Blackberry 2014 Annual Report Download - page 133

BlackBerry Limited
Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
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• the Company’s ability to address inventory and asset risk, including its ability to sell its inventory of BlackBerry 10
products, manage its purchase obligations with its manufacturing partners and the potential for additional charges
related to its inventory, as well as its ability to mitigate inventory risk through its new partnership with Foxconn;
• the potential for additional charges relating to the impairment of intangible assets recorded on the Company’s
balance sheet;
• the occurrence or perception of a breach of the Company’s security measures, or an inappropriate disclosure of
confidential or personal information;
• the Company’s ability to successfully maintain and enhance its brand in light of recent challenges;
• the efficient and uninterrupted operation of the Company's network operations center and the networks of its carrier
partners, and the risk of other business interruptions, including costs, potential liabilities, lost revenues and
reputational damage associated with service interruptions;
• risks associated with the Company's foreign operations, including risks related to recent political and economic
developments in Venezuela and Argentina, and the impact of foreign currency restrictions that continue to impact its
ability to recognize revenue from sales of services in Venezuela and recently, Argentina;
• general commercial litigation, class action and other litigation claims, including purported class action claims
relating to the Company or its operations;
• risks associated with litigation claims against the Company arising from the Company’s practice of providing a
forward-looking outlook to its shareholders with respect to certain financial metrics, including the Company’s
practice of updating a previous outlook where circumstances warrant;
• risks related to the failure of the Company’s suppliers, subcontractors, third-party distributors and representatives to
use acceptable ethical business practices or comply with applicable laws;
• third-party claims for infringement of intellectual property rights by the Company and the outcome of any litigation
with respect thereto;
• the Company’s ability to successfully obtain patent or other proprietary or statutory protection for its technologies
and products;
• reliance on strategic alliances and relationships with third-party network infrastructure developers, software
platform vendors and service platform vendors, including the Company’s ability to promote and advance the
development of an ecosystem of applications and services for the BlackBerry 10 platform;
• potential liabilities or costs related to the collection, storage, transmission, use and disclosure of user and personal
information;
• the Company’s reliance on its suppliers for functional components, including the suppliers the Company has
selected for its BlackBerry 10 smartphones, and the risk that suppliers will not supply components on a timely basis,
in sufficient quantities or of the desired quality;
• the Company’s ability to obtain rights to use software or components supplied by third parties;
• the Company’s ability to expand and manage BlackBerry® World™, including its ability to encourage developers to
continue to develop applications for BlackBerry® World™;
• restrictions on import and use of the Company’s products and services in certain countries due to encryption of the
products and services;
• the continued quality and reliability of the Company’s products and services and the potential effect of defects in
products and services;
• risks as a result of actions of activist shareholders;
• risks related to the Company possibly losing its foreign private issuer status under U.S. federal securities laws,
resulting in additional expenses associated with compliance with the U.S. securities laws applicable to U.S.
domestic issuers and inability to utilize certain benefits available to foreign private issuers;
• government regulation of wireless spectrum and radio frequencies;
• reduced spending by customers due to the uncertainty of economic and geopolitical conditions;
• risks associated with acquisitions, investments and other business initiatives;
• foreign exchange risks as the Company transacts globally in currencies other than the U.S. dollar;
• regulation, certification and health risks, and risks relating to the misuse of the Company’s products;
• tax liabilities, resulting from changes in tax laws or otherwise, associated with the Company’s worldwide
operations;