reliability and quality assurance processes internally. We have achieved and maintained ISO9001:2008 Quality Management Systems Certification and released a full line of products qualified to the AEC-Q100 Reliability Standard.
We source silicon wafers from our foundry partners, Fujitsu and Epson in Japan, and TSMC and UMC in Taiwan, pursuant to agreements with each company and their respective affiliates. We negotiate wafer volumes, prices and other terms with our foundry partners and their respective affiliates on a periodic basis.
After wafer fabrication and initial testing, we ship wafers to independent subcontractors for assembly. During assembly, wafers are separated into individual die and encapsulated in plastic packages. We have qualified assembly partners in Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan, the Philippines, South Korea and Singapore. We negotiate assembly prices, volumes and other terms with our assembly partners and their respective affiliates on a periodic basis.
We currently offer an extensive list of standard products in lead (Pb) free packaging. Our lead-free products meet the European Parliament Directive entitled "Restrictions on the use of Hazardous Substances" ("ROHS"). A select and growing subset of our ROHS compliant products are also offered with a "Halogen Free" material set.
We electrically test the die on most wafers prior to shipment for assembly. Following assembly but prior to customer shipment, each product undergoes final testing and quality assurance procedures. Wafer sort testing is performed by independent contractors in Malaysia, Japan, Indonesia and Singapore. Final testing is performed by independent contractors in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, and South Korea. We also perform certain test operations as well as reliability and quality assurance processes internally.
We sell our products to end customers both directly through our wholly-owned subsidiary Lattice SG Pte. Ltd. and through a network of independent manufacturers' representatives. Additionally, we sell indirectly through independent sell-in (Japan only) and sell-through distributors. We also employ a direct sales management and field applications engineering organization to support our end customers and indirect sales resources. Our end customers are primarily original equipment manufacturers ("OEMs") in the Communications, Consumer and Industrial end markets.
We have agreements with 18 manufacturers' representatives in North America. We have established foreign sales channels in over 50 foreign countries and maintain a network of 7 international sales representatives. A substantial portion of our sales are made through distributors.
We provide global technical support to our end customers with engineering staff based at our headquarters, product development centers and selected field sales offices. We maintain numerous domestic and international field sales offices in major metropolitan areas.
Resale of product by sell-through distributors accounted for 45% of our net revenue in fiscal 2014, compared to 45% of our net revenue in fiscal 2013 and 55% of our net revenue in fiscal 2012, and we expect our distributors to generate a significant portion of our revenue in the future. We depend on our distributors to sell our products to end customers, complete order fulfillment and maintain sufficient inventory of our products. Our distributors also provide technical support and other value-added services to our end customers. We have two primary sell-through distributors. We also have regional distribution in Asia, Japan and Israel and we sell through three major on-line catalog distributors.
Historically the largest percentage of our revenue has been derived from customers participating in the Communications end market. A significant portion of that revenue comes from two large China-based telecommunication equipment providers. In fiscal 2014, Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. accounted for 12% of total revenue. Additionally, we maintained significant revenue from the Consumer end market in 2014, and as a result Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. accounted for 19% of total revenue in 2014, down from 22% in fiscal 2013. No other individual end customers, in any end markets, accounted for more than 10% of total revenue in any of the fiscal years 2014, 2013 or 2012.
Revenue from foreign sales as a percentage of total revenue was 92%, 91%, and 88% for fiscal 2014, 2013, and 2012, respectively. We assign revenue to geographies based on customer ship-to address at the point where revenue is recognized. Revenue attributed to China for fiscal 2014 was approximately 43% of total revenue, compared to 45% and 41% in fiscal 2013 and fiscal 2012, respectively. In the case of sell-in distributors and OEMs, revenue is typically recognized, and geography is assigned, when products are shipped. In the case of sell-through distributors, revenue is recognized when resale to the end customer occurs and geography is assigned based on the end customer location on the resale reports provided by the distributor. Both foreign and domestic sales are denominated in U.S. dollars, with the exception of sales in Japan, where sales to certain customers are denominated in yen.
In most years, we experience some seasonal trends in the sale of our products. Sales of our products are often higher during our fiscal quarters two and three, but lower during our other fiscal quarters. However, on balance general economic conditions and the cyclical nature of the end markets we serve have a greater impact on our business and financial results than seasonal trends.
Purchase orders, consistent with common industry practices, can generally be revised or canceled up to 30 days before the scheduled delivery date without significant penalty.
Our backlog for sell-through distributors is valued at list price, which in most cases is substantially higher than the prices ultimately recognized as revenue.
A sizable portion of our revenue comes from our "turns business," where the product is ordered and delivered within the same quarter.
A growing portion of our revenue arises from vendor managed inventory arrangements where the timing and volume of vendor utilization is difficult to predict.
The semiconductor industry is intensely competitive and characterized by rapid rates of technological change, product obsolescence and price erosion. Our current and potential competitors include a broad range of semiconductor companies from emerging companies to large, established companies, many of which have greater financial, technical, manufacturing, marketing and sales resources.
The principal competitive factors in the programmable logic market include silicon and software product features, price, technical support, sales, marketing and distribution strength. The availability of competitive intellectual property cores is also critical. In addition to product features such as power consumption, package size, density, performance, re-programmability, and reliability, competition occurs on the basis of price and market acceptance of specific products and technology. We intend to continue to address these competitive factors by continually introducing product enhancements and new products and by reducing the manufacturing cost of our products.
We compete primarily with other semiconductor companies that provide logic solutions that are not user programmable via hardware configuration, or that offer products based on alternative solutions such as ASIC, ASSP, microcontroller, analog and DSP technologies. Although we have not yet experienced direct competition from companies located outside the United States, such companies may become a more significant competitive factor in the future. Competition may also increase if other larger semiconductor companies seek to expand into our market. Any such increases in competition could have a material adverse effect on our operating results. We do not compete directly with Altera Corporation or Xilinx, Inc. in the consumer market. However, we occasionally compete with them in the low-end of the traditional FPGA markets, primarily in the communications and industrial markets.
We seek to protect our products and technologies primarily through patents, trade secrecy measures, copyrights, mask work protection, trademark registrations, licensing restrictions, confidentiality agreements and other approaches designed to protect proprietary information. There can be no assurance that others may not independently develop competitive technology not covered by our intellectual property rights or that measures we take to protect our technology will be effective.
We hold numerous domestic, European and Asian patents and have patent applications pending in the United States, Europe and Asia. Our current patents will expire at various times between 2015 and 2033. There can be no assurance that pending or future patent applications will result in issued patents, or that any issued patents will survive challenges to their validity. Although we believe that our patents have value, there can be no assurance that our patents, or any additional patents that may be issued in the future, will provide meaningful protection from competition. We believe that our success will depend primarily upon the technical expertise, experience, creativity, and the sales and marketing abilities of our personnel.
Patent and other proprietary rights infringement claims are common in our industry. There can be no assurance that, with respect to any claim made against us, we would be able to successfully defend against the claim or that we could obtain a license that would allow us to use the proprietary rights on terms or under conditions that would not harm our business.
We have acquired various licenses from third parties to certain technologies that are implemented in IP cores or embedded in our products. Those licenses support our continuing ability to make and sell these products to our customers. While our various licenses are important to our success, we believe our business as a whole is not materially dependent on any particular license, or group of licenses.
In 1999, as part of our acquisition of Vantis Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (“AMD”), we entered into an agreement with AMD pursuant to which we have cross-licensed Vantis patents with AMD patents, having an effective filing date on or before June 15, 1999, related to programmable logic products. This cross-license was made on a worldwide, non-exclusive and royalty-free basis. Additionally, as part of our acquisition of Vantis, we acquired certain third-party license rights held by Vantis prior to the acquisition.
In 2001, we entered into a comprehensive, royalty-free, non-exclusive patent cross-license agreement and a multi-year patent peace agreement with Altera.
In 2002, as part of our acquisition of the FPGA business of Agere Systems, Inc., we entered into an intellectual property agreement with Agere and Agere Systems Guardian Corporation. Pursuant to this agreement, these Agere companies assigned or licensed to us certain FPGA and Field Programmable System Chip patents, trademarks, software and other intellectual property rights and technology, and we licensed back rights in these same assets. These cross-licenses were made on a worldwide, non-exclusive and royalty-free basis.
In 2011, as part of the acquisition of SiliconBlue Technologies, we assumed a patent license agreement dated July 21, 2006, under which Kilopass Technology, Inc. granted to SiliconBlue and its successors a license to certain U.S. patents and related foreign patents. The license is an exclusive, fully paid, worldwide license but is limited to the use of the patented inventions in the field of stand-alone programmable logic devices.
In 2013, we entered into a paid-up, non-exclusive patent license agreement with IV Global Licensing LLC, Intellectual Ventures I LLC, and Intellectual Ventures II LLC which provides us a five-year license to a portfolio of certain U.S. semiconductor related patents.
In 2014, we entered into a paid-up, non-exclusive patent license agreement with PACT XPP Technologies AG, which provides us with a worldwide license to a portfolio of certain semiconductor related patents.
