EDGAR 10-K Filing

Company CIK: 1007587
Filing Year: 2021
Filename: 1007587_10-K_2021_0001007587-21-000004.json

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ITEM 1. BUSINESS
ITEM 1. Business
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information
In addition to historical facts, this annual report contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are merely our current predictions of future events. These statements are inherently uncertain, and actual events could differ materially from our predictions. Important factors that could cause actual events to vary from our predictions include those discussed in this annual report under the headings “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” and “Item 1A. Risk Factors.” We assume no obligation to update our forward-looking statements to reflect new information or developments. We urge readers to review carefully the risk factors described in this annual report and in the other documents that we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Additional Information Available
Our principal Internet address is www.kvh.com. Our website provides a hyperlink to a third-party website through which our annual, quarterly, and current reports, as well as amendments to those reports, are available free of charge. We believe these reports are made available as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file them with, or furnish them to, the SEC. We do not provide any information regarding our SEC filings directly to the third-party website, and we do not check its accuracy or completeness. The SEC maintains an Internet site at http://www.sec.gov that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC.
Introduction
We are a leading provider of innovative, technology-driven connectivity and navigation solutions to maritime, marine, defense and other commercial customers globally. Through our mobile connectivity business, we provide global high-speed Internet, television, and voice services via satellite to mobile users at sea and on land. We are also a leading provider of commercially licensed entertainment, including news, sports, music, and movies, to commercial and leisure customers in the maritime, hotel, and retail markets. Our inertial navigation business provides high-performance navigational sensors and integrated inertial systems for defense and commercial inertial navigation applications. Our reporting segments are as follows:
•the mobile connectivity segment and
•the inertial navigation segment
Through these segments, we manufacture and sell our solutions in a number of major geographic areas, including internationally. We generate revenues from various international locations, primarily consisting of Canada, Europe (both inside and outside the European Union), Africa, Asia/Pacific, and the Middle East.
During the second quarter of 2019, we sold Videotel, which provided eLearning computer-based training, to an affiliate of Oakley Capital. We determined that the sale met the requirements for reporting as discontinued operations in accordance with Financial Accounting Standards Board Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) 205-20 Presentation of Financial Statements - Discontinued Operations (ASC 205-20). Accordingly, we have classified the results of the Videotel business as discontinued operations in our financial statements.
We are headquartered in Middletown, Rhode Island, with active operations in Denmark, the State of Illinois, Norway, Singapore, and the United Kingdom. KVH is a Delaware corporation formed in 1985.
Our Business Segments
Segment Primary Products Major Brands 2020 Net Sales (1)
Mobile connectivity Satellite television and internet solutions and media and content delivery solutions TracVision®
TracPhone®
CommBox TM
Mini-VSAT Broadband SM
IP-MobileCast TM KVH OneCare TM
NEWSLink TM
AgilePlans TM
$ 119,453
Inertial navigation Digital compass and fiber optic gyro-based navigation and guidance systems TACNAV®
39,280
Total $ 158,733
(1) Amounts in thousands
Mobile Connectivity Segment
Through our mobile connectivity segment, we provide integrated, end-to-end hardware, software and services that support our customers’ need for access to Internet, voice and entertainment services. On the hardware side of this business, we primarily manufacture and distribute a comprehensive family of mobile satellite antenna products and services that provide access to the Internet and voice services while on the move. Product sales within the mobile connectivity segment accounted for 18% and 20% of our consolidated net sales for 2020 and 2019, respectively. Sales of mini-VSAT Broadband airtime service accounted for 51% and 48% of our consolidated net sales for 2020 and 2019, respectively. Sales of content services within the mobile connectivity segment accounted for 5% and 6% of our consolidated net sales for 2020 and 2019, respectively.
In the global maritime market, we believe that there is significant demand for mobile access to television, the Internet, voice services, entertainment content, and operational services such as navigation chart updates, weather services, and voyage optimization. For both maritime and onshore customers that want to access live television while on the move, we offer a comprehensive family of mobile satellite antenna products marketed under the TracVision brand. For access to the Internet and voice services while on the move, which we refer to collectively as our airtime services, we offer a family of mobile satellite antenna products and communication services marketed under the brands mini-VSAT Broadband and TracPhone, respectively. The network infrastructure that we have developed to support our airtime services also supports the delivery of other value-added services such as our IP-MobileCast content delivery service for both entertainment and operational needs.
Our mobile satellite antenna products use sophisticated robotics, stabilization and control software, sensing technologies, transceiver integration, and advanced antenna designs to automatically search for, identify and point directly at the selected television and communications satellite while the vehicle or vessel is in motion. Our antennas use gyros and inclinometers to measure the pitch, roll and yaw of an antenna platform in relation to the earth. Microprocessors and our proprietary stabilization and control software use that data to compute the antenna movement necessary for the antenna’s motors to point the antenna properly and maintain contact with the satellite. If an obstruction temporarily blocks the satellite signal, our products continue to track the satellite’s location according to the movement of the antenna platform in order to carry out automatic, rapid reacquisition of the signal when a direct line of sight to the satellite is restored.
Our Certified Support Network offers our TracVision and TracPhone customers an international network of skilled technical dealers and support centers in many locations where our customers are likely to travel. We have selected technical dealers based on their technical expertise, professionalism, and commitment to quality, and regularly provide them with extensive training in the sale, installation and support of our products.
Maritime
In the marine market, we offer a range of mobile satellite TV, internet access, and communications products.
Satellite Internet and Phone. Our mini-VSAT Broadband network offers an end-to-end solution for offshore mobile connectivity. This unified C/Ku-band Broadband service enables us to offer commercial, leisure, and government customers an integrated hardware and service solution for mobile communications and seamless region-to-region roaming. We design and manufacture the onboard TracPhone terminals, own hub equipment installed in leased earth stations, lease the satellite capacity, manage the network through third-party service providers, and provide 24/7/365 after-sale support. Because we manufacture the onboard hardware, we can integrate the full rack of discrete below decks equipment typically used on traditional VSAT systems into a single, streamlined unit that is significantly easier to deploy than competing VSAT solutions. Our mini-VSAT Broadband network utilizes advanced next-generation high-throughput satellites (HTS) capabilities offered by Intelsat and SKY Perfect JSAT, as well as ArcLight spread spectrum modem technology developed by ViaSat.
Our approach allowed us to develop and bring to market our TracPhone V series of terminals. Our 60-cm diameter TracPhone V7-HTS Ku-band antenna is 85% smaller by volume and 75% lighter than alternative 1-meter diameter VSAT antennas and is designed to deliver faster data speeds globally to the maritime market. We are able to offer download/upload speeds as fast as 10 megabits per second (Mbps)/3 Mbps.
In October 2018, we introduced our 37-cm diameter TracPhone V3-HTS Ku-band antenna, which is practical for use on smaller vessels as well as land vehicles. We believe that the TracPhone V3-HTS is the world’s fastest, lightest, ultra-compact Ku-band marine VSAT antenna. Weighing 11 kg (25 lbs.), the TracPhone V3-HTS is smaller than any other Ku-band marine satellite communications antenna currently on the market and is designed to provide faster data speeds (5 Mbps download/2 Mbps upload) than some larger marine satellite antennas.
In March 2019, we introduced the TracPhone V11-HTS, which we believe is the world’s fastest 1 meter KU/C-band maritime VSAT antenna, designed to deliver data speeds as fast as 20 Mbps download/3 Mbps upload to commercial maritime vessels and superyachts around the world. The fast data speeds support the critical needs of commercial ships today for operations, Internet of Things (IoT) applications, and crew connectivity. Superyacht guests can now enjoy fast connectivity for streaming HD content and accessing Internet and social media platforms at sea.
LTE Broadband. In June 2018, we introduced the TracPhone LTE-1, which is a high-gain dual antenna array, modem, GPS, and Wi-Fi router inside a 34-cm diameter dome. The TracPhone LTE-1 uses cellular technology from two of the leading LTE carriers in the U.S., automatically switching between them to provide Internet access in U.S. waters up to approximately 20 miles offshore, with data download speeds up to 100 Mbps.
VSAT Deployments. We are actively engaged in sales efforts for the TracPhone HTS Series and mini-VSAT Broadband service to government agencies for maritime, military, and emergency responder use. We also continue to expand our ability to support the commercial maritime market. For example, in December 2018, we completed the deployment of 45 TracPhone V7-HTS systems on Transpetro oil and gas tankers.
Other Marine Solutions. We offer CommBox, a ship-to-shore network management product that comprises shipboard hardware, a KVH-hosted or privately-owned shore-based hub, and a suite of software applications. Our CommBox offerings are generally integrated into all of our VSAT product offerings. We do not generate significant revenue from sales of standalone CommBox hardware.
We also offer Iridium OpenPort hardware and service to be used in conjunction with our mini-VSAT service. Iridium OpenPort service provides data rates up to 128 kilobits per second (Kbps) and covers the entire world, including the polar regions. We offer the Iridium hardware and service along with our own mini-VSAT solution with the integrated CommBox functionality, which will switch over to the Iridium service if the mini-VSAT service is not available. Our customers might choose to add the Iridium service to expand the geographic coverage of the system or as a backup service.
In September 2019, we started offering Iridium Certus, a next-generation L-band solution providing pole-to-pole global coverage. As a companion to our VSAT systems, the Iridium Certus 38-cm diameter Cobham Sailor 4300 antenna provides L-band data speeds of 704 Kbps download/176 Kbps upload. Optional routing enables onboard data to switch between our mini-VSAT Broadband service and Iridium Certus.
In addition to our TracPhone VSAT products and mini-VSAT Broadband service, we also offer a family of Inmarsat-compatible TracPhone products that provide in-motion access to global satellite communications. These products rely on services offered by Inmarsat, a satellite service provider that supports links for phone, fax, and data communications as fast as 432 Kbps. The TracPhone FB250, FB500, and FleetOne antennas use the Inmarsat FleetBroadband service to offer voice and Internet service. The TracPhone FB250, FB500 and FleetOne products are manufactured by Cobham and distributed on an OEM basis by us in North America under our TracPhone brand and distributed in other markets on a non-exclusive basis.
Unlike mini-VSAT Broadband, where we control and sell the airtime, we purchase Inmarsat and Iridium airtime directly from these companies and resell it to our customers.
Satellite TV. Our TracVision TV-series satellite TV antennas are designed with the full spectrum of vessel sizes in mind, ranging from recreational vessels as small as 20 to 25 feet to large commercial vessels. The TV-series incorporate an Internet Protocol (IP)-enabled control unit to allow access to system information from any Wi-Fi device. Our family of marine TracVision products includes the 32-cm diameter TracVision TV1, 37-cm diameter TracVision TV3, 45-cm diameter TracVision TV5, 60-cm diameter TracVision TV6, and 81-cm TracVision TV8. These products are compatible with Ku-band SDTV and HDTV programming as well as high-powered regional satellite TV services around the globe, based on available signal strength and antenna size requirements.
Our TracVision HD-series satellite TV antennas are designed to offer a high-definition TV experience comparable to that available to a home DIRECTV HDTV subscriber. Our TracVision HD7 uses a 60-cm diameter satellite TV antenna to receive signals from two DIRECTV Ka-band satellites and one DIRECTV Ku-band satellite simultaneously. It includes an IP-enabled antenna control unit as well as an optional antenna control unit via a free TracVision application for use on an Apple iPhone or iPad. We believe the TracVision HD7 was the first marine antenna to offer this combination of capabilities. Our TracVision HD11 offers a worldwide satellite TV capability through the use of a 1-meter diameter antenna and a global low noise block (LNB) designed for use with the majority of direct-to-home satellite TV services. As a result, it is able to receive all Ku-band and DIRECTV Ka-band satellite television signals without changing hardware elements. The Ku-band also works with modern satellite television services currently available throughout the world. The Ka-band receives DIRECTV HDTV. Like the TracVision HD7, the TracVision HD11 features an optional application for the Apple iPhone or iPad to provide easy control of the system.
In October 2019, we launched the TracVision UHD7, a high-performance 60 cm (24 inch) marine satellite TV antenna designed to provide boat owners, charter yacht guests, and commercial vessel crews with access to ultra high-definition (UHD) and 4K programming from DIRECTV as well as regular HD programming from other leading satellite TV providers.
In August 2020, we launched the TracVision TV10, a 1 meter ultrahigh efficiency marine satellite TV antenna designed to provide the biggest coverage footprint in our TracVision series and to provide boat owners, charter yacht guests, and commercial vessel crews with access to live news, local channels, and TV and movie programming from leading satellite TV providers worldwide.
Land Mobile
We design, manufacture, and sell a range of TracVision satellite TV antenna systems for use on a broad array of vehicles, including recreational vehicles (RV), buses, conversion vans, and automobiles.
In the RV and bus markets, we offer TracVision satellite TV products, intended for both stationary and in-motion use. Our TracVision R1 delivers DIRECTV or DISH network service through a small 32-cm diameter dome. Our TracVision A9 uses hybrid phased-array antenna technology to provide in-motion reception of satellite TV programming in the continental United States using either the DIRECTV or DISH Network services. The TracVision A9 stands approximately five inches high and mounts either to a vehicle’s roof rack or directly to the vehicle’s roof, making it practical for use aboard minivans, SUVs and other passenger vehicles. The TracVision A9 includes a mobile satellite television antenna and an IP-enabled TV hub for easy system configuration and control via Wi-Fi devices, such as an Apple iPhone or iPad. The TracVision A9 is also suitable for tall motor coaches and buses. Automotive customers subscribe to DIRECTV’s TOTAL CHOICE MOBILE satellite TV programming package, which is specifically promoted for automotive applications, or to DISH Network programming.
Airtime Services
In addition to our mobile satellite antenna hardware and software, we offer airtime plans that enable customers to obtain Internet and voice services. We offer a variety of rate plans that are flexible to meet the customer's needs. The key features of the mini-VSAT Broadband service are usage-based airtime plans, a network management portal and a comprehensive global customer support program. Our usage-based plans are designed around each vessel's monthly data requirements for operational and crew needs. Our network management portal, myKVH, is a secure portal that enables a ship operator to manage network usage by vessel or by individual crew members by allocating operational and crew data caps while receiving customized usage alerts. For customers that want the certainty of a fixed monthly price, we offer fixed rate plans that vary depending on data speeds and include protocol restrictions, such as limiting streaming of video content. User speeds are also restricted but not stopped when users reach established data use thresholds. In addition, we offer multiple usage plans that are either billed monthly based on the data consumed without any application or protocol blocking or based on a monthly minimum data quota with the option to add more data for an incremental charge.
AgilePlans, one of our mini-VSAT Broadband services for commercial maritime customers, offers an all-inclusive Connectivity as a Service, or CaaS, usage-based pricing model. Under this all-in-one CaaS model, we charge subscribers a single monthly fee in exchange for which we provide satellite communication hardware, shipping and installation, maintenance and support, airtime and voice services, a service management portal and certain basic content services with no minimum commitment and no long-term contracts required. We offer AgilePlan customers a variety of airtime data plans with varying data allotments and fixed data usage levels with our exclusive dual-channel configuration with hybrid airtime plans delivering both a high-speed channel and an unlimited use data channel. Under our CaaS model, we retain ownership of our satellite equipment and do not sell it to subscribers, who must return the hardware to us if they terminate our service. We expect that, as customers subscribe to our AgilePlans service, our revenues from product sales will continue to decline, and our provision of this equipment to subscribers will continue to increase our capital expenditures, which over time will continue to increase our costs of service sales as we depreciate these assets.
In June 2019, we launched KVH Watch®, our all-inclusive, no-commitment, Internet of Things (IoT) Connectivity as a Service program for the maritime industry utilizing global mini-VSAT communications. Through our KVH Watch service, we provide a connectivity solution for remote equipment monitoring and intervention by maritime equipment manufacturers and IoT application providers. With remote monitoring, manufacturers can more easily act in real time, reducing expensive service calls and improving equipment performance for the maritime operation.
In October 2017, we launched our next-generation, advanced maritime broadband network with Intelsat. The HTS high-speed network complements our first-generation mini-VSAT Broadband network with three to six times the data speeds available to maritime customers. Our advanced maritime broadband network incorporates Intelsat Epic satellite services and the IntelsatOne Flex platform, a global managed service designed to optimize bandwidth allocations and provide flexible coverage where it is needed. Our mini-VSAT Broadband network also benefits from Asian satellite capacity provided by SKY Perfect JSAT. Overall, our mini-VSAT Broadband HTS network currently uses a combination of 156 Ku-band transponders (five of which we directly contract for) on 17 satellites to provide Ku-band coverage throughout the northern and southern hemispheres. Three of the 17 satellites are considered high-throughput satellites that provide coverage via overlapping high-powered spot beams. Eighty-eight of the 156 Ku-band transponders are served by the high-throughput satellites. During the first quarter of 2018, we entered into a five-year capital lease for three satellite hubs for the HTS network. It is our long-term plan to continue to maintain and enhance our mini-VSAT Broadband network.
Our legacy mini-VSAT Broadband network currently uses a combination of 20 Ku-band transponders on 15 satellites to provide Ku-band coverage throughout the northern hemisphere and around the continents in the southern hemisphere. Of the 20 Ku-band transponders, we directly contract with seven of them as of January 1, 2021. The remaining Ku-band transponders are contracted by ViaSat. Under the terms of our revenue-sharing arrangement with ViaSat, we may earn revenue from maritime, land-based and aeronautical use of the network. In November 2018, we renewed our contract with ViaSat until the end of 2021. The new contract includes an obligation to make certain minimum quarterly payments to ViaSat that decline over the contract period. After this contract period, the agreement terminates. As part of the agreement, starting January 1, 2019, we reduced the number of Ku-band transponders for which we directly contract for from fourteen to eight. In 2020, we reduced the number of Ku-band transponders from eight to seven, and we removed the C-band coverage from the legacy mini-VSAT Broadband network.
The bandwidth speeds offered by the Ku-band satellites also permit faster data rates than those supported by Inmarsat’s L-band satellites. TracPhone V11-HTS customers may select service packages with Internet data connections offering shore-to-ship satellite data rates as fast as 20 Mbps, and ship-to-shore satellite data rates as fast as 3 Mbps. The V7-HTS offers shore-to-ship satellite data rates as fast as 10 Mbps and ship-to-shore data rates as fast as 3 Mbps. The TracPhone V3-HTS, due to its smaller dish diameter, offers shore-to-ship satellite data rates as fast as 5 Mbps and ship-to-shore data rates as fast as 2 Mbps. In addition, subscriptions include Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephone services designed for use over satellite connections. The TracPhone V11-HTS and V7-HTS can support two or more simultaneous calls while the TracPhone V3-HTS can support one call at a time.
In addition, we offer professional services for our VSAT products that include network design, installation of onboard TracPhone terminals and custom configuration of the CommBox based on customer requirements. These services are performed by our employees as well as a dealer network of certified engineers.
Sale of Videotel - Discontinued Operations
On May 13, 2019, we sold all of the issued share capital of Super Dragon Limited and Videotel Marine Asia Limited (together referred to as Videotel) for $89.4 million in cash, on a cash-free, debt-free basis, subject to a working capital adjustment. Videotel comprised our maritime training business, which offered video, animation, eLearning computer-based training and interactive distance learning services to the maritime industry. The sale was completed immediately upon execution of definitive agreements. In December 2019, we finalized the working capital adjustment, which reduced the proceeds from the sale of Videotel to $88.4 million. Please see Notes 1 and 18 of our accompanying financial statements for further information.
Content Services
As part of our mobile connectivity segment, we offer a variety of value-added services to our maritime customers as well as news content to our hotel customers and radio content to a small number of retail customers. The vast majority of these value-added services are subscription-based.
Our KVH Media Group, which is based in the United Kingdom, distributes commercially licensed entertainment, including news, sports, music, and movies, to commercial and leisure customers in the maritime, hotel, and retail markets. Sales from KVH Media Group are included in our mobile connectivity service sales as part of content service sales. Our "news from home" digital newspaper service includes more than 100 daily newspapers in more than 20 languages that at the end of 2020 was delivered to more than 8,000 commercial ships, hotels, and cruise ships. The digital content can be printed onboard or viewed on a tablet, smartphone, or laptop. For movie and television content, we are an approved distributor of licensed content for certain Hollywood, Bollywood, and independent studios worldwide.
In January 2020, we decided to rebrand IP-MobileCast to KVH Link. We offer a content subscription service called KVH Link, delivered by IP-MobileCast wherein content and data files are transmitted using multicast technology across our global satellite networks to every vessel or mobile vehicle that has an active, compatible TracPhone V series, V-IP series, or V-HTS series terminal. This delivery mechanism reduces the amount of bandwidth required to transmit large files to a large population of customers. Before multicasting, large data files were generally transmitted across satellite networks “on demand” or unicast, which consumes significant bandwidth. The content is either stored on the terminal itself or on a KVH-supplied media server, which is required for digital rights managed content such as movies. Copyright law requires permission from the rights holder for exhibitions of copyrighted film and television. Historically, studios have granted KVH Media Group permission to license non-theatrical exhibitions aboard ships. While traditionally we licensed this content to commercial maritime customers primarily through the distribution of DVDs, we have now also automated the transmission of this type of entertainment via KVH Link.
Customers that subscribe to one of our entertainment packages generally receive a variety of movie and television content that is cached locally onboard. We transmit local "news from home" and international news segments in a variety of languages on a daily, weekly or monthly basis, a library of movies plus daily sports, news clips and special programming such as the highlights of sporting events.
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted various aspects of our operations, particularly the KVH Media Group, which depends heavily on travel and travel-related industries. The revenues and cash flows of our KVH Media Group business have been significantly impacted due to the global reduction in travel since the start of the pandemic. In the fourth quarter of 2020, there were increases in the number of reported COVID-19 cases, and substantial shutdowns were reinstated in the United States, UK and Europe, which caused continued disruptions to our KVH Media Group business as the global travel and travel-related industries remained at historically depressed levels. In the fourth quarter of 2020, we concluded that certain areas of the KVH Media business may not recover completely or at all. As a result of these changes in the KVH Media business, we recognized an intangible asset impairment charge of $1.8 million and a goodwill impairment charge of $8.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2020 related to KVH Media Group. Please see Note 1(k) for additional information.
Inertial Navigation Segment
We offer a portfolio of innovative digital compass and fiber optic gyro (FOG)-based systems that address the rigorous requirements for precision, performance and stability of military and commercial customers. Our systems provide reliable, easy-to-use and continuously available navigation and pointing data. Our guidance and stabilization products include our FOG-based inertial measurement units (IMUs) for precision guidance, FOGs for tactical navigation as well as pointing and stabilization systems, and digital compasses that provide accurate heading information for demanding applications. Sales of FOG-based guidance and navigation systems within the inertial navigation segment accounted for 16% of our consolidated net sales for both 2020 and 2019. Sales of tactical guidance and navigation systems within the inertial navigation segment accounted for 7% and 3% of our consolidated net sales for 2020 and 2019, respectively.
Guidance and Stabilization
Our high-performance digital signal processing (DSP)-based FOG products use an all-fiber design that has no moving parts, resulting in an affordable combination of precision, accuracy, and durability. Our FOG products support a broad range of military applications, including stabilization of remote weapons stations, antennas, radar, optical devices, or turrets; image stabilization and synchronization for shoulder-or tripod-mounted weapon simulators; precision tactical navigation systems for military vehicles, and guidance for weapons and unmanned autonomous vehicles. Our FOG products are also used in numerous commercial products, such as navigation and positioning systems for various applications including precision mapping, dynamic surveying, autonomous vehicles, train location control and track geometry measurement systems, industrial robotics, and optical stabilization.
The CG-5100, our first commercial-grade IMU, is suitable for a wide range of applications such as 3D augmented reality, mobile mapping, platform navigation, and GPS augmentation for unmanned vehicle programs, precise mapping, and imagery.
Our open-loop DSP-1750, DSP-3000, and DSP-4000 FOGs provide precision measurement of the rate and angle of a platform’s turning motion for significantly less cost than competing closed-loop gyros. These DSP-based products deliver performance superior to analog signal processing devices, which experience greater temperature-sensitive drift and rotation errors. Applications for these products include inertial measurement units, integrated navigation systems, attitude/heading/reference systems, and stabilization of antenna, radar, and optical equipment.
