EMC 2002 Annual Report Download - page 36

Table of Contents
connection with any future acquisition, existing stockholders may experience dilution and potentially decreased earnings per share.
We also seek to invest in businesses that offer complementary products, services or technologies. These investments are accompanied by risks similar
to those encountered in an acquisition of a business.
Changes in foreign conditions could impair our international sales.
A substantial portion of our revenues is derived from sales outside the United States. In addition, a substantial portion of our products is manufactured
outside of the United States. Accordingly, our future results could be materially adversely affected by a variety of factors, including changes in foreign
currency exchange rates, changes in a specific country's or region's political or economic conditions, trade restrictions, import or export licensing
requirements, the overlap of different tax structures or changes in international tax laws, changes in regulatory requirements, compliance with a variety of
foreign laws and regulations and longer payment cycles in certain countries.
Undetected problems in our products could directly impair our financial results.
If flaws in design, production, assembly or testing of our products (by us or our suppliers) were to occur, we could experience a rate of failure in our
products that would result in substantial repair, replacement or service costs and potential damage to our reputation. Continued improvement in manufacturing
capabilities, control of material and manufacturing quality and costs and product testing are critical factors in our future growth. There can be no assurance
that our efforts to monitor, develop, modify and implement appropriate test and manufacturing processes for our products will be sufficient to permit us to
avoid a rate of failure in our products that results in substantial delays in shipment, significant repair or replacement costs or potential damage to our
reputation, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations or financial condition.
Our business could be materially adversely affected as a result of the risks associated with alliances.
We have alliances with leading information technology companies and we plan to continue our strategy of developing key alliances in order to expand
our reach into markets. There can be no assurance that we will be successful in our ongoing strategic alliances or that we will be able to find further suitable
business relationships as we develop new products and strategies. Any failure to continue or expand such relationships could have a material adverse effect on
our business, results of operations or financial condition.
There can be no assurance that companies with which we have strategic alliances, certain of which have substantially greater financial, marketing or
technological resources than us, will not develop or market products in competition with us in the future, discontinue their alliances with us or form alliances
with our competitors.
Our business may suffer if we cannot protect our intellectual property.
We generally rely upon patent, copyright, trademark and trade secret laws and contract rights in the United States and in other countries to establish and
maintain our proprietary rights in our technology and products. However, there can be no assurance that any of our proprietary rights will not be challenged,
invalidated or circumvented. In addition, the laws of certain countries do not protect our proprietary rights to the same extent as do the laws of the United
States. Therefore, there can be no assurance that we will be able to adequately protect our proprietary technology against unauthorized third-party copying or
use, which could adversely affect our competitive position. Further, there can be no assurance that we will be able to obtain licenses to any technology that we
may require to conduct our business or that, if obtainable, such technology can be licensed at a reasonable cost.
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