At January 3, 2015, we had 784 full-time employees. We believe that our future success will depend, in part, on our ability to continue to attract and retain highly skilled technical and management personnel. No employee is subject to a collective bargaining agreement. We have never experienced a work stoppage and consider our employee relations to be good.
Darin G. Billerbeck joined the Company as President and Chief Executive Officer on November 8, 2010. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Billerbeck served as the Chief Executive Officer of Zilog, a microcontroller manufacturer, which was acquired by IXYS Corporation in February 2010. Prior to joining Zilog in January 2007, Mr. Billerbeck served 18 years in various executive and management positions at Intel Corporation, including as Vice President and General Manager of Intel's Flash Products Group from 1999 to 2007.
Joseph Bedewi joined the Company as Corporate Vice President and Chief Financial Officer on April 15, 2011. Mr. Bedewi served 17 years as Financial Controller for several groups, and held various other financial and operational management roles at Intel Corporation. His operations experience ranges from organizational development and optimization, strategic planning, business development and process improvement, to capacity and capital planning. After leaving Intel, Mr. Bedewi served as Chief Financial Officer at International DisplayWorks, Malibu Boats, LLC, and Solar Power, Inc.
Byron W. Milstead joined the Company in May 2008 as Corporate Vice President and General Counsel. In January 2013, Mr. Milstead was appointed to serve as President and General Manager of Lattice SG Pte. Ltd., the Company’s wholly-owned sales subsidiary in Singapore. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Milstead served as Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Credence Systems Corporation from December 2005 to May 2008. Mr. Milstead served as Vice President and General Counsel of Credence Systems Corporation from November 2000 until December 2005. Prior to joining Credence Systems Corporation, Mr. Milstead practiced law at the Salt Lake City office of Parsons Behle & Latimer and the Portland offices of both Bogle and Gates and Ater Wynne.
We make available, free of charge through our Investor Relations section of our website at www.latticesemi.com, our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, proxy statements and amendments to those reports and statements as soon as reasonably practicable after such materials are electronically filed with, or furnished to, the SEC. You may also obtain free copies of these materials by contacting our Investor Relations Department at 5555 N.E. Moore Court, Hillsboro, Oregon 97124-6421, telephone (503) 268-8000. Our SEC filings are also available at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov.
The following risk factors and other information included in this Annual Report should be carefully considered before making an investment decision relating to our common stock. If any of the risks described below occur, our business, financial condition, operating results and cash flows could be materially adversely affected. The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only ones we face. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial also may impair our business operations and financial results.
We depend on independent foundries to supply silicon wafers for many of our products. These foundries include Fujitsu in Japan, which supplies the majority of our wafers. We negotiate wafer volumes, prices and other terms with our foundry partners and their respective affiliates on a periodic basis typically resulting in short-term agreements which do not ensure long-term supply or allocation commitments. We rely on our foundry partners to produce wafers with competitive performance attributes. Should the foundries that supply our wafers experience manufacturing problems, including unacceptable yields, delays in the realization of the requisite process technologies, or difficulties due to limitations of new and existing process technologies, our operating results could be adversely affected. Should the foundries not be able to manufacture sufficient quantities of our products or continue to manufacture a product for the full life of the product, we may be required to prematurely limit or discontinue the sales of certain products or incur significant costs to transfer products to other foundries, and our customer relationships and operating results could be adversely affected. In addition, weak economic conditions may adversely impact the financial health and viability of the foundries and cause them to limit or discontinue their business operations, resulting in shortages of supply and an inability to meet their commitments to us, which could adversely affect our financial condition and operating results.
A disruption of our foundry partners' operations as a result of a fire, earthquake, act of terrorism, political or labor unrest, governmental uncertainty, war, disease or other natural disaster or catastrophic event, or any other reason, could disrupt our wafer supply and could adversely affect our operating results.
Establishing, maintaining and managing multiple foundry relationships requires the investment of management resources as well as additional costs. If we fail to maintain our foundry relationships, or elect or are required to change foundries, we will incur significant costs and manufacturing delays. The success of certain of our next generation products is dependent upon our ability to successfully partner with Fujitsu and other foundry partners, including Seiko Epson Corporation in Japan, United Microelectronics Corporation in Taiwan, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd. ("TSMC") in Taiwan. If for any reason our foundry partners do not provide their facilities and support for our development efforts, we may be unable to effectively develop new products in a timely manner.
Should a change in foundry relationships be required, we may be unsuccessful in establishing new foundry relationships for our current or next generation products, or may incur substantial cost and or manufacturing delays until we form and ramp relationships and migrate products, each of which could adversely affect our operating results.
A downturn in the Communications end market could cause a reduction in demand for our products and limit our ability to maintain revenue levels and operating results.
Revenue from the Communications end market accounted for 42% of our revenue in 2014. Three of our top five customers participate primarily in the Communications end market. In the past, cyclical weakening in demand for programmable logic products from customers in the Communications end market has adversely affected our revenue and operating results. In addition, telecommunication equipment providers are building network infrastructure for which we compete for product sales. Any deterioration in the Communications end market or our end customers' reduction in spending to support this end market could lead to a reduction in demand for our products which could adversely affect our revenue and results of operations.
The Consumer end market is rapidly changing and cyclical, and our failure to accurately predict the frequency, duration, timing and severity of these cycles could adversely affect our financial condition and results.
avoid cancellations or delay of products.
Our inability to accomplish any of the foregoing, or to offset the volatility of this end market through diversification into other markets, could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Cyclicality in the Consumer market could periodically result in higher or lower levels of revenue and revenue concentration with a single or small number of customers. In addition, rapid changes in this market may affect demand for our products, may cause our revenue derived from sales in this market to vary significantly over time, adversely affecting our financial results.
We are dependent on a concentrated group of customers for a significant part of our revenues. If we were to lose any of these customers, our revenue could decrease significantly.
A large portion of our revenue depends on sales to a limited number of customers. During fiscal 2014, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. accounted for 19% of our total revenue and Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd accounted for 12% of our total revenue. Additionally our top five end customers accounted for approximately 45% of our total revenue. If any of these relationships were to diminish, or if these customers were to develop their own solutions, or adopt an alternative solution or a competitor's solution, our results could be adversely affected.
While we strive to maintain a strong relationship with our customers, their continued use of our products is frequently reevaluated, as certain of our customers' product life cycles are relatively short and they continually develop new products. The selection process for our products to be included in our customers' new products is highly competitive. There are no guarantees that our products will be included in the next generation of products introduced by these customers. Any significant loss of, or a significant reduction in purchases by, one or more of these customers, or their failure to meet their commitments to us, could have an adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. If any one or more of our concentrated group of customers were to experience significantly adverse financial conditions, our financial condition and business could be adversely affected as well.
Our proposed acquisition of Silicon Image may not be completed or may occur on terms different than those contemplated, which could negatively affect our ongoing business.
On January 26, 2015, we entered into an agreement to commence a tender offer to acquire Silicon Image, Inc. ("Silicon Image"), a leading provider of wired and wireless connectivity solutions, for $7.30 in cash per share, resulting in a purchase price of approximately $602.05 million, plus related fees and expenses. The transaction will be funded through a combination of cash on hand and $350.0 million of new debt financing.
Acquiring debt may make it difficult for us to satisfy our financial obligations, including making scheduled principal and interest payments on the note, and may limit our ability to use our cash flow or obtain additional financing for future working capital, capital expenditures, acquisitions or other general business purposes. If we are unable to generate sufficient cash flow in the future to service our debt, we may be required to refinance all or a portion of this debt or obtain additional financing. We cannot ensure that we will be able to refinance our debt or obtain additional financing on terms acceptable to us. Overall, our ability to meet our debt service obligations will depend on our future performance, which will be subject to financial, business and other factors affecting our operations, many of which are beyond our control.
Additionally, this debt financing may contain customary covenants, including the requirement to meet specified financial ratios. Events beyond our control may affect our ability to meet those covenants, and failure to comply with covenants under this borrowing arrangement may result in declaration of an event of default. An event of default, if not cured or waived, may permit acceleration of required payments against such indebtedness. We cannot be certain we would be able to remedy any such defaults. If our required payments are accelerated, we cannot be certain that we would have sufficient funds available to pay the indebtedness or that we would have the ability to raise sufficient capital to replace the indebtedness on terms favorable to us or at all. In addition, in the case of an event of default on this debt financing, the lenders may be permitted to foreclose on our assets securing that indebtedness.
completed on a timely basis or at all. In addition, in specified circumstances, we or Silicon Image, Inc. may be permitted to terminate the merger agreement.
matters relating to the proposed acquisition may require substantial commitments of time and resources by our management, which could otherwise have been devoted to other opportunities that, had they been pursued, might have been beneficial to us.
If the proposed acquisition is not completed, these risks may materially and adversely affect our stock price, financial results and ongoing business.
we may have difficulty integrating acquired entities into our global tax structure with potentially negative impacts on our effective tax rate.
We cannot guarantee that we will be able to consummate any future acquisitions or that we will realize any anticipated benefits from any of our past or future acquisitions. We may not be able to find suitable acquisition opportunities that are available at attractive valuations, if at all. A sustained decline in the price of our common stock may make it more difficult and expensive to initiate or consummate additional acquisitions on commercially acceptable terms.