The DSP-1750, which we believe to be the world’s smallest high-performance FOG, uses our E·CoreTM ThinFiber technology. This thin fiber, which is produced at our Tinley Park, Illinois manufacturing facility, is only 170 microns in diameter, enabling longer lengths of fiber to be wound into smaller housings. Since the length of the fiber used in a FOG directly relates to gyro accuracy and performance, this technology enables us to produce smaller and more accurate gyros. The small size and weight of the DSP-1750 make it well suited for applications with size and weight restrictions, such as night vision and thermal imaging systems, aircraft-mounted gimbaled cameras for law enforcement and homeland security, and shipboard optical systems.
Our DSP-1760 single-axis and multi-axis FOGs offer improved performance and ease of integration relative to the DSP-1750. Many customers using our DSP-1750 single-axis and dual-axis FOGs also had requirements for packaged DSP-1750s. To address this demand, we introduced the DSP-1760 product line, consisting of packaged one, two, or three axes of FOGs, each with two different interface connector options.
The DSP-3000, DSP-3100, and DSP-3400 are each slightly larger than a deck of playing cards and offers a variety of interface options to support a range of applications. High-performance 2-axis and 3-axis configurations can be realized by integrating multiple DSP-3000 and DSP-3100 units. Currently, the DSP-3000, DSP-3100, and DSP-3400 are used in an array of pointing and stabilization applications, including the U.S. Army’s Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station (CROWS) to provide the image and gun stabilization necessary to ensure that the weapon remains aimed at its target. We estimate that more than 20 companies have developed or are developing stabilized remote weapons stations that we believe will require similar FOG stabilization capabilities. The larger, militarized dual axis DSP-4000 is designed for use in high-shock and highly dynamic environments, such as gun turret stabilization.
Our 1750 IMU is an advanced 6-degrees-of-freedom sensor designed to integrate easily into the most demanding stabilization, pointing, and navigation applications. It offers enhanced performance at a lower cost than competing systems. The 1750 IMU marries the E·Core ThinFiber technology of our DSP-1750 FOGs with very low noise, solid state MEMS accelerometers to create a commercial-off-the-shelf IMU. Our 1775 IMU and 1725 IMU products complement the 1750 IMU and provide customers with a range of choices for advanced 6-degrees-of-freedom sensors. The family of IMUs offers exceptional precision in a very small form factor, making them suitable for applications where space is limited, such as manned and unmanned commercial and defense platforms, optical equipment stabilization systems, pipeline inspection equipment, and autonomous vehicle control and navigation systems.
Our GEO-FOG 3D and GEO-FOG 3D Dual inertial navigation systems offer roll, pitch and heading accuracies of 0.05 degrees for demanding applications in unmanned, autonomous and manned aerial platforms. These systems combine our 1750 IMU technology with centimeter-level precise GNSS receivers, a 3-axis magnetometer and a barometric pressure sensor.
In June 2018, we introduced a version of the 1775 IMU that includes 25g accelerometers. This version is designed for applications with high levels of acceleration, vibration, or shock. These applications include positioning and navigation systems for drilling, mining, and pipeline inspection and maintenance; mobile mapping systems using multiple sensors such as radar, cameras, and LIDAR; high-speed gimbals; and manned and unmanned platform stabilization and navigation systems.
In June 2020, we introduced the P-1775 IMU featuring our new PIC Inside photonic integrated chip (PIC) technology. Our PIC Inside technology features an integrated planar optical chip that replaces individual fiber optic components to simplify production while maintaining or improving accuracy and performance. The PIC Inside product is designed to deliver 20 times higher accuracy than less expensive MEMS inertial measurement units, uses modular designs for ease of integration, and can be reliably manufactured at higher volumes than our traditional IMU products.
Tactical Navigation
Our TACNAV® tactical navigation product line employs digital compass sensors and KVH FOGs to offer vehicle-based navigation and pointing systems with a range of capabilities, including Global Positioning Systems / Global Navigation Satellite System (GPS/GNSS) backup and enhancement, vehicle position, hull azimuth and navigation displays. Because our digital compass products measure the earth’s magnetic field rather than detect satellite signals from the GPS/GNSS, they are not susceptible to GPS/GNSS jamming devices.
TACNAV systems vary in size and complexity to suit a wide range of vehicles. Our TACNAV Light, including a version with embedded GPS/GNSS, is low-cost, digital compass-based battlefield navigation system specifically designed for non-turreted vehicles, such as high mobility multi-wheeled vehicles (HMMWVs) and trucks. Our TACNAV TLS, a digital compass-based tactical navigation and targeting system, offers a FOG upgrade for enhanced accuracy designed for turreted vehicles, including reconnaissance vehicles, armored personnel carriers, and light armored vehicles. Our TACNAV II Fiber Optic Gyro Navigation system offers a compact design, continuous output of heading and pointing data, and a flexible architecture that allows it to function as either a stand-alone navigation module or as the central component of an expanded, multifunctional navigation system. Our FOG-based TACNAV 3D product provides full three-dimensional navigation. The TACNAV 3D is fitted with an Iridium transceiver to transmit and receive vehicle position, waypoint, and target location to or from a command center or other vehicle. The system also allows messages to be received from battlefield management systems. The TACNAV Moving Map Display offers real-time moving map technology and an easy-to-use graphical navigation capability for military vehicles. It is compatible with existing and future TACNAV systems, provides a high-bright display for outdoor viewing, and dims to support low-light tactical operations.
Our navigation systems function as standalone tools and also aggregate, integrate, and communicate critical information from a variety of on-board systems. TACNAV can receive data from systems such as the vehicle’s odometer, military and commercial GPS devices, laser rangefinders, turret angle indicators and laser warning systems. TACNAV can also output this data to an on-board computer for retransmission through the vehicle’s communications systems to a digital battlefield management application.
Our TACNAV digital compass products have been sold for use aboard U.S. Army, Marine Corps, and Navy vehicles as well as to many foreign countries, including Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Switzerland. We believe that we are among the leading manufacturers of such systems. Our standard TACNAV products can be customized to our customers’ specifications. At customer request, we offer training and other services on a time-and-materials basis.
Value-Added Services
Our value-added services for the inertial navigation market include engineering and program management services, product repairs, and engineering services provided under development contracts.
Sales, Marketing and Support
Our sales, marketing and support efforts target markets that are substantial and complex, and require in many cases networks of intermediaries, such as dealers, distributors, airtime service providers, and manufacturers' representatives, to reach our ultimate customers. These sales channels vary and evolve from time to time, but currently include targeted efforts to reach the commercial and leisure maritime markets; the recreational vehicle (RV), high-end automotive and bus markets; and the commercial, industrial, and government markets. As our business evolves, we may pursue additional sales channels, including direct sales, in various markets. We believe our brands are well known and well respected by customers within their respective niches. These brands include:
•TracVision - satellite television systems for vessels and vehicles
•TracPhone - two-way satellite communications systems
•mini-VSAT Broadband - mobile satellite communications network and value-added services such as VoIP, data management, content and content delivery
•KVH Link - content delivery service by IP-Mobilecast
•NEWSlink - maritime news delivery service through a variety of means
•SPORTSlink - sporting content delivered through a variety of means
•TVlink - television programming delivered through a variety of means
•MOVIElink - movie distribution through a variety of means
•CommBox - data management software for maritime communications
•TACNAV - tactical navigation systems for military vehicles
•KVH OneCare - services and support for the mini-VSAT Broadband solution
•AgilePlans by KVH - Connectivity as a Service Program
•KVH Watch - IoT Connectivity as a Service
•KVH Elite - dedicated bandwidth for HD-quality streaming
We sell our mobile connectivity products directly and through an international network of independent retailers, chain stores, distributors, and service providers as well as to manufacturers of vessels, maritime equipment, and vehicles.
We sell news, sports, and entertainment media content directly through our KVH Media Group, headquartered in Leeds, England.
Our European headquarters, which is located in Denmark, coordinates our sales, marketing, and support efforts for our mobile connectivity products in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Our Asia-Pacific headquarters are managed through our office in Singapore.
We sell our inertial navigation products directly to U.S. and foreign governments and government contractors, as well as through an international network of authorized independent sales representatives. This network also sells our FOG products to commercial and industrial customers.
Backlog
Backlog is not a meaningful indicator for predicting revenue in future periods. Commercial resellers for our mobile connectivity products and legacy products typically do not carry extensive inventories and rely on us to ship products quickly. Generally, due to the rapid delivery of our commercial products, our backlog for those products is not significant.
Our backlog for all products and services was $20.4 million and $19.5 million on December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively. As of December 31, 2020, $19.8 million of our backlog was scheduled for fulfillment in 2021 and $0.6 million was scheduled for fulfillment in 2022 through 2024. The increase in backlog of $0.9 million from December 31, 2019 to December 31, 2020 was primarily the result of a $4.5 million increase in TACNAV product orders and $0.3 million in contracted engineering services, partially offset by a $3.2 million decrease in FOG product orders and a $0.5 million decrease in mobile connectivity product orders.
Backlog consists of orders evidenced by written agreements and specified delivery dates for customers who are acceptable credit risks. We do not include satellite connectivity or media content service sales in our backlog even though many of our satellite connectivity and media content customers have signed annual or multi-year service contracts providing for a fixed monthly fee. Military orders included in backlog are generally subject to cancellation for the convenience of the customer. When orders are canceled, we generally recover actual costs incurred through the date of cancellation and the costs resulting from termination. As of December 31, 2020, our backlog included $3.0 million in orders that are subject to cancellation for convenience by the customer. Individual orders for inertial navigation products are often large and may require procurement of specialized long-lead components and allocation of manufacturing resources. The complexity of planning and executing larger orders generally requires customers to order well in advance of the required delivery date, resulting in backlog.
Intellectual Property
We currently hold a collection of intellectual property rights relating to various aspects of our inertial navigation and mobile connectivity hardware products, software and services. We believe that our ability to compete effectively depends to a significant extent on our ability to protect these intellectual property rights and our proprietary information. We rely primarily on patent, copyright and trade secret laws, trademarks, service marks, trade dress, confidentiality procedures, and licensing arrangements to protect our intellectual property rights in the U.S. and other countries where we determine that such protection is beneficial. When appropriate, we seek to file patent applications to protect innovations arising from our research, development and design activities, and we are currently pursuing 37 U.S. and foreign patent applications. Over time, we have accumulated a portfolio of 30 U.S. and foreign issued patents, including utility patents, design patents and others. We also register our trademarks in the United States and other key international markets where we do business. Our patents will expire at various dates between August 2021 and March 2038. We enter into confidentiality agreements with our consultants, key employees, and sales representatives and maintain controls over access to and distribution of our technology, software, and other proprietary information. The steps we have taken to protect our technology may be inadequate to prevent others from using what we regard as our technology to compete with us.
We do not generally conduct exhaustive patent searches to determine whether the technology used in our products infringes patents held by third parties. In addition, product development is inherently uncertain in a rapidly evolving technological environment in which there may be numerous patent applications pending, many of which are confidential when filed, with regard to similar technologies.
From time to time, we have faced claims by third parties that our products or technologies infringe their patents or other intellectual property rights, and we may face similar claims in the future. Any claim of infringement could cause us to incur substantial costs defending against or settling the claim, even if the claim is invalid, and could distract the attention of our management. If any of our products is found to violate third-party proprietary rights, we may be required to pay substantial damages. In addition, we may be required to re-engineer our products or seek to obtain licenses from third parties to continue to offer our products. Any efforts to re-engineer our products or obtain licenses on commercially reasonable terms may not be successful, which would prevent us from selling our products, and, in any case, could substantially increase our costs and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Manufacturing
Manufacturing operations for our mobile satellite communications and navigation products consist of light manufacture, final assembly and testing. Manufacturing operations for our FOG products are more complex. We produce specialized optical fiber, FOG components and sensing coils and combine them with components purchased from outside vendors for assembly into finished goods. These finished goods undergo extensive calibration and verification over temperature and rotation before shipping to customers. We own optical fiber drawing towers with which we produce the specialized optical fiber that we use in all of our FOG products. We manufacture, warehouse and distribute our mobile satellite communications products at our facilities in Middletown, Rhode Island. We manufacture our navigation and FOG products in our facility located in Tinley Park, Illinois. Our manufacturing processes are controlled by an ISO 9001:2015-certified quality standards program.
Raw Materials, Components and Services
We purchase raw materials and most of the components used in our various manufacturing processes, such as printed circuit boards, injection-molded plastic parts, machined metal components, connectors and housings. In addition, we purchase certain services, predominantly networking and mobile broadband services, to support the delivery of our mobile communications solutions.
The materials, molds and dies, subassemblies and components purchased from other manufacturers, and other materials and supplies used in our manufacturing processes have generally been available from a variety of sources. We believe there are a number of acceptable vendors for the components we purchase. We regularly evaluate both domestic and foreign suppliers for quality, dependability and cost effectiveness. From time to time the cost and availability of materials and services is affected by the demands of other industries, among other factors. Whenever practical, we seek to establish multiple sources for the purchase of raw materials, components and services to achieve competitive pricing, maintain flexibility, reduced tariff exposure, and protect against supply disruption. When possible, we employ a company-wide procurement strategy designed to reduce the purchase price of materials, purchased components and services.
For reasons of quality assurance, scarcity or cost effectiveness, certain components and raw materials used in the manufacturing of our products, as well as certain services utilized in the delivery of our solutions, are available only from a limited number of suppliers or from a sole source supplier. We work with our suppliers to develop contingency plans intended to assure continuity of supply while maintaining high quality and reliability, and in some cases, we have established long-term supply contracts with our suppliers. Due to the nature of certain raw materials, purchased components and services, we may not be able to quickly establish additional or replacement sources for certain components, materials or services. In the event that we are unable to obtain sufficient quantities of raw materials or components or unable to obtain sufficient access to the services needed to deliver our solutions on commercially reasonable terms or in a timely manner, our ability to manufacture and deliver our products and services on a timely and cost-competitive basis may be compromised, which may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. To date, we have not experienced any material adverse effect on our financial condition or results of operations due to supplier limitations.
Competition
We encounter significant competition in the markets we serve, and we expect this competition to intensify in the future. Many of our primary competitors are well-established companies and some have substantially greater financial, managerial, technical, marketing, operational, and other resources than we do.
In the marine market for satellite TV equipment, we compete primarily with Intellian, Cobham SATCOM, Orbit Communication Systems, Raymarine (Intellian made), KNS, and Sea King (King Controls).
In the marine market for voice, fax, data, and Internet communications equipment, we compete primarily with Intellian, Cobham SATCOM, Orbit Communication Systems, Jotron AS, KNS Inc., Inmarsat, AddValue, and Iridium Satellite LLC.
In the marine market for high-speed voice, fax, data, and Internet services, we compete primarily with Inmarsat, Marlink, Speedcast, Network Innovations, Global Eagle Entertainment, and Isotropic Network. We also face competition from providers of low-speed data services, which include Inmarsat, Globalstar LP, and Iridium Satellite LLC.
In the market for land mobile satellite TV equipment, we compete primarily with King Controls and Winegard Company.
In the markets for media content, we compete primarily with Swank Motion Pictures and Newspapersdirect Inc.
In the markets for mobile satellite connectivity technology, the principal competitive factors are product size, features, design, performance, reliability, and price. In the markets for airtime services, the principal competitive factors are geographic coverage, data speed, value-added services, and price. In the markets for media content, the principal competitive factors are license rights, distribution, and price.
In the inertial navigation markets, we compete primarily with Honeywell International Inc., Northrop Grumman Corporation, Goodrich Aerospace, IAI, Fizoptica, SAGEM, and Systron Donner Inertial (purchased by EMCORE in 2019). We believe the principal competitive factors in these markets are performance, size, reliability, durability, and price.
Although we believe that we compete favorably with respect to these factors, there can be no assurance that we will continue to do so. We encounter substantial competition in most of our product lines, although no single competitor competes with us across all product lines.
Research and Development
Focused, efficient investments in research and development are critical to our future growth and competitive position in the marketplace. Our research and development efforts are directly related to timely development of new and enhanced products and services that are central to our core business strategy and our ability to drive profitable, sustainable growth. The industries in which we compete are subject to rapid technological developments, evolving industry standards, changes in customer requirements, and new product and service introductions and enhancements. As a result, our success depends in part upon our ability, on a cost-effective and timely basis, to continue to enhance our existing products and to develop and introduce new products and services that improve performance and meet customers’ operational and cost requirements. Our current research and development efforts include projects to achieve additional cost reductions in our products and the development of new products and services for our existing marine and land mobile communications markets, and navigation, guidance, and stabilization application markets. For example:
•In March 2019, we released the TracPhone V11-HTS, which we believe is the world’s fastest 1-meter Ku/C-band maritime VSAT antenna for global connectivity.
•In June 2019, we introduced KVH Watch, our new Internet of Things (IoT) Connectivity as a Service program for maritime applications utilizing our global VSAT communications.
•In October 2019, we released the TracVision UHD7 for Ultra High-definition 4K TV entertainment at sea.
•In June 2020, we introduced the P-1775 inertial measurement unit (IMU) featuring our new PIC Inside photonic integrated chip (PIC) technology.
•In August 2020, we launched the TracVision TV10, a 1 meter ultra high-efficiency marine satellite TV antenna designed to provide the biggest coverage footprint in our TracVision series.
Our research and development activities consist of projects funded by us and projects funded partly by customers. Our customer-funded research efforts are made up of contracts with defense and OEM customers, whose performance specifications are unique to their product applications. Defense and OEM research often results in new product offerings. We strive to be the first company to bring a new product to market in order to maintain our market leadership position, and we use our own funds when necessary to accelerate new product development efforts.
Government Regulation
Our manufacturing operations are subject to various laws governing the protection of the environment and our employees. These laws and regulations are subject to change, and any such change may require us to improve our technologies, incur expenditures, or both, in order to comply with such laws and regulations.
We are subject to compliance with the U.S. Export Administration Regulations. Some of our products have military or strategic applications and are on the Munitions List of the U.S. International Traffic in Arms Regulations. These products require an individual validated license to be exported to certain jurisdictions. The length of time involved in the licensing process varies and can result in delays of the shipping of the products. Sales of our products to either the U.S. government or its prime contractors are subject to the U.S. Federal Acquisition Regulations.
We are also subject to the laws and regulations of the U.S. and foreign jurisdictions in which we offer and sell our satellite communication products and services, including those of the European Union, Brazil, Norway, Singapore, and Japan. These laws and regulations, as well as the interpretation and application of these laws and regulations, are subject to change and any such change may affect our ability to offer and sell existing and planned satellite communications products and services.
KVH Team Demographics
KVH team members are essential to the success of KVH. We had 639 team members as of December 31, 2020, full-time employees, part-time employees, and long-term contractors. These figures do not include short-term or temporary contractors, which in the aggregate do not comprise a material portion of our workforce.
KVH Team Member Headcount
Category #
Full-time employees 592
Part-time employees 37
Long-term contractors 10
Total 639
Our team members are directly responsible for the creation, development, manufacture, marketing, sale, repair and support of our products and services. Because we sell and support our products globally, we have a globally diverse workforce to manufacture products in the U.S. and support our customers in the U.S. and internationally:
KVH Team Member Headcount
Country #
Brazil 2
Cyprus 3
Denmark 18
Germany 2
Greece 2
Hong Kong 2
India 29
Italy 2
Japan 1
Norway 6
Philippines
Singapore 15
South Africa 1
Spain 1
United Arab Emirates 1
United Kingdom 100
United States 416
Total 639
Approximately 237 team members, or 37%, are directly involved in supporting our technology in positions such as engineers, technicians, or software developers.
Employee Engagement
We believe we have strong relationships with our workforce. In 2020, our global turnover rate was 9.9%, including voluntary and involuntary separations. Among our 72 key executive leaders and most critical individual technology contributors, our turnover rate was 1.4% in 2020.
The average length of employee service is 9 years. The continuity of our employee base is important to the success of our business, as our employees have deep knowledge of our products and are critical to the services that we provide to our customers.
KVH surveys team member engagement annually. The annual survey standardizes how KVH measures engagement across our organization and affords us an opportunity to address areas for improvement. By listening to employees, we gain a better understanding of what our employees need in order to succeed, enabling us to develop programs that create a stronger and more committed workforce.
Inclusion and Diversity
KVH actively cultivates the diverse talents of our team and strives to recruit and maintain a diverse and inclusive workforce everywhere we operate, which we believe enables better business decisions, enhanced product development, and superior customer service. Our diversity and inclusion principles are also reflected in our employee training, in particular with respect to our policies against harassment in the workplace.
Competitive Pay and Benefits
KVH’s compensation programs are designed to align the compensation of our employees with KVH’s performance and provide incentives to attract, retain and motivate employees to achieve superior results. The structure of our compensation programs balances incentive earnings for both short-term and long-term performance. Specifically:
•We provide employee wages that we believe are competitive and consistent with employee positions, skill levels, experience, knowledge, and geographic location.
•We review compensation and benefits surveys to obtain relevant industry data in order to benchmark our practices against those of industry peers.
•We seek to align the interests of our executives with those of our shareholders by paying a significant portion of our executives’ total compensation in the form of equity awards, which increase in value as the price of our common stock increases.
•Annual salary increases and incentive compensation include adjustments based on merit, which is communicated to employees through our annual review process and upon internal transfers and/or promotions.
•All employees are eligible for health insurance, paid and unpaid leaves, a retirement plan and life and disability/accident coverage, subject to applicable regulations.
Health and Safety
We are committed to protecting the health and safety of our employees and others who enter any of our facilities, wherever located. In 2020 KVH’s OSHA total recordable incident rate was 0.47 which is favorable compared to the 2019 OSHA national average of 3.0. In 2020, we introduced a range of new safety protocols in our facilities in an effort to protect our employees and support appropriate health and safety protocols in response to COVID-19 and the global pandemic, including:
•Adding work from home flexibility.
•Offering voluntary on-site COVID-19 testing.
•Improving cleaning protocols across all locations.
•Providing regular communications regarding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, including updates regarding health and safety protocols and procedures.
•Implementing temperature screening for all visitors.
•Establishing new physical distancing procedures for on-site employees.
•Issuing personal protective equipment and cleaning supplies to on-site employees.
•Modifying workspaces with plexiglass dividers and touchless faucets.
•Implementing protocols to address actual and suspected COVID-19 cases and potential exposure.
We are committed to continued improvements to our safety, health, and wellness programs to meet our employees’ needs, which we believe is critical to attract and retain talent. We believe that creating a safe and supportive workplace is vital to our success.
KVH Team Member Recruitment
We work diligently to attract the best available talent from a diverse range of sources to meet the current and future demands of our business. We have established relationships with major universities, professional associations, and industry groups to proactively attract talent. In 2020, we hired 12 professional level team members.
Working Capital and Seasonality
We hold significant inventory to support our customers and provide prompt delivery of finished goods. As a consequence, we expend substantial working capital in advance of receipt of customer orders. Because of the large size of certain orders, we often incur significant receivables upon order fulfillment.
Our leisure marine business within the mobile connectivity segment is highly seasonal, and seasonality can also impact our commercial marine business. Historically, we have generated the majority of our marine leisure product revenues during the first and second quarters of each year, and these revenues typically decline in the third and fourth quarters of each year. Temporary suspensions of our airtime services typically increase in the third and fourth quarters of each year as boats are placed out of service during the winter months.

