3Ware 2004 Annual Report Download - page 46

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RISK FACTORS
Before deciding to invest in us or to maintain or increase your investment, you should carefully consider the
risks described below, in addition to the other information contained in this report and in our other filings with
the SEC. We update our descriptions of the risks and uncertainties facing us in our periodic reports filed with the
SEC in which we report our financial condition and results for the quarter and fiscal year-to-date. The risks and
uncertainties described below and in our other filings are not the only ones facing us. Additional risks and
uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial may also affect our business. If any
of these known or unknown risks or uncertainties actually occurs, our business, financial condition and results of
operations could be seriously harmed. In that event, the market price for our common stock could decline and
you may lose your investment.
Our operating results may fluctuate because of a number of factors, many of which are beyond our
control.
If our operating results are below the expectations of public market analysts or investors, then the market
price of our common stock could decline. Some of the factors that affect our quarterly and annual results, but
which are difficult to control or predict are:
•communications equipment, information technology and semiconductor industry conditions;
•fluctuations in the timing and amount of customer requests for product shipments;
•the reduction, rescheduling or cancellation of orders by customers, whether as a result of slowing
demand for our products or our customers’ products, over-ordering of our products or otherwise;
•fluctuations in manufacturing output, yields or other potential problems or delays in the fabrication,
assembly, testing or delivery of our products;
•increases in the costs of products or discontinuance of products by suppliers;
•the availability of external foundry capacity contract manufacturing services, purchased parts and raw
materials;
•problems or delays that we may face in shifting the design and manufacture of our future generations of
IC products to smaller geometry process technologies and in achieving higher levels of design and
device integration;
•changes in the mix of products that our customers buy;
•the gain or loss of a key customer or significant changes in the financial condition of one or more of our
key customers or their key customers;
•our ability to introduce, certify and deliver new products and technologies on a timely basis;
•the announcement or introduction of products and technologies by our competitors;
•competitive pressures on selling prices;
•market acceptance of our products and our customers’ products;
•the amounts and timing of costs associated with warranties and product returns;
•the amounts and timing of investments in research and development;
•the amounts and timing of the costs associated with payroll taxes related to stock option exercises;
•costs associated with acquisitions and the integration of acquired companies, products and technologies;
•our ability to successfully integrate acquired companies, products and technologies;
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