As a result of past acquisitions, as of January 3, 2015, we had $44.8 million in goodwill on our balance sheet. We are required under U.S. GAAP to test goodwill for possible impairment on an annual basis and at any other time that circumstances arise indicating the carrying value may not be recoverable. We completed our annual test of goodwill impairment in the fourth quarter of 2014 and concluded that we did not have any impairment at that time. There is no assurance that future impairment tests will indicate that goodwill will be deemed recoverable.
We will incur significant transaction and merger-related costs in connection with the proposed merger with Silicon Image, Inc.
We expect to incur a number of non-recurring costs associated with the proposed merger with Silicon Image, Inc. and combining the operations of the two companies. The substantial majority of non-recurring expenses will be comprised of transaction and regulatory costs related to the merger.
We also will incur transaction fees and costs related to formulating and implementing integration plans, including facilities and systems consolidation costs and employment-related costs. We continue to assess the magnitude of these costs, and additional unanticipated costs may be incurred in the proposed merger and the integration of the two companies' businesses. Although we expect that the elimination of duplicative costs, as well as the realization of other efficiencies related to the integration of the businesses, should allow us to offset integration-related costs over time, these projected benefits may not be achieved.
We depend on distributors to generate a significant portion of our revenue and complete order fulfillment.
We depend on our distributors to sell our products to end customers, complete order fulfillment and maintain sufficient inventory of our products. Our distributors also provide technical support and other value-added services to our end customers. Resale of product through distributors accounted for 45% of our revenue in 2014, with two distributors accounting for 34% of our revenue in 2014. We expect our distributors to generate a significant portion of our revenue in the future. Any adverse change to our relationships with our distributors or a failure by one or more of our distributors to perform its obligations to us could have a material impact on our business. In addition, a significant reduction of effort by a distributor to sell our products or a material change in our relationship with one or more distributors may reduce our access to certain end customers and adversely affect our ability to sell our products.
The financial health of our distributors is important to our success. Economic conditions may adversely impact the financial health of one or more of our distributors. This could result in the inability of distributors to finance the purchase of our products or cause the distributors to delay payment of their obligation to us and increase our credit risk. If the financial health of our distributors impairs their performance and we are unable to secure alternate distributors, our financial condition and results of operations may be negatively impacted.
In addition, our distribution channels have historically experienced consolidation due to merger and acquisition activity. Consolidation may result in our distributors allocating fewer resources to the distribution and sale of our products, which could adversely affect our financial results.
We depend on the timeliness and accuracy of resale reports from our distributors; late or inaccurate resale reports could have a detrimental effect on our ability to properly recognize revenue and our ability to predict future sales.
Our success and future revenue depends on our ability to innovate, develop and introduce new products which achieve customer and market acceptance, and failure to do so could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
The programmable logic market is characterized by rapid technology and product evolution, generally followed by a relatively longer ramp process to volume production on advanced technologies. Our competitive position and success depends on our ability to innovate, develop and introduce new products that compete effectively on the basis of price, density, functionality, power consumption, form factor and performance addressing the evolving needs of the markets we serve. These new products typically are more technologically complex than their predecessors.
market acceptance of our customers' products.
ependent on revenue derived from our newer products as well as anticipated cost reductions in the manufacture of our current products. We rely on obtaining yield improvements and corresponding cost reductions in the manufacture of existing products and on introducing new products that incorporate advanced features and other price/performance factors that enable us to increase revenues while maintaining acceptable margins. To the extent such cost reductions and new product introductions do not occur in a timely manner, or that our products do not achieve market acceptance or market acceptance at acceptable pricing, our forecasts of future revenue, financial condition and operating results could be materially adversely affected.
General economic conditions and deterioration in the global business environment could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition.
Adverse economic conditions may negatively affect customer demand for our products and services and result in delayed or decreased spending amid concerns over declining asset values, inflation, volatility in energy costs, geopolitical issues, the availability and cost of credit, rising unemployment, and the stability and solvency of financial institutions, financial markets, businesses and sovereign nations, among other concerns. Weak global economic conditions in the past have resulted in weak demand for our products in certain geographies and had an adverse impact on our results of operations. If weak economic conditions persist or worsen, our business could be harmed due to customers or potential customers reducing or delaying orders. The inability of customers to obtain credit, the insolvency of one or more customers, or the insolvency of key suppliers could result in production delays. Any of these effects could impact our ability to effectively manage inventory levels and collect receivables, require additional restructuring actions, and decrease our revenue and profitability. Uncertainty about future economic conditions makes it difficult for us to forecast operating results and to make decisions about future investments. Any or all of these factors could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations in the future.
A number of factors, including yield, wafer pricing, cost of packaging raw materials, product mix, market acceptance of our new products, competitive pricing dynamics, geographic and/or end market mix and pricing strategies, can cause our gross margins to fluctuate. In addition, forecasting our gross margins is difficult because a significant portion of our business is based on turns within the same quarter.
From time to time our inventory levels may be higher than historical norms due to inventory build decisions aimed at reducing direct material cost or enabling responsiveness to expected demand. In the event the expected demand does not materialize, we may be subject to incremental excess and obsolescence costs. In addition, future product cost reductions could impact our inventory valuation, which could adversely affect our operating results.
Increased costs of wafers and materials, or shortages in wafers and materials could adversely impact our gross margins and lead to reduced revenues.
If greater demand for wafers is not accommodated by increased foundry capacity, if market demand for wafers or production and assembly materials increases, or if a supplier of our wafers or assembly materials ceases or suspends operations or otherwise experiences a disruption to its operations, our supply of wafers and other materials could become constrained. Worldwide manufacturing capacity for silicon wafers is relatively inelastic. Wafer shortages could result in wafer price increases or shortages in materials at production and test facilities, which could adversely impact our ability to meet customer product demands in a timely manner.
If any of our current or future foundry partners or assembly and test subcontractors significantly increases the costs of wafers or other materials, interrupts or reduces our supply, including for reasons outside of their control, or if any of our relationships with our partner suppliers is terminated, our operating results could be adversely affected.
We are dependent on independent contractors for a majority of our assembly, test, and logistics services, and disruption of these services could negatively impact our financial condition and results of operations.
We are dependent on subcontractors to assemble, test and ship our products with acceptable quality and yield levels. Should our subcontractors experience problems impacting the delivery of product to our customers including: prolonged inability to obtain wafers or packaging materials with competitive performance and cost attributes, inability to achieve adequate yields or timely delivery; disruption or defects in assembly, test or shipping services; or delays in stabilizing manufacturing processes or ramping up volume for new products, our operations and operating results may be adversely affected. Economic conditions may adversely impact the financial health and viability of our subcontractors and result in their inability to meet their commitments to us resulting in product shortages, quality assurance problems, reduced revenue and/or increased costs which could negatively impact our financial condition and results of operations.
operating results could be adversely affected.
The semiconductor industry routinely experiences cyclical market patterns and a significant industry downturn could adversely affect our operating results.
Our revenue and gross margin can fluctuate significantly due to downturns in the semiconductor industry. These downturns can be severe and prolonged and can result in price erosion and weak demand for our products. Weak demand for our products resulting from general economic conditions affecting the end markets we serve or the semiconductor industry specifically and reduced spending by our customers can result, and in the past has resulted, in excess and obsolete inventories and corresponding inventory write-downs. The dynamics of the markets in which we operate make prediction of and timely reaction to such events difficult. Due to these and other factors, our past results are not reliable predictors of our future results.
Our expense levels are based, in part, on our expectations of future sales. Many of our expenses, particularly those relating to facilities, capital equipment, and other overhead, are relatively fixed. We might be unable to reduce spending quickly enough to compensate for reductions in sales. Accordingly, shortfalls in sales could adversely affect our operating results.
Foreign sales, accounting for the majority of our revenue, are subject to various risks associated with selling in international markets, which could have a material adverse effect on our operations, financial condition, and results of operations.
Any of these factors could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations in the future.
We have significant international operations exposing us to various economic, regulatory, political, and business risks, which could have a material adverse effect on our operations, financial condition, and results of operations.
We have significant international operations, including foreign sales offices to support our international customers and distributors, an operational center in the Philippines, and research and development sites in China, India and the Philippines. Our international operations have grown as we relocated certain operational, design, and administrative functions outside the United States. In addition, we purchase our wafers from foreign foundries, have our commercial products assembled, packaged and tested by subcontractors located outside the United States, and rely upon an international service provider for inventory management, order fulfillment, and direct sales logistics.
These and other integral business activities outside of the United States are subject to the risks and uncertainties associated with conducting business in foreign economic and regulatory environments including trade barriers, economic sanctions, environmental regulations, import and export regulations, duties and tariffs and other trade restrictions, changes in trade policies, anti-corruption laws, domestic and foreign governmental regulations, potential vulnerability of and reduced protection for IP, longer receivable collection periods, disruptions or delays in production or shipments, and instability or fluctuations in currency exchange rates, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results.
Moreover, our financial condition and results of operations could be affected in the event of political instability, terrorist activity, U.S. or other military actions, or economic crises in countries where our main wafer suppliers, end customers, contract manufacturers, and logistics providers are located.
