Symantec 2016 Annual Report Download - page 108

in which we compete, the extensive patent coverage of existing technologies, and the rapid rate of issuance of
new patents, it is possible that the number of these claims may grow. In addition, former employers of our
former, current, or future employees may assert claims that such employees have improperly disclosed to us the
confidential or proprietary information of these former employers. Any such claim, with or without merit, could
result in costly litigation and distract management from day-to-day operations. If we are not successful in
defending such claims, we could be required to stop selling, delay shipments of, or redesign our products, pay
monetary amounts as damages, enter into royalty or licensing arrangements, or satisfy indemnification
obligations that we have with some of our customers. We cannot assure you that any royalty or licensing
arrangements that we may seek in such circumstances will be available to us on commercially reasonable terms
or at all. We have made and expect to continue making significant expenditures to investigate, defend and settle
claims related to the use of technology and intellectual property rights as part of our strategy to manage this risk.
In addition, we license and use software from third parties in our business. These third party software licenses
may not continue to be available to us on acceptable terms or at all, and may expose us to additional liability.
This liability, or our inability to use any of this third party software, could result in shipment delays or other
disruptions in our business that could materially and adversely affect our operating results.
Adverse global economic events may impact our customers’ ability to do business with us, thereby harming
our business, operating results and financial condition.
Adverse macroeconomic conditions could negatively affect our customers, thereby impacting our business,
operating results or financial condition. During challenging economic times and periods of high unemployment,
current or potential customers may delay or forgo decisions to license new products or additional instances of
existing products, upgrade their existing hardware or operating environments (which upgrades are often a
catalyst for new purchases of our software), or purchase services. Customers may also have difficulties in
obtaining the requisite third-party financing to complete the purchase of our products and services. Any of these
scenarios could adversely affect our business.
Our exposure to credit risk and payment delinquencies on our accounts receivable significantly increases in
adverse economic conditions.
An adverse macroeconomic environment could subject us to increased credit risk should customers be unable to
pay us, or delay paying us, for previously purchased products and services. Our outstanding accounts receivables
are generally not secured. In addition, our standard terms and conditions permit payment within a specified
number of days following the receipt of our product. Accordingly, reserves for doubtful accounts and write-offs
of accounts receivable may increase. In addition, weakness in the market for end users of our products could
harm the cash flow of our distributors and resellers who could then delay paying their obligations to us. This
would further increase our credit risk exposure and, potentially, cause delays in our recognition of revenue on
sales to these customers. Further, while no customer accounted for more than 10% of our total net revenues in
each of fiscal 2016, 2015 and 2014, one distributor accounted for 10% of our gross accounts receivable as of
April 1, 2016. The loss of this or other large customers could have a negative impact on our business. While we
have procedures to monitor and limit exposure to credit risk on our receivables and have not suffered any
material losses to date, there can be no assurance such procedures will continue to effectively limit our credit risk
and avoid future losses.
We cannot predict our future capital needs and we may be unable to obtain financing, which could have a
material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
The onset or continuation of adverse economic conditions may make it more difficult to obtain financing for our
operations, investing activities (including potential acquisitions) or financing activities. Any required financing
may not be available on terms acceptable to us, or at all. If we raise additional funds by obtaining loans from
third parties, the terms of those financing arrangements may include negative covenants or other restrictions on
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