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ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
ITEM 1A. Risk Factors
An investment in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully consider the following risk factors in evaluating our business. If any of these risks, or other risks not presently known to us or that we currently believe are not significant, develops into an actual event, then our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected. If that happens, the market price of our common stock could decline.
Risks related to our financial performance
We have a history of losses and are uncertain when we may regain profitability.
We recorded substantial losses from continuing operations in each of the last three fiscal years. We expect to incur substantial losses in the near future as we confront the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business, as we continue to bear the expenses of maintaining two satellite networks during the transition of our mini-VSAT customers to our HTS network, as we increase satellite capacity to handle our growing subscriber base, as we continue to shift our business from a model based primarily on product sales to a model based primarily on recurring revenue, and as we continue to invest in research and development to improve our existing products and develop new products, including our photonic chip-based fiber optic gyro. We expect to invest substantially in the development of our photonic chip-based fiber optic gyro in an effort to take advantage of opportunities we may have in the autonomous vehicle and other markets. We expect that, as we increase our investments in these and other areas, including, for example, our Internet of Things (IoT) product, our losses will grow. In order to regain profitability, we must successfully complete the transition of our mini-VSAT customers to our HTS network and continue to introduce new and improved products in order to maintain and improve our competitive position and generate revenue. Our inability to accomplish any of these goals could have a material adverse effect on our revenues, profitability and cash flow, and we cannot assure you when, or whether, we will regain profitability.
Fluctuations in our quarterly net sales and results of operations could depress the market price of our common stock.
Our future net sales and results of operations could continue to vary significantly from quarter to quarter due to a number of factors, many of which are outside our control. Accordingly, you should not rely on quarter-to-quarter comparisons of our results of operations as an indication of future performance. It is possible that our net sales or results of operations in a quarter will fall below the expectations of securities analysts or investors. If this occurs, the market price of our common stock could fall significantly. Our results of operations in any quarter can fluctuate for many reasons, including the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic; changes in demand for our products and services, the timing and size of individual orders from military customers, which may be delayed or canceled for various reasons; the mix of products and services we sell, including the mix of fixed rate and metered contracts for airtime services; our ability to manufacture, test and deliver products in a timely and cost-effective manner, including the availability of components and subassemblies from our suppliers; our success in winning competitions for orders; the timing of new product introductions by us or our competitors; the scope and success of our investments in research and development; expenses incurred in pursuing acquisitions and investments; expenses incurred in expanding, maintaining, or improving our mini-VSAT Broadband network; market and competitive pricing pressures; unanticipated charges or expenses, such as increases in warranty claims; general economic climate; and seasonality of pleasure boat and recreational vehicle usage.
In light of our current and anticipated investments in research and development and the expansion of our HTS network, we expect that our operating expenses in upcoming quarters may increase significantly over the amounts we incurred in prior comparable quarters.
A large portion of our expenses, including expenses for network infrastructure, facilities, equipment, and personnel, are relatively fixed. Accordingly, if our net sales decline or do not grow as much or as quickly as we anticipate, we might be unable to maintain or improve our operating margins. Any failure to achieve anticipated net sales could therefore significantly harm our operating results for a particular fiscal period.
Additional impairments to goodwill or other intangible assets could result in significant charges against earnings.
As a result of our acquisitions, we have recorded, and may continue to record, a significant amount of goodwill and other intangible assets. Under current accounting guidelines, we must assess, at least annually and potentially more frequently, whether the value of goodwill and other intangible assets has been impaired. In 2020, our annual impairment test resulted in an impairment charge of $10.5 million in our KVH Media reporting unit. Even after recording this impairment, our consolidated balance sheet continues to include $8.8 million of goodwill and other intangible assets, of which $4.4 million relates to KVH Media Group. There can be no assurance that our remaining goodwill and other intangible assets will not be further impaired, especially if the global COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact the markets in which we participate.
Risks related to our operations
We must generate a certain level of sales of the TracPhone V-HTS series products and our mini-VSAT Broadband service in order to maintain or improve our service gross margins.
As a result of our mini-VSAT Broadband network infrastructure, our cost of service sales includes certain costs that do not generally vary directly in proportion with the volume of service sales, and we have almost no ability to reduce these fixed costs in the short term. These costs have increased significantly each year as we have further expanded our network to accommodate additional subscriber demand and/or coverage areas, and we expect that this trend will continue in 2021 and beyond, particularly as we expand our HTS network. If sales of our TracPhone V-HTS series products and the mini-VSAT Broadband service, including through our AgilePlans subscription model, do not generate the level of revenue that we expect or if those revenues decline, our service gross margins may continue to decline. The failure to improve our mini-VSAT Broadband service gross margins and unit or subscriber sales would have a material adverse effect on our overall profitability.
The operation of our HTS and legacy satellite networks is causing us to incur significant additional operating costs that adversely affect our operating profit.
In November 2017, we launched our HTS communications service that uses Intelsat’s Global IntelsatOne Flex managed services and SKY-Perfect JSAT capacity. We also continue to operate our legacy global network of leased satellite transponders and terrestrial teleports in cooperation with ViaSat, Inc. The operation of both the HTS network and the legacy network has resulted and will continue to result in significant additional operating costs. Our arrangement with ViaSat is currently scheduled to expire in 2021. We expect that the arrangement with ViaSat and related satellite operators will be phased out by the end of 2021, but the reliability of the existing satellite network will need to be maintained during the entirety of the wind-down period. Our focus on the HTS network creates potential risks with respect to the continued operation of our legacy satellite communications network and our contractual arrangement with ViaSat and satellite operators.
We expect to terminate our legacy satellite network by the end of 2021, which may result in a loss of business from customers who are unable or unwilling to convert to our HTS network.
Our maritime airtime services networks generated approximately $81.4 million of revenue in 2020. At the end of 2020, approximately 38% of our maritime airtime subscribers relied on our legacy airtime network. We intend to provide various incentives to these customers, such as free or discounted upgrade kits and terminals, to entice them to convert their service to our HTS network by the end of 2021. Our inability to convert our legacy satellite customers to our HTS network could result in the loss of revenue. In addition, the costs that we may need to incur to convert our legacy maritime airtime customers to our HTS network may be significant. There can be no assurance that we will retain our legacy airtime customers when we terminate our legacy network at the end of 2021 or that the costs we incur to convert these customers result in profitability either in the short term or the long term.
Our ability to compete in the maritime airtime services market will be impaired if we are unable to provide sufficient service capacity to meet customer demand.
We currently offer our mini-VSAT Broadband service in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia-Pacific, and Australian and New Zealand waters. We may need to expand capacity in existing coverage areas to support our subscriber base. If we are unable to reach economical agreements with third-party satellite providers to support our mini-VSAT Broadband service and its technology or if transponder capacity is unavailable to meet growing demand in a given region, our ability to provide airtime services will be at risk and could reduce the attractiveness of our products and services.
Our results of operations are adversely affected by unseasonably cold weather, prolonged winter conditions, disasters or similar events.
Our leisure marine business is highly seasonal, and seasonality can also impact our commercial marine business. Historically, we have generated the majority of our leisure marine product revenues during the first and second quarters of each year, and these revenues typically decline in the third and fourth quarters of each year, compared to the first two quarters. Temporary suspensions of our airtime services typically increase in the third and fourth quarters of each year as boats are placed out of service during winter months. Our leisure marine business is also significantly affected by the weather. Unseasonably cool weather, prolonged winter conditions, hurricanes, unusual amounts of rain, and natural and other disasters may decrease boating, which could reduce our revenues. Specifically, we may encounter a decrease in new airtime activations as well as an increase in the number of cancellations or temporary suspensions of our airtime service.
We have single dedicated manufacturing facilities for each of our mobile connectivity and inertial navigation product categories, and any significant disruption to a facility will impair our ability to deliver our products.
We currently manufacture all of our mobile connectivity products at our manufacturing facility in Middletown, Rhode Island, and the majority of our inertial navigation products at our facility in Tinley Park, Illinois. Some of our production processes are complex, and we may be unable to respond rapidly to the loss of the use of either production facility. For example, our production facilities use some specialized equipment that may take time to replace if they are damaged or become unusable for any reason. In that event, shipments would be delayed, which could result in customer or dealer dissatisfaction, loss of sales and damage to our reputation. Finally, we have only a limited capability to increase our manufacturing capacity in the short term. If short-term demand for our products exceeds our manufacturing capacity, our inability to fulfill orders in a timely manner could also lead to customer or dealer dissatisfaction, loss of sales and damage to our reputation.
Acquisitions may disrupt our operations or adversely affect our results.
We evaluate opportunities to acquire other businesses as they arise. The expenses we incur evaluating and pursuing acquisitions could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations. If we acquire a business, we may be unable to manage it profitably or successfully integrate its operations with our own. Moreover, we may be unable to realize the strategic, financial, operational and other benefits we anticipate, and any acquisition may increase our operating expenses. Further, our approach to acquisitions may involve a number of special financial and business risks, such as entry into new and unfamiliar lines of business or markets, which may present challenges or risks that we did not anticipate; entry into new or unfamiliar geographic regions, including exposure to additional tax and regulatory regimes; increased expenses associated with the amortization of acquired intangible assets; increased exposure to fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; charges related to any abandoned acquisition; diversion of our management’s time, attention, and resources; loss of key acquired personnel; increased costs to improve or coordinate managerial, operational, financial, and administrative systems, including internal control over financial reporting; dilutive issuances of equity securities; the assumption of legal liabilities; and losses arising from impairment charges associated with goodwill or intangible assets.
If we cannot effectively manage changes in our rate of growth, our business may suffer.
We have previously expanded our operations to pursue existing and potential market opportunities, and we are continuing to expand our international operations. For example, we expanded our service offerings through acquisitions in 2014 and in 2013. This growth placed a strain on our personnel, management, financial and other resources and increased our operating expenses. If we are unable to adjust our operating expenses on a timely basis in response to changes in revenue cycles, our results of operations may be harmed. To manage changes in our rate of growth effectively, we must, among other things, match our manufacturing facilities and capacity to demand for our products and services; secure appropriate satellite capacity to match changes in demand for airtime services; successfully attract, train, motivate and manage appropriate numbers of employees for manufacturing, sales, and customer support activities; effectively manage our inventory and working capital; and ensure that
our procedures and internal controls are revised and updated to remain appropriate for the size and scale of our business operations.
If we are unable to hire and retain the skilled personnel we need to expand our operations, our business will suffer.
To meet our growth objectives, we must attract and retain highly skilled technical, operational, managerial and sales and marketing personnel. If we fail to attract and retain the necessary personnel, we may be unable to achieve our business objectives and may lose our competitive position, which could lead to a significant decline in net sales. We face significant competition for these skilled professionals.
Our success depends on the services of our executive officers.
Our future success depends to a significant degree on the skills and efforts of Martin Kits van Heyningen, our co-founder, President, Chief Executive Officer, and Chairman of the Board, and of Brent Bruun, our Chief Operating Officer and Interim Chief Financial Officer. If we lost the services of Mr. Kits van Heyningen or Mr. Bruun, our business and operating results could be seriously harmed. We also depend on the ability of our other executive officers to work effectively as a team. The loss of one or more of our executive officers could impair our ability to manage our business effectively.
Risks related to our dependence on technology and third parties
Our mobile satellite products currently depend on satellite services, gateway teleports and terrestrial networks provided by third parties, and a disruption in those services could adversely affect sales.
Our satellite antenna products include the equipment necessary to utilize satellite services. We do not own the satellites that directly provide two-way satellite communications or the terrestrial networks that interconnect our facilities with the satellite teleports that communicate with the satellites. We currently offer satellite television products compatible with the DIRECTV and DISH Network services in the United States, the Bell TV service in Canada, the Sky Mexico service in Mexico, the Sky UK service in the United Kingdom, Canal+ service in France and Movistar service in Spain and various other regional satellite TV services in other parts of the world.
SES, Eutelsat, Sky Perfect-JSAT, Telesat, EchoStar, Intelsat and Star One currently provide the satellite capacity to support the mini-VSAT Broadband service and our TracPhone V-IP and V-HTS series products. In addition, we have agreements with various teleports and Internet service providers around the globe to support the mini-VSAT Broadband service. The terrestrial fiber links that we use to connect with the Internet and to move our voice and data services between our facilities and the various satellite earth stations that support our services are provided to us through numerous service providers, some of which have contractual relationships with our satellite service providers and not directly with us. We rely on Inmarsat for satellite communications services for our FleetBroadband and FleetOne compatible TracPhone products. We also have an arrangement with Iridium for additional satellite communications services that we make available to our customers as a backup option to provide communications redundancy with our primary service offerings.
We exercise little or no control over these third-party providers of satellite, teleport and terrestrial network services, which increases our vulnerability to problems with the services they provide. Due to our reliance on these service providers, when problems occur, it may be difficult to identify the source of the problem. Service disruption or outages, regardless of whether they are caused by our service, the equipment or services of our third-party service providers, or our customers’ or their equipment and systems, may result in loss of market acceptance of our service, and any necessary repairs or other remedial actions may cause us to incur significant costs and expenses. Any failure on the part of third-party service providers to achieve or maintain expected performance levels, stability and security could harm our relationships with our customers, result in claims for credits or damages, damage our reputation, significantly reduce customer demand for our solution and seriously harm our financial condition and operating results.
If customers become dissatisfied with the programming, pricing, service, availability or other aspects of any of these satellite services, or if any one or more of these services becomes unavailable for any reason, we could suffer a substantial decline in sales of our satellite products. There may be no alternative service provider available in a particular geographic area, and our modem or other technology may not be compatible with the technology of any alternative service provider that may be available. Even if available, delays caused by switching our technology to another service provider, if available, and qualifying this new service provider could materially harm our customer relationships, business, financial condition and operating results. In addition, the unexpected failure of a satellite could disrupt the availability of programming and services, which could reduce the demand for, or customer satisfaction with, our products.
We depend on cloud-based data services operated by third parties, and any disruption in the operation of these services could harm our business.
Some of our content services and business records are hosted by various cloud-based data services operated by third parties. Any failure or downtime in one of these services could affect a significant percentage of our customers. Although we control and have access to our servers and the components of our network that are located in our internal facilities and certain of our external data facilities, we do not control the operation of external facilities. The providers of our data management services have no obligation to renew their agreements with us on commercially reasonable terms, or at all. If we are unable to renew these agreements on commercially reasonable terms, or if one or more of our data management service providers is acquired, closes, suffers financial difficulty or is unable to meet our growing capacity needs, we may be required to transfer our data to other services, and we may incur significant costs and service interruptions in connection with doing so, which could harm our reputation with our customers and adversely affect our revenues and results of operations.
Our media and entertainment business relies on licensing arrangements with content providers, and the loss of, or changes in, those arrangements could adversely affect our business.
We distribute premium news, sports, movies, and music content for commercial and leisure customers in the maritime, hotel, and retail markets. We license this content from third parties on a non-exclusive basis without long-term license agreements. Any content provider could terminate our arrangements without notice or could adversely modify the terms of the arrangement, including price increases. Further, the licenses we obtain are limited in scope, and any violation of the terms of a license could expose us to liability for copyright infringement. We pay license fees based in part on the revenue we generate from sublicenses, and our licensors generally have the right to audit our records. Failure to pay required license fees could result in termination of our license rights, penalties and damages. The loss of content could adversely affect the attractiveness of our media and entertainment offerings, which could in turn adversely affect our revenues. Any increase in the cost of content could reduce the profitability of these offerings.
Cybersecurity breaches could disrupt our operations, expose us to liability, damage our reputation, and require us to incur significant costs or otherwise adversely affect our financial results.
We are highly dependent on information technology networks and systems, including the Internet and third-party systems, to securely process, transmit and store electronic information, including personal information of our customers. We also retain sensitive data, including intellectual property, proprietary business information, personally identifiable information, credit card information, and usage data of our employees and customers on our computer networks and those of third parties. Although we take certain protective measures and endeavor to modify them as we believe circumstances warrant, invasive technologies and techniques continue to evolve rapidly, and increasingly sophisticated hacking organizations are targeting business systems. As a result, the computer systems, software and networks that we use are vulnerable to disruption, shutdown, unauthorized access, misuse, erasure, alteration, employee error, phishing, computer viruses, ransomware or other malicious code, and other events that could have a security impact. The protective measures on which we rely may be inadequate to prevent or detect cybersecurity breaches or determine the extent of any breach, and there can be no assurance that undetected breaches have not already occurred. If any of these events were to occur, they could disrupt our operations, distract our management, cause us to lose existing customers and fail to attract new customers, as well as subject us to regulatory actions, litigation, fines, damage to our reputation or competitive position, or orders or decrees requiring us to modify our business practices, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations or cash flows.
Risks related to economic conditions and trade relations
Our revenues, results of operations and financial condition have been, and may continue to be, adversely impacted by economic turmoil, political events, macroeconomic conditions, credit tightening and associated declines in consumer and enterprise spending, and by the continuation of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Economic conditions in the various geographic markets we serve have experienced significant turmoil over the last several years, including downturns related to the COVID-19 pandemic, slow economic activity, tight credit markets, inflation and deflation concerns, low consumer confidence, limited capital spending, adverse business conditions, war and refugee crises in the Middle East and Europe, terrorist attacks, the departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union, changes in government priorities, trade wars, a government shutdown, gridlock from a divided Congress, and liquidity concerns. These factors vary in intensity by region. Further, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, governments have implemented, revised, withdrawn, reinstituted and expanded extensive safety precautions, including quarantines, travel restrictions, business closures, cancellations of public gatherings and other measures. Other organizations and individuals continue to take additional steps to avoid or reduce infection, including limiting travel and implementing work-at-home policies. These measures have significantly
disrupted normal business operations both in and outside of affected areas and complying with them has increased our costs. Travel restrictions and safety precautions have also limited our ability to service and install our equipment. Although we are unable to predict the ongoing impact of the pandemic, our mobile communications business in particular largely depends on travel. The operations of our KVH Media Group have been particularly impacted due in part to the global reduction in travel resulting from the pandemic. We anticipate that, until the pandemic is contained, governmental, individual, business and other organizational measures to limit the spread of the virus will continue to adversely affect our revenues, results of operations and financial condition, perhaps materially. An outbreak of infection in any of our facilities could severely disrupt our operations. We continue to monitor government recommendations and have made modifications to our operations because of the pandemic. Our customers’ businesses could be further disrupted, and our revenues could continue to be adversely affected. Additionally, global economic disruptions like the COVID-19 pandemic could negatively impact our supply chain and cause delays in the delivery of raw materials, components and other supplies that we need to conduct our operations. The extent to which the pandemic will continue to impact our business will depend on many factors beyond our control, including the speed of contagion, the development and implementation of effective preventative measures and vaccines, the scope of governmental and other restrictions on travel and other activity, and public reactions to these factors.
There can be no assurances that government programs to maintain or improve economic conditions, including stimulus and other aid programs intended to combat the impact of the pandemic, will be effective. As a result of these and other factors, customers and government entities could continue to slow or suspend spending on our products and services. We may also incur increased credit losses and need to further increase our allowance for doubtful accounts, which would have a negative impact on our earnings and financial condition.
We cannot predict the timing, duration, or ultimate impact of the turmoil in our markets. We expect our business to continue to be adversely impacted by this turmoil, particularly in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic, to varying degrees and for varying amounts of time, in all our geographic markets.
Changes in U.S. trade policy, including changes to existing trade agreements and any resulting changes in international trade relations, may have a material adverse effect on us.
The change in U.S. presidential administrations may alter the U.S.’s approach to international trade, which may impact existing bilateral or multi-lateral trade agreements and treaties with foreign countries. The U.S. has imposed tariffs on certain foreign goods and may increase tariffs or impose new ones, and certain foreign governments have retaliated and may continue to do so. We derive a majority of our revenues from international sales, which makes us especially vulnerable to increased tariffs. Changes in U.S. trade policy have created ongoing turmoil in international trade relations, and it is unclear what future actions the U.S. government or foreign governments will or will not take with respect to tariffs or other international trade agreements and policies. Current trade negotiations may fail, which may exacerbate these risks. Ongoing or new trade wars or other governmental action related to tariffs or international trade agreements or policies could reduce demand for our products and services, increase our costs, reduce our profitability, adversely impact our supply chain or otherwise have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.
Changes in foreign currency exchange rates negatively affect our financial condition and results of operations.
Because of the scope of our foreign sales and foreign operations, we face significant exposure to movements in exchange rates for foreign currencies, particularly the pound sterling and the euro. During 2019 and 2020, the U.S. dollar strengthened slightly against certain foreign currencies, which adversely affected revenues reported in U.S. dollars and decreased the reported value of our assets in foreign countries. If the U.S. dollar continues to strengthen (as has recently occurred relative to the pound sterling), our revenues denominated in foreign currencies but reported in U.S. dollars, as well as the reported value of our assets in foreign countries, would be commensurately lower.
We also have intragroup receivables and liabilities, such as loans, that can generate significant foreign currency effects. Changes in exchange rates, particularly the U.S. dollar against the pound sterling, could lead to the recognition of unrealized foreign exchange losses.
Moreover, certain of our products and services are sold internationally in U.S. dollars; if the U.S. dollar strengthens, the relative cost of these products and services to customers located in foreign countries would increase, which could adversely affect export sales. In addition, most of our financial obligations, including payments under our outstanding debt obligations, must be satisfied in U.S. dollars. Our exposures to changes in foreign currency exchange rates may change over time as our business practices evolve and could result in increased costs or reduced revenue and could adversely affect our cash flow. Changes in the relative values of currencies occur regularly and may have a significant impact on our operating results. We cannot predict with any certainty changes in foreign currency exchange rates or the degree to which we can cost-effectively mitigate this exposure.
Risks related to government sales
Our financial performance is impacted by U.S. government contracts, which are subject to uncertain levels of funding and termination
We are unable to predict the impact on our business of Congressional gridlock, tax reform and government policies, including new expenditures to address the COVID-19 pandemic, which have increased already significant budget deficits and may lead to an overall reduction in federal spending on programs important to our business. A reduction in sales to the U.S. government or its contractors, whether due to lack of funding, for convenience or otherwise, or the occurrence of delays, could negatively impact our results of operations and financial condition.
The purchasing and delivery schedules and priorities of the U.S. military, government contractors and foreign governments are often unpredictable and subject to uncertain levels of funding and termination.
We have historically sold a substantial portion of our TACNAV and FOG products and services to the U.S. government and its contractors as well as foreign military and government customers, either directly or as a subcontractor to other contractors. These customers often use a competitive bidding process and have unique purchasing and delivery requirements, which often makes the timing of sales to these customers unpredictable. Factors that affect their purchasing and delivery decisions include increasing budgetary pressures, which may reduce or delay funding for military programs; changes in modernization plans for military equipment; changes in tactical navigation requirements; global conflicts impacting troop deployment, including troop withdrawals; priorities for current battlefield operations; new military and operational doctrines that affect military equipment needs; sales cycles that are long and difficult to predict; shifting response time and/or delays in the approval process associated with the export licenses we must obtain prior to the international shipment of certain of our military products; delays in military procurement schedules; and delays in the testing and acceptance of our products, including delays resulting from changes in customer specifications.
