Arista Networks Inc
For the period ended Dec 31, 2024. Filed Feb 19, 2025.
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A company's yearly report to the SEC, with audited financial statements. It is the fullest account a company gives of its business, its finances and the risks it sees.
FY2024 · Filed Feb 19, 2025
What changed in Risk Factors?
Read the current filingPrevious report: 10-K
Period ended 2023-12-31; filed 2024-02-13.
0001596532-24-000043
Item 1A. Risk FactorsCurrent report: 10-K
Period ended 2024-12-31; filed 2025-02-19.
0001596532-25-000028
Item 1A. Risk FactorsThe baseline is this issuer’s latest earlier reporting period of the same form that was filed before the current report. A previous 10-Q is a different quarter, not a year-over-year comparison. Amendments are excluded.
Compared 337 previous paragraphs and 348 current paragraphs.
245 unchanged; 91 reworded; 8 added; 1 removed; 0 previous and 4 current paragraphs rearranged.
Tables are not compared: 0 previous and 0 current tables excluded. Dates, whitespace, punctuation and numbering changes are ignored; changes to financial figures remain significant.
A changed paragraph is not evidence that risk increased or decreased. An unchanged paragraph does not establish that risk stayed the same.
Added paragraphs (8)
Current report
•primarily reliant upon a predominant merchant silicon vendor;
Current report
•our inability to fulfill our customers’ orders, the deferral, reduction or cancellation of orders or the delay in shipment of our products;
Current report
•a reduction, or uncertainty in the timing, of orders from our large customers;
Current report
Fiscal 2024 was marked by a year of new product introductions and expanded use cases, particularly in the AI Ethernet market, and we expect this to continue into fiscal 2025. This has resulted in increased customer trials and contracts with acceptance periods, and an increase in the volatility and magnitude of our product deferred revenue balances, which in turn may create variability in our revenue results on a quarterly and annual basis. In addition, if we are not able to satisfy the requirements under customer trials or contracts with acceptance periods, we may be required to accept product returns from our customers, which would prevent us from recognizing revenue on such transactions and may result in the write-down of inventory.
Current report
Because our products are primarily manufactured internationally, the import of our products may be affected by changes in applicable tariffs. Our products are primarily manufactured in Malaysia, Vietnam, and Mexico, and we also procure some of our products directly from China. In February 2025, the U.S. government scheduled 25% tariffs to be imposed on products of Mexican origin. Although subsequent discussions between the President of the United States and the President of Mexico have resulted in an agreement to temporarily defer the effective date for these tariffs, this policy may be reversed at any time. In addition, imports of products manufactured in Malaysia and/or Vietnam may be targeted for U.S. tariff increases in light of the increased trade imbalances between the United States and these countries, which has increased significantly in the past decade as manufacturing operations have increasingly moved to these countries due to strained U.S.-China trade relations. An increase in trade-related costs associated with these imports may impair the profitability of such international production, may strain our suppliers’ ability to provide inputs necessary for the production of these items, and may otherwise affect our manufacturing partners’ ability to provide our products at previously contracted prices. We also may not be able to pass on the full burden of the increase in trade-related costs to our partners and/or customers which could impact our profitability and/or our competitiveness.
Current report
Our products may also be subject to further increased U.S. or international tariffs as a result of the outbreak of and escalation in international trade wars between the U.S., China, Mexico and other countries. In response to the February 2025 U.S. government tariffs scheduled on goods of Canadian, Mexican, and Chinese origin, all three affected countries announced plans to implement retaliatory measures including new tariffs on certain U.S. goods, and, in the case of China, new export controls on certain critical metal items. The U.S. tariffs on Canadian and Mexican origin products and the Canadian and Mexican tariffs on U.S. origin products has been suspended for a period of 30 days pursuant to agreements between the U.S. government and the Canadian and Mexican governments, pending further negotiations between these countries. Such agreements and negotiations may fail and result in the imposition of new trade measures between any or all of these countries and the United States. The February 2025 U.S. government executive orders scheduling the tariff increases on goods of Canadian, Mexican, and Chinese origin also included provisions allowing for further escalation of tariffs in the event affected countries implement retaliatory measures. Such increases could result in the imposition of extreme tariff or non-tariff measures, which may lead to a breakdown in international supply chains due to increased tariff costs and disruptions in the availability of goods.
Current report
Additional changes or threatened changes in U.S. trade measures have affected and may continue to affect trade involving additional countries as well, including Mexico, Canada, Colombia, the United Kingdom, and the member countries of the European Union among others. Each of these measures or threatened measures may instigate reciprocal countermeasures by affected countries, potentially accelerating further increases in trade measures. Such escalations in these trade measures may directly impair our business by increasing trade-related costs or disrupting established supply chains and may indirectly impair our business by causing a negative effect on global economic conditions and financial markets. The ultimate impact of these trade measures is uncertain, and may be affected by various factors, including whether and when such trade measures are implemented, the timing when such measures may become effective, and the amount, scope, or nature of such trade measures.
Current report
•the requirement that a director may be removed from office by our stockholders only for cause and only by the affirmative vote of holders of at least 66 2/3% of the voting power of our capital stock entitled to vote thereon;
Removed paragraphs (1)
Previous report
•greater risk of unexpected changes in tariffs imposed by the U.S. and other countries;
Reworded paragraphs (91)
Previous wording
•failure to successfully carry out new products and service offerings and expand into adjacent markets could adversely impact our business;
Current wording
•failure to successfully carry out new product and service offerings and expand into adjacent markets could adversely impact our business;
Previous wording
•future sales forecasts may be materially inaccurate which could result in incorrect levels of inventory and purchase commitments;
Current wording
•future sales forecasts may materially change, which could result in incorrect levels of inventory and purchase commitments;
Previous wording
•failure to protect or assert our intellectual property rights could harm our competitive position;
Current wording
•failure or inability to protect or assert our intellectual property rights could harm our competitive position;
Previous wording
•risk that our competitors could develop products that are similar to or better than ours because we provide access to our software and selected source code to certain partners.
Current wording
•our competitors could develop products that are similar to or better than ours because we provide access to our software and selected source code to certain partners.
Previous wording
•changes in our income taxes, effective tax rate or new tax laws could adversely affect our results;
Current wording
•changes in our income taxes, effective tax rate or tax laws could adversely affect our results;
Previous wording
•any future decisions to reduce or discontinue repurchasing our common stock pursuant to our stock repurchase programs could cause the market price of our common stock to decline;
Current wording
•any future decisions to reduce or discontinue repurchasing our common stock pursuant to our stock repurchase program could cause the market price of our common stock to decline;
Previous wording
Historically, large purchases by a relatively limited number of customers have accounted for a significant portion of our revenue. We have experienced unpredictability in the timing of orders from these large customers primarily due to the time it takes these customers to evaluate, test, qualify and accept our products, the overall complexity of these large orders and changes in demand patterns specific to these customers, including reductions in or changes in mix of capital expenditures by these customers and the impact of cost reduction and other efficiency efforts by these customers. For example, sales to our end customers Microsoft and Meta Platforms in fiscal 2023 and 2022 collectively represented 39% and 42% of our total revenue, respectively, whereas sales to Microsoft in fiscal 2021 amounted to 15% of our revenue and sales to Meta Platforms in fiscal 2021 represented less than 10% of our revenue. This variability in customer concentration has been linked to the timing of new product deployments, and spending cycles with these customers, and we expect continued variability in our customer concentration and timing of sales on a quarterly and annual basis. In addition, we typically provide pricing discounts to large customers, which reduces gross margins for the period in which such sales occur.