Our global organizational structure and operations expose us to unanticipated tax consequences.
Our legal organizational structure could result in unanticipated unfavorable tax or other consequences which could have an adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. In 2011 and 2012, we implemented a global tax structure to more effectively align our corporate structure with our business operations including responsibility for sales and purchasing activities. We created new and realigned existing legal entities, completed intercompany sales of rights to intellectual property, inventory and fixed assets across different tax jurisdictions, and implemented cost-sharing and intellectual property licensing and royalty agreements between our legal entities. We currently operate legal entities in countries where we conduct supply-chain management, design, and sales operations around the world. In some countries, we maintain multiple entities for tax or other purposes. Changes in tax laws, regulations, future jurisdictional profitability of the Company and its subsidiaries, and related regulatory interpretations in the countries in which we operate may impact the taxes we pay or tax provision we record, which could adversely affect our results of operations.
We are subject to taxation in the United States, Singapore and other countries. Future effective tax rates could be affected by changes in the composition of earnings in countries with differing tax rates, changes in the valuation of deferred tax assets and liabilities, or changes in tax laws. We compute our effective tax rate using actual jurisdictional profits and losses. Changes in the jurisdictional mix of profits and losses may cause fluctuations in the effective tax rate. Adverse changes in tax rates, our tax assets, and tax liabilities could negatively affect our results in the future.
We cannot give any assurance as to what taxes we pay or the ability to estimate our future effective tax rate because of, among other things, uncertainty regarding the tax policies of the jurisdictions where we operate. The U.S. government and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development ("OECD") have proposed tax policy changes with respect to the taxation of global operations of multinational companies. As a result, our actual effective tax rate or taxes paid may vary materially from our expectations. Changes in tax laws, regulations and related interpretations in the countries in which we operate may have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition or operating results.
Product quality problems could lead to reduced revenue, gross margins and net income.
In general, we warranty our products for varying lengths of time against non-conformance to our specifications and certain other defects. Because our products, including hardware, software and intellectual property cores, are highly complex and increasingly incorporate advanced technology, our quality assurance programs may not detect all defects, whether manufacturing defects in individual products or systematic defects that could affect numerous shipments. Inability to detect a defect could result in a diversion of our engineering resources from product development efforts, increased engineering expenses to remediate the defect and increased costs due to customer accommodation or inventory impairment charges. On occasion we have also repaired or replaced certain components or made software fixes or refunded the purchase price or license fee paid by our customers due to product or software defects. If there are significant product defects, the costs to remediate such defects, net of reimbursed amounts from our vendors, if any, or to resolve warranty claims may adversely affect our revenue, gross margins and net income.
The nature of our business makes our revenue and gross margin subject to fluctuation and difficult to predict which could have an adverse impact on our business.
In addition to the challenging market conditions we may face, we have limited visibility into the demand for our products, particularly new products, because demand for our products depends upon our products being designed into our end customers' products and those products achieving market acceptance. Due to the complexity of our customers' designs, the design to volume production process for many of our customers requires a substantial amount of time, frequently longer than a year. In addition, we are dependent upon "turns," orders received and turned for shipment in the same quarter. These factors make it difficult for us to forecast future sales and project quarterly revenues. The difficulty in forecasting future sales weakens our ability to project our inventory requirements, which could result, and in the past has resulted, in inventory write-downs or failure to meet customer product demands in a timely manner. The difficulty in forecasting revenues as well as the relative customer and product mix of those revenues inhibits our ability to provide forward-looking revenue and gross margin guidance.
The average selling prices of our products generally decline as the products mature or may decline as we compete for market share or customer acceptance in competitive markets. We seek to offset the decrease in selling prices through yield improvement, manufacturing cost reductions and increased unit sales. We also seek to continue to develop higher value products or product features that increase, or slow the decline of, the average selling price of our products. However, we cannot guarantee that our ongoing efforts will be successful or that they will keep pace with the decline in selling prices of our products, which could ultimately lead to a decline in revenues and have a negative effect on our gross margins.
If we are unable to adequately protect our intellectual property rights, our financial results and our ability to compete effectively may suffer.
upon patent, copyright, trade secret, mask work and trademark laws to protect our intellectual property. We intend to continue to protect our proprietary technology, however, we may be unsuccessful in asserting our intellectual property rights or such rights may be invalidated, violated, circumvented or challenged. From time to time, third parties, including our competitors, have asserted against us patent, copyright and other intellectual property rights to technologies that are important to us. Third parties may attempt to misappropriate our intellectual property through electronic or other means or assert infringement claims against us in the future. Such assertions by third parties may result in costly litigation, indemnity claims or other legal actions, and we may not prevail in such matters or be able to license any valid and infringed patents from third parties on commercially reasonable terms. This could result in the loss of our ability to import and sell our products or require us to pay costly royalties to third parties in connection with sales of our products. Any infringement claim, indemnification claim, or impairment or loss of use of our intellectual property could materially adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.
Litigation and unfavorable results of legal proceedings could adversely affect our financial condition and operating results.
From time to time we are subject to various legal proceedings and claims that arise out of the ordinary conduct of our business. Certain claims are not yet resolved, including those that are discussed under Note 15 contained in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements, and additional claims may arise in the future. Results of legal proceedings cannot be predicted with certainty. Regardless of merit, litigation may be both time-consuming and disruptive to our operations and cause significant expense and diversion of management attention and we may enter into material settlements to avoid these risks. Should we fail to prevail in certain matters, we may be faced with significant monetary damages or injunctive relief against us that could materially and adversely affect our financial condition and operating results and certain portions of our business.
If we are not able to successfully compete in the highly competitive semiconductor industry, our financial results and future prospects will be adversely affected.
The semiconductor industry is intensely competitive and many of our direct and indirect competitors have substantially greater financial, technological, manufacturing, marketing and sales resources. The current level of competition in the programmable logic market is high and may increase in the future. We currently compete directly with companies that have licensed our technology or have developed similar products, including Altera Corporation and Xilinx, Inc. We also compete with numerous semiconductor companies that offer products based on alternative solutions such as ASIC, ASSP, microcontroller, analog, and Digital Signal Processing ("DSP") technologies. Competition from these semiconductor companies may intensify as we offer products in the Consumer end market. These competitors include established, multinational semiconductor companies as well as emerging companies. If we are unable to compete successfully in this environment, our future results may be adversely affected.
We depend upon a third party to provide inventory management, order fulfillment, and direct sales logistics and disruption of these services could adversely impact our business and results of operations.
We rely on a third party vendor to provide cost-effective and efficient supply chain services. Among other activities, these outsourced services relate to direct sales logistics, including order fulfillment, inventory management and warehousing, and distribution of inventory to third party distributors. If our third party supply chain partner were to discontinue services for us or its operations are disrupted as a result of a fire, earthquake, act of terrorism, political unrest, governmental uncertainty, war, disease or other natural disaster or catastrophic event, or any other reason, our ability to fulfill direct sales orders and distribute inventory timely, cost effectively, or at all, would be hindered, which could adversely affect our business.
We rely on independent software and hardware developers and disruption of these services could negatively affect our operations and financial results.
We rely on independent software and hardware developers for the design, development, supply and support of intellectual property cores, design and development software, and certain elements of evaluation boards. As a result, failure or significant delay to complete software or deliver hardware in accordance with our plans, specifications, and agreements could disrupt the release of or introduction of new or existing products, which could be detrimental to the capability of our new products to win designs. Any of these delays or inability to complete the design or development could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, or operating results.
We rely on information technology systems, and failure of these systems to function properly or our failure to control unauthorized access to our systems may cause business disruptions.
We rely in part on various information technology ("IT") systems to manage our operations, including financial reporting, and we regularly make changes to improve them as necessary. Consequently, we periodically implement new, or upgrade or enhance existing, operational and IT systems, procedures and controls. Any delay in the implementation of, or disruption in the transition to, new or enhanced systems, procedures or controls, could harm our ability to record and report financial and management information on a timely and accurate basis. These systems are also subject to power and telecommunication outages or other general system failures. Failure of our IT systems or difficulties in managing them could result in excessive cost or business disruption.
We may also be subject to unauthorized access to our IT systems through a security breach or attack. In the ordinary course of our business, we maintain sensitive data on our networks, including our intellectual property and proprietary or confidential business information relating to our business and that of our customers and business partners. The secure maintenance of this information is critical to our business and reputation. We believe that companies have been increasingly subject to a wide variety of security incidents, cyber-attacks and other attempts to gain unauthorized access. These threats can come from a variety of sources, ranging in sophistication from an individual hacker to a state-sponsored attack. Cyber threats may be generic, or they may be custom-crafted against our information systems. Over the past year, cyber-attacks have become more prevalent and much harder to detect and defend against. Our network and storage applications may be subject to unauthorized access by hackers or breached due to operator error, malfeasance or other system disruptions. It is often difficult to anticipate or immediately detect such incidents and to assess the damage caused by them.
