Symantec 2015 Annual Report Download - page 96

legal obligations and industry codes of conduct relating to privacy and data protection to the extent possible.
However, it is possible that these obligations may be interpreted and applied in a manner that is inconsistent from
one jurisdiction to another and may conflict with other rules or our practices. Any failure or perceived failure by
us to comply with our privacy policies, our privacy-related obligations to customers or other third parties, our
privacy-related legal obligations, or any compromise of security that results in the unauthorized release or
transfer of personally identifiable information or other customer data, may result in governmental enforcement
actions, litigation, or public statements against us by consumer advocacy groups or others and could cause our
customers to lose trust in us, which could have an adverse effect on our reputation and business. Our customers
may also accidentally disclose their passwords or store them on a mobile device that is lost or stolen, creating the
perception that our systems are not secure against third-party access. Additionally, if third parties that we work
with, such as vendors or developers, violate applicable laws or our policies, such violations may also put our
customers’ information at risk and could in turn have an adverse effect on our business. Any significant change
to applicable laws, regulations or industry practices regarding the use or disclosure of our customers’ data, or
regarding the manner in which the express or implied consent of customers for the use and disclosure of such
data is obtained, could require us to modify our solutions and features, possibly in a material manner, and may
limit our ability to develop new services and features that make use of the data that our customers voluntarily
share with us.
If we fail to manage our sales and distribution channels effectively, or if our partners choose not to market
and sell our products to their customers, our operating results could be adversely affected.
We sell our products to customers around the world through multi-tiered sales and distribution networks. Sales
through these different channels involve distinct risks, including the following:
Direct Sales. A significant portion of our revenues from enterprise products is derived from sales by our direct
sales force to end-users. Special risks associated with direct sales include:
• Longer sales cycles associated with direct sales efforts;
• Difficulty in hiring, retaining, and motivating our direct sales force, particularly through periods of
transition in our organization; and
• Substantial amounts of training for sales representatives to become productive in selling our products
and services, including regular updates to cover new and revised products, and associated delays and
difficulties in recognizing the expected benefits of investments in new products and updates.
Indirect Sales Channels. A significant portion of our revenues is derived from sales through indirect channels,
including distributors that sell our products to end-users and other resellers. This channel involves a number of
risks, including:
• Our lack of control over the timing of delivery of our products to end-users;
• Our resellers and distributors are generally not subject to minimum sales requirements or any
obligation to market our products to their customers;
• Our reseller and distributor agreements are generally nonexclusive and may be terminated at any time
without cause;
• Our resellers and distributors frequently market and distribute competing products and may, from time
to time, place greater emphasis on the sale of these products due to pricing, promotions, and other
terms offered by our competitors; and
• The consolidation of electronics retailers has increased their negotiating power with respect to
hardware and software providers such as us.
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