Symantec 2007 Annual Report Download - page 26

The level of corporate tax from sales to our non-U.S. customers is less than the level of tax from sales to our
U.S. customers. This benefit is contingent upon existing tax regulations in the U.S. and in the countries in which our
international operations are located. Future changes in domestic or international tax regulations could adversely
affect our ability to continue to realize these tax benefits.
Our products are complex and operate in a wide variety of computer configurations, which could result
in errors or product failures.
Because we offer very complex products, undetected errors, failures, or bugs may occur, especially when
products are first introduced or when new versions are released. Our products are often installed and used in large-
scale computing environments with different operating systems, system management software, and equipment and
networking configurations, which may cause errors or failures in our products or may expose undetected errors,
failures, or bugs in our products. Our customers’ computing environments are often characterized by a wide variety
of standard and non-standard configurations that make pre-release testing for programming or compatibility errors
very difficult and time-consuming. In addition, despite testing by us and others, errors, failures, or bugs may not be
found in new products or releases until after commencement of commercial shipments. In the past, we have
discovered software errors, failures, and bugs in certain of our product offerings after their introduction and, in some
cases, may have experienced delayed or lost revenues as a result of these errors.
Errors, failures, or bugs in products released by us could result in negative publicity, product returns, loss of or
delay in market acceptance of our products, loss of competitive position, or claims by customers or others. Many of
our end-user customers use our products in applications that are critical to their businesses and may have a greater
sensitivity to defects in our products than to defects in other, less critical, software products. In addition, if an actual
or perceived breach of information integrity or availability occurs in one of our end-user customer’s systems,
regardless of whether the breach is attributable to our products, the market perception of the effectiveness of our
products could be harmed. Alleviating any of these problems could require significant expenditures of our capital
and other resources and could cause interruptions, delays, or cessation of our product licensing, which could cause
us to lose existing or potential customers and could adversely affect our operating results.
If we are unable to attract and retain qualified employees, lose key personnel, fail to integrate
replacement personnel successfully, or fail to manage our employee base effectively, we may be unable to
develop new and enhanced products and services, effectively manage or expand our business, or increase
our revenues.
Our future success depends upon our ability to recruit and retain our key management, technical, sales,
marketing, finance, and other critical personnel. Our officers and other key personnel are employees-at-will, and we
cannot assure you that we will be able to retain them. Competition for people with the specific skills that we require
is significant. In order to attract and retain personnel in a competitive marketplace, we believe that we must provide
a competitive compensation package, including cash and equity-based compensation. The volatility in our stock
price may from time to time adversely affect our ability to recruit or retain employees. In addition, we may be
unable to obtain required stockholder approvals of future increases in the number of shares available for issuance
under our equity compensation plans, and recent changes in accounting rules require us to treat the issuance of
employee stock options and other forms of equity-based compensation as compensation expense. As a result, we
may decide to issue fewer equity-based incentives and may be impaired in our efforts to attract and retain necessary
personnel. If we are unable to hire and retain qualified employees, or conversely, if we fail to manage employee
performance or reduce staffing levels when required by market conditions, our business and operating results could
be adversely affected.
Key personnel have left our company in the past and there likely will be additional departures of key personnel
from time to time in the future. The loss of any key employee could result in significant disruptions to our
operations, including adversely affecting the timeliness of product releases, the successful implementation and
completion of company initiatives, the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures and our internal
control over financial reporting, and the results of our operations. In addition, hiring, training, and successfully
integrating replacement sales and other personnel could be time consuming, may cause additional disruptions to our
operations, and may be unsuccessful, which could negatively impact future revenues.
20