We have implemented security procedures, such as virus protection software and emergency recovery processes, to address the potential risks. While we believe that our IT systems are appropriately controlled and that we have processes in place to adequately manage these risks, security procedures for information systems cannot be guaranteed to be failsafe. In the past third parties have attempted to penetrate and or infect our network and systems with malicious software in an effort to gain access to our network and systems. We seek to prevent, detect and investigate any security incidents and prevent their recurrence, but in some cases, we might be unaware of an incident or its magnitude and effects.
These data breaches and any unauthorized access or disclosure of our information or intellectual property could compromise our intellectual property and expose sensitive business information. Cyber-attacks could also cause us to incur significant remediation costs, result in product development delays, disrupt key business operations and divert attention of management and key information technology resources. Our reputation and business could be significantly harmed, and we could be subject to third party claims in the event of such a security breach.
We may have failed to adequately insure against certain risks, and, as a result, our financial condition and results may be adversely affected.
We carry insurance customary for companies in our industry, including, but not limited to, liability, property and casualty, workers' compensation and business interruption insurance. We also insure our employees for basic medical expenses. In addition, we have insurance contracts that provide director and officer liability coverage for our directors and officers. Other than the specific areas mentioned above, we are self-insured with respect to most other risks and exposures, and the insurance we carry in many cases is subject to a significant policy deductible or other limitation before coverage applies. Based on management's assessment and judgment, we have determined that it is more cost effective to self-insure against certain risks than to incur the insurance premium costs. The risks and exposures for which we self-insure include, but are not limited to, certain natural disasters, certain product defects, political risk, certain theft, patent infringement and employment practice matters. Should there be a catastrophic loss due to an uninsured event such as an earthquake or a loss due to adverse occurrences in any area in which we are self-insured, our financial condition or operating results could be adversely affected.
We depend on the efforts and abilities of certain key members of management and other technical personnel. Our future success depends, in part, upon our ability to retain such personnel and attract and retain other highly qualified personnel, particularly product engineers. Competition for such personnel is intense and we may not be successful in hiring or retaining new or existing qualified personnel. From time to time we have effected restructurings which have eliminated a number of positions. Even if such personnel are not directly affected by the restructuring effort, such terminations can have a negative impact on morale and our ability to attract and hire new qualified personnel in the future. If we lose existing qualified personnel or are unable to hire new qualified personnel, as needed, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be seriously harmed.
As part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the Securities and Exchange Commission established new disclosure and reporting requirements for those companies who use "conflict" minerals mined from the Democratic Republic of Congo and adjoining countries in their products, whether or not these products are manufactured by third parties. As these new requirements are fully implemented, they could affect the sourcing and availability of minerals used in the manufacture of our semiconductor products. There are also costs associated with complying with the disclosure requirements, including for due diligence in regard to the sources of any conflict minerals used in our products, in addition to the cost of any required remediation and other changes to products, processes, or sources of supply as a consequence of such verification activities. Although we filed our first conflict minerals report in 2014, it may be several years before we can fully assess the internal and external cost of compliance of the effect the rules will have on our business.
In November 2014, we sold the properties that contained our headquarters in Hillsboro, Oregon. Our current corporate headquarters consists of 146,620 square feet of buildings we lease in Hillsboro, Oregon through March 2015. A 47,800 square foot portion of that property will continue to be leased for a research and development facility through November 2022. In March 2015, our corporate headquarters and executive office will move to a 23,680 square foot leased space in Portland, Oregon through March 2025. In Shanghai, China, we own an 18,869 square foot research and development facility and lease an additional 3,212 square foot research and development facility. We currently lease a 98,874 square foot research and development facility in San Jose, California through September 2026. In Alabang, Philippines, we lease a 17,114 square foot research and development facility through December 2016, an 8,648 square foot facility through May 2017, and a 2,933 square foot facility through April 2017. We lease a 5,296 square foot research and development facility in Bangalore, India through October 2016. We also lease office facilities in multiple metropolitan locations for our domestic and international sales staff. We believe that our existing facilities are suitable and adequate for our current and foreseeable future needs.
In November 2014, a patent infringement lawsuit was filed by Papst Licensing GmbH & Co., KG ("Papst") against us in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware. In the complaint, Papst alleges that certain of the simulator or simulation products sold by the Company may infringe one or more of the patents held by Papst. No discovery has been conducted with respect to these allegations. At this stage of the proceedings, Lattice does not have an estimate of the likelihood or the amount of any potential exposure to the Company. The Company believes that it possesses defenses to these claims and intends to vigorously defend this litigation. It is reasonably possible that the actual losses may exceed the accrued liabilities, however, and the Company currently cannot estimate such amount.
On or about January 29, 2015, Silicon Image, Inc., members of its Board, the Company and the Company’s wholly-owned merger acquisition subsidiary, were named as defendants in two complaints filed in Santa Clara Superior Court by alleged stockholders of Silicon Image in connection with the proposed merger of Silicon Image and the Company. Both complaints were dated January 29, 2015 and were captioned respectively Molland v. George, et al. and Stein v. Silicon Image, Inc. et. al. Five additional complaints were subsequently filed on January 30, 2015, February 4, 2015 and February 9, 2015 in Delaware Chancery Court by alleged stockholders of Silicon Image, Inc. in connection with the Merger, captioned respectively Pfeiffer v. Martino et. al.; Lipinski v. Silicon Image, Inc. et. al.; Feldbaum et. al. v. Silicon Image, Inc. et. al; Nelson v. Silicon Image, Inc. et. al. and Partansky v. Silicon Image, Inc. et. al. The five Delaware matters were subsequently consolidated into an action captioned In re Silicon Image Stockholders Litigation by order of the Delaware Chancery Court on February 11, 2015, and a consolidated amended complaint was filed in the matter on February 13, 2015. Two complaints captioned Tapia v. Silicon Image, Inc. et. al. and Caldwel v. Silicon Image, Inc. were also filed on February 4, 2015 and February 9, 2015 in Santa Clara Superior Court by alleged stockholders in connection with the Merger. Amended complaints were filed in the Molland and Stein actions on February 11, 2015.
Each of these lawsuits are purported class actions brought on behalf of Silicon Image stockholders, asserting claims against each member of the Board for breach of fiduciary duty, and against various of the Silicon Image, Silicon Image’s Board, the Company, and the Company’s wholly-owned merger subsidiary for aiding and abetting breach of fiduciary duty. The lawsuits allege that the Merger does not appropriately value Silicon Image, was the result of an inadequate process, and includes preclusive deal devices. The amended complaints also assert that the Silicon Image’s disclosures regarding the Merger in its Schedule 14D-9 omitted material information regarding the Merger. Each of these complaints purport to seek unspecified damages and may seek injunctive relief preventing consummation of the transactions.
The Company believes that the claims in these complaints are without merit and intends to vigorously defend this litigation.
An adverse judgment for monetary damages could have an adverse effect on the operations of the Company. A preliminary injunction could delay or jeopardize the completion of the Merger, and an adverse judgment granting permanent injunctive relief could indefinitely enjoin completion of the Merger.
liability related to pending claims and litigation and may revise estimates. Presently, no accrual has been estimated under ASC 450 for potential losses that may or may not arise from the current lawsuits in which we are involved.
Our common stock is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol "LSCC". The following table sets forth the low and high intraday sale prices for our common stock for the last two fiscal years, as reported by NASDAQ.
As of February 26, 2015, we had approximately 280 stockholders of record.
The payment of dividends on our common stock is within the discretion of our Board of Directors. We intend to retain earnings to finance the growth of our business. We have never paid cash dividends.
we had approximately $6.9 million remaining under the approved program. The 2014 program was completed during February 2015 for the approved amount.
The following graph shows the five-year comparison of cumulative stockholder return on our common stock, the Standard and Poor's (“S&P”) 500 Index and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (“PHLX”) from December 2009 through December 2014. Cumulative stockholder return assumes $100 invested at the beginning of the period in our common stock, the S&P and PHLX. Historical stock price performance is not necessarily indicative of future stock price performance.
* The year ended January 3, 2015 was a 53-week year as compared to the prior years which were based on our standard 52-week year.
Lattice Semiconductor Corporation (“Lattice,” the “Company,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) designs, develops and markets high performance programmable logic products and related software. Programmable logic products are widely used semiconductor components that can be configured by end customers as specific logic circuits, enabling shorter design cycle times and reduced development costs. Our end customers are primarily original equipment manufacturers ("OEMs") in the Communications, Consumer, and Industrial end markets. There are two main categories of programmable logic devices (“PLDs”): field programmable gate arrays (“FPGAs”) and complex programmable logic devices (“CPLDs”), each representing distinctly different silicon architectural approaches. Products based on these two alternative programmable logic architectures are generally optimal for different types of logic functions, although many logic functions can be implemented using either architecture. We believe that a substantial portion of programmable logic customers utilize both CPLD and FPGA architectures.
Critical accounting policies are those that are both most important to the portrayal of a company's financial condition and results, and require management's most difficult, subjective and complex judgments, often as a result of the need to make estimates about the effect of matters that are inherently uncertain. A description of our critical accounting policies follows.
