Blackberry 2012 Annual Report Download - page 81

The Company is subject to regulation and certification risks that could negatively affect its business, and is also subject
to allegations of possible health or other risks relating to the use or misuse of the Company’s products, or lawsuits and
publicity related to such allegations.
The Company must comply with a variety of laws, standards and other requirements governing, among other things, health and
safety, hazardous materials usage, packaging and environmental matters, and its products must obtain regulatory approvals and satisfy
other regulatory concerns in the various jurisdictions in which they are manufactured or sold. For example, the Company’s products
must be approved by the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) before they can be used in commercial quantities in the
United States. The FCC requires that access devices meet various standards, including safety standards with respect to human
exposure to electromagnetic radiation and basic signal leakage. Regulatory requirements in Canada, Europe, Asia and other
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urisdictions must also be met. Although the Company’s products and solutions are designed to meet relevant safety standards and
recommendations globally, when used as directed, any perceived risk of adverse health effects of wireless communication devices
could materially adversely affect the Company through a reduction in sales. The failure to comply with regulatory requirements can
subject the Company to regulatory and/or civil liability, additional costs (including fines) and reputational harm, and in severe cases
prevent it from selling its products in certain jurisdictions.
As a result of varying and developing regulatory requirements throughout the world, the Company faces increasingly complex
procurement and design challenges, which, among other things, require the Company to incur additional costs identifying suppliers
and contract manufacturers who can provide, and otherwise obtain, compliant materials, parts and end products and to re-design its
products so that the products comply with the many requirements applicable to them. There can be no assurance that the costs of
complying with and the liabilities arising from current and future health and safety, environmental (including climate change
regulation) and other laws, standards and regulatory requirements (including proposed legislation relating to certain “conflict
minerals” that are used in the wireless communications industry) will not adversely affect the Company’s business, results of
operations or financial condition.
In addition to regulatory approvals, product manufacturers must obtain certification from the networks upon which their products
operate. Failure to maintain regulatory approvals or network certifications for the Company’s current products or a failure to obtain
required regulatory approvals or network certifications for any new products on a timely basis could have a material adverse effect on
the Company’s business, results of operations and financial condition.
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