Current wording
Historically, large purchases by a relatively limited number of customers have accounted for a significant portion of our revenue. We have experienced unpredictability in the timing of orders from these large customers primarily due to the time it takes these customers to evaluate, test, qualify and accept our products, the overall complexity of these large orders and changes in demand patterns specific to these customers, including reductions in or changes in mix of capital expenditures by these customers and the impact of cost reduction and other efficiency efforts by these customers. For example, sales to our end customer Microsoft represented 20%, 18% and 16% of our total revenue for the years ended 2024, 2023 and 2022 respectively. And sales to our end customer Meta Platforms represented 15%, 21% and 26% of our total revenue, respectively for the years ended 2024, 2023 and 2022. This variability in customer concentration has been linked to the timing of new product deployments, and spending cycles with these customers, and we expect continued variability in our customer concentration and timing of sales on a quarterly and annual basis. In addition, we typically provide pricing discounts to large customers, which reduces gross margins for the period in which such sales occur.
Previous wording
As a consequence of the concentrated nature of our customer base and their purchasing behavior, our quarterly revenue and results of operations have fluctuated from quarter to quarter and are difficult to estimate. Changes in the business requirements or focus, upgrade cycles, vendor selection, project prioritization, manner in which spending allocations are assigned among multiple vendors based upon specific network roles or projects, financial prospects, lack of growth of our large customers, capital resources and expenditures or purchasing behavior and deceleration in spending of these customers could significantly decrease our sales to such customers or could lead to delays, reductions or cancellations of planned purchases of our products or services. In addition, an increased focus on the deployment of AI enabled solutions by these customers has accelerated the need for advanced technology offerings including some offerings from potential new market entrants. This prioritization of AI related infrastructure investment has come in conjunction with the announcement of various cost reduction measures by such customers, including optimization and increased efficiency in non-AI related capital expenditures. In some instances, such measures have had, and may continue to have, an impact on certain current or future projects and have reduced our visibility to customer demand, increased our risk of excess and obsolescence charges on existing products, and may result in reductions in future demand and negatively impact our revenue, financial condition, business or prospects.
Current wording
As a consequence of the concentrated nature of our customer base and their purchasing behavior, our quarterly revenue and results of operations have fluctuated from quarter to quarter and are difficult to estimate and we expect the fluctuations to continue. Changes in the business requirements or focus, upgrade cycles, vendor selection, project prioritization, manner in which spending allocations are assigned among multiple vendors based upon specific network roles or projects, financial prospects, lack of growth of our large customers, capital resources and expenditures or purchasing behavior and deceleration in spending of these customers could significantly decrease our sales to such customers or could lead to delays, reductions or cancellations of planned purchases of our products or services. In addition, an increased focus on the deployment of AI enabled solutions by these customers has accelerated the need for advanced technology offerings including some offerings from potential new market entrants. This prioritization of AI related infrastructure investment has at times come in conjunction with the announcement of various cost reduction measures by such customers, including optimization and increased efficiency in non-AI related capital expenditures. In addition, although the focus on deployment of AI enabled solutions has driven increased demand for networking, the long-term trajectory is unknown. As such, demand estimates for our new products are difficult to forecast and can create volatility in our revenue. In some instances, such measures have had, and may continue to have, an impact on certain current or future projects and have reduced our visibility to customer demand and may result in a reduction or uncertainty in the timing of orders from these large customers, which may negatively impact our revenue and increase the risk of excess and obsolescence charges on our products. In addition, fiscal 2024 was marked by a year of new product introductions and expanded use cases, particularly in the AI Ethernet market, and we expect this to continue into fiscal 2025. This has resulted in increased customer trials and contracts with acceptance periods, and an increase in the volatility and magnitude of our product deferred revenue balances, which in turn may create variability in our revenue results on a quarterly and annual basis. In addition, if we are not able to satisfy the requirements under customer trials or contracts with acceptance periods, we may be required to accept product returns from our customers, which would prevent us from recognizing revenue on such transactions and may result in the write-down of inventory.
Previous wording
Moreover, because our sales are based prim arily on purchase orders, our customers may cancel, delay, reduce or otherwise modify their purchase commitments with little or no notice to us. For example, due to manufacturing and supply chain disruptions resulting in increased lead times, customers had placed orders based on longer planning horizons. These customers may decide to delay or cancel such orders for any reason, including changes in their IT investment priorities, if economic conditions worsen or their financial performance, condition or prospects deteriorate. This limited visibility regarding our customers’ product needs or changes in those needs, the timing and quantity of which could vary significantly, requires us to rely on estimated demand forecasts to determine how much material to purchase and product to manufacture. Our failure to accurately forecast demand combined with extended supplier lead times on some newer technologies, can lead to product shortages which could lead to delaysin fulfilling current and future purchase orders that can impede production by our customers and harm our customer relationships. Further, if we are unable to reduce our lead times, customers may also cancel existing orders or reduce future orders. In the event of any cancellations or reductions of orders, or any reductions in future demand, we may not have enough time to reduce operating expenses to mitigate the effect of the lost revenue on our business, and in addition, could incur increased excess and obsolete inventory-related charges, all of which could materially affect our operating results.
Current wording
Moreover, because our sales are based prim arily on purchase orders, some of our customers have previously and could continue to cancel, delay, reduce or otherwise modify their purchase commitments with little or no notice to us. For example, due to manufacturing and supply chain disruptions resulting in increased lead times, customers have, and may continue to place orders based on longer planning horizons. These customers may decide to delay or cancel such orders for any reason, including changes in their IT investment priorities, if economic conditions worsen or their financial performance, condition or prospects deteriorate. This limited visibility regarding our customers’ product needs or changes in those needs, the timing and quantity of which could vary significantly, requires us to rely on estimated demand forecasts to determine how much material to purchase and product to manufacture. Extended supplier lead times on some newer technologies can create greater pressure on our ability to forecast future demand, which can lead to excess inventory or product shortages and to delaysin fulfilling current and future purchase orders that can impede production by our customers and harm our customer relationships. Further, if we are unable to reduce our lead times, customers may also cancel existing orders or reduce future orders. In the event of any cancellations or reductions of orders, or any reductions in future demand, we may not have enough time to reduce operating expenses to mitigate the effect of the lost revenue on our business, and in addition, could incur increased excess and obsolete inventory-related charges, all of which could materially affect our operating results.