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP") requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts and classification of assets, such as marketable securities, accounts receivable, inventory, auction rate securities, goodwill (including the assessment of reporting unit), intangible assets, current and deferred income taxes, accrued liabilities (including restructuring charges and bonus arrangements), deferred income and allowances on sales to sell-through distributors, disclosure of contingent assets at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the fiscal periods presented. Actual results could differ from those estimates.
We sell our products directly to end customers or through a network of independent manufacturers' representatives and indirectly through a network of independent sell-in and sell-through distributors. Distributors provide periodic data regarding the product, price, quantity, and end customer when products are resold, as well as the quantities of our products they still have in stock.
Revenue from sales to OEMs and sell-in distributors is recognized upon shipment. Revenue from sales by our sell-through distributors is recognized at the time of reported resale. Under both types of revenue recognition, persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists, the price is fixed or determinable, title has transferred, collection of resulting receivables is reasonably assured, and there are no remaining customer acceptance requirements and no remaining significant performance obligations. Revenue and Cost of products sold are presented net of taxes collected on behalf of government authorities.
Orders from our sell-through distributors are initially recorded at published list prices; however, for a majority of our sales, the final selling price is determined at the time of resale and in accordance with a distributor price agreement. In certain circumstances, we allow sell-through distributors to return unsold products. At times, we protect our sell-through distributors against reductions in published list prices. For these reasons, we do not recognize revenue until products are resold by sell-through distributors to an end customer.
For sell-through distributors, at the time of shipment to distributors, we (a) record Accounts receivable at published list price since there is a legally enforceable obligation from the distributor to pay us currently for product delivered, (b) relieve inventory for the carrying value of goods shipped since legal title has passed to the distributor, and (c) record deferred revenue and deferred cost of sales in Deferred income and allowances on sales to sell-through distributors in the liability section of our Consolidated Balance Sheets. The final price is set at the time of resale and is determined in accordance with a distributor price agreement. Revenue and cost of products sold to sell-through distributors are deferred until either the product is resold by the distributor or, in certain cases, return privileges terminate, at which time Revenue and Cost of products sold are reflected in Net income (loss), and Accounts receivable are adjusted to reflect the final selling price.
We must use estimates and apply judgment to reconcile sell-through distributors' reported inventories to their activities. Errors in our estimates or judgments could result in inaccurate reporting of our Revenue, Cost of products sold, Deferred income and allowances on sales to sell-through distributors, and Net income (loss).
We invest in various financial instruments including corporate and government bonds, notes, and commercial paper. We were also invested in auction rate securities until June 2014. We value these instruments at their fair value and monitor our portfolio for impairment on a periodic basis. In the event that the carrying value of an investment exceeds its fair value and the decline in value is determined to be other than temporary, we record an impairment charge and establish a new carrying value. We assess other-than-temporary impairment of marketable securities in accordance with Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 820, “Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures.” The framework under the provisions of ASC 820 establishes three levels of inputs that may be used to measure fair value. Each level of input has different levels of subjectivity and difficulty involved in determining fair value.
Level 1 instruments are characterized generally by quoted prices for identical assets or liabilities in active markets. Therefore, determining fair value for Level 1 instruments generally does not require significant management judgment, and the estimation is not difficult.
Level 2 instruments include inputs other than Level 1 that are observable, either directly or indirectly, such as quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities; quoted prices for identical instruments in markets that are not active; or other inputs that are observable or can be corroborated by observable market data for substantially the full term of the assets or liabilities.
Level 3 instruments include unobservable inputs that are supported by little or no market activity and that are significant to the fair value of the assets or liabilities. Our auction rate securities were classified as Level 3 instruments. Management used a combination of the market and income approach to derive the fair value of auction rate securities, which included third party valuation results, investment broker provided market information and available information on the credit quality of the underlying collateral. As a result, the determination of fair value for Level 3 instruments requires significant management judgment and subjectivity. Our Level 3 instruments were classified as Long-term marketable securities on our Consolidated Balance Sheets and were entirely made up of auction rate securities that consisted of student loan asset-backed notes. During fiscal 2014 we sold all of our Level 3 instruments, which consisted entirely of auction rate securities.
Inventories are recorded at the lower of actual cost determined on a first-in-first-out basis or market. We establish provisions for inventory if it is obsolete or we hold quantities which are in excess of projected customer demand. The creation of such provisions results in a write-down of inventory to net realizable value and a charge to cost of products sold.
Long-lived assets, including amortizable intangible assets, are carried on our financial statements based on their cost less accumulated depreciation or amortization. We monitor the carrying value of our long-lived assets for potential impairment and test the recoverability of such assets whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that their carrying amounts may not be recoverable. These events or changes in circumstances, including management decisions pertaining to such assets, are referred to as impairment indicators. If an impairment indicator occurs, we perform a test of recoverability by comparing the carrying value of the asset group to its undiscounted expected future cash flows. If the carrying values are in excess of undiscounted expected future cash flows, we measure any impairment by comparing the fair value of the asset group to its carrying value. Fair value is generally determined by considering (i) internally developed discounted projected cash flow analysis of the asset group; (ii) actual third-party valuations; and/or (iii) information available regarding the current market for similar asset groups. If the fair value of the asset group is determined to be less than the carrying amount of the asset group, an impairment in the amount of the difference is recorded in the period that the impairment indicator occurs and is included in our Consolidated Statement of Operations. Estimating future cash flows requires significant judgment and projections may vary from the cash flows eventually realized, which could impact our ability to accurately assess whether an asset has been impaired. No impairment charges were recorded for the fiscal year ended 2014.
fair value of the reporting unit is less than its carrying value, an indication of goodwill impairment exists for the reporting unit and we must measure the impairment loss. The impairment loss, if any, is recognized for any excess of the carrying amount of the reporting unit's goodwill over the implied fair value of the goodwill. The implied fair value of goodwill is determined by allocating the fair value of the reporting unit in a manner similar to purchase price allocation and the residual fair value after this allocation is the implied fair value of the reporting unit goodwill. Fair value of the reporting unit is determined using a discounted cash flow analysis. If the fair value of the reporting unit exceeds its carrying value, no further impairment analysis is needed. For purposes of testing goodwill for impairment, the Company operates as a single reporting unit. No goodwill impairment charges were recorded for the fiscal year ended 2014.
Expenses associated with exit or disposal activities are recognized when incurred under ASC 420, “Exit or Disposal Cost Obligations” for everything but severance. However, because we have a history of paying severance benefits, the cost of severance benefits associated with a restructuring charge is recorded when such costs are probable and the amount can be reasonably estimated in accordance with ASC 712, “Compensation - Nonretirement Postemployment Benefits.” When leased facilities are vacated, an amount equal to the total future lease obligations from the date of vacating the premises through the expiration of the lease, net of estimated sublease income, is recorded as a part of restructuring charges.
Our provision for income tax is comprised of our current tax liability and changes in deferred tax assets and liabilities. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the expected tax consequences of temporary differences between the tax bases of assets and liabilities and their reported amounts in the financial statements using enacted tax rates and laws that will be in effect when the difference is expected to reverse. Valuation allowances are provided to reduce deferred tax assets to an amount that in management’s judgment is more-likely-than-not to be recoverable against future taxable income. At January 3, 2015, U.S. income taxes were not provided on approximately $3.3 million of the undistributed earnings of our Chinese subsidiary. We intend to reinvest these earnings indefinitely. If these earnings were distributed to the U.S. in the form of dividends or otherwise, we would be subject to additional U.S. income taxes.
Our income tax calculations are based on application of the respective U.S. federal, state or foreign tax law. Our tax filings, however, are subject to audit by the relevant tax authorities. Accordingly, we recognize tax liabilities based upon our estimate of whether, and the extent to which, additional taxes will be due when such estimates are more-likely-than-not to be sustained. An uncertain income tax position will not be recognized if it has less than a 50% likelihood of being sustained. To the extent the final tax liabilities are different than the amounts originally accrued, the increases or decreases are recorded as income tax expense or benefit in the Consolidated Statements of Operations.
In assessing the realizability of deferred tax assets, we evaluate both positive and negative evidence that may exist and consider whether it is more-likely-than-not that some portion or all of the deferred tax assets will be realized. The ultimate realization of deferred tax assets is dependent upon the generation of future taxable income during the periods in which those temporary differences become deductible.
Any adjustment to the net deferred tax asset valuation allowance is recorded in the Consolidated Statements of Operations in the period that the adjustment is determined to be required.
We use the Black-Scholes option pricing model to estimate the fair value of substantially all share-based awards consistent with the provisions of ASC 718, “Compensation - Stock Compensation.” Option pricing models, including the Black-Scholes model, require the use of input assumptions, including expected volatility, expected term, expected dividend rate, and expected risk-free rate of return. The assumptions for expected volatility and expected term most significantly affect the grant date fair value.
Revenue increased $33.6 million, or 10%, in fiscal 2014 compared to fiscal 2013, primarily driven by volume increases in certain of our ECP3 products in the Communications end market, largely in continued support of the Chinese telecommunications infrastructure build out which began in 2013. Stronger demand in the second half of 2014 from the Industrial end market also contributed to the increase in revenue. These increases were partially offset by lower demand for certain of our iCE40 products at a major OEM in the Consumer end market.
