SanDisk 2012 Annual Report Download - page 109

This is a TAB type table. Insert
conts here. Annual Report
PART I
ITEM 1. BUSINESS
This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements regarding future events and our
future results that are subject to the safe harbors created under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements other than statements of historical fact are
statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements. These statements may contain words such as
“expects,” “anticipates,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “seeks,” “estimates” or other wording indicating
future results or expectations. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties. Our actual
results may differ materially from the results discussed in these forward-looking statements. Factors that could
cause our actual results to differ materially include, but are not limited to, those discussed in “Risk Factors” in
Item 1A, and elsewhere in this report. Our business, financial condition or results of operations could be
materially harmed by any of these factors. We undertake no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking
statements to reflect any event or circumstance that arises after the date of this report. References in this report
to “SanDisk®,” “we,” “our,” and “us” collectively refer to SanDisk Corporation, a Delaware corporation, and
its subsidiaries. All references to years or annual periods are references to our fiscal years, which consisted of
52 weeks, in 2012, 2011 and 2010.
Overview
Who We Are. SanDisk Corporation is a global leader in flash memory storage solutions with a strong
history of innovation that has been successfully commercialized. Flash storage technology allows digital
information to be stored in a durable, compact format that retains the data even after the power has been switched
off. Our flash-based products enable businesses and consumers to efficiently and effectively capture, share and
preserve digital content. Our products include solid state drive, or SSD, solutions for client computing platforms
and enterprise data centers, and removable and embedded memory products for mobile devices, cameras and
other devices. Our products are used in a variety of large markets, and we distribute our products globally
through retail and original equipment manufacturer, or OEM, channels. We provide simple, reliable and
affordable storage solutions for consumer and enterprise use in a wide variety of formats and devices. We were
incorporated in the State of Delaware in June 1988. Since 2006, we have been a Standards & Poor, or S&P, 500
company and since 2011, we have been a Fortune 500 company.
What We Do. We design, develop and manufacture data storage solutions in a variety of form factors using
our flash memory, proprietary controller and firmware technologies. Our solutions include SSDs, removable
cards, embedded products, universal serial bus, or USB, drives, digital media players, wafers and components.
Our SSD products are used in both client computing platforms and enterprise data centers and provide high-
speed, high-capacity storage solutions that can be used in lieu of hard disk drives. Our removable cards are used
in a wide range of consumer electronics devices such as mobile phones, tablets, digital cameras, gaming devices
and personal computers, or PCs. Our embedded flash products are used in mobile phones, tablets, thin-and-light
laptops, eReaders, global positioning system, or GPS, devices, gaming systems, imaging devices and computing
platforms.
Most of our products are made by combining NAND flash memory with a controller chip and firmware. We
purchase the vast majority of our NAND flash memory supply through our venture relationships with Toshiba
Corporation, or Toshiba, which produce and provide us with leading-edge, low-cost memory wafers. From time-
to-time, we also purchase flash memory from other NAND flash manufacturers. We generally design our
controllers in-house and have them manufactured at third-party foundries. We also design and develop firmware
that is included in the vast majority of our products.
Industry Background
We operate in the flash memory semiconductor industry, which is comprised of NOR and NAND technologies.
These technologies are also referred to as non-volatile memory, which retains data even after the power is switched
3