Previous wording
We may be unable to sustain or increase our revenue from our large customers, grow revenue with new or other existing customers at the rate we anticipate or at all, or offset a decline or discontinuation of concentrated purchases by our larger customers with purchases by new or existing customers. These customers could reduce their spending levels or otherwise could choose to divert all or a portion of their business with us to one of our competitors, re-assign spending allocations, increase their adoption of "white box" solutions and open-source network operating systems, demand pricing concessions for our services, or require us to provide enhanced services that increase our costs. Moreover, the AI market is new and customers continue to evaluate their opportunity in this market, and the potential demand for AI Ethernet switches may not develop as anticipated or at all. If these factors drive some of our large customers to cancel all or a portion of their business relationships with us, the growth in our business and the ability to meet our current and long-term financial forecasts may be materially impacted. We expect that such concentrated purchases will continue to contribute materially to our revenue for the foreseeable future and that our results of operations may fluctuate materially as a result of such larger customers’ buying patterns. In addition, we may see consolidation of our customer base, such as among Internet companies and cloud service providers, which could result in the loss of customers. The loss of such customers, or a significant delay or reduction in their purchases, including reductions or delays due to customer departures from recent buying patterns, or an unfavorable change in competitive conditions could materially harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
Current wording
We may be unable to sustain or increase our revenue from our large customers, grow revenue with new or other existing customers at the rate we anticipate or at all, or offset a decline or discontinuation of concentrated purchases by our larger customers with purchases by new or existing customers. These customers could reduce their spending levels or otherwise could choose to divert all or a portion of their business with us to one of our competitors, re-assign spending allocations, increase their adoption of "white box" solutions and open-source network operating systems, demand pricing concessions for our services, or require us to provide enhanced services that increase our costs. Moreover, the AI market is new and customers continue to evaluate their opportunity in this market, recent advances in network architecture may result in increased efficiencies and lowering of infrastructure spending and the potential demand for our AI Ethernet switches may not develop as anticipated or at all. If these factors drive some of our large customers to cancel all or a portion of their business relationships with us, the growth in our business and the ability to meet our current and long-term financial forecasts may be materially impacted. We expect that such concentrated purchases will continue to contribute materially to our revenue for the foreseeable future and that our results of operations may fluctuate materially as a result of such larger customers’ buying patterns. In addition, we may see consolidation of our customer base, such as among Internet companies and cloud service providers, which could result in the loss of customers. The loss of such customers, or a significant delay or reduction in their purchases, including reductions or delays due to customer departures from recent buying patterns, or an unfavorable change in competitive conditions could materially harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
Previous wording
Our business depends on the overall demand for information technology, network connectivity and access to data and applications. Weak domestic or global economic conditions and continuing economic uncertainty, fear or anticipation of such conditions, a recession, international trade disputes, global pandemics such as the COVID-19 pandemic, or a reduction in information technology and network infrastructure spending or a deterioration of the financial performance, condition or prospects of our customers even if economic conditions improve, could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects in a number of ways, including longer sales cycles, reduced demand or lower prices for our products and services, higher default rates among our channel partners, reduced unit sales and lower or no growth. While all our markets may be adversely affected by negative macroeconomic conditions, the impact may be particularly significant in our enterprise market where we are seeking to increase our penetration into this market. In addition, the global macroeconomic environment has been negatively affected by, among other things, the uncertainty in the global banking and financial services markets, epidemics, instability in global economic markets, increased U.S. trade tariffs and trade disputes between the U.S., China and other countries, inflationary pressures, higher interest rates, instability in the global credit markets, the impact and uncertainty regarding global central bank monetary policy, instability in the geopolitical environment, the Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas conflicts, the Houthi attacks on marine vessels in the Red Sea, political tensions between Taiwan and China, political demonstrations, and foreign governmental debt concerns which have caused, and are likely to continue to cause, uncertainty and instability in local economies and in global financial markets. A government shutdown or a default by the U.S. government on its debt obligations, or related credit-rating downgrades could also have adverse effects on the broader global economy and contribute to, or worsen, an economic recession. We believe that any extended or renewed economic disruptions or deterioration in the global economy could have an adverse impact to our liquidity or to our current and projected business operations, financial condition or results of operations. For example, if banks or other financial institutions with whom we have banking relationships or whose corporate bonds are held in our marketable securities investment portfolio, enter receivership or become insolvent in the future, we may be unable to access, and we may lose some of our existing cash, cash equivalents and investments to the extent those funds are not insured or otherwise protected by the FDIC. In addition, in such circumstances we might not be able to timely pay key vendors and others. We regularly maintain cash balances that are not insured or are in excess o…
Excerpt shortened here; the source contains the full paragraph.
Current wording
Our business depends on the overall demand for information technology, network connectivity and access to data and applications. Weak domestic or global economic conditions and continuing economic uncertainty, fear or anticipation of such conditions, a recession, geopolitical pressures, including international trade disputes, global pandemics such as the COVID-19 pandemic, or a reduction in information technology and network infrastructure spending or a deterioration of the financial performance, condition or prospects of our customers, could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects in a number of ways, including longer sales cycles, reduced demand or lower prices for our products and services, higher default rates among our channel partners, reduced unit sales and lower or no growth. In addition, the global macroeconomic environment has been negatively affected by, among other things, the uncertainty in the global banking and financial services markets, epidemics, instability in global economic markets, the new U.S. presidential administration, increased uncertainty associated with recent and scheduled increases in U.S. trade tariffs in the context of escalated and unresolved trade disputes and tensions between the U.S., China, Mexico, Canada and other countries, inflationary pressures, higher interest rates, instability in the global credit markets, the impact and uncertainty regarding global central bank monetary policy, instability in the geopolitical environment, the Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas conflicts, political tensions between Taiwan and China, political demonstrations, and foreign governmental debt concerns which have caused, and are likely to continue to cause, uncertainty and instability in local economies and in global financial markets. While some of our customers may be adversely affected by negative macroeconomic conditions, the impact may be particularly significant in our enterprise market where we are seeking to increase our penetration into this market. A government shutdown or a default by the U.S. government on its debt obligations, or related credit-rating downgrades could also have adverse effects on the broader global economy and contribute to, or worsen, an economic recession. We believe that any extended or renewed economic disruptions or deterioration in the global economy could have an adverse impact to our liquidity or to our current and projected business operations, financial condition or results of operations. For example, if banks or other financial institutions with whom we have banking relationships or whose corporate bonds are held in our marketable securities investment portfolio, enter receivership or become insolvent in the future, we may be unable to access, and we may lose some of our existing cash, cash equivalents and investments to the extent those funds are not insured or otherwise protected by the FDIC. In addition, in such circumstances we might no…
Excerpt shortened here; the source contains the full paragraph.
Previous wording
Our product development efforts are also dependent upon the success of our continued collaboration with our key merchant silicon vendors such as Broadcom and Intel. As we develop our product roadmap, we select specific merchant silicon from these vendors for each new product. It is critical that we work in tandem with these vendors to ensure that their silicon includes improved features, that our products take advantage of such improved features, and that such vendors are able to supply us with sufficient quantities on commercially reasonable term to meet customer demand. Reliance on these relationships allows us to focus our research and development resources on our software core competencies while leveraging their investments and expertise. The merchant silicon vendors may not be successful in continuing to innovate, meet deadlines for the release of their products or produce a sufficient supply of their products. Moreover, these vendors may not collaborate with us or may become competitive with us by selling merchant silicon for “white boxes” or other products to our customers.
