Seagate 2015 Annual Report Download - page 47

TableofContents
•ResultsofOperations.Analysisofourfinancialresultscomparingfiscalyear2016to2015andcomparingfiscalyears2015to2014.
•LiquidityandCapitalResources.Ananalysisofchangesinourbalancesheetsandcashflows,anddiscussionofourfinancialconditionincluding
thecreditqualityofourinvestmentportfolioandpotentialsourcesofliquidity.
•ContractualObligationsandOff-BalanceSheetArrangements.Overviewofcontractualobligationsandcontingentliabilitiesandcommitments
outstandingasofJuly1,2016andanexplanationofoff-balancesheetarrangements.
•CriticalAccountingEstimates.Accountingestimatesthatwebelieveareimportanttounderstandingtheassumptionsandjudgmentsincorporated
inourreportedfinancialresults.
OurCompany
Wearealeadingproviderofelectronicdatastoragetechnologyandsolutions.Ourprincipalproductsareharddiskdrives,commonlyreferredtoasdisk
drives,harddrivesorHDDs.InadditiontoHDDs,weproduceabroadrangeofelectronicdatastorageproductsincludingsolidstatehybriddrives("SSHD"),solid
statedrives("SSD"),PCIecardsandSATAcontrollers.Ourstoragetechnologyportfolioalsoincludesstoragesubsystems,andhighperformancecomputing
("HPC")solutions.
Harddiskdrivesaredevicesthatstoredigitallyencodeddataonrapidlyrotatingdiskswithmagneticsurfaces.Diskdrivescontinuetobetheprimarymedium
ofmassdatastorageduetotheirperformanceattributes,highqualityandcosteffectiveness.Complementingexistingdatacenterstoragearchitecture,solid-state
storagedevicesuseintegratedcircuitassembliesasmemorytostoredata,andmostSSDsuseNAND-basedflashmemory.InadditiontoHDDsandSSDs,SSHDs
combinethefeaturesofSSDsandHDDsinthesameunit,containingalargeharddiskdriveandanSSDcachetoimproveperformanceoffrequentlyaccesseddata.
Ourproductsaredesignedformissioncriticalandnearlineapplicationsinenterpriseserversandstoragesystems;clientcomputeapplications,whereour
productsaredesignedprimarilyfordesktopandmobilecomputing;andclientnon-computeapplications,whereourproductsaredesignedforawidevarietyofend
userdevicessuchasdigitalvideorecorders("DVRs"),personaldatabackupsystems,portableexternalstoragesystems,digitalmediasystemsandsurveillance
systems.
OurCloudSystemsandSolutionsbuildsontheSeagatelegacytoextendinnovationfromthedeviceintotheinformationinfrastructure,onsiteandinthe
cloud.OurapproachtodatamanagementsupportsHPC,opensourceandsoftware-definedsolutions.OurportfolioincludesHPCstoragesolutions,modular
originalequipmentmanufacturers("OEM")storagesystemsandscale-outstoragesystems.
BusinessOverview
Ourindustryischaracterizedbyseveraltrendsandfactorsthathaveamaterialimpactonourstrategicplanning,financialconditionandresultsofoperations.
DemandforElectronicDataStorage
Thecontinuedadvancementofthecloud,theproliferationofavarietyofmobiledevicesglobally,developmentoftheInternetofThings("IoT"),increasingly
pervasiveuseofvideosurveillance,evolutionofconsumerelectronicdevices,andenterpriseuseofbigdataanalyticsaredrivingthegrowthofdigitalcontent.
Factorscontributingtothisgrowthinclude:
•Creation,sharing,andconsumptionofmedia-richdigitalcontent,suchashigh-resolutionphotos,highdefinitionvideo,anddigitalmusicthrough
smartphones,tablets,digitalcameras,personalvideocameras,DVRs,gamingconsolesorotherdigitaldevices;
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