Comcast 2015 Annual Report Download - page 34

there can be no assurance that they will not occur in the future or will not have an adverse effect on our busi-
nesses. Moreover, the amount and scope of insurance we maintain against losses resulting from any such
events or security breaches likely would not be sufficient to cover our losses or otherwise adequately
compensate us for any disruptions to our business that may result, and the occurrence of any such events or
security breaches could have an adverse effect on our business.
We may be unable to obtain necessary hardware, software and operational support.
We depend on third-party vendors to supply us with a significant amount of the hardware, software and
operational support necessary to provide certain of our services. Some of these vendors represent our pri-
mary source of supply or grant us the right to incorporate their intellectual property into some of our hardware
and software products. While we actively monitor the operations and financial condition of key vendors in an
attempt to detect any potential difficulties, there can be no assurance that we would timely identify any
operating or financial difficulties associated with these vendors or that we could effectively mitigate our risks
with respect to any such difficulties. If any of these vendors experience operating or financial difficulties, if our
demand exceeds their capacity or if they are otherwise unable to meet our specifications or provide the
equipment or services we need in a timely manner or at reasonable prices, our ability to provide some serv-
ices may be adversely affected.
Weak economic conditions may have a negative impact on our businesses.
A substantial portion of our revenue comes from customers whose spending patterns may be affected by
prevailing economic conditions. Weak economic conditions could adversely affect demand for any of our
products and services and have a negative impact on our results of operations. For example, customers may
reduce the level of cable services to which they subscribe, or may discontinue subscribing to one or more of
our cable services. This risk may be increased by the expanded availability of free or lower cost competitive
services, such as subscription video on demand services, or substitute services for our high-speed Internet
and voice services, such as mobile phones, smartphones and Wi-Fi networks. Weak economic conditions
also may have a negative impact on our advertising revenue, the performance of our films and home
entertainment releases, and attendance and spending in our theme parks business. Weak economic con-
ditions and turmoil in the global financial markets may also impair the ability of third parties to satisfy their
obligations to us, and any disruption in the global financial markets may affect our ability to obtain financing,
including refinancing any existing debt, on acceptable terms.
Our businesses depend on using and protecting certain intellectual property rights and on not
infringing the intellectual property rights of others.
We rely on our intellectual property, such as patents, copyrights, trademarks and trade secrets, as well as
licenses and other agreements with our vendors and other third parties, to use various technologies, conduct
our operations and sell our products and services. Legal challenges to our intellectual property rights and
claims of intellectual property infringement by third parties could require that we enter into royalty or licensing
agreements on unfavorable terms, incur substantial monetary liability or be enjoined preliminarily or perma-
nently from further use of the intellectual property in question or from the continuation of our businesses as
currently conducted. We may need to change our business practices if any of these events occur, which may
limit our ability to compete effectively and could have an adverse effect on our results of operations. Even if
we believe any such challenges or claims are without merit, they can be time-consuming and costly to defend
and divert management’s attention and resources away from our businesses. Moreover, if we are unable to
obtain or continue to obtain licenses from our vendors and other third parties on reasonable terms, our busi-
nesses could be adversely affected.
In addition, intellectual property constitutes a significant part of the value of NBCUniversal’s businesses, and
its success is highly dependent on protecting intellectual property rights in the content it creates or acquires
against third-party misappropriation, reproduction or infringement. The unauthorized reproduction, dis-
31 Comcast 2015 Annual Report on Form 10-K