Current wording
Our product development efforts are also dependent upon the success of our continued collaboration with our key merchant silicon vendors such as Broadcom. As we develop our product roadmap, we select specific merchant silicon from these vendors for each new product. It is critical that we work in tandem with these vendors to ensure that their silicon includes improved features, that our products take advantage of such improved features, and that such vendors are able to supply us with sufficient quantities on commercially reasonable term to meet customer demand. Reliance on these relationships allows us to focus our research and development resources on our software core competencies while leveraging their investments and expertise. The merchant silicon vendors may not be successful in continuing to innovate, develop products that outperform their competitors or meet the requirements of our customers, meet deadlines for the release of their products or produce a sufficient supply of their products. Moreover, these vendors may not collaborate with us or may become competitive with us by selling merchant silicon for “white boxes” with open-source network operating systems or other products to our customers.
Previous wording
If our key merchant silicon vendors do not continue to innovate, if there are delays in the release of their products or supply shortages, if they no longer collaborate in such fashion or if such merchant silicon is not offered to us on commercially reasonable terms, our products may become less competitive, our own product launches could be delayed or we may be required to redesign our products to incorporate alternative merchant silicon, which could result in lost sales, reduce gross margins, damage to our customer relationships or otherwise have a material effect on revenue and business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
Current wording
If our key merchant silicon vendors do not continue to innovate, develop products that outperform their competitors or fail to meet the requirements of our customers, if there are delays in the release of their products or supply shortages, if they no longer collaborate in such fashion or if such merchant silicon is not offered to us on commercially reasonable terms, our products may become less competitive, our own product launches could be delayed or we may be required to redesign our products to incorporate alternative merchant silicon, which could result in lost sales, reduce gross margins, damage to our customer relationships or otherwise have a material effect on revenue and business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
Previous wording
Because some of the key components in our products come from sole or limited sources of supply, we have entered into significant purchase commitments and are susceptible to supply shortages, extended lead times or supply changes, which could disrupt or delay our scheduled product deliveries to our customers and may result in the loss of sales and customers.
Current wording
We have entered into significant purchase commitments and are susceptible to supply shortages, extended lead times or supply changes, which could disrupt or delay our scheduled product deliveries to our customers and may result in the loss of sales and customers.
Previous wording
Our products rely on components, including merchant silicon chips, integrated circuit components, printed circuit boards, connectors, custom-tooled sheet metal and power supplies that we purchase, or our contract manufacturers purchase on our behalf from a limited number of suppliers, including certain sole source providers. Generally, we do not have guaranteed supply contracts with our component suppliers, and our suppliers have suffered and could continue to suffer shortages, require longer lead times, delay shipments, prioritize shipments to other vendors, decommit orders, increase prices, impose expedite fees or cease manufacturing such products or selling them to us at any time. Supply of these components worldwide was and could continue to be adversely affected by supply constraints, as well as industry consolidation and geopolitical conditions such as international trade wars like the U.S. trade war with China, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Israel-Hamas conflict, the Houthi attacks on marine vessels in the Red Sea, and increased political tensions in Russia, Europe or Asia. Such shortages, increased component lead times, reduced allocations of components and decommitments of orders have resulted in and may continue to result in increased component prices, fewer sourcing options, unpredictability of supply, prolonged manufacturing disruptions and increased product lead times, which has impacted and may continue to adversely impact our revenue and gross margins.
Current wording
Generally, we do not have guaranteed supply contracts with our component suppliers, and our suppliers have, or in the future could continue to, suffer shortages, require longer lead times, delay shipments, prioritize shipments to other vendors, reject orders, decommit orders, increase prices, impose expedite fees or cease manufacturing such products or selling them to us at any time. Supply of these components worldwide was and could continue to be adversely affected by supply constraints, as well as industry consolidation and geopolitical conditions such as international trade wars and increased political tensions. Such shortages, increased component lead times, reduced allocations of components and rejections or decommitments of orders have resulted in and may continue to result in increased component prices, fewer sourcing options, unpredictability of supply, prolonged manufacturing disruptions and increased product lead times, which has impacted and may in the future adversely impact our revenue and gross margins.
Previous wording
Although we have entered into significant purchase commitments to support long-term customer demand, if we are unable to obtain sufficient quantities of any of these components on commercially reasonable terms or in a timely manner, or if we are unable to obtain alternative sources for these components, shipments of our products could be delayed or halted entirely, or we may be required to redesign our products. Any of these events could result in the cancellation of orders, lost sales, reduced gross margins or damage to our customer relationships, which would adversely impact our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. Additionally, if our suppliers do not meet their commitments, customers cancel orders or actual demand is less than our demand forecasts, it could result in excess or obsolete inventory, which we would be required to write down to its estimated realizable value, which in turn could result in lower gross margins and operating income. Our operating cash flows have also been and may continue to be negatively impacted by significant component inventories on hand or at our contract manufacturers.
Current wording
Although we have entered into significant purchase commitments to support long-term customer demand, if we are unable to obtain sufficient quantities of any of these components on commercially reasonable terms or in a timely manner, or if we are unable to obtain alternative sources for these components, shipments of our products could be delayed or halted entirely, or we may be required to redesign our products. Any of these events could result in the cancellation of orders, lost sales, reduced gross margins or damage to our customer relationships, which would adversely impact our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. Additionally, if our suppliers do not meet their commitments, customers cancel orders or actual demand is less than our demand forecasts, it could result in excess or obsolete inventory, which we would be required to write down to its estimated realizable value, which in turn could result in lower gross margins and operating income. Our operating cash flows have also been and may in the future be negatively impacted by an increase of component inventories on hand or at our contract manufacturers.
