Seagate 2015 Annual Report Download - page 71

TableofContents
SEAGATETECHNOLOGYPLC
NOTESTOCONSOLIDATEDFINANCIALSTATEMENTS
1.BasisofPresentationandSummaryofSignificantAccountingPolicies
Organization
SeagateTechnologyplc(the"Company")is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.
TheCompany's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.
TheCompany's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.
BasisofPresentationandConsolidation
TheconsolidatedfinancialstatementsincludetheaccountsoftheCompanyandallitswholly-ownedandmajority-ownedsubsidiaries,aftereliminationof
intercompanytransactionsandbalances.
ThepreparationoffinancialstatementsinaccordancewithU.S.generallyacceptedaccountingprinciplesalsorequiresmanagementtomakeestimatesand
assumptionsthataffecttheamountsreportedintheCompany'sconsolidatedfinancialstatementsandaccompanyingnotes.Actualresultscoulddiffermaterially
fromthoseestimates.Themethods,estimatesandjudgmentstheCompanyusesinapplyingitsmostcriticalaccountingpolicieshaveasignificantimpactonthe
resultstheCompanyreportsinitsconsolidatedfinancialstatements.
TheCompanyoperatesandreportsfinancialresultsonafiscalyearof52or53weeksendingontheFridayclosesttoJune30.Accordingly,fiscalyear2016
comprised52weeksandendedonJuly1,2016.Fiscalyears2015and2014werecomprisedof53and52weeksandendedonJuly3,2015,andJune27,2014,
respectively.AllreferencestoyearsintheseNotestoConsolidatedFinancialStatementsrepresentfiscalyearsunlessotherwisenoted.Fiscalyear2017willbe
52weeksandwillendonJune30,2017.
SummaryofSignificantAccountingPolicies
Cash,CashEquivalentsandShort-TermInvestments.TheCompanyconsidersallhighlyliquidinvestmentswitharemainingmaturityof90daysorlessat
thetimeofpurchasetobecashequivalents.
68