One Consumer end market customer, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., accounted for 19% of total revenue in 2014 and 22% of revenue in 2013. Additionally, one Communications end market customer, Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., accounted for 12% of total revenue in 2014. No other individual end customers accounted for more than 10% of total revenue in any of the fiscal years 2014, 2013 or 2012.
Revenue increased $53.3 million, or 19%, in fiscal 2013 compared to fiscal 2012, primarily driven by volume increases in our iCE40 product line, which was led by increased revenue from a major OEM in the Consumer end market and certain of our ECP3 products in the Communications end market. These increases were partially offset by reduced volume of end-of-life mature products, relatively weak macroeconomic factors, and a migration to our newer technologies affecting the Industrial end markets.
The following end market data is derived from data that is provided to us by our distributors and end customers. With a diverse base of customers who in some cases manufacture end products spanning multiple end markets, the assignment of revenue to a specific end market requires the use of estimates and judgment. Therefore, actual results may differ from those reported.
Our revenue in the Communications end market is largely dependent on a small number of large telecommunications equipment providers. For fiscal 2014, Communications end market revenue increased 21% primarily driven by demand to support the telecommunications infrastructure build out in China, largely in the first half of 2014. Revenue in the Communications end market increased 8% when comparing fiscal 2013 to fiscal 2012, also driven by demand related to the telecommunications infrastructure build out in China.
Consumer end market revenue decreased 8% in fiscal 2014, after increasing 180% in fiscal 2013. Consumer end market revenue decreased primarily due to lower demand at a major OEM for certain of our iCE40 products. Consumer end market revenue increased in fiscal 2013 due in large part to the strong volume growth of our iCE40 product at a major OEM.
For fiscal 2014, Industrial end market revenue increased 14% when compared to fiscal 2013. This increase was primarily due to broad market strengthening in the second half of fiscal 2014, largely in Europe and Japan. For fiscal 2013, revenue decreased 16% when compared to fiscal 2012. This decline was primarily due to reduced sales volume of end-of-life mature products.
Revenue for New products increased 16% in fiscal 2014, while revenue for New products increased 144% in fiscal 2013. In both years, New product revenue increased primarily due to strong volume ramping of certain New products, principally to customers in the Communications end markets. In 2014, this volume ramping occurred primarily in the first half of the year.
Revenue for Mainstream products increased 4% in fiscal 2014 when compared to fiscal 2013. The increase in Mainstream revenue was primarily due to improving macroeconomic conditions and increased demand from the Communications end market in the first half of 2014 and the Industrial end market in the second half of 2014. Revenue for Mainstream products decreased 13% in fiscal 2013. Mainstream product revenue declined in fiscal 2013 due primarily to macroeconomic factors affecting the Industrial end markets as well as reduced volumes as customers migrated to newer technology.
Mature product revenue increased 6% in fiscal 2014 when compared to fiscal 2013, primarily due to an increase in the sales volume of late life-cycle products in the fourth quarter of 2014. Mature product revenue decreased 27% in fiscal 2013 when compared to fiscal 2012. Mature product revenue decreased in fiscal 2013 when compared to fiscal 2012 primarily due to lower sales volumes as customers migrated to our newer technology.
* Product categories are modified as appropriate relative to our portfolio of products and the generation within each major product family. New products consist of our latest generation of products, while Mainstream and Mature are older or based on unique late stage customer-based production needs. Generally, product categories are adjusted every two to three years, at which time prior periods are reclassified to conform to the new categorization. In the first fiscal quarter of 2014 we reclassified our New, Mainstream and Mature product categories to better reflect our current product portfolio.
We assign revenue to geographies based on customer ship-to address at the point where revenue is recognized. In the case of sell-in distributors and OEM customers, revenue is typically recognized, and geography is assigned, when products are shipped. In the case of sell-through distributors, revenue is recognized when resale to the end customer occurs and geography is assigned based on the end customer location on the resale reports provided by the distributor. Both foreign and domestic sales are denominated in U.S. dollars, with the exception of sales in Japan, where sales to certain customers are denominated in yen.
Revenue increased 9% in Asia in fiscal 2014 and 29% in fiscal 2013. In both years, revenue growth in Asia was due primarily to strong volume growth of New products in the Communications end markets, driven largely by demand to support the telecommunications infrastructure build out in China in the first half of 2014. Additionally in 2013, we saw additional growth in Asia coming from the Consumer end market. We believe the Asia Pacific region will remain the primary source of our revenue due to relatively more favorable business conditions in Asia and a continuing trend towards the migration of manufacturing by North American and European customers to the Asia Pacific region.
Revenue increased 24% in Europe in fiscal 2014 on generally improving macroeconomic conditions and increased demand from customers in the Industrial and Communications end markets.
Americas revenue increased 2% in fiscal 2014 due to increased sales volumes of late life-cycle products in the Industrial end market, largely in the fourth quarter of 2014. Revenue from Americas decreased 5% in fiscal 2013, due largely to macroeconomic weakness in the region.
Revenue from foreign sales as a percentage of total revenue was 92%, 91%, and 88% for fiscal 2014, 2013 and 2012, respectively.
Revenue from sell-through distributors as a percent of total revenue was flat in fiscal 2014 as compared to 2013. Revenue from sell-through distributors as a percent of total revenue declined in fiscal 2013 due primarily to increased sales to OEM customers.
In fiscal 2014, gross margin, as a percentage of revenue, increased 2.7 percentage points as compared to fiscal 2013. Product cost improvements, driven by high volume manufacturing and strategic inventory builds in the first half of the year, combined to improve our gross margin in fiscal 2014. Those product cost improvements were partially offset, however, by less favorable product and customer mix resulting from increased revenue from New products in both the Consumer and Communications end markets. Less sell-through of fully reserved inventory and, to a lesser extent, increased expense from excess and obsolete inventory also degraded our gross margin in fiscal 2014. We expect that product and customer mix as well as downward pressure on average selling price will continue to affect our gross margin in the future. If we are unable to realize additional or sufficient product cost reductions in the future, we may experience degradation in our gross margin.
In fiscal 2013, gross margin, as a percentage of revenue, decreased 0.4 percentage points as compared to fiscal 2012. Less favorable product and customer mix combined to reduce our gross margins during 2013. The adverse effect of the mix driven margin decline in 2013 was substantially offset by product cost improvements, reduced expense from excess and obsolete inventory and, to a lesser extent, more sell-through of fully reserved inventory.
Research and development expenses include costs for compensation and benefits, development masks, engineering wafers, depreciation, licenses, and outside engineering services. These expenditures are for the design of new products, intellectual property cores, processes, packaging, and software to support new products.
We believe that a continued commitment to research and development is essential to maintain product leadership and provide innovative new product offerings, and therefore we expect to continue to make significant future investments in research and development.
The increase in expense in fiscal 2014, compared to fiscal 2013, was primarily due to project-based outside engineering services, variable compensation and amortization costs, and increased engineering mask costs, with approximately 10% of these increases offset by lower facility costs.
The increase in expense in fiscal 2013, compared to fiscal 2012, was primarily due to increased variable compensation, facility costs and mask costs. More than 60% of these increases were offset by lower compensation expense, a reduction in depreciation, and reduced use of outside engineering services.
Selling, general, and administrative expenses include costs for compensation and benefits related to selling, general, and administrative employees, commissions, depreciation, professional services and travel expenses.
The increase in expense in fiscal 2014 compared to fiscal 2013 was primarily due to increases in commissions as a result of improved revenue, increased stock compensation expense largely driven by performance based awards, and increased legal and professional services expenses, approximately 10% of which was offset by a decrease in variable compensation expense.
The decrease in expense in fiscal 2013 compared to fiscal 2012 was primarily due to a lower compensation expense as a result of reduced headcount and lower legal and professional service expense, approximately 50% offset by an increase in variable compensation.
Acquisition related charges includes severance and professional fees directly related to acquisitions, as well as expensed stepped up value of inventory and amortization of identifiable intangible assets with finite useful lives associated with our 2011 acquisition of SiliconBlue.
The fiscal 2014 and 2013 charges consist solely of amortization of intangible assets.
The fiscal 2012 charges include $2.9 million in amortization of intangibles assets, along with expensed stepped up value of inventory, professional fees, and severance costs.
On October 12, 2012, our Board of Directors adopted the 2012 restructuring plan. In connection with this restructuring plan, we reduced our headcount by approximately 110 employees and eliminated certain sites, including our sites in Pennsylvania and Illinois.
For fiscal 2014, restructuring charges solely related to changes in lease termination costs from previously announced restructurings.
For fiscal 2013, restructuring charges primarily related to severance and changes in lease termination costs associated with the 2012 restructuring plan. The 2012 restructuring plan was substantially completed in the first quarter of 2013.
The increase in Other income (expense), net, in fiscal 2014, as compared to fiscal 2013 resulted primarily from the realization of a gain on the sale of auction rate securities in the second quarter of 2014 combined with reduced foreign exchange losses compared to fiscal 2013.