Previous wording
Our revenue growth rates in previous periods may not be indicative of our future performance. We have experienced annual revenue growth rates of 33.8%, 48.6%, 27.2%, and -3.9% in 2023, 2022, 2021 and 2020, respectively. In the future, our revenue growth rates will continue to be volatile due to cyclical trends in our business, and as we become more penetrated in our existing customer base and product markets and look to enter and expand into new markets. In addition, we have experienced supply constraints that have resulted in manufacturing and shipment delays, which have negatively affected the timing of revenue recognition. If these manufacturing and supply chain disruptions recur and/or if we are unable to reduce our lead times it could also result in the cancellation of orders by customers, reduce demand from existing customers in future periods, and increase difficulty in adding new customers. Other factors may also contribute to declines in our growth rates, including changes in demand for our products and services, particularly from our large customers, the deterioration of the financial performance, condition or prospects of our large customers, changes in capital spending by our large customers, increased competition, price sensitivities from our customers to increases in our pricing, our ability to successfully manage our expansion or continue to capitalize on growth opportunities, the maturation of our business, the Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas conflicts, the Houthi attacks on marine vessels in the Red Sea, a potential global economic downturn or recession that would particularly impact our enterprise customers, uncertainty in the global banking and financial service markets and other general economic and international trade conditions such as political tensions between Taiwan and China and international trade wars involving the U.S. and China and other countries, and our ability to be successful in the AI market and adjacent markets, such as campus switching, WiFi networking markets and network security markets. We have experienced volatility in demand from certain of our large customers, and some of our large customers have announced various cost reduction measures or are considering changing technology roadmaps and priorities including the need for the rapid deployment of AI and related technologies, which have had and could continue to have, an impact on certain current or future projects and have reduced our visibility to demand for these customers, which may result in reductions in overall demand from these customers in future periods and negatively impact our revenue, financial condition, business or prospects. You should not rely on our revenue for any prior quarterly or annual period as an indication of our future revenue or revenue growth. If we are unable to maintain consistent revenue or revenue growth, our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects could be materially adversely affected, and our …
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Current wording
Our revenue growth rates in previous periods may not be indicative of our future performance. We have experienced annual revenue growth rates of 19.5%, 33.8%, 48.6%, and 27.2% in 2024, 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively. In the future, our revenue growth rates will continue to be volatile due to cyclical trends in our business, and as we become more penetrated in our existing customer base and product markets and look to enter and expand into new markets. In addition, we have experienced supply constraints that have resulted in manufacturing and shipment delays, which have negatively affected the timing of revenue recognition. If these manufacturing and supply chain disruptions recur and/or if we are unable to reduce our lead times it could also result in the cancellation of orders by customers, reduce demand from existing customers in future periods, and increase difficulty in adding new customers. Other factors may also contribute to declines in our growth rates, including changes in demand for our products and services, particularly from our large customers, the deterioration of the financial performance, condition or prospects of our large customers, changes in capital spending by our large customers, increased competition, price sensitivities from our customers to increases in our pricing, our ability to successfully manage our expansion or continue to capitalize on growth opportunities, the maturation of our business, geopolitical pressures, recession risks and monetary policy shifts, and our ability to be successful in the AI market and adjacent markets, such as campus switching, Wi-Fi networking markets and network security markets. Recent technologies, such as generative AI models, have emerged, and while they have driven increased demand for networking, the long-term trajectory is unknown and it is difficult for us to predict the demand for such new technologies. Customers may overestimate demand for their AI build outs and cancel, delay, reduce or otherwise modify their purchase commitments with little or no notice to us. In addition, customer may implement changes to their network architecture to improve efficiencies and reduce demand for our products. As such, demand estimates for our new products are difficult to forecast and create volatility in our revenue. In addition, given the timing and prioritization of customer orders and shipment patterns, near term revenue trends may not be reflective of current demand levels. Furthermore, any prolonged economic disruptions or deterioration in the global economy could have a negative impact on demand from our customers in future periods, particularly in the enterprise market where we are continuing to expand our penetration. which may result in reductions in overall demand from these customers in future periods and negatively impact our revenue, financial condition, business or prospects. You should not rely on our revenue for any prior quarterly or annual period as an indication of our fut…
Excerpt shortened here; the source contains the full paragraph.
Previous wording
•general economic conditions, both domestically and in foreign markets, and disruptions in our business and the markets due to, among other things, recessionary risks and a global economic downturn, higher interest rates, monetary policy shifts, inflationary pressures, supply chain and labor shortages, the recent banking crisis, potential disruptions from the Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas conflicts, the Houthi attacks on marine vessels in the Red Sea, political tensions between Taiwan and China and international trade wars involving the U.S. and China and other countries;
Current wording
•general economic conditions, both domestically and in foreign markets, and disruptions in our business and the markets due to, among other things, recessionary risks and a global economic downturn, higher interest rates, monetary policy shifts, inflationary pressures, supply chain and labor shortages, the new U.S. presidential administration, the recent banking crisis, and geopolitical pressures;
Previous wording
•our inability to fulfill our customers’ orders, the cancellation of orders, the reduction in future demand for our products by our customers or increased difficulty in adding new customersdue to the unavailability or unpredictable supply of inventory, supply chain delays, access to key commodities or technologies, manufacturing disruptions or other events that impact our manufacturers or their suppliers;
Current wording
•the reduction in future demand for our products by our customers or increased difficulty in adding new customersdue to the unavailability or unpredictable supply of inventory, supply chain delays, access to key commodities or technologies, manufacturing disruptions or other events that impact our manufacturers or their suppliers;
Previous wording
•deferral, reduction or cancellation of orders from customers due to long lead times, announcements by us or other competitors of new products or product enhancements, warranty returns, general economic conditions or other factors;
Current wording
•announcements by us or other competitors of new products or product enhancements, warranty returns, general economic conditions or other factors;
Previous wording
•the inclusion of any acceptance provisions in our customer contracts or any delays in acceptance of those products;
Current wording
•the inclusion of any acceptance provisions in our customer contracts and increased customer trials, and any delays in acceptance, or rejection, or any return, of those products;
Previous wording
•increased expenses resulting from increases in component, production and logistics costs resulting from factors such as global inflationary pressures, shortages in supply for semiconductors, and China's controls on the use of certain products and on the export of metals used in semiconductor manufacturing, or the tariffs imposed by the U.S. on goods from other countries and tariffs imposed by other countries on U.S. goods, including the tariffs implemented by the U.S. government on various imports from China;
Current wording
•increased expenses resulting from increases in component, production and logistics costs resulting from factors such as global inflationary pressures, shortages in supply for semiconductors, and China's controls on the use of certain products and on the export of metals used in semiconductor manufacturing, or the tariffs imposed by the U.S. on goods from other countries and tariffs imposed by other countries on U.S. goods, including the tariffs implemented by the U.S. government on various imports from China and Mexico;
Previous wording
•decisions by potential customers to purchase our networking solutions from larger, more established vendors, white box vendors or their primary network equipment vendors;
Current wording
•decisions by potential customers to purchase our networking solutions from larger, more established vendors, white box vendors with open-source network operating systems or their primary network equipment vendors;
Previous wording
•disruptions caused by pandemics, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, and the government restrictions in response to the pandemic;
Current wording
•disruptions caused by pandemics, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, and the government restrictions in response to pandemics;
Previous wording
A substantial portion of our business and revenue depends on the growth and evolution of the networking market, including the evolution of the market for AI networks and the future deployment of Ethernet networking solutions in these AI networks. The market demand for networking solutions has increased in recent years as customers have deployed larger, more sophisticated networks and have increased the use of virtualization and cloud computing. The continued growth of this market will be dependent upon many factors including but not limited to the adoption of and demand for our customers’ products and services, the expansion, evolution and build out of our customers’ networks, the capacity utilization of existing network infrastructures, changes in the technological requirements for the products and services to be deployed in these networks, the amount and mix of capital spending by our customers, including any changing technology priorities such as the rapid deployment of AI and related technologies, the development of network switches and cloud service solutions by our large customers for internal use, the financial performance and prospects of our customers, the availability of capital resources to our customers, changes in government regulation that could impact networking business models including those regulations related to AI, cybersecurity, privacy, data protection and net neutrality, our ability to provide networking solutions that address the needs of our customers more effectively and economically than those of other competitors or existing technologies and general economic conditions.
