Symantec 2011 Annual Report Download - page 83

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Fluctuations in demand for our products and services are driven by many factors, and a decrease in
demand for our products could adversely affect our financial results.
We are subject to fluctuations in demand for our products and services due to a variety of factors, including
general economic conditions, competition, product obsolescence, technological change, shifts in buying patterns,
financial difficulties and budget constraints of our current and potential customers, levels of broadband usage,
awareness of security threats to IT systems, and other factors. While such factors may, in some periods, increase
product sales, fluctuations in demand can also negatively impact our product sales. If demand for our products
declines, our revenues and gross margin would likely be adversely affected.
If we are unable to develop new and enhanced products and services that achieve widespread market
acceptance, or if we are unable to continually improve the performance, features, and reliability of our
existing products and services or adapt our business model to keep pace with industry trends, our business
and operating results could be adversely affected.
Our future success depends on our ability to respond to the rapidly changing needs of our customers by
developing or introducing new products, product upgrades, and services on a timely basis. We have in the past
incurred, and will continue to incur, significant research and development expenses as we strive to remain
competitive. New product development and introduction involves a significant commitment of time and resources
and is subject to a number of risks and challenges including:
Managing the length of the development cycle for new products and product enhancements, which has
frequently been longer than we originally expected
Adapting to emerging and evolving industry standards and to technological developments by our compet-
itors and customers
Extending the operation of our products and services to new and evolving platforms, operating systems and
hardware products, such as mobile devices.
Entering into new or unproven markets with which we have limited experience
Managing new product and service strategies, including integrating our various security and storage
technologies, management solutions, customer service, and support into unified enterprise security and
storage solutions
Addressing trade compliance issues affecting our ability to ship new or acquired products
Developing or expanding efficient sales channels
Obtaining sufficient licenses to technology and technical access from operating system software vendors on
reasonable terms to enable the development and deployment of interoperable products, including source
code licenses for certain products with deep technical integration into operating systems
If we are not successful in managing these risks and challenges, or if our new products, product upgrades, and
services are not technologically competitive or do not achieve market acceptance, our business and operating results
could be adversely affected.
We operate in a highly competitive environment, and our competitors may gain market share in the
markets for our products that could adversely affect our business and cause our revenues to decline.
We operate in intensely competitive markets that experience rapid technological developments, changes in
industry standards, changes in customer requirements, and frequent new product introductions and improvements.
If we are unable to anticipate or react to these competitive challenges or if existing or new competitors gain market
share in any of our markets, our competitive position could weaken and we could experience a drop in revenue that
could adversely affect our business and operating results. To compete successfully, we must maintain an innovative
research and development effort to develop new products and services and enhance existing products and services,
effectively adapt to changes in the technology or product rights held by our competitors, appropriately respond to
competitive strategies, and effectively adapt to technological changes and changes in the ways that our information
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