In addition, U.S. government contracts generally permit the government to terminate the contract without prior notice, at the government's convenience or for default based on performance. Government customers can also decline to exercise previously disclosed contract options. A termination arising out of our default could expose us to liability and adversely affect our ability to obtain future contracts and orders. Furthermore, on contracts for which we are a subcontractor and not the prime contractor, the U.S. government could terminate the prime contract for convenience or otherwise, irrespective of our performance as a subcontractor.
These factors periodically cause substantial fluctuations in sales of our TACNAV and FOG products and services. Fluctuating commercial sales of our inertial navigation products are also making it harder to predict our future revenues. For example, TACNAV product sales increased $6.1 million, or 125%, from 2019 to 2020, while sales of our FOG products remained flat between 2019 and 2020.
Sales of our FOG systems and TACNAV products generally consist of a few large orders, and the delay or cancellation of a single order will substantially reduce our net sales. Only a few customers account for a substantial portion of our inertial navigation revenues, and the loss of any of these customers could substantially reduce our net sales.
We derive a significant portion of our inertial navigation revenues from a small number of customers, many of whom are contractors for the U.S. government. KVH products sold to these customers are purchased through orders that can generally range in size from several hundred thousand dollars to several million dollars. For example, we received an order for $10.0 million of TACNAV products in July 2020, an order for $4.0 million of FOG products in October 2019 and orders for $6.7 million and $3.5 million of TACNAV products and services in September 2019 and April 2017, respectively. Orders of this size are often unpredictable and difficult to replicate. As a result, the delay or cancellation of a single order could materially reduce our net sales and results of operations. We routinely experience repeated and unanticipated delays in defense orders, which make our revenues and operating results less predictable. Because our inertial navigation products typically have relatively higher product gross margins than our mobile connectivity products, the loss of an order for inertial navigation products could have a disproportionately adverse effect on our results of operations.
Risks related to our industry
Competition may limit our ability to sell our mobile connectivity products and services and inertial navigation products.
The mobile connectivity markets and defense navigation and inertial navigation markets are very competitive, and we expect this competition to intensify. We may not be able to compete successfully against current and future competitors, which could
impair our ability to sell our products and services. For example, improvements in the performance of lower-cost gyros by competitors could jeopardize sales of our FOGs and FOG-based systems. As our market share in the mobile satellite communication market has grown, competition has intensified significantly, most notably from companies that seek to compete primarily on price. These companies may continue to implement price reductions and discounts for both products and services, which have required us to reduce our prices or offer discounts in order to maintain or increase our market share. Some of our VSAT competitors have also leveraged partnerships amongst themselves in order to capture larger combined market share. Further, some of the companies that we depend on to supply us with capacity on satellite communications networks may vertically integrate by introducing their own products and services to compete with ours, which might motivate them to stop providing satellite network capacity to us, or to make it available only on less favorable terms.
In the marine market for satellite TV equipment, we compete primarily with Intellian, Cobham SATCOM, Orbit Communication Systems, Raymarine (Intellian made), KNS, and Sea King (King Controls). In the marine market for voice, fax, data, and Internet communications equipment, we compete primarily with Intellian, Cobham SATCOM, Orbit Communication Systems, Jotron AS, KNS Inc., Inmarsat, AddValue, and Iridium Satellite LLC. In the marine market for high-speed voice, fax, data, and Internet services, we compete primarily with Inmarsat, Marlink, Speedcast, Network Innovations, Global Eagle Entertainment and Isotropic Network. We also face competition from providers of low-speed data services, which include Inmarsat, Globalstar LP, and Iridium Satellite LLC. In the market for land mobile satellite TV equipment, we compete primarily with King Controls and Winegard Company. In the markets for media content, the KVH Media Group competes primarily with Swank Motion Pictures and NewspaperDirect Inc. In the inertial navigation markets, we compete primarily with Honeywell International Inc., Northrop Grumman Corporation, Goodrich Aerospace, IAI, Fizoptica, SAGEM, and Systron Donner Inertial. Many of our competitors are well-established companies that have substantially greater financial, managerial, technical, marketing, personnel and other resources than we do, which may help them to compete more effectively against us.
The emergence of a competing small maritime VSAT antenna and complementary service or other similar service could reduce the competitive advantage we believe we currently enjoy with our smaller TracPhone V-HTS series antennas and Ku-band mini-VSAT Broadband service, or with our TracPhone V11-HTS antenna and our C/Ku-band mini-VSAT Broadband service.
Our TracPhone V-HTS and V-IP systems offer customers a range of benefits due to their integrated design, hardware costs that are lower than existing maritime Ku-band VSAT systems, and broadband technology. We currently compete against companies that offer established maritime Ku-band VSAT service using, in some cases, antennas 1-meter in diameter or larger. While we are unaware of any company offering a 37-cm VSAT solution comparable to our TracPhone V3-HTS, we are encountering regional competition from companies offering 60-cm VSAT systems and services, which are comparable in size to our TracPhone V7-HTS. Likewise, our TracPhone V11-HTS, at 1.1-meters in diameter, is approximately 85% smaller and lighter than competing C-band maritime VSAT systems, which use antennas in excess of 2.4-meters in diameter to provide similar global services. We are unaware of any competitor currently offering a similar size solution for global C-band coverage, but any introduction of such a product could adversely impact our success. In addition, other companies could replicate some of the distinguishing features of our TracPhone V-HTS series products, which could potentially reduce the appeal of our solution, increase price competition, and adversely affect sales. We compete against Inmarsat's Fleet Xpress service, a global Ka-band mobile VSAT service that Inmarsat claims is faster and has a lower price per megabit than existing Ku-band services. This service may continue to adversely impact sales of our mini-VSAT Broadband service and related equipment. Our arrangement to use the IntelsatOne Flex service for our HTS network is not exclusive, and competitors’ use of this service could also adversely impact sales. Moreover, consumers may choose other services such as FleetBroadband or Iridium OpenPort for their service coverage at potentially lower hardware costs despite higher service costs and slower data rates.
Any failure to maintain and expand our third-party distribution relationships may limit our ability to penetrate markets for mobile connectivity products and services.
We market and sell our mobile connectivity products and services through an international network of independent retailers, chain stores and distributors, as well as to manufacturers of marine vessels, recreational vehicles and buses. Most of these relationships are non-exclusive, allowing these third parties to market competing products. If we fail to maintain relationships with our current distributors, fail to develop relationships with new distributors in new and existing markets, or manage, train, or provide appropriate incentives to our existing distributors, or if our distributors are not successful in their sales efforts, sales of our products and services may decline and our operating results could be harmed.
We depend on sole or limited source suppliers, and any disruption in supply could impair our ability to deliver our products on time or at expected cost.
We obtain many key components for our products from third-party suppliers, and in some cases we use a single or a limited number of suppliers. Any interruption in supply could impair our ability to deliver our products until we identify and qualify a new source of supply, which could take several weeks, months or longer and could increase our costs significantly. Suppliers might change or discontinue key components, which could require us to modify our product designs. For example, we previously experienced changes in the chemicals used to coat our optical fiber, which changed its characteristics and necessitated design modifications. Regulations requiring government contractors to implement processes to avoid counterfeit parts may require us to find new sources of materials or components if a supplier cannot meet those requirements. In general, we do not have written long-term supply agreements with our suppliers but instead buy components through purchase orders, which expose us to potential price increases and termination of supply without notice or recourse. We generally do not carry significant inventories of product components, which could magnify the impact of the loss of a supplier. If we must use a new source of supply, we could face unexpected manufacturing difficulties and loss of product performance or reliability. In addition, from time to time, lead times for certain components can increase significantly due to imbalances in overall market supply and demand. This, in turn, could limit our ability to satisfy demand for our products on a timely basis and could result in the cancellation of customer orders. Further, adverse economic conditions, including conditions caused by the current COVID-19 pandemic, could result in financial difficulties or bankruptcy for any of our suppliers, which could adversely affect our business and results of operations.
We may source more materials and components from international suppliers, which could disrupt our business.
Although we have historically manufactured and sourced raw materials for the majority of our products domestically, in order for us to compete with lower priced competing products while also improving our profitability, in some instances we have found it desirable to source raw materials and manufactured components and assemblies from Europe, Asia, and South and North America. Reliance on foreign manufacturing and/or raw material supply has lengthened our supply chain and increased the risk that a disruption in that supply chain could have a material adverse effect on our operations and financial performance.
Changes in the competitive environment, supply chain issues, and the transition to our HTS network may require inventory write-downs.
From time to time, we have recorded significant inventory charges and/or inventory write-offs as a result of substantial declines in customer demand. For example, in 2019, we recorded a $2.3 million inventory reserve relating to our TracPhone V-IP products as we decided to no longer promote sales of these products but instead to focus our efforts on migrating customers to our HTS network and products. Market or competitive changes could lead to future charges for excess or obsolete inventory, especially if we are unable to appropriately adjust the supply of material from our vendors.
Risks related to intellectual property
We are devoting significant resources to research and development efforts that may be unsuccessful. If we are unable to improve our existing mobile connectivity and inertial navigation products and services and develop new, innovative products and services, our sales and market share may decline.
The markets for mobile connectivity products and services and inertial navigation products and services are each characterized by rapid technological change, frequent new product innovations, changes in customer requirements and expectations, and evolving industry standards. For example, we now compete with Inmarsat's Fleet Xpress satellite communications products and services. If we fail to make innovations in our existing products and services and reduce the costs of our products and services in a timely way, our market share may decline. For example, the introductions of our TracVision TV-series antennas in 2014 occurred later than we had anticipated, which we believe led certain customers to purchase competing products. Products or services using new technologies, or emerging industry standards, could render our products and services obsolete. If our competitors successfully introduce new or enhanced products or services that outperform our products or services, or are perceived as doing so, we may be unable to compete successfully in the markets affected by these changes.
Research and development in our industry is inherently complex and uncertain, and our current and anticipated research and development projects may not achieve the results we seek. Our research and development expenses decreased 1% from 2019 to 2020, and the financial resources that we can devote to our research and development efforts may be insufficient to achieve our goals. Our efforts may not result in any viable products or may result in products whose performance, features, price or availability may not be attractive to customers or that we cannot manufacture and sell profitably.
Our business may suffer if we cannot protect our proprietary technology.
Our ability to compete depends significantly upon our patents, copyrights, source code, and other proprietary technology. The steps we have taken to protect our technology may be inadequate to prevent others from using what we regard as our technology to compete with us. Our patents will eventually expire and could be challenged, invalidated or circumvented. Customers or others with access to our proprietary or licensed media content could copy that content without permission or otherwise violate the terms of our customer agreements, which would adversely affect our revenues and could impair our relationships with content providers. In addition, the laws of some foreign countries do not protect our proprietary technology to the same extent as the laws of the United States, which could increase the likelihood of misappropriation. Any misappropriation of our technology or the development of competing technology could seriously harm our competitive position, which could lead to a substantial reduction in net sales. If we resort to legal proceedings to enforce our intellectual property rights, the proceedings could be burdensome, disruptive and expensive, distract the attention of management, and there can be no assurance that we would prevail.
Also, we have delivered certain technical data and information to the U.S. government under procurement contracts, and it may have unlimited rights to use that technical data and information. There can be no assurance that the U.S. government will not authorize others to use that data and information to compete with us.
Claims by others that we infringe their intellectual property rights could harm our business and financial condition.
Our industries are characterized by the existence of a large number of patents and frequent claims and related litigation regarding patent and other intellectual property rights. We cannot be certain that our products do not and will not infringe issued patents, patents that may be issued in the future, or other intellectual property rights of others.
From time to time we have faced claims by third parties that our products or technology infringe their patents or other intellectual property rights, and we may face similar claims in the future. For example, we were sued for patent infringement in 2015, and we settled this claim in January 2016 with a payment of cash. Any claim of infringement could cause us to incur substantial costs defending against or settling the claim, even if the claim is invalid, and could distract the attention of our management. If any of our products are found to violate third-party proprietary rights, we may be required to pay substantial damages. In addition, we may be required to re-engineer our products or obtain licenses from third parties to continue to offer our products. Any efforts to re-engineer our products or obtain licenses on commercially reasonable terms may not be successful, which would prevent us from selling our products, and, in any case, could substantially increase our costs and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Risks related to indebtedness
An anticipated audit of our Paycheck Protection Program loan may result in, among other things, a determination that we are not entitled to forgiveness of the loan or that we were not entitled to receive the loan, in which case we would have to repay the loan, with interest, and may face penalties and harm to our reputation.
In early May 2020, we received a $6.9 million loan from Bank of America, N.A. under the Paycheck Protection Program of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, or the CARES Act. The loan is described in more detail in Note 5 to our accompanying consolidated financial statements. The loan has a term of two years, and upon application to the Small Business Administration, or SBA, all or a portion of the loan may be forgiven, depending on our use of proceeds and other factors. Under the CARES Act, loan forgiveness is available for certain payroll costs, rent payments, mortgage interest and utilities, if stated conditions are met. While we believe we have used the proceeds of the loan for purposes eligible for forgiveness, we cannot provide any assurance that we will be eligible for any loan forgiveness, that we will apply for forgiveness, or that any amount of the loan will be forgiven, in which case we must repay the loan with interest.
The previous Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Treasury stated that all Paycheck Protection Program loans over $2.0 million would be audited; accordingly, we expect that our loan and any application we file for forgiveness will be reviewed carefully. In order to apply for the loan, we were required to certify, among other things, that the then-current economic uncertainty made the loan request necessary to support our ongoing operations. We made this certification in good faith after our management and our Board of Directors reviewed our history of losses, our financial situation, our expectations regarding the impact of the pandemic on our business, and our access to alternative forms of capital, and we believe that we satisfied all eligibility criteria for the loan. The certification we were required to provide did not contain any objective criteria and is subject to interpretation. However, the SBA issued guidance stating that it is unlikely that a public company with substantial market value and access to capital markets would be able to make the required certification in good faith. If, despite our good-faith belief that we satisfied all eligibility requirements for the loan, we are later determined to have been ineligible to receive the loan or to have violated any laws or regulations in connection with the loan, such as the False Claims Act, we may be required
to repay the loan in full and may be subject to civil, criminal and administrative penalties. Our receipt of the loan may result in adverse publicity and damage to our reputation, and any review or audit of the loan or any legal claims could consume significant financial and management resources.
Our credit facility contains financial and restrictive covenants that we may not satisfy, and that, if not satisfied, could result in the acceleration of any outstanding indebtedness and limit our ability to borrow additional funds. The credit facility also imposes restrictions that may limit our ability to pursue business opportunities.
Although no amounts were outstanding under the agreements governing our secured credit facility as of December 31, 2020, the agreements subject us to various financial and other affirmative and negative covenants with which we must comply on an ongoing or periodic basis. These include covenants pertaining to a maximum consolidated leverage ratio and a minimum consolidated fixed charge coverage ratio and covenants requiring the mandatory prepayment of amounts outstanding under the revolver under specified circumstances. The agreements also subject us to various restrictions on our ability to engage in certain activities, such as raising capital or acquiring businesses. These restrictions may limit or restrict our cash flow and our ability to pursue business opportunities or strategies that we would otherwise consider to be in our best interests.
Risks related to government regulation
Our international operations complicate our business and require us to comply with multiple regulatory environments.
Historically, sales to customers outside the United States have accounted for a significant portion of our net sales. We derived 64% and 54% of our revenues in 2020 and 2019, respectively, from sales to these foreign customers. We have foreign offices in Denmark, the United Kingdom, Singapore, Japan, Norway, Cyprus and the Philippines, as well as a subsidiary in Brazil that manages local sales. Nonetheless, substantially all of our personnel and operations, particularly for our mobile connectivity equipment business and our inertial navigation business, are located in the United States. Our limited international operations may impair our ability to compete successfully in international markets and to meet the service and support needs of our customers in countries where we have little to no infrastructure. We face a number of risks associated with our international business activities, which may increase our costs and require significant management attention. These risks include restrictions on international travel, which may restrict our ability to grow and service our business; tariffs; sanctions or other trade restrictions that preclude or restrict doing business with particular foreign governments, companies or individuals; technical challenges we may face in adapting our mobile connectivity products to function with different satellite services and technology in use in various regions around the world; satisfaction of international regulatory requirements and delays and costs associated with procurement of any necessary licenses or permits; the potential unavailability of content licenses covering international waters and foreign locations; restrictions on the sale of certain inertial navigation products to foreign military and government customers; increased costs of providing customer support in multiple languages; increased costs of managing operations that are international in scope; potentially adverse tax consequences, including restrictions on the repatriation of earnings; protectionist laws and business practices that favor local competitors, which could slow our growth in international markets; potentially longer sales cycles; potentially longer accounts receivable payment cycles and difficulties in collecting accounts receivable; and economic and political instability in some international markets.
We could incur additional legal compliance costs associated with our international operations and could become subject to legal penalties if we do not comply with certain regulations.
As a result of our international operations, we are subject to a number of legal requirements, including the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the U.K. Bribery Act and the customs, export, trade sanctions and anti-boycott laws of the United States, including those administered by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Bureau of Industry and Security, the Department of Commerce, the Department of State, and the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the Treasury Department, as well as those of other nations in which we do business. In addition, many of the countries where our customers use our products and services have licensing and regulatory requirements for the importation and use of satellite communications and reception equipment, including the use of such equipment in territorial waters, the transmission of satellite signals on certain radio frequencies, the transmission of voice over Internet services using such equipment, and, in some cases, the reception of certain video programming services. These laws and regulations are changing continuously, making compliance complex. We incur significant costs identifying and maintaining compliance with applicable licensing and regulatory requirements. In addition, our training and compliance programs and our other internal control policies may be insufficient to protect us from acts committed by our employees, agents or third-party contractors. Any violation of these requirements by us or our employees, agents or third-party contractors may subject us to significant criminal and civil liability.
Exports of certain inertial navigation products are subject to the U.S. Export Administration Regulations and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations and require a license from the U.S. Department of State prior to shipment.
We must comply with the United States Export Administration Regulations and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, or ITAR. Certain of our products have military or strategic applications and are on the munitions list of the ITAR and require an individual validated license in order to be exported to certain jurisdictions. Any changes in export regulations or reclassifications of our products may further restrict the export of our products, and we may cease to be able to procure export licenses for our products under existing regulations. The length of time required by the licensing process can vary, potentially delaying the shipment of products and the recognition of the corresponding revenue. Any restriction on the export of a product line or any amount of our products could cause a significant reduction in net sales.
We are subject to FCC rules and regulations, and any non-compliance could subject us to FCC enforcement actions, fines, loss of licenses and possibly restrictions on our ability to operate or offer certain of our services
The satellite communications industry is regulated by the Federal Communications Commission in the United States and, as a result, we are subject to existing and potential FCC regulations relating to privacy, contributions to the Universal Service Fund, or USF, and other requirements. If we do not comply with FCC rules and regulations, we could be subject to FCC enforcement actions, substantial fines, penalties, loss of licenses and possibly restrictions on our ability to operate or offer certain of our services. Any enforcement action by the FCC, which may be a public process, could hurt our reputation in the industry, possibly impair our ability to sell our services to customers and could harm our business and results of operations.
Reform of federal and state USF programs could increase the cost of our service to our customers, diminishing or eliminating our pricing advantage.
The FCC has been considering reform or other modifications to its USF program, which, if implemented, could change the way we calculate our contribution to USF. In April 2012, the FCC released a proposal to consider reforms to the manner in which companies like us contribute to the federal USF program. In general, the proposal indicates that the FCC is considering changes to the companies that should contribute, how contributions should be assessed, and methods to improve the administration of the system. We cannot predict the outcome of this proceeding or its impact on our business. The changes in the U.S. administration may renew interest in completing this proceeding. Should the FCC adopt new contribution mechanisms or otherwise modify contribution obligations that increase our contribution burden, we will either need to raise the amount we currently collect from our customers to cover this obligation or absorb the costs, which would reduce our profit margins. The attractiveness of our services may also be reduced as compared to the services of our competitors that do not appear to contribute to USF, or do not do so to the same extent that we do.
Privacy concerns and domestic or foreign laws and regulations may reduce demand for our services, increase our costs and harm our business.
Our company and our customers can use our services to collect, use and store personal, confidential and sensitive information regarding the content and manner of usage of our services by them, their employees and maritime crews. Federal, state and foreign governments have adopted and are proposing new and more stringent laws and regulations regarding the collection, use, storage and transfer of information, such as the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”), which took effect in May 2018. The costs of compliance with, and other burdens imposed by, such laws and regulations may limit the use and adoption of our services and reduce overall demand. Non-compliance with these laws and regulations could lead to significant remediation expenses, fines, penalties or other liabilities, such as orders or consent decrees that require modifications to our privacy practices, as well as reputational damage or third-party lawsuits seeking damages or other relief. For example, the GDPR imposes a strict data protection compliance regime with penalties of up to the greater of 2%-4% of worldwide revenue or €10-20 million.
Domestic and international legislative and regulatory initiatives may harm our ability, and the ability of our customers, to process, handle, store, use and transmit information, which could reduce demand for some of our services, increase our costs and force us to change our business practices. For example, the invalidation of the Privacy Shield may affect our ability to collect, use and transfer personal information of EU individuals outside of the EU. These laws and regulations are still evolving, are likely to be in flux and may be subject to uncertain interpretation for the foreseeable future. Our business also could be harmed if legislation or regulations are adopted, interpreted or implemented in a manner that is inconsistent from country to country or inconsistent with our current policies and practices or those of our customers.
We may have exposure to additional tax liabilities, which could negatively impact our income tax expense, net income and cash flow.
We are subject to income and other taxes in the U.S. and the foreign jurisdictions in which we operate. The determination of our worldwide provision for income taxes and current and deferred tax assets and liabilities requires significant judgment and estimation. In the ordinary course of our business, there are many transactions and calculations where the ultimate tax determination is uncertain. Although we believe our tax estimates are reasonable, the ultimate tax outcome may differ materially from our estimates and may materially affect our income tax benefit or expense, net loss or income, and cash flows in the period in which such determination is made. As of December 31, 2020, we had gross uncertain tax positions of $1.7 million, consisting of a $1.1 million reduction to deferred tax assets and $0.6 million as a liability for uncertain tax positions.
Deferred tax assets are recognized for the expected future tax consequences of temporary differences between the carrying amount for financial reporting purposes and the tax bases of assets and liabilities, and for net operating losses and tax credit carry forwards. We have historically recorded valuation allowances to reduce our deferred tax assets to estimated realizable value. We review our deferred tax assets and valuation allowance requirements quarterly. If we are unable to demonstrate that it is more likely than not that we will not be able to generate sufficient future taxable income to realize the net carrying value of deferred tax assets, we will record a valuation allowance to reduce the deferred tax assets to estimated realizable value, which could result in a material income tax charge. As part of our review, we consider positive and negative evidence, including cumulative results of recent years.
Risks related to owning our common stock
The market price of our common stock may be volatile.
Our stock price has historically been volatile. During the period from January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2020, the trading price of our common stock ranged from $6.36 to $14.15. Many factors may cause the market price of our common stock to fluctuate, including variations in our quarterly results of operations; the introduction of new products and services by us or our competitors; changing needs of military customers; changes in estimates of our performance or recommendations by securities analysts; the hiring or departure of key personnel; acquisitions or strategic alliances involving us or our competitors; market conditions in our industries; and the global macroeconomic and geopolitical environment.
Broad market fluctuations may adversely affect the market price of our common stock. When the market price of a company’s stock drops significantly, stockholders often institute securities litigation against that company. Any such litigation could cause us to incur significant expenses defending against the claim, divert the time and attention of our management and result in significant damages.