Current wording
A substantial portion of our business and revenue depends on the growth and evolution of the networking market, including the evolution of the market for AI networks and the future deployment of Ethernet networking solutions in these AI networks. The market demand for networking solutions has increased in recent years as customers have deployed larger, more sophisticated networks and have increased the use of virtualization and cloud computing. The continued growth of this market will be dependent upon many factors including but not limited to the adoption of and demand for our customers’ products and services, the expansion, evolution and build out of our customers’ networks, the capacity utilization of existing network infrastructures, changes in the technological requirements for the products and services to be deployed in these networks, the amount and mix of capital spending by our customers, including any changing technology priorities such as the deployment of AI and related technologies, the development of network switches and cloud service solutions by our large customers for internal use, the financial performance and prospects of our customers, the availability of capital resources to our customers, changes in government regulation that could impact networking business models including those regulations related to AI, cybersecurity, privacy, data protection and net neutrality, our ability to provide networking solutions that address the needs of our customers more effectively and economically than those of other competitors or existing technologies and general economic conditions.
Previous wording
In particular, the market for AI applications is new and our customers are continuing to evaluate their opportunity in this market. If the AI market does not develop as anticipated or at all, then the potential demand for AI Ethernet switches may not be realized. Moreover, even if the market for AI applications does develop, the successful adoption of AI Ethernet products will be dependent upon their ability to compete against more established InfiniBand products to address AI networking clusters.
Current wording
In particular, recent technologies, such as generative AI models, have emerged, and while they have driven increased demand for networking, the long-term trajectory is unknown and it is difficult for us to predict the demand for such new technologies. Customers may overestimate demand for their AI build outs and cancel, delay, reduce or otherwise modify their purchase commitments with little or no notice to us. In addition, customers may implement changes to their network architectures to improve efficiencies and reduce demand for our products. As such, demand estimates for our new products are difficult to forecast and create volatility in our revenue and inventory levels. If the AI market does not develop as anticipated or at all, then the potential demand for AI Ethernet switches may not be realized. Moreover, even if the market for AI applications does develop, the successful adoption of AI Ethernet products will be dependent upon their ability to compete against more established InfiniBand products or against the AI Ethernet products of other competitors to address AI networking clusters.
Previous wording
We have made substantial investments to develop new products and services and enhancements to existing products through our acquisitions and internal research and development efforts to expand our product offerings and maintain our revenue growth. If we are unable to anticipate technological changes in our industry by introducing new or enhanced products and services in a timely and cost-effective manner or if we fail to introduce products and services that meet market demand, we may lose our competitive position, our products may become obsolete, and our business, financial condition or results of operations could be adversely affected. Forexample, with our most recently introduced 800 GbE and AI focused Ethernet products, our ability to continue to maintain our competitive position with our customers will depend on our ability to deliver these new products in a timely manner, our customers' acceptance of these products and the growth of the markets that these products serve. In addition, the evaluation, testing and qualification of our new products by our customers may be lengthy and may require contractual acceptance clauses, which could delay our revenue recognition and impact our revenue and deferred revenue balances.
Current wording
We have made substantial investments to develop new products and services and enhancements to existing products through our acquisitions and internal research and development efforts to expand our product offerings and maintain our revenue growth. If we are unable to anticipate technological changes in our industry by introducing new or enhanced products and services in a timely and cost-effective manner or if we fail to introduce products and services that meet market demand, we may lose our competitive position, our products may become obsolete, and our business, financial condition or results of operations could be adversely affected. Forexample, with our most recently introduced 800 GbE and AI focused Ethernet products, our ability to continue to maintain our competitive position with our customers will depend on our ability to deliver these new products in a timely manner, our customers' acceptance of these products and the growth of the markets that these products serve. In addition, the evaluation, testing and qualification of our new products by our customers may be lengthy and may require increased customer trials and contracts with acceptance clauses, which delay revenue recognition may negatively impact our revenue.
Previous wording
Additionally, from time to time, we invest in expansion into adjacent markets, including campus and WiFi networking, cloud and enterprise routing markets, network security markets and SD-WAN markets. Although we believe these solutions are complementary to our current offerings, we have less experience and a more limited operating history in these markets, and our efforts in this area may not be successful. Expanding our services in existing and new markets and increasing the depth and breadth of our presence imposes significant burdens on our marketing, compliance, and other administrative and managerial resources. Our plan to expand and deepen our market share in our existing markets and possibly expand into additional markets is subject to a variety of risks and challenges. Our success in these new markets depends on a variety of factors, including but not limited to our ability to develop new products, new product features and services that address the customer requirements for these markets, attract a customer base in markets in which we have less experience, compete with new and existing competitors in these adjacent markets, and gain market acceptance of our new products.
Current wording
Additionally, from time to time, we invest in expansion into adjacent markets, including campus and Wi-Fi networking, AI networking, cloud and enterprise routing markets, network security markets and SD-WAN markets. Although we believe these solutions are complementary to our current offerings, we have less experience and a more limited operating history in these markets, and our efforts in this area may not be successful. Expanding our services in existing and new markets and increasing the depth and breadth of our presence imposes significant burdens on our marketing, compliance, and other administrative and managerial resources. Our plan to expand and deepen our market share in our existing markets and possibly expand into additional markets is subject to a variety of risks and challenges. Our success in these new markets depends on a variety of factors, including but not limited to our ability to develop new products, new product features and services that address the customer requirements for these markets, attract a customer base in markets in which we have less experience, compete with new and existing competitors in these adjacent markets, and gain market acceptance of our new products. In addition, when we introduce new products, we expect that it will take time for manufacturing to ramp production and fulfill customer demand.
Previous wording
Developing our products is expensive, and the investment in product development may involve a long payback cycle. We expect to continue to invest heavily in software development in order to expand the capabilities of our cloud networking platform and introduce new products and features. We expect that our results of operations will be impacted by the timing and size of these investments. These investments may take several years to generate positive returns, if ever.
Current wording
Developing our products is expensive, and the investment in product development typically involves a long payback cycle. We expect to continue to invest heavily in software development in order to expand the capabilities of our cloud networking platform and introduce new products and features. We expect that our results of operations will be impacted by the timing and size of these investments. These investments may take several years to generate positive returns, if ever.
Previous wording
We expect our gross margins to vary over time and the gross margins we have achieved in recent years may not be sustainableand may be adversely affected in the future by numerous factors, including but not limited to pricing pressure on our products and services due to competition, the ability of more fully integrated competitors to bundle their networking products with other products, or utilize proprietary silicon in their products, the mix of sales to large customers who generally receive lower pricing, the mix of products sold, manufacturing-related costs, including costs associated with supply chain sourcing activities, merchant silicon costs, and excess/obsolete inventory charges, including charges for excess/obsolete component inventory held by our contract manufacturers. In addition, other factors that may impact our gross margins over time include the introduction of new products and new business models including the sale and delivery of more software and subscription solutions, entry into new markets or growth in lower margin markets, entry in markets with different pricing and cost structures, pricing discounts given to customers, costs associated with defending intellectual property rights infringement, misappropriation or other violation claims and the potential outcomes of such disputes, increased costs arising from epidemics, changes in distribution channels, increased warranty costs, and our ability to execute our operating plans. In addition, inflationary pressures and shortages have increased and may continue to increase costs for certain materials, components, supplies and services. As a result of cost inflation in our supply chain, we have implemented targeted price increases from time to time. However, these price increases could result in a decrease in demand for our products which would decrease revenue. In addition, business were subject to sustained economic stress or recession, many of the risk factors identified in this risk factors section could be heightened. We determine our operating expenses largely on the basis of anticipated revenue and a high percentage of our expenses are fixed in the short and medium term. As a result, a failure or delay in generating or recognizing revenue could cause significant variations in our operating results and operating margin from quarter to quarter. Failure to sustain or improve our gross margins reduces our profitability and may have a material adverse effect on our business and stock price.