The decrease in Other income (expense), net, in fiscal 2013, as compared to fiscal 2012 resulted primarily from higher losses on the sale of marketable securities and higher foreign exchange losses in fiscal 2013.
On December 31, 2011, we began to implement a global tax structure to more effectively align our corporate structure with the geographic business operations including responsibility for sales and manufacturing activities. Implementation of the global tax structure was completed during the first quarter of 2012 upon the intercompany sale of inventory and fixed assets. During 2012, this inventory was sold to end customers in the ordinary course of business resulting in income before taxes in the United States and a loss before taxes in certain foreign jurisdictions. Because these foreign jurisdictions have 0% income tax rates, we received no tax benefit associated with the losses resulting in a significant foreign rate differential. Taxes have been applied to the gain on sale based on U.S. statutory rates, offset by deferred tax assets. This resulted in an increase to the effective tax rate and a net income tax provision of $13.7 million during 2012.
During the fourth quarter of 2014, we concluded that it was more-likely-than-not that we would be able to realize the benefit of a portion of our remaining deferred tax assets, resulting in a tax benefit of $11.5 million. We based this conclusion on improved operating results over the previous two years and our expectations about generating taxable income in the foreseeable future. We exercised significant judgment and considered estimates about our ability to generate revenue, gross profits, operating income and taxable income in future periods under our global tax structure in reaching this decision.
We are not currently paying federal income taxes and do not expect to pay such taxes until the benefits of our tax net operating loss and credit carryforwards are fully utilized. We expect to pay a nominal amount of state income tax. We accrue interest and penalties related to uncertain tax positions in the provision for income taxes. We are paying foreign income taxes, which are primarily related to the cost of operating offshore research and development, marketing and sales subsidiaries.
The inherent uncertainties related to the geographical distribution and relative level of profitability among various high and low tax jurisdictions make it difficult to estimate the impact of the global tax structure on our future effective tax rate.
The following sections discuss the effect of changes in our balance sheets, as well as the effects of our contractual obligations, other commitments, and the stock repurchase program on our liquidity and capital resources.
high quality, investment-grade securities. Our cash, cash equivalent and short-term marketable securities positions allow us to use our cash resources for acquisitions, working capital needs, and repurchases of common stock.
We have historically financed our operating and capital resource requirements through cash flows from operations. Cash provided by operating activities will fluctuate from period to period due to fluctuations in operating results, the timing and collection of accounts receivable, and required inventory levels, among other things.
We believe that our financial resources will be sufficient to meet our working capital needs through the next 12 months. As of January 3, 2015, we had no long-term debt and did not have significant long-term commitments for capital expenditures. In the future, we may consider acquisition opportunities to extend our product or technology portfolios and to expand our product offerings, such as the acquisition of Silicon Image, Inc. described below. In connection with funding capital expenditures, completing acquisitions, securing additional wafer supply, or increasing our working capital, we may seek to obtain debt or equity financing, or advance purchase payments or similar arrangements with wafer manufacturers. We may also need to obtain debt or equity financing if we experience downturns or cyclical fluctuations in our business that are more severe or longer than we anticipated when determining our current working capital needs.
On January 26, 2015, we entered into an agreement to commence a tender offer to acquire Silicon Image, Inc., a leading provider of wired and wireless connectivity solutions, for $7.30 in cash per share, resulting in a purchase price of approximately $602.05 million, plus related fees and expenses. The transaction was approved by the board of directors of each company and is expected to close upon the successful tender of required shares and regulatory approval. The transaction will be funded through a combination of cash on hand and $350.0 million of new debt financing.
As of January 3, 2015, we had total Cash and cash equivalents of $115.6 million, of which approximately $28.2 million was held by our foreign subsidiaries. We manage our global cash requirements considering (i) available funds among the subsidiaries through which we conduct business, (ii) the geographic location of our liquidity needs, and (iii) the cost to access international cash balances. The repatriation of non-U.S. earnings may have adverse tax consequences as we may be required to pay and record income tax expense on those funds to the extent they were previously considered permanently reinvested. As of January 3, 2015, we could access all cash held by our foreign subsidiaries without incurring significant additional expense.
The increase in Cash and cash equivalents and Short-term investments of $33.8 million as compared to December 28, 2013, was primarily the result of cash provided by operations of $40.1 million, $14.6 million in net proceeds from the sale of our headquarters, and proceeds from the sale of auction rate securities of $5.5 million, offset by cash used for stock buyback of $13.1 million and capital expenditures of $10.3 million.
During fiscal 2014, we redeemed our long-term marketable securities with a par value of $5.7 million and an estimated fair value of $5.2 million for $5.5 million.
Accounts receivable, net increased $12.3 million or 25% as of January 3, 2015 compared to December 28, 2013 due primarily to an increase in distributor shipments late in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014. As a result, days sales outstanding at January 3, 2015 was 67, an increase of 17 days from 50 days at December 28, 2013.
Inventory increased $18.7 million, or 40%, as of January 3, 2015 compared to December 28, 2013 primarily due to increased inventory of products related to anticipated future demand and, to a lesser extent, builds in anticipation of certain end-of-life orders. Months of inventory on hand increased to 5.2 months at the end of fiscal 2014 from 3.4 months at the end of fiscal 2013 as a result of the increase in inventory value coupled with lower revenue in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014 compared to the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013. We expect inventory value and months of inventory on hand to return to historical levels in the future.
On March 3, 2014, the Company's Board of Directors approved a stock repurchase program pursuant to which up to $20.0 million of outstanding common stock may be repurchased from time to time. The duration of the repurchase program is twelve months. Under this program during fiscal 2014, approximately 1.9 million shares were repurchased for $13.1 million. At January 3, 2015, we had approximately $6.9 million remaining under the approved program. The 2014 program was completed during February 2015 for the approved amount.
During 2013, our Board of Directors approved a stock repurchase program pursuant to which up to $20.0 million of outstanding common stock may be repurchased from time to time. The duration of the repurchase program was twelve months. Under this program during fiscal 2013, approximately 0.8 million shares were repurchased for $3.7 million. The 2013 program completed during February 2014.
As of January 3, 2015, we had no long-term debt, no significant long-term purchase commitments for capital expenditures, and no existing used or unused credit arrangements. In connection with our proposed acquisition of Silicon Image, Inc., we expect to enter into a $350.0 million term loan facility with Jefferies Finance LLC, HSBC Bank USA, N.A. and HSBC Securities (USA) Inc. (collectively, the “Financing Parties”). The commitment from the Financing Parties to provide financing is subject to the satisfaction of customary conditions.
Certain of our facilities and equipment are leased under operating leases, which expire at various times through 2026.
We also have other liabilities of $18.7 million relating to uncertain tax positions. However, as we are unable to reliably estimate the timing of future payments related to uncertain tax positions, we have excluded this amount from the table above.
with remaining rental costs estimated to be $0.1 million. Our leases in Alabang expire in December 2016, April 2017 and May 2017, with total annual rental costs estimated to be $0.4 million with 5% annual increases. Leasehold improvements are amortized over the shorter of the non-cancelable lease term or the estimated useful life of the assets.
The information contained in Note 2: New Accounting Pronouncements to our Consolidated Financial Statements in Part II, Item 8 is incorporated by reference into this Part II, Item 7.
As of January 3, 2015, we did not have any off-balance sheet arrangements, as defined in Item 303(a)(4)(ii) of SEC Regulation S-K.
At January 3, 2015 we no longer held auction rate securities. On June 19, 2014, we sold our remaining auction rate securities with a par value of $5.7 million with an estimated fair value of $5.2 million, for $5.5 million. As a result, we reported a gain of $1.7 million in the Consolidated Statement of Operations and relieved $1.1 million of previously unrealized gain, net of taxes, from Accumulated other comprehensive loss in fiscal 2014.
At December 28, 2013, we held auction rate securities with a par value of $5.7 million with an estimated fair value of $5.2 million. Our investments in auction rate securities were subject to interest rate and market risk. A hypothetical 10% movement in interest rates would not have had a material impact on the fair value of the portfolio.
A portion of our silicon wafer and other purchases are denominated in Japanese yen, we bill our Japanese customers and collect a Japanese consumption tax refund in yen. As a result of this, as well as having various international subsidiary and branch operations, our financial position and results of operations are subject to exchange rate risk.
We mitigate the resulting foreign currency exchange rate exposure by entering into foreign currency forward exchange contracts. Although these hedges mitigate our foreign currency exchange rate exposure from an economic perspective they were not designated as "effective" hedges for accounting purposes and as such are adjusted to fair value through Other income (expense), net. We do not engage in speculative trading in any financial or capital market.
We had forward contracts for Japanese yen of $4.2 million and $2.3 million at January 3, 2015 and December 28, 2013, respectively. The net fair value of these contracts was favorable by approximately $0.4 million and less than $0.1 million at January 3, 2015 and December 28, 2013, respectively. A hypothetical 10% unfavorable exchange rate change in the yen against the U.S. dollar would have resulted in an unfavorable net fair value of less than $0.1 million and $0.2 million at January 3, 2015 and December 28, 2013. Changes in fair value resulting from foreign exchange rate fluctuations would be substantially offset by the change in value of the underlying hedged transactions.

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