Symantec 2007 Annual Report Download - page 25

We have not historically maintained substantial levels of indebtedness, and our financial condition and
results of operations could be adversely affected if we do not effectively manage our liabilities.
In June 2006, we sold $2.1 billion in aggregate principal amount of convertible senior notes. As a result of the
sale of the notes, we have a substantially greater amount of long term debt than we have maintained in the past. In
addition, we have entered into a credit facility with a borrowing capacity of $1 billion. Our credit facility allows us
immediate access to domestic funds if we identify opportunities for its use. We may also incur additional
indebtedness in the future. Our maintenance of substantial levels of debt could adversely affect our flexibility to
take advantage of certain corporate opportunities and could adversely affect our financial condition and results of
operations.
Our international operations involve risks that could increase our expenses, adversely affect our operating
results, and require increased time and attention of our management.
We derive a substantial portion of our revenues from customers located outside of the U.S. and we have
significant operations outside of the U.S., including engineering, sales, customer support, and production. We plan
to expand our international operations, but such expansion is contingent upon the financial performance of our
existing international operations as well as our identification of growth opportunities. Our international operations
are subject to risks in addition to those faced by our domestic operations, including:
• Potential loss of proprietary information due to misappropriation or laws that may be less protective of our
intellectual property rights than U.S. laws
• Requirements of foreign laws and other governmental controls, including trade and labor restrictions and
related laws that reduce the flexibility of our business operations
• Regulations or restrictions on the use, import, or export of encryption technologies that could delay or
prevent the acceptance and use of encryption products and public networks for secure communications
• Central bank and other restrictions on our ability to repatriate cash from our international subsidiaries or to
exchange cash in international subsidiaries into cash available for use in the U.S.
• Fluctuations in currency exchange rates and economic instability such as higher interest rates in the U.S. and
inflation that could reduce our customers’ ability to obtain financing for software products or that could
make our products more expensive or could increase our costs of doing business in certain countries
• Limitations on future growth or inability to maintain current levels of revenues from international sales if we
do not invest sufficiently in our international operations
• Longer payment cycles for sales in foreign countries and difficulties in collecting accounts receivable
• Difficulties in staffing, managing, and operating our international operations, including difficulties related to
administering our stock plans in some foreign countries
• Difficulties in coordinating the activities of our geographically dispersed and culturally diverse operations
• Seasonal reductions in business activity in the summer months in Europe and in other periods in other
countries
• Reduced sales due to the failure to obtain any required export approval of our technologies, particularly our
encryption technologies
• Costs and delays associated with developing software in multiple languages
• Political unrest, war, or terrorism, particularly in areas in which we have facilities
A significant portion of our transactions outside of the U.S. are denominated in foreign currencies. Accord-
ingly, our future operating results will continue to be subject to fluctuations in foreign currency rates. We may be
negatively affected by fluctuations in foreign currency rates in the future, especially if international sales continue
to grow as a percentage of our total sales.
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