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ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS
ITEM 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments
None.

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ITEM 2. PROPERTIES
ITEM 2. Properties
The following table provides information about our principal facilities as of December 31, 2020.
Location Type Segment Principal Uses Approximate
Square
Footage Ownership Lease
Expiration
Middletown,
Rhode Island Office Both Corporate headquarters, research and development, sales and service, marketing and administration 75,000 Owned -
Middletown,
Rhode Island Plant and warehouse MC Manufacturing and warehousing (mobile connectivity products) 75,300 Owned -
Tinley Park, Illinois Plant and warehouse IN Manufacturing, warehousing, research and development (inertial navigation products) 101,000 Owned -
Kokkedal, Denmark Office and warehouse MC European headquarters, sales, marketing and support 11,000 Leased Upon 3 month notice
Both- mobile connectivity segment and inertial navigation segment
MC- mobile connectivity segment
IN- inertial navigation segment

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ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
ITEM 3. Legal Proceedings
From time to time, we are involved in litigation incidental to the conduct of our business. In the ordinary course of business, we are a party to inquiries, legal proceedings and claims including, from time to time, disagreements with vendors and customers.

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ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURE
ITEM 4. Mine Safety Disclosures
Not applicable.
PART II

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ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT'S COMMON EQUITY
ITEM 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
Market Information. Our common stock trades on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol “KVHI.”
The following table provides, for the periods indicated, the high and low sale prices for our common stock as reported on the NASDAQ Global Select Market.
High Low
Year Ended December 31, 2020:
First quarter $ 11.36 $ 6.36
Second quarter 10.16 7.78
Third quarter 9.76 7.38
Fourth quarter 11.86 8.52
Year Ended December 31, 2019:
First quarter $ 11.89 $ 10.01
Second quarter 10.92 9.09
Third quarter 11.10 8.64
Fourth quarter 11.64 9.37
Stockholders. As of February 22, 2021, we had 68 holders of record of our common stock. This number does not include stockholders for whom shares were held by a nominee or in “street” name.
Dividends. We have never declared or paid cash dividends on our capital stock, and we have no plan to pay any cash dividends in the foreseeable future. We currently intend to retain any future earnings to finance our operations and future growth.
Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities. On October 4, 2019, our Board of Directors authorized a share repurchase program pursuant to which we were authorized to purchase up to one million shares of our common stock. The program expired on October 4, 2020. Under the repurchase program, we, at management’s discretion, were previously authorized to repurchase shares on the open market from time to time, in privately negotiated transactions or block transactions, or through an accelerated repurchase agreement.
In January 2020, we repurchased 35,256 shares of common stock in open market transactions at a cost of approximately $0.4 million. The total amount we repurchased under the October 4, 2019 repurchase program was 150,272 shares of common stock at an approximate cost of $1.7 million. Except as noted above, there were no other repurchase programs outstanding during 2020.
During the fourth quarter of 2020, we did not repurchase any shares under the October 4, 2019 repurchase program, and no vested restricted shares were surrendered in satisfaction of tax withholding obligations.

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ITEM 6. SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA
ITEM 6. Removed and reserved.

