Qualcomm 2014 Annual Report Download - page 18

Daniel L. Sullivan, age 63, has served as Executive Vice President of Human Resources since August 2001. He served as Senior Vice
President of Human Resources from February 1996 to July 2001. Dr. Sullivan holds a B.S. degree in Communication from Illinois State
University, an M.A. degree in Communication from West Virginia University and a Ph.D. degree in Communication from the University of
Nebraska.
James H. Thompson, age 50, has served as Executive Vice President, Engineering for Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. since October 2012. He
served as Senior Vice President, Engineering for Qualcomm Incorporated from July 1998 to October 2012. Dr. Thompson joined Qualcomm in
1992 as a senior engineer and throughout his tenure at Qualcomm held several other technical and leadership roles. Dr. Thompson holds B.S.,
M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin.
Item 1A. Risk Factors
You should consider each of the following factors as well as the other information in this Annual Report in evaluating our business and our
prospects. The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only ones we face. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to
us or that we currently consider immaterial may also impair our business operations. If any of the following risks actually occur, our business
and financial results could be harmed. In that case, the trading price of our common stock could decline. You should also refer to the other
information set forth in this Annual Report, including our financial statements and the related notes.
Risks Related to Our Businesses
Our revenues depend on commercial network deployments, expansions and upgrades of CDMA, OFDMA and other communications
technologies, our customers’ and licensees’ sales of products and services based on these technologies and our ability to drive our customers’
demand for our products and services.
We develop, patent and commercialize technology and products based on CDMA, OFDMA and other communications technologies, which
are primarily wireless. We depend on our customers, our licensees and operators of wireless networks to use these technologies in their adoption
of our products and services into their devices and networks and on the timing of their deployments of new products and services. We also
depend on our customers and licensees to develop products and services with value-added features to drive consumer demand for new 3G,
3G/4G multimode and 4G devices, as well as the selling prices for such devices. Further, our rate of revenue growth may depend on third parties
incorporating our technology, products and/or services into new device types used in industries beyond traditional cellular communications. Our
revenues and/or growth in revenues could be negatively impacted, our business may be harmed and our substantial investments in these
technologies may not provide us an adequate return, if:
Our industry is subject to competition in an environment of rapid technological change that could result in decreased demand and/or
declining average selling prices for our products and those of our customers and/or licensees and/or result in placing new specifications or
requirements on our products, each of which could negatively affect our revenues and operating results.
Our products, services and technologies face significant competition, and the revenues they generate and/or the timing of such revenues,
which depend on deployments and/or actions by others, may not meet expectations. We expect competition to increase as our current
competitors expand their product offerings and as new opportunities develop, putting continued pressure on the pricing of our products and
services. Competition in wireless communications is affected by various factors that include, among others: device manufacturer concentrations;
growth in emerging geographic regions; government intervention; evolving
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•
wireless operators and industries beyond traditional cellular communications deploy alternative technologies;
•
wireless operators delay 3G and 3G/4G multimode network deployments, expansions or upgrades and/or delay moving 2G customers to
3G, 3G/4G multimode or 4G wireless devices;
• LTE, an OFDMA-
based 4G wireless technology, is not more widely deployed or further commercial deployment is delayed;
• government regulators delay making sufficient spectrum available for 3G and/or 3G/4G networks, thereby restricting the expansion of
3G/4G wireless connectivity to keep pace with consumer demand;
•
wireless operators are unable to drive improvements in 3G or 3G/4G multimode network performance and/or capacity;
• our customers’ and licensees’ revenues and sales of products, particularly premium-
tier products, and services using these technologies,
do not grow or do not grow as quickly as anticipated, due to, for example, the maturity of smartphone penetration in developed regions
(where premium-tier products are common); and/or
• we are unable to drive the adoption of our products and services into networks and devices based on CDMA, OFDMA and other
communications technologies.