Intel 2009 Annual Report Download - page 24

Table of Contents
We may be subject to intellectual property theft or misuse, which could result in third
-
party claims and harm our business
and results of operations.
We regularly face attempts by others to gain unauthorized access through the Internet to our information technology systems
by, for example, masquerading as authorized users or surreptitious introduction of software. These attempts, which might be
the result of industrial or other espionage, or actions by hackers seeking to harm the company, its products, or end users, are
sometimes successful. One recent and sophisticated incident occurred in January 2010 around the same time as the recently
publicized security incident reported by Google. We seek to detect and investigate these security incidents and to prevent their
recurrence, but in some cases we might be unaware of an incident or its magnitude and effects. The theft and/or unauthorized
use or publication of our trade secrets and other confidential business information as a result of such an incident could
adversely affect our competitive position and reduce marketplace acceptance of our products; the value of our investment in
R&D, product development, and marketing could be reduced; and third parties might assert against us or our customers claims
related to resulting losses of confidential or proprietary information or end-user data and/or system reliability. Our business
could be subject to significant disruption, and we could suffer monetary and other losses, including the cost of product recalls
and returns and reputational harm, in the event of such incidents and claims.
Our licenses with other companies and our participation in industry initiatives may allow other companies, including our
competitors, to use our patent rights.
Companies in the semiconductor industry often rely on the ability to license patents from each other in order to compete.
Many of our competitors have broad licenses or cross-licenses with us, and under current case law, some of the licenses may
permit these competitors to pass our patent rights on to others. If one of these licensees becomes a foundry, our competitors
might be able to avoid our patent rights in manufacturing competing products. In addition, our participation in industry
initiatives may require us to license our patents to other companies that adopt certain industry standards or specifications, even
when such organizations do not adopt standards or specifications proposed by us. As a result, our patents implicated by our
participation in industry initiatives might not be available for us to enforce against others who might otherwise be deemed to
be infringing those patents, our costs of enforcing our licenses or protecting our patents may increase, and the value of our
intellectual property may be impaired.
Decisions about the scope of operations of our business could affect our results of operations and financial condition.
Changes in the business environment could lead to changes in our decisions about the scope of operations of our business, and
these changes could result in restructuring and asset impairment charges. Factors that could cause actual results to differ
materially from our expectations with regard to changing the scope of our operations include:
Our acquisitions, divestitures, and other transactions could disrupt our ongoing business and harm our results of
operations.
In pursuing our business strategy, we routinely conduct discussions, evaluate opportunities, and enter into agreements
regarding possible investments, acquisitions, divestitures, and other transactions, such as joint ventures. Acquisitions and other
transactions involve significant challenges and risks, including risks that:
When we decide to sell assets or a business, we may encounter difficulty in finding or completing divestiture opportunities or
alternative exit strategies on acceptable terms in a timely manner, and the agreed terms and financing arrangements could be
renegotiated due to changes in business or market conditions. These circumstances could delay the accomplishment of our
strategic objectives or cause us to incur additional expenses with respect to businesses that we want to dispose of, or we may
dispose of a business at a price or on terms that are less favorable than we had anticipated, resulting in a loss on the
transaction.
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timing and execution of plans and programs that may be subject to local labor law requirements, including consultation
with appropriate work councils;
•
changes in assumptions related to severance and postretirement costs;
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future divestitures;
•
new business initiatives and changes in product roadmap, development, and manufacturing;
•
changes in employment levels and turnover rates;
•
changes in product demand and the business environment; and
•
changes in the fair value of certain long
-
lived assets.
•
we may not be able to identify suitable opportunities at terms acceptable to us;
•
the transaction may not advance our business strategy;
•
we may not realize a satisfactory return on the investment we make;
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we may not be able to retain key personnel of the acquired business; or
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we may experience difficulty in integrating new employees, business systems, and technology.