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ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS
ITEM 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
The following discussion and analysis should be read in conjunction with the other financial information and consolidated financial statements and related notes appearing elsewhere in this annual report. This discussion contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Our actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements as a result of a variety of factors, including those discussed under the heading “Item 1A. Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this annual report.
Overview
We design, develop, manufacture and market mobile connectivity products and services for the marine and land mobile markets, and inertial navigation products for commercial and defense markets. Our reporting segments are as follows:
•the mobile connectivity segment and
•the inertial navigation segment
Through these segments, we manufacture and sell our solutions in a number of major geographic areas, including internationally. We generate a majority of our revenues from various international locations, primarily consisting of Canada, Europe (both inside and outside the European Union), Africa, Asia/Pacific, and the Middle East.
Mobile Connectivity Segment
Our mobile connectivity segment offers satellite communications products and services. Our mobile connectivity products enable customers to receive voice and Internet services and live digital television via satellite services in marine vessels, recreational vehicles, buses and automobiles. We sell and lease our mobile connectivity products through an extensive international network of dealers and distributors. We also sell and lease products directly to end users.
Our mobile connectivity service sales include sales of satellite voice and Internet airtime services, engineering services provided under development contracts, sales from product repairs, and extended warranty sales. Our mobile connectivity service sales also include our distribution of entertainment, including news, sports, music, and movies, to commercial and leisure customers in the maritime, hotel, and retail markets through KVH Media Group. We typically recognize revenue from media content sales ratably over the period of the service contract. We provide, for monthly fixed fees and usage-based fees, satellite connectivity services for broadband Internet, data and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service to our TracPhone V-series customers. We also earn monthly usage fees for third-party satellite connectivity for voice, data and Internet services to our Inmarsat and Iridium customers who choose to activate their subscriptions with us. As a percentage of total revenue, our service sales were 59% in 2020 and 61% in 2019.
Within the mobile connectivity segment, our marine leisure business is highly seasonal, and seasonality can also impact our commercial marine business. Historically, we have generated the majority of our marine leisure product revenues during the first and second quarters of each year, and these revenues typically decline in the third and fourth quarters of each year, compared to the first two quarters. Temporary suspensions of our airtime services typically increase in the third and fourth quarters of each year as boats are placed out of service during the winter months.
Impairment Charge - KVH Media Group
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted various aspects of our operations, and we have been monitoring the impact of this global crisis carefully throughout the year. We have particularly monitored the operations of KVH Media Group, which depends heavily on travel and travel-related industries. The revenues and cash flows of KVH Media Group have been significantly impacted by the global reduction in travel since the start of the pandemic. Prior to our annual impairment test in the fourth quarter of 2020, based on our quarterly review of the impact of this global crisis on our forecasted revenues and cash flows, there was no indication of impairment to the carrying value of goodwill or other intangible assets. However, in the fourth quarter of 2020, there were increases in the number of reported COVID-19 cases, and substantial shutdowns were reinstated in the United States, UK and Europe, which caused continued disruptions to our KVH Media Group business as the global travel and related industries remained at historically depressed levels. In response to the impact of the pandemic, particularly with respect to our KVH Media business, during our annual budgeting and long-term planning process, we conducted detailed discussions with many of our largest customers in the KVH Media Group to validate our assumptions, which indicated further expected delays in recovery, and certain areas of the KVH Media business that may not recover completely or at all. Accordingly, we updated our long-term revenue and cash flow forecast to reflect these most recent observations. Based on our other long-lived asset impairment analysis and annual goodwill impairment test, we recognized an intangible asset impairment charge of $1.8 million and a goodwill impairment charge of $8.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2020 related to KVH Media Group. Please see Note 1(k) for additional information.
COVID-19 Global Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to disrupt businesses around the world and has resulted in a global economic downturn. The impact of the pandemic on our operating results began in the first quarter of 2020 and continued throughout the year, particularly in areas of our business impacted by global commerce (for example, maritime shipping, travel and leisure). We do not know how long the pandemic will continue or what the ongoing economic impact will be on our business. The areas of our business most at risk of being negatively impacted by the prolonged continuation of this crisis include our mobile connectivity product and service sales, as commercial customers continue to delay acquiring mini-VSAT systems due to the global reduction in maritime shipping, and our media business, due to the severe restrictions on domestic and international travel. Similarly, our inertial navigation product sales have been and may continue to be negatively impacted as domestic and foreign customers decide to conserve cash in their own businesses in the face of the prolonged continuation of the crisis. In response to these significant uncertainties, in the second quarter of 2020 we undertook multiple steps to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on our business, including a comprehensive reduction in salaries and wages and the elimination of most discretionary expenditures, including capital expenditures. As part of our mitigation efforts, we applied for, and received, assistance made available by the United States government through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the CARES Act). At the beginning of the fourth quarter, we restored salaries for all of our employees to 100% of the pre-reduction levels, although we continue to limit discretionary spending. We have deferred annual salary increases for the first half of 2021.
Sale of Videotel - Discontinued Operations
In May 2019, we sold our Videotel business, which provided eLearning computer-based training, to an affiliate of Oakley Capital, a UK company, for $89.4 million in cash, on a cash-free, debt-free basis, subject to a working capital adjustment. We made a bridge loan to the purchaser and received payment of the initial purchase price on June 21, 2019. We determined that the sale met the requirements for reporting as discontinued operations in accordance with ASC 205-20. Accordingly, we have classified the results of the Videotel business as discontinued operations for all periods presented. In December 2019, we finalized the working capital adjustment, which reduced the proceeds from the sale of Videotel to $88.4 million. Please see Notes 1 and 18 of our consolidated financial statements for further discussion.
Inertial Navigation Segment
Our inertial navigation segment offers precision fiber optic gyro (FOG)-based systems that enable platform and optical stabilization, navigation, pointing, and guidance. Our inertial navigation products also include tactical navigation systems that provide uninterrupted access to navigation and pointing information in a variety of military vehicles, including tactical trucks and light armored vehicles. Our inertial navigation products are sold directly to U.S. and foreign governments and government contractors, as well as through an international network of authorized independent sales representatives. In addition, our inertial navigation products are used in numerous commercial products, such as navigation and positioning systems for various applications including precision mapping, dynamic surveying, autonomous vehicles, train location control and track geometry measurement systems, industrial robotics and optical stabilization. Our inertial navigation service sales include engineering services provided under development contracts, product repairs and extended warranty sales.
Summary of Net Sales
The following table provides, for the periods indicated, our sales by segment for our continuing operations:
Year Ended December 31,
2020 2019
(in thousands)
Mobile connectivity (1)
$ 119,453 $ 122,015
Inertial navigation 39,280 35,878
Net sales $ 158,733 $ 157,893
(1)- Mobile connectivity net sales for 2019 include a $1.4 million favorable adjustment to correct an immaterial prior period accounting error related to the implementation and application of ASC 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (ASC 606). See Note 11 of our consolidated financial statements for more information.
Product sales within the mobile connectivity segment accounted for 18% and 20% of our consolidated net sales for 2020 and 2019, respectively. Sales of mini-VSAT Broadband airtime service accounted for 51% and 48% of our consolidated net sales for 2020 and 2019, respectively.
Within our inertial navigation segment, net sales of FOG-based guidance and navigation systems accounted for 16% of our consolidated net sales for both 2020 and 2019.
No other single product class accounted for 10% or more of consolidated net sales. No individual customer accounted for 10% or more of our consolidated net sales for 2020 or 2019.
We operate in a number of major geographic areas across the globe. We generate our international net sales, based upon customer location, primarily from customers located in Canada, Europe, Africa, Asia/Pacific, the Middle East, and India. Our international net sales totaled 64% and 54% of our consolidated net sales for 2020 and 2019, respectively. No individual foreign country represented 10% or more of our consolidated net sales for 2020 and 2019. See Note 12 to our consolidated financial statements for more information on our segments.
Customer-Funded Research and Development
In addition to our internally funded research and development efforts, we also conduct research and development activities that are funded by our customers. These activities relate primarily to engineering studies, surveys, prototype development, program management, and standard product customization. In accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, we account for customer-funded research as service revenue, and we account for the associated research and development costs as costs of service and product sales. As a result, customer-funded research and development are not included in the research and development expense that we present in our statement of operations. The following table presents our total annual research and development effort, representing the sum of research costs of service and product sales and the operating expense of research and development as described in our statement of operations. Our management believes this information is useful because it provides a better understanding of our total expenditures on research and development activities.
Year Ended December 31,
2020 2019
(in thousands)
Research and development expense presented in the statement of operations $ 15,799 $ 15,926
Costs of customer-funded research and development included in costs of service sales 2,935 4,373
Total consolidated statements of operations expenditures on research and development activities $ 18,734 $ 20,299
Results of Operations
The following table provides, for the periods indicated, certain financial data relating to our continuing operations expressed as a percentage of net sales:
Year Ended December 31,
2020 2019 (1)
Sales:
Product 40.7 % 39.2 %
Service 59.3 60.8
Net sales 100.0 100.0
Costs and expenses:
Costs of product sales 26.2 27.2
Costs of service sales 37.5 38.8
Research and development 10.0 10.1
Sales, marketing and support 18.8 21.2
General and administrative 15.4 16.1
Goodwill impairment charge 5.5 -
Intangible asset impairment charge 1.1 -
Total costs and expenses 114.5 113.4
Loss from operations (14.5) (13.4)
Interest income 0.6 1.3
Interest expense - 0.6
Other income, net 0.1 0.1
Loss from continuing operations before income taxes expense (benefit) (13.8) (12.6)
Income tax expense (benefit) from continuing operations 0.1 (2.5)
Net loss from continuing operations (13.9) % (10.1) %
(1) Our product sales, costs of product sales, sales, marketing and support expense, income tax benefit and net loss from continuing operations for 2019 presented as a percentage of net sales include adjustments to correct immaterial prior period accounting errors related to the implementation and application of ASC 606. See Note 11 of our consolidated financial statements for more information.
Years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019
Net Sales
As discussed further under the heading "Segment Discussion" below, product sales increased $2.7 million, or 4%, to $64.6 million in 2020 from $61.9 million in 2019, primarily due to an increase in inertial navigation product sales of $6.5 million, partially offset by a decrease in mobile connectivity product sales of $3.8 million. Service sales for 2020 decreased $1.9 million, or 2%, to $94.1 million from $96.0 million in 2019 primarily due to a decrease in inertial navigation service sales of $3.1 million, partially offset by an increase in mobile connectivity service sales of $1.2 million.
Costs of Sales
Costs of sales consists of costs of product sales and costs of service sales. Costs of sales decreased in 2020 to $101.1 million from $104.1 million in 2019. The decrease in costs of sales was primarily driven by a $1.7 million decrease in costs of service sales and a $1.3 million decrease in costs of product sales. As a percentage of net sales, costs of sales was 64% and 66% for 2020 and 2019, respectively.
Our costs of product sales consist primarily of materials, manufacturing overhead, and direct labor used to produce our products. For 2020, costs of product sales decreased by $1.3 million, or 3%, to $41.6 million from $42.9 million in 2019. As a percentage of product sales, costs of product sales were 64% and 69% for 2020 and 2019, respectively. Mobile connectivity costs of product sales decreased by $4.4 million, or 17%, primarily due to a $3.8 million decrease in our marine mobile connectivity cost of product sales and a $0.6 million decrease in our land mobile connectivity costs of product sales. Mobile connectivity costs of product sales as a percentage of mobile connectivity product sales were 77% and 82% for 2020 and 2019, respectively. Inertial navigation costs of product sales increased by $3.1 million, or 18%, primarily due to a $1.7 million increase in our TACNAV costs of product sales, a $0.7 million increase in FOG and OEM costs of product sales and a $0.7 million increase in expensed material and other manufacturing period costs. Inertial navigation costs of product sales as a percentage of inertial navigation product sales was 55% and 56% for 2020 and 2019, respectively.
Our costs of service sales consist primarily of satellite service capacity, depreciation, service network overhead expense associated with our mini-VSAT Broadband network infrastructure, direct network service labor, Inmarsat service costs, product installation costs, engineering and related direct costs associated with customer-funded research and development, media materials and distribution costs, and service repair materials. For 2020, costs of service sales decreased by $1.7 million, or 3%, to $59.5 million from $61.3 million in 2019. As a percentage of service sales, costs of service sales were 63% and 64% for 2020 and 2019, respectively. Mobile connectivity costs of service sales decreased by $1.0 million, or 2%, primarily due to a $0.9 million decrease in costs of service sales for service activations, along with a $0.8 million decrease in costs associated with contract engineering service revenue. These decreases were partially offset by a $0.6 million increase in mini-VSAT airtime costs of service sales. Mobile connectivity costs of service sales as a percentage of mobile connectivity service sales were 62% and 63% for 2020 and 2019, respectively. Inertial navigation costs of service sales decreased by $0.8 million, or 20%, primarily due to a decrease in contract engineering service revenues. Inertial navigation costs of service sales as a percentage of inertial navigation service sales was 124% and 70% for 2020 and 2019, respectively. The increase in costs of inertial navigation service sales was due to additional costs relating to an engineering and services development contract from a major U.S. defense contractor.
Operating Expenses
Research and development expense consists of direct labor, materials, external consultants, and related overhead costs that support our internally funded product development and product sustaining engineering activities. Research and development expense for 2020 decreased by $0.1 million, or 1%, to $15.8 million from $15.9 million in 2019. The primary reason for the decrease in research and development expense was a $0.5 million decrease in expensed materials, a $0.4 million decrease in consulting fees, a $0.2 million decrease in travel expenses and a $0.2 million decrease in depreciation and amortization expense, partially offset by a $1.4 million decrease in funded engineering expenses (which are reflected in costs of service sales rather than research and development expense). As a percentage of net sales, research and development expense was 10% in both 2020 and 2019.
Sales, marketing, and support expense consists primarily of salaries and related expenses for sales and marketing personnel, commissions for both in-house and third-party representatives, costs related to the co-development of certain content, other sales and marketing support costs such as advertising, literature and promotional materials, product service personnel and support costs, warranty-related costs and bad debt expense. Sales, marketing and support expense also includes the operating expenses of our sales office subsidiaries in Denmark, Singapore, Brazil, and Japan. Sales, marketing, and support expense decreased by $3.6 million, or 11%, to $29.8 million in 2020 from $33.4 million in 2019. The decrease in sales, marketing and support expense resulted primarily from a $1.2 million decrease in travel expenses, a $1.1 million decrease in warranty expenses, a $1.0 million decrease in marketing expenses, a $0.9 million decrease in external commission expenses and a $0.4 million decrease in salaries and associated compensation, partially offset by a $0.5 million increase in bad debt and a $0.3 million decrease in funded expenses. A portion of these cost savings were attributable to pandemic-related travel restrictions and other measures, and we expect that these expenses will begin to normalize as the pandemic recovery progresses. As a percentage of net sales, sales, marketing and support expense was 19% and 21% in 2020 and 2019, respectively.
General and administrative expense consists of costs attributable to management, finance and accounting, information technology, human resources, certain outside professional services, and other administrative costs. General and administrative expense for 2020 decreased by $1.0 million, or 4%, to $24.4 million from $25.5 million for 2019. The decrease in general and administrative expense resulted primarily from a $0.5 million decrease in salaries and associated compensation, a $0.2 million decrease in bank fees, a $0.2 million decrease in dues and subscriptions and a $0.2 million decrease in travel expenses, partially offset by a $0.2 million increase in legal and professional fees. As a percentage of net sales, general and administrative expense was 15% and 16% for 2020 and 2019, respectively.
Interest and Other Income, Net
Interest income relates to interest earned on our cash and cash equivalents, as well as from investments and our sale-type lease receivables. Interest income decreased by $1.0 million to $1.0 million from $2.0 million for 2019. The decrease was primarily due to the interest received from Oakley Capital in connection with our sale of Videotel in 2019. Interest expense for 2020 decreased to less than $0.1 million from $1.0 million for 2019 primarily as a result of our repayment of all of our interest-bearing debt obligations during 2019. Other income, net for 2020 increased to $0.2 million from other income, net of $0.1 million for 2019 primarily due to a decrease in foreign exchange losses from our UK operations.
Income Tax Expense (Benefit)
Income tax expense for 2020 was $0.2 million due to taxes related to income earned in foreign jurisdictions and no associated tax benefit related to losses incurred in the U.S. due to a full valuation allowance on our related deferred tax assets. Income tax benefit for 2019 was $4.0 million which was primarily attributed to the recognition of the tax benefit sustained from losses on continuing operations in the U.S. which was required to negate the tax expense incurred under discontinued operations.
The effective tax rate for 2020 was (0.8)%. The primary driver of the difference between our effective tax rate as compared to the United States federal statutory rate was the impact of recording the valuation reserve against the U.S. deferred tax assets, which was partially offset by income taxed at lower foreign tax rates. The effective income tax rate of 20.0% for 2019 differs from the U.S. federal statutory rate due to the impact of recording a net valuation reserve on the tax benefit generated on U.S. net operating losses and tax credits, as well as the income from discontinued operations. This impact was offset by income taxed at lower foreign tax rates.
Discontinued Operations
During the second quarter of 2019, we sold our Videotel business for $89.4 million in cash, on a cash-free, debt-free basis, subject to a working capital adjustment. We determined that the sale met the requirements for reporting as discontinued operations in accordance with ASC 205-20. Accordingly, we have classified the results of the Videotel business as discontinued operations for all periods presented. In December 2019, we finalized the working capital adjustment, which reduced the proceeds from the sale of Videotel to $88.4 million. Please see Notes 1 and 18 of our consolidated financial statements for further information. Results for discontinued operations are as follows:
Year Ended
December 31,
2020 2019
Sales from discontinued operations $ - $ 5,769
Income from discontinued operations, net of tax $ - $ 49,264
Segment Discussion - Years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019
As noted above, we have classified our Videotel business as discontinued operations and have therefore excluded it from the segment information below. The Videotel business had previously been included in our mobile connectivity business segment.
Our net sales by segment for 2020 and 2019 were as follows:
Change
For the year ended December 31, 2020 vs. 2019
2020 2019 $ %
(dollars in thousands)
Mobile connectivity sales
Product (1)
$ 27,863 $ 31,623 $ (3,760) (12) %
Service 91,590 90,392 1,198 1 %
Net sales $ 119,453 $ 122,015 $ (2,562) (2) %
Inertial navigation sales
Product $ 36,756 $ 30,302 $ 6,454 21 %
Service 2,524 5,576 (3,052) (55) %