Current wording
We expect our gross margins to vary over time and the gross margins we have achieved in recent years may not be sustainableand may be adversely affected in the future by numerous factors, including but not limited to pricing pressure on our products and services due to competition, the ability of more fully integrated competitors to bundle their networking products with other products, or utilize proprietary silicon in their products, the mix of sales to large customers who generally receive lower pricing, the mix of products sold, manufacturing-related costs, including costs associated with sourcing key components from sole or limited suppliers and potential changes to our manufacturing and supply chain to respond to international trade wars, supply chain sourcing activities, merchant silicon costs, excess/obsolete inventory and supplier liability charges, and fees to expedite supplier components and costs related to tariffs from our products that are manufactured internationally. In addition, other factors that may impact our gross margins over time include the introduction of new products and new business models including the sale and delivery of more software and subscription solutions, entry into new markets or growth in lower margin markets, entry in markets with different pricing and cost structures, pricing discounts given to customers, costs associated with defending intellectual property rights infringement, misappropriation or other violation claims and the potential outcomes of such disputes, increased costs arising from epidemics, changes in distribution channels, increased warranty costs, and our ability to execute our operating plans. In addition, inflationary pressures and shortages have increased and may continue to increase costs for certain materials, components, supplies and services. As a result of cost inflation in our supply chain, we have implemented targeted price increases from time to time. However, these price increases could result in a decrease in demand for our products which would decrease revenue. In addition, if business were subject to sustained economic stress or recession, many of the risk factors identified in this risk factors section could be heightened. We determine our operating expenses largely on the basis of anticipated revenue and a high percentage of our expenses are fixed in the short and medium term. As a result, a failure or delay in generating or recognizing revenue could cause significant variations in our operating results and operating margin from quarter to quarter. Failure to sustain or improve our gross margins reduces our profitability and may have a material adverse effect on our business and stock price.
Previous wording
The data center and campus networking markets have been historically dominated by Cisco, with competition also coming from other large network equipment and system vendors, including Extreme Networks, Dell/EMC, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Nvidia, Juniper Networks and white box networking vendors. Most of our competitors and some strategic alliance partners have made acquisitions and/or have entered into or extended partnerships or other strategic relationships to offer more comprehensive product lines, including cloud networking solutions and network security. For example, Cisco acquired Acacia Communications, Broadcom acquired Brocade Communications and VMware, Dell acquired Force10 Networks, Hewlett Packard Enterprise recently announced the acquisition of Juniper Networks. This industry consolidation may lead to increased competition and may harm our business. Large system vendors are increasingly seeking to deliver vertically integrated cloud networking solutions to customers that combine cloud-focused hardware and software solutions as an alternative to our products. We expect this trend to continue as companies attempt to strengthen their market positions in an evolving industry and as companies are acquired or are unable to continue operations. Industry consolidation may result in stronger competitors that are better able to compete with us, and this could lead to more variability in our results of operations and could have a material adverse effect on our business, the pricing of our solutions, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
Current wording
The data center and campus networking markets have been historically dominated by Cisco, with competition also coming from other large network equipment and system vendors, including Dell/EMC, Extreme Networks, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Huawei, Juniper Networks, Nvidia and white box networking vendors utilizing open-source operating systems. Most of our competitors and some strategic alliance partners have made acquisitions and/or have entered into or extended partnerships or other strategic relationships to offer more comprehensive product lines, including cloud networking solutions and network security. For example, Cisco acquired Acacia Communications, Broadcom acquired Brocade Communications and VMware, Dell acquired Force10 Networks, Hewlett Packard Enterprise recently announced the acquisition of Juniper Networks. This industry consolidation may lead to increased competition and may harm our business. Large system vendors are increasingly seeking to deliver vertically integrated cloud networking solutions to customers that combine cloud-focused hardware and software solutions as an alternative to our products. We expect this trend to continue as companies attempt to strengthen their market positions in an evolving industry and as companies are acquired or are unable to continue operations. Industry consolidation may result in stronger competitors that are better able to compete with us, and this could lead to more variability in our results of operations and could have a material adverse effect on our business, the pricing of our solutions, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
Previous wording
We also face competition from other companies and new market entrants, including current technology partners, suppliers and customers or other cloud service providers who may acquire or develop network switches and cloud service solutions for internal use and/or to broaden their portfolio of products to market and sell to customers. Some of these competitors are developing networking products based on off-the-shelf or commoditized hardware technology, or “white box” hardware, particularly where a customer’s network strategy seeks to emphasize deployment of such product offerings or adopt a disaggregated approach to the procurement of hardware and software. Customers may also increase their adoption of networking solutions based upon open-source network operating systems that may be provided for free and used either on “white box” or proprietary hardware. As new markets emerge like AI, we expect the field to remain intensely competitive. In addition, we have not established broad market awareness or acceptance of our AI Ethernet products that will compete against more established InfiniBand products. Furthermore, the entrance of new competitors into our markets or the increased adoption of these new technology solutions or consumption models may cause downward pricing pressures, result in lost sales or otherwise have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.
Current wording
We also face competition from other companies and new market entrants, including current technology partners, suppliers and customers or other cloud service providers who may acquire or develop network switches and cloud service solutions for internal use and/or to broaden their portfolio of products to market and sell to customers. Some of these competitors are developing "white box" networking products based on open-source network operating systems that may be provided for free and off-the-shelf or commoditized hardware technology, or “white box” hardware, while other competitors may adopt a disaggregated approach to the procurement of hardware and their proprietary software. Customers may also increase their adoption of networking solutions based upon open-source network operating systems that may be provided for free and used either on “white box” or proprietary hardware. As new markets emerge like AI, we expect the field to remain intensely competitive. In addition, we have not established broad market awareness or acceptance of our AI Ethernet products that will compete against more established InfiniBand products or against the AI Ethernet products of other competitors. Furthermore, the entrance of new competitors into our markets or the increased adoption of these new technology solutions or consumption models may cause downward pricing pressures, result in lost sales or otherwise have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.
Previous wording
In addition, large competitors may have more extensive relationships with and within existing and potential customers that provide them with an advantage in competing for business with those customers. For example, certain large competitors encourage customers of their other products and services to adopt their data networking solutions through discounted bundled product packages. Our ability to compete will depend upon our ability to provide a better solution than our competitors at a more competitive price. We may be required to make substantial additional investments in research, development, marketing and sales in order to respond to competition, and we cannot assure you that these investments will achieve any returns for us or that we will be able to compete successfully in the future.