Net sales $ 39,280 $ 35,878 $ 3,402 9 %
(1) Mobile connectivity product sales for 2019 include a $1.4 million favorable adjustment to correct an immaterial prior period accounting error related to the implementation and application of ASC 606. See Note 11 of our consolidated financial statements for more information.
Operating (loss) income by segment for 2020 and 2019 were as follows:
Change
For the year ended December 31, 2020 vs. 2019
2020 2019 $ %
(dollars in thousands)
Mobile connectivity (1)(2)
$ (10,071) $ (5,569) $ (4,502) (81) %
Inertial navigation 4,799 2,961 1,838 62 %
$ (5,272) $ (2,608) $ (2,664) (102) %
Unallocated (17,665) (18,488) 823 4 %
Loss from operations $ (22,937) $ (21,096) $ (1,841) (9) %
(1) Mobile connectivity loss from operations for 2019 include a $0.3 million unfavorable adjustment to correct an immaterial prior period accounting error related to the implementation and application of ASC 606. See Note 11 of our consolidated financial statements for more information.
(2) Mobile connectivity loss from operations for 2020 includes a $10.5 million goodwill and intangible asset impairment charge. See Note 1(k) and Note 9 for more information.
Mobile Connectivity Segment
Net sales in the mobile connectivity segment decreased by $2.6 million, or 2%, in 2020 as compared to 2019. Mobile connectivity product sales decreased by $3.8 million, or 12%, to $27.9 million in 2020 from $31.6 million in 2019. The decrease was primarily the result of a $3.0 million decrease in TracVision product sales, a $0.8 million decrease in land mobile product sales and a $0.3 million decrease in product sales of accessories. This was partially offset by a $0.4 million increase in mini-VSAT product sales.
Mobile connectivity service sales increased by $1.2 million, or 1%, to $91.6 million in 2020 from $90.4 million in 2019. The increase was primarily due to a $5.0 million increase in mini-VSAT service sales, driven by a 4% increase in subscribers, primarily as a result of AgilePlans, and a $0.9 million one-time amount relating to a favorable resolution of a contractual matter with a particular customer. Offsetting this increase was a $2.7 million decrease in our content service sales, which resulted primarily from service suspensions during the pandemic, a $0.7 million decrease in contracted engineering service revenue and a $0.4 million decrease in service repair revenue.
Operating earnings for the mobile connectivity segment decreased $4.5 million in 2020 as compared to 2019. This decrease was primarily due to the impairment of goodwill and other intangible assets of $10.5 million in 2020 in KVH Media Group. This decrease was partially offset by an increase in sales less associated costs of $2.8 million, combined with a decrease in mobile connectivity operating expenses, excluding impairment, of $3.2 million in 2020. The decrease in operating expenses was due to a $1.1 million decrease in travel expenses, a $0.9 million decrease in employee salaries and benefits, a $0.9 million decrease in marketing expenses, a $0.8 million decrease in warranty expenses and a $0.3 million decrease in expensed materials, partially offset by a $0.6 million increase in bad debt expense.
Inertial Navigation Segment
Net sales in the inertial navigation segment increased $3.4 million, or 9%, in 2020 as compared to 2019. Inertial navigation product sales increased $6.5 million, or 21%, to $36.8 million in 2020 from $30.3 million in 2019. The primary driver of the increase was a $6.1 million, or 125%, increase in TACNAV product sales, along with an increase of $0.3 million, or 1%, of sales of our FOG and OEM products. Inertial navigation service sales decreased $3.1 million, or 55%, to $2.5 million in 2020 from $5.6 million in 2019. The primary reason for the decrease was a $3.1 million, or 61%, decrease in contracted engineering service revenues.
Operating earnings for the inertial navigation segment increased $1.8 million in 2020 as compared to 2019. This increase was primarily due to the increase in sales less associated costs of $1.1 million, a $0.7 million decrease in external commissions, a $0.4 million decrease in travel expenses and a $0.3 million decrease in warranty expenses. This was partially offset by a $0.6 million increase in salaries and associated compensation and a $0.5 million decrease in funded engineering expenses.
Unallocated
Certain corporate-level costs have not been allocated because they are not attributable to either segment. These costs primarily consist of broad corporate functions, including executive, legal, finance, information technology, and costs associated with corporate actions.
Unallocated operating loss decreased $0.8 million, or 4%, in 2020 compared to 2019. The decrease in unallocated operating loss was primarily the result of a $0.5 million decrease in salaries and associated compensation and a $0.3 million decrease in bank fees.
Critical Accounting Policies and Significant Estimates
The discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations are based upon our consolidated financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States. The preparation of these financial statements requires us to make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, revenues and expenses, and related disclosure at the date of our financial statements. Our significant accounting policies are summarized in Note 1 to our consolidated financial statements. We believe that our accounting policies for goodwill, intangible assets, and other long-lived assets are the only accounting policies critical to an understanding and evaluation of our financial results for 2020, as discussed below.
Goodwill, Intangible Assets, and other Long-Lived Assets
We follow ASC Update No. 2017-04, Intangibles-Goodwill and Other (Topic 350): Simplifying the Test of Goodwill Impairment. ASC 350 requires the completion of a goodwill impairment test at least annually based on either an optional qualitative assessment or a quantitative analysis comparing the estimated fair value of a reporting unit to its carrying value as of the test date. Any impairment charges would be based on the quantitative analysis. Prior to 2020, we have not recorded or incurred goodwill impairment charges.
For the October 1, 2019 test, we performed a qualitative assessment of goodwill impairment and concluded that it was more likely than not that the reporting units’ fair values exceeded their carrying values. Accordingly, it was not necessary for us to perform the quantitative analysis.
For the October 1, 2020 test, however, due to the uncertainty that the global pandemic presented during 2020, we determined that we should perform a quantitative analysis of goodwill impairment. We performed this full quantitative analysis in the fourth quarter of 2020 in conjunction with our annual budgeting and long-term planning cycle. The last full quantitative analysis was completed in 2017. The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted various aspects of our operations, and we have been monitoring the impact of this global crisis carefully throughout the year. We have particularly monitored the operations of KVH Media Group which depends heavily on travel and travel-related industries. The revenues and cash flows of KVH Media Group have been significantly impacted by the global reduction in travel since the start of the pandemic. Prior to our annual impairment test in the fourth quarter of 2020, based on our quarterly review of the impact of this global crisis on our forecasted revenues and cash flows, there was no indication of impairment to the carrying value of goodwill or other intangible assets. However, in the fourth quarter of 2020, there were increases in the number of reported COVID-19 cases, and substantial shutdowns were reinstated in the United States, UK and Europe, which caused continued disruptions to our KVH Media Group business as the global travel and related industries remained at historically depressed levels. In response to the impact of the pandemic, particularly with respect to our KVH Media Group business, during our annual budgeting and long-term planning process, we conducted detailed discussions with many of our largest customers in the KVH Media Group to validate our assumptions, which indicated further expected delays in recovery, and certain areas of the KVH Media Group business that may not recover completely or at all. Accordingly, in connection with our annual goodwill assessment, we updated our long-term revenue and cash flow forecast to reflect these most recent observations, which were used in our annual goodwill test. With the assistance of our valuation specialists, we utilized an income approach and market approach to estimate the fair value of our reporting units. We believe that the assumptions we used to estimate the fair value of our reporting units were reasonable. As an additional corroborative test of the reasonableness of those assumptions, we completed a reconciliation of our market capitalization and overall enterprise value to the fair value of all of our reporting units as of October 1, 2020. We estimated that, as of October 1, 2020, the fair value of our mobile broadband reporting unit exceeded its carrying value by 18%; however, the carrying value of our KVH Media Group reporting unit exceeded its fair value by $10.2 million, which signified that an impairment had occurred and identified a triggering event to review our other long-lived assets for impairment. In accordance with ASC 360-10, Property, Plant and Equipment - Impairment or Disposal of Long-Lived Assets (ASC 360), with regard to our long-lived assets, we performed an undiscounted cash flow analysis and concluded that the carrying value of the asset group was not recoverable. Accordingly, we then performed an analysis to estimate the fair value of the other long-lived assets and recognized impairment charge of $1.8 million against the distribution rights intangible asset, the amount by which the carrying value of the asset group’s other long-lived assets exceeded their estimated fair value, and a reduction in the associated deferred tax liability of $0.3 million. As a result, we recognized an impairment charge to KVH Media Group’s goodwill in the amount of $8.7 million, the remaining amount by which the carrying value exceeded its fair value. After recording this impairment, our consolidated balance sheet continues to include $8.8 million of goodwill and other intangible assets, of which $4.4 million relates to KVH Media Group.
A negative trend of operating results or material changes to forecasted operating results could result in the requirement for additional interim goodwill impairment tests and the potential of future goodwill impairment charges, which could be material. See Note 9 for further discussion of goodwill and intangible assets.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Our primary liquidity needs have been to fund general business requirements, including working capital requirements, capital expenditures, and, until recently, interest payments and debt repayments. In recent years, we have funded our operations primarily from cash flows from operations, an asset sale, bank financings, proceeds received from exercises of stock options and proceeds from the issuance of stock.
In May 2020, we received a $6.9 million loan (the PPP Loan) from Bank of America, N.A. under the Paycheck Protection Program, which was established under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act.
We believe that our cash and cash equivalents as of December 31, 2020 and our estimated cash flows from operations will be sufficient to fund our operations, anticipated capital expenditures, and debt repayment obligations through at least the next twelve months based on our current operating plans. However, as the need or opportunity arises, we may seek to raise additional capital through public or private sales of securities or through additional debt financing. There are no assurances that we will be able to obtain any additional funding or that such funding will be available on terms acceptable to us, or at all.
We believe that our primary long-term capital requirements relate to servicing and repaying our satellite service capacity and equipment lease obligations. At December 31, 2020, we had $6.9 million of outstanding debt obligations related to the PPP loan and had outstanding non-cancellable satellite service capacity and other lease obligations with future minimum payments of $88.1 million.
Our ability to make payments on our satellite service capacity and equipment lease obligations, as well as our ability to fund planned capital expenditures, will depend on our ability to generate cash in the future. Our ability to generate cash in the future will depend upon, among other things, the performance of our operating segments and general economic, financial, competitive, legislative, regulatory and other factors that are beyond our control.
As of December 31, 2020, we had $37.7 million in cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities, of which $1.8 million in cash equivalents was held in local currencies by our foreign subsidiaries. Our foreign subsidiaries held no marketable securities as of December 31, 2020. As of December 31, 2020, we had $60.3 million in working capital.
Operating Activities
Operating activities used $3.1 million of net cash in 2020 and used $14.2 million of net cash in 2019, a decrease in net cash used in operating activities of $11.1 million. Although our net income decreased $55.2 million to a net loss of $21.9 million in 2020 from net income of $33.3 million in 2019, our net loss in 2020 reflected non-cash deductions of $26.5 million, whereas our net income in 2019 reflected net non-cash additions of $37.7 million. The $11.1 million decrease in net cash used in operating activities also reflected a $3.2 million increase in cash inflows relating to accounts receivable, a $2.2 million decrease in cash outflows related to accrued compensation, product warranty, and others, and a $0.6 million decrease in cash outflows related to other non-current assets and non-current contract assets. Partially offsetting these items were a $2.0 million decrease in cash inflows related to deferred revenue, contract liabilities and long-term contract liabilities, a $1.4 million increase in cash outflows related to accounts payable, and a $0.7 million increase in cash outflows related to inventories.
Investing Activities
Net cash used in investing activities for 2020 was $9.3 million as compared to net cash provided by investing activities of $46.0 million for 2019. The $55.3 million decrease in net cash provided by investing activities was primarily the result of the receipt of $88.4 million in net proceeds from the sale of Videotel in May 2019 and a $1.5 million increase in capital expenditures. Partially offsetting these items was a $34.6 million decrease in cash outflows relating to the purchase and sale of marketable securities.
Financing Activities
Net cash provided by financing activities for 2020 was $7.1 million as compared to net cash used in financing activities in 2019 of $30.8 million. The $37.9 million increase in net cash provided by financing activities is primarily attributable to the $36.4 million difference between cash inflows of $6.9 million from long-term debt in 2020 compared to net cash outflows of $29.5 million from the repayment of line of credit, term note and other long-term borrowings in 2019, a $0.9 million decrease in cash outflows relating to the repurchase of treasury stock and a $0.5 million increase in cash inflows relating to proceeds from stock options exercises and the employee stock purchase plan.
Borrowing Arrangements
Paycheck Protection Program Loan
In May 2020, we received a $6.9 million loan (the PPP Loan) from Bank of America, N.A., under the Paycheck Protection Program, which was established under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (as modified by the Paycheck Protection Flexibility Act of 2020, the CARES Act) and is administered by the U.S. Small Business Administration. We believe we have used the proceeds from the PPP Loan in accordance with the requirements of the CARES Act, primarily to fund payroll costs and to retain workers.
The term of the PPP Loan is two years from the funding date of the PPP Loan. The interest rate on the PPP Loan is 1.00%. Under the terms of the PPP Loan, interest accrues from the funding date of the PPP Loan but is deferred until the lender determines the amount of loan forgiveness, but the deferral period will end if we fail to apply for loan forgiveness within ten months after the loan forgiveness covered period. Principal and interest on the PPP Loan will be payable in monthly installments in accordance with the repayment letter when forgiveness has been determined. The promissory note evidencing the PPP Loan contains various events of default relating to, among other things, insolvency, bankruptcy or the like, payment defaults under the PPP Loan or other loans by the lender, certain defaults under other indebtedness, breach of representations and warranties, the occurrence of a material adverse event, changes in ownership, or breach of other provisions of the promissory note. Upon an event of default, all principal and accrued interest on the PPP Loan and any and all other loans made by the lender to us would, at the lender’s option, become immediately due and payable. We agreed that we will not receive any other loan under the Paycheck Protection Program.
Pursuant to the terms of the CARES Act, we can apply for and may be granted forgiveness for all or a portion of the PPP Loan, if and to the extent that we satisfy all of the requirements applicable to forgiveness of the PPP Loan. Such forgiveness will be determined in part based on the use of PPP Loan proceeds in accordance with the terms of the CARES Act during the 24-week period after loan origination and the maintenance or achievement of certain employee and compensation levels. No decision has been made as to whether we will apply for forgiveness and we can provide no assurance that all or any portion of the PPP Loan will be forgiven should we apply for forgiveness.
Term Note and Line of Credit
Effective October 30, 2018, we entered into an amended and restated three-year senior secured credit facility agreement (the 2018 Credit Agreement) with Bank of America, N.A., as Administrative Agent, and the lenders named from time to time as parties thereto (the 2018 Lenders), for an aggregate amount of up to $42.5 million, including a term loan (2018 Term Loan) of $22.5 million and a reducing revolving credit facility (the 2018 Revolver) of up to $20.0 million initially and reducing to $15.0 million on December 31, 2019, each to be used for general corporate purposes, including the refinancing of indebtedness under our then-outstanding senior credit facility agreement. Our obligations under the 2018 Credit Agreement are secured by substantially all of our assets and the pledge of equity interests in certain of our subsidiaries.
On June 27, 2019, we used the proceeds of the sale of Videotel to repay in full the then-outstanding balance of $21.4 million under the 2018 Term Loan and to repay $13.0 million of the then-outstanding balance under the 2018 Revolver. The 2018 Revolver remained at $20.0 million through December 31, 2019 and then reduced to $15.0 million for the remaining term of the 2018 Credit Agreement. On October 30, 2021, the entire principal balance of any outstanding loans under the 2018 Revolver will be due and payable, together with all accrued and unpaid interest, fees and any other amounts due and payable under the 2018 Credit Agreement. As of December 31, 2020, no amounts were outstanding under the 2018 Revolver.
Borrowings of up to $15.0 million under the 2018 Revolver are subject to the satisfaction of various conditions precedent at the time of each borrowing, including the continued accuracy of our representations and warranties and the absence of any default under the 2018 Credit Agreement. As of December 31, 2020, we are only able to draw on $9.4 million of the $15.0 million facility due to covenant restrictions.
The 2018 Credit Agreement contains two financial covenants, a maximum Consolidated Leverage Ratio and a minimum Consolidated Fixed Charge Coverage Ratio, each as defined in the 2018 Credit Agreement. The Consolidated Leverage Ratio could not exceed 2.50:1.00 through December 31, 2019 and may not exceed 2.00:1.00 after December 31, 2020. The Consolidated Fixed Charge Coverage Ratio may not be less than 1.25:1.00.
On July 30, 2020, we amended the 2018 Credit Agreement to reflect the incurrence of the PPP loan. Under the amended agreement, the principal and interest on the PPP loan are not included in the maximum Consolidated Leverage Ratio or the minimum Consolidated Fixed Charge Coverage Ratio calculations except as to any portion of the PPP Loan that is not ultimately forgiven.
The 2018 Credit Agreement imposes certain other affirmative and negative covenants, including without limitation covenants with respect to the payment of taxes and other obligations, compliance with laws, performance of material contracts, creation of liens, incurrence of indebtedness, investments, dispositions, fundamental changes, restricted payments, changes in the nature of our business, transactions with affiliates, corporate and accounting changes, and sale and leaseback arrangements.
Mortgage Loan
We previously had a mortgage loan (Mortgage Loan) related to our headquarters facility in Middletown, Rhode Island. On April 1, 2019, on the Mortgage Loan’s original termination date, we repaid in full the outstanding balance of $2.6 million. As discussed in Note 17 to the consolidated interim financial statements, in April 2010 we entered into two interest rate swap agreements that were intended to hedge our mortgage interest obligations over the term of the Mortgage Loan by fixing the interest rates specified in the Mortgage Loan to 5.91% for half of the principal amount outstanding as of April 1, 2010 and 6.07% for the remaining half. Both interest rate swap agreements were also settled upon repayment of the Mortgage Loan.
Other Matters
We intend to continue to invest in the mini-VSAT Broadband network on a global basis. As part of the future potential capacity expansion, we would plan to seek to acquire additional satellite capacity from satellite operators, expend funds to seek regulatory approvals and permits, develop product enhancements in anticipation of the expansion, and hire additional personnel. From time to time we have entered into multi-year agreements to lease satellite capacity, and we have also purchased numerous satellite hubs to support the added capacity. These transactions can involve millions of dollars, and from time to time we have entered into secured lending arrangements to finance them.
On October 4, 2019, our Board of Directors authorized a share repurchase program pursuant to which we were authorized to purchase up to one million shares of our common stock. The program expired on October 4, 2020. Under the repurchase program, at management’s discretion, we were authorized to repurchase shares on the open market from time to time, in privately negotiated transactions or block transactions, or through an accelerated repurchase agreement. As of December 31, 2020, we had repurchased 150,272 shares of our common stock in open market transactions at a cost of approximately $1.7 million.
Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements
As of December 31, 2020, except for certain satellite service capacity obligations that are not considered operating or financing leases under ASC 842, we did not have any off-balance sheet arrangements that have or are reasonably likely to have a current or future material effect on our financial condition, changes in financial condition, revenues, expenses, results of operations, liquidity, capital expenditures or capital resources. Please see Note 6 for additional information on our satellite service capacity obligations.
Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements
See Note 1 of our accompanying audited consolidated financial statements for a description of recently issued accounting pronouncements including the dates of adoption and effects on our results of operations, financial position and disclosures.