Current wording
In addition, large competitors may have more extensive relationships with and within existing and potential customers that provide them with an advantage in competing for business with those customers or may have a dominant market position in certain markets that they can utilize to leverage sales of their Ethernet switching products. For example, certain large competitors encourage customers of their other products and services to adopt their data networking solutions through discounted bundled product packages. Our ability to compete will depend upon our ability to provide a better solution than our competitors at a more competitive price. We may be required to make substantial additional investments in research, development, marketing and sales in order to respond to competition, and we cannot assure you that these investments will achieve any returns for us or that we will be able to compete successfully in the future.
Previous wording
•deterioration of political relations between the U.S. and China, Russia, the United Kingdom and the EU as well as the Israel-Hamas conflict and Houthi attacks on marine vessels in the Red Sea, which could have a material adverse effect on our sales and operations as well as our supply chain in these countries;
Current wording
•deterioration of political relations between the U.S. and China, Canada, Mexico, Russia and EU including international trade wars and increased tariffs between the U.S. and such countries or regions, which could have a material adverse effect on our sales as well as our manufacturing operations and supply chain in these countries;
Previous wording
•risks associated with U.S. and foreign legal requirements, including those relating to anti-corruption, anti-bribery, privacy, data protection and the importation, certification and localization of our products in foreign countries;
Current wording
•risks associated with U.S. and foreign legal requirements, including those relating to anti-corruption, anti-bribery, telecommunications, cybersecurity, supply chain integrity, privacy, data protection and the importation, certification and localization of our products in foreign countries;
Previous wording
•issues related to cloud-specific regulatory requirements in certain countries, including the UK, EU and Asia-Pacific countries;
Current wording
•issues related to cloud-specific and/or AI regulatory requirements in certain countries, including the UK, EU and Asia-Pacific countries;
Previous wording
•the uncertainty of protection for intellectual property rights in some countries; and
Current wording
•the uncertainty of protection and enforcement for intellectual property rights in some countries; and
Previous wording
We operate on a December 31st year end and typically have lower sequential quarter over quarter revenue growth in the first quarter of each fiscal year, often followed by stronger sequential revenue growth in subsequent quarters. We believe that this seasonality results from a number of factors, including the procurement, budgeting and deployment cycles of many of our customers. The effects of recent supply chain disruptions and our rapid growth may have reduced the impact of seasonal or cyclical factors that might otherwise have influenced our business and broader industry performance. If our growth rates slow, seasonal or cyclical variations in our operations may become more pronounced over time and may materially affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. In addition, any supply chain shortages and manufacturing disruptions that result in extended lead times may impact our ability to manufacture and ship products to our customers in a timely manner, which may disrupt typical seasonal trends.
Current wording
We operate on December 31st year end and typically have lower sequential quarter over quarter revenue growth in the first quarter of each fiscal year, often followed by stronger sequential revenue growth in the ensuing quarters. We believe that this seasonality results from a number of factors, including the procurement, budgeting and deployment cycles of many of our customers. The effects of recent supply chain disruptions and our rapid growth may have reduced the impact of seasonal or cyclical factors that might otherwise have influenced our business and broader industry performance. If our growth rates slow, seasonal or cyclical variations in our operations may become more pronounced over time and may materially affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. In addition, any supply chain shortages and manufacturing disruptions that result in extended lead times may impactour ability to manufacture and ship products to our customers in a timely manner, which may disrupt typical seasonal trends.
Previous wording
If we are unable to attract new large customers or to sell additional products and services to our existing customers, our revenue growth will be adversely affected and our revenue could decrease.
Current wording
If we are unable to attract new large customers or to sell additional products and services in the AI Ethernet, Campus Workspace and Network Security Markets, to our existing customers, our revenue growth will be adversely affected and our revenue could decrease.
Previous wording
To increase our revenue, we must add new customers, especially large customers, and sell additional products and services to existing customers. For example, one of our sales strategies is to target specific projects at our current customers because they are familiar with the operational and economic benefits of our solutions, thereby reducing the sales cycle into these customers. We also believe the opportunity with current customers is significant given their existing infrastructure and expected future spend. Another one of our sales strategies is focused on increasing penetration in the enterprise and campus markets. However, sales strategies focused on expansion to adjacent markets can require more time and effort since enterprise and campus customers typically start with small purchases, and there is often a long testing period. For this reason, in order to grow our revenue, it is important for us to attract new large customers. Some factors that may limit our ability to attract new large customers include, but are not limited to, saturation with certain large cloud networking customers, competition, decreased capital spending by such customers, a limited number of such customers, and a decline in growth at such customers. If we fail to attract new large customers, including enterprise and campus customers, or fail to reduce the sales cycle and sell additional products to our existing customers, our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects will be harmed.
Current wording
To increase our revenue, we must add new customers, especially large customers, and sell additional products and services to existing customers. For example, one of our sales strategies is to expand our current footprint by targeting specific projects at our current customers because they are familiar with the operational and economic benefits of our solutions, thereby reducing the sales cycle into these customers. We also believe the opportunity with current customers is significant given their existing infrastructure and expected future spend. Another one of our sales strategies is focused on increasing penetration in the enterprise, campus and AI markets. However, sales strategies focused on expansion to adjacent markets can require more time and effort since enterprise and campus customers typically start with small purchases, and in the case of new markets such as AI where we are introducing new products there are often longer testing and qualification periods. For this reason, in order to grow our revenue, it is important for us to attract new large customers. Some factors that may limit our ability to attract new large customers include, but are not limited to, saturation with certain large cloud networking customers, customers priorities and initiatives to invest in new technology, competition, decreased capital spending by such customers, a limited number of such customers, and a decline in growth at such customers. If we fail to attract new large customers, including enterprise, campus and AI customers, fail to reduce the sales cycle and sell additional products to our existing customers or if our products are not accepted by these customers, our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects will be harmed.
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Rearranged current paragraphs (4)
Current report — wording carried from elsewhere
Some of the key components in our products come from sole or limited sources of supply.
Current report — wording carried from elsewhere
Our products rely on components, including merchant silicon chips, integrated circuit components, printed circuit boards, connectors, optics, cables, custom-tooled sheet metal and power supplies that we purchase, or our contract manufacturers purchase on our behalf from a limited number of suppliers, including certain sole source providers. In particular, we are primarily reliant upon our predominant merchant silicon vendor, Broadcom, for our switching chips.
Current report — wording carried from elsewhere
We may experience reluctance or refusal by current or prospective customers in the European Economic Area (the "EEA"), the UK, or other regions to use our products, and we may find it necessary or desirable to make further changes to our handling of personal data of residents of the EEA, UK, or other regions. The regulatory environment applicable to the handling of personal data of EEA and UK residents, and our actions taken in response, may cause us to assume additional liabilities or incur additional costs and could result in our business, operating results and financial condition being harmed. Additionally, we and our customers may face a risk of enforcement actions by data protection authorities relating to personal data transfers to us and by us from the EEA, UK, or other regions. Any such enforcement actions could result in substantial costs and diversion of resources, distract management and technical personnel and negatively affect our business, operating results, and financial condition.
Current report — wording carried from elsewhere
•the requirement for the affirmative vote of holders of at least 66 2/3% of the voting power of our capital stock entitled to vote thereon for stockholders to amend, alter or repeal our amended and restated bylaws, which may inhibit the ability of an acquirer to effect such amendments to facilitate an unsolicited takeover attempt;