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ITEM 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK
ITEM 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosure About Market Risk
Not applicable.

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ITEM 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA
ITEM 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data
Our consolidated financial statements, together with the report of Grant Thornton LLP thereon, our independent registered public accounting firm, are presented after the signature page to this annual report. The report of Grant Thornton LLP on our internal control over financial reporting is included in Item 9A of this annual report.

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ITEM 9. CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS
ITEM 9. Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure
None.

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ITEM 9A. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES
ITEM 9A. Controls and Procedures
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
We maintain disclosure controls and procedures, as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, which are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in the reports that we file or submit under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the Securities and Exchange Commission's rules and forms and that such information is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.
Under the supervision and with the participation of our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, our management has evaluated the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures as of December 31, 2020, the end of the period covered by this annual report. Based on that evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were effective as of December 31, 2020.
Management's Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting
Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting. Our internal control over financial reporting is the process designed by and under the supervision of our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of our financial reporting and the preparation of our financial statements for external reporting in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. Management has evaluated the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting using the criteria set forth by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) in Internal Control-Integrated Framework (2013).
Under the supervision and with the participation of our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, our management has assessed the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2020 and concluded that it was effective.
Our independent registered public accounting firm, Grant Thornton LLP, has issued a report regarding the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2020, and that report is included in Item 9A in this annual report.
Evaluation of Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting
Under the supervision and with the participation of our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, our management has evaluated changes in our internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the fourth quarter of 2020. Based on that evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer did not identify any change in our internal control over financial reporting that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.
Important Considerations
The effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures and our internal control over financial reporting is subject to various inherent limitations, including cost limitations, judgments used in decision making, assumptions about the likelihood of future events, the soundness of our systems, the possibility of human error, and the risk of fraud. Moreover, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions and the risk that the degree of compliance with policies or procedures may deteriorate over time. Because of these limitations, there can be no assurance that any system of disclosure controls and procedures or internal control over financial reporting will be successful in preventing all errors or fraud or in making all material information known in a timely manner to the appropriate levels of management.
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
Board of Directors and Stockholders
KVH Industries, Inc.
Opinion on internal control over financial reporting
We have audited the internal control over financial reporting of KVH Industries, Inc. (a Delaware corporation) and subsidiaries (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2020, based on criteria established in the 2013 Internal Control-Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (“COSO”). In our opinion, the Company maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2020, based on criteria established in the 2013 Internal Control-Integrated Framework issued by COSO.
We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“PCAOB”), the consolidated financial statements of the Company as of and for the year ended December 31, 2020, and our report dated March 3, 2021 expressed an unqualified opinion on those financial statements.
Basis for opinion
The Company’s management is responsible for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting, included in the accompanying Management’s Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting based on our audit. We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects. Our audit included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk, and performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.
Definition and limitations of internal control over financial reporting
A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company’s internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company’s assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.
/s/ GRANT THORNTON LLP
Boston, Massachusetts
March 3, 2021

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ITEM 9B. OTHER INFORMATION
ITEM 9B. Other Information
None.
PART III
We have omitted the information required in Part III of this annual report because we intend to include that information in our definitive proxy statement for our 2021 annual meeting of stockholders, which we expect to file before 120 days after the end of fiscal 2020. We incorporate the information required in Part III of this annual report by reference to our 2021 proxy statement.

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ITEM 10. DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
ITEM 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance
Except as set forth below, the information required by this item is incorporated by reference to our 2021 proxy statement.
Our Board of Directors has adopted a Code of Business Conduct and Ethics that applies to our directors, executive officers and employees. Our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics can be found on our website, which is located at www.kvh.com. We intend to make all required disclosures concerning any amendments to or waivers from, our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics on our website. Any person may request a copy of the Code of Business Conduct and Ethics, at no cost, by writing to us at the following address: KVH Industries, Inc., 50 Enterprise Center, Middletown, Rhode Island, 02842, Attention: Investor Relations.

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ITEM 11. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION
ITEM 11. Executive Compensation
The information required by this item is incorporated by reference to our 2021 proxy statement.

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ITEM 12. SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS
ITEM 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters
The information required by this item is incorporated by reference to our 2021 proxy statement.

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ITEM 13. CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS
ITEM 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions and Director Independence
The information required by this item is incorporated by reference to our 2021 proxy statement.

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ITEM 14. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTING FEES AND SERVICES
ITEM 14. Principal Accountant Fees and Services
The information required by this item is incorporated by reference to our 2021 proxy statement.
PART IV

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ITEM 15. EXHIBITS, FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES
ITEM 15. Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules
Page
(a) 1. Financial Statements
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
Consolidated Balance Sheets as of December 31, 2020 and 2019
Consolidated Statements of Operations for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019
Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive (Loss) Income for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019
Consolidated Statements of Stockholders’ Equity for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements
(a) 2. Financial Statement Schedules
None.
3. Exhibits
Exhibit No. Description Filed with
this Form
10-K Incorporated by Reference
Form Filing Date Exhibit No.
2.1
Share Purchase Agreement dated as of May 13, 2019 among KVH Industries, Inc., KVH Media Group Limited and Pelican Holdco Limited relating to the sale of the entire issued share capital of Super Dragon Limited and Videotel Marine Asia Limited 8-K May 16, 2019 2.1
2.2
Tax Deed of Covenant dated as of May 13, 2019 among KVH Industries, Inc., KVH Media Group Limited and Pelican Holdco Limited relating to the sale of the entire issued share capital of Super Dragon Limited and Videotel Marine Asia Limited 8-K May 16, 2019 2.2
3.1
Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation, as amended 10-Q August 6,
2010 3.1
3.2
Amended and Restated Bylaws 10-Q November 1, 2017 3.2
4.1
Specimen certificate for the common stock 10-K March 2, 2018 4.1
4.2
Description of Capital Stock 8-K August 4, 2020 4.1
*10.1
Amended and Restated 1996 Employee Stock Purchase Plan DEF 14A April 25, 2016 App. B
*10.2
Amended and Restated 2016 Equity and Incentive Plan
DEF 14A April 29, 2020 App. A
*10.3
Form of Incentive Stock Option Agreement granted under the 2016 Equity and Incentive Plan 10-K March 9, 2017 10.5
*10.4
Form of Non-Statutory Stock Option Agreement granted under the 2016 Equity and Incentive Plan 10-K March 9, 2017 10.6
*10.5
Form of Restricted Stock Agreement granted under the 2016 Equity and Incentive Plan 10-K March 9, 2017 10.7
*10.6
Policy Regarding Automatic Grants to Non-Employee Directors 10-Q May 6, 2009 10.23
Exhibit No. Description Filed with
this Form
10-K Incorporated by Reference
Form Filing Date Exhibit No.
10.7
Amended and Restated Credit Agreement dated as of October 30, 2018 among KVH Industries, Inc., Bank of America, N.A., as Administrative Agent, Swingline Lender and L/C Issuer, and the Lenders party hereto 10-Q October 31, 2018 10.1
10.8
Amended and Restated Security Agreement dated as of October 30, 2018 between KVH Industries, Inc. and Bank of America, N.A., as Administrative Agent 10-Q October 31, 2018 10.2
10.9
Amended and Restated Pledge Agreement dated as of October 30, 2018 between KVH Industries, Inc. and Bank of America, N.A., as Administrative Agent with respect to KVH Industries A/S 10-Q October 31, 2018 10.3
10.10
Amended and Restated Pledge Agreement dated as of October 30, 2018 between KVH Industries, Inc. and Bank of America, N.A., as Administrative Agent with respect to KVH Industries U.K. Limited 10-Q October 31, 2018 10.4
10.11
Consent dated as of May 13, 2019 among KVH Industries, Inc., as Borrower, Bank of America, N.A., as Lender and Administrative Agent, and The Washington Trust Company, as Lender, under the Amended and Restated Credit Agreement dated as of October 30, 2018 among such parties 8-K May 16, 2019 10.4
10.12
First Amendment to Amended and Restated Credit Agreement as of July 30, 2020 by and among KVH Industries, Inc., Bank of America, N.A., and The Washington Trust Company
10-Q
July 31, 2020 10.3
10.13
Cooperation Agreement, dated as of April 8, 2020, by and among KVH Industries, Inc., Vintage Capital Management, LLC, and Kahn Capital Management, LLC
8-K April 9, 2020
10.1
10.14
Promissory Note dated as of May 1, 2020 and executed on May 3, 2020 by KVH Industries, Inc., in favor of Bank of America, N.A.
8-K May 6, 2020
10.1
21.1
List of Subsidiaries X
23.1
Consent of Grant Thornton LLP X
31.1
Rule 13a-14(a)/15d-14(a) certification of principal executive officer X
31.2
Rule 13a-14(a)/15d-14(a) certification of principal financial officer X
32.1
Rule 1350 certification X
101.1 Interactive Data File regarding (a) our Consolidated Balance Sheets as of December 31, 2020 and 2019, (b) our Consolidated Statements of Operations for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, (c) our Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive (Loss) Income for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, (d) our Consolidated Statements of Stockholders' Equity for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, (e) our Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, and (e) the Notes to such Consolidated Financial Statements X
104.1 Cover Page Interactive Data File (embedded within the Inline XBRL document) X
* Management contract or compensatory plan.