GSIT GSI Technology

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K  

For the fiscal year ended March 31, 2018  

or

For the transition period from            to

1213 Elko Drive

Sunnyvale, California 94089

(Address of principal executive offices, zip code)

(408) 331-8800

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☐    No ☒

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes ☐    No ☒

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒    No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files). Yes ☒    No ☐

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K. ☒

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer”, “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Act. (Check one):

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☐    No ☒

The aggregate market value of the registrant’s voting stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant, based upon the closing sale price of the common stock on September 30, 2017, as reported on the Nasdaq Global Market, was approximately $119.1 million. Shares of the registrant’s common stock held by each officer and director and each person who owns 10% or more of the outstanding common stock of the registrant have been excluded in that such persons may be deemed to be affiliates. This determination of affiliate status is not necessarily a conclusive determination for other purposes.   As of May 29, 2018, there were 21,686,364 shares of the registrant’s common stock issued and outstanding.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

Portions of the registrant’s definitive proxy statement for its 2018 annual meeting of stockholders are incorporated by reference into Part III hereof.

GSI TECHNOLOGY, INC.

2018 FORM 10-K ANNUAL REPORT

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Forward-looking Statements

In addition to historical information, this Annual Report on Form 10-K includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements are identified by words such as “anticipates,” “believes,” “expects,” “intends,” “may,” “will,” and other similar expressions. In addition, any statements which refer to expectations, projections, or other characterizations of future events or circumstances are forward-looking statements. Actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of a number of factors, including those set forth in this report under “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and “Risk Factors,” those described elsewhere in this report, and those described in our other reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). We caution you not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this report, and we undertake no obligation to update these forward-looking statements after the filing of this report. You are urged to review carefully and consider our various disclosures in this report and in our other reports publicly disclosed or filed with the SEC that attempt to advise you of the risks and factors that may affect our business.

Industry Background

SRAM, LLDRAM and Bandwidth Engine Market Overview

Virtually all types of high-performance electronic systems incorporate some form of volatile memory. An SRAM is a memory device that retains data as long as power is supplied, without requiring any further user intervention. In contrast, dynamic random access memory, or DRAM, is a memory device that requires user intervention in the form of refresh operations to retain data while power is supplied, due to the capacitive nature of its memory cell.  However, a DRAM memory cell is much smaller than an SRAM memory cell, so several times more DRAM bits than SRAM bits can be implemented in any given unit area of silicon.  The fundamentally different characteristics of SRAM and DRAM memory cells have resulted in the emergence of markedly different architectures for SRAM-based and DRAM-based memory products, and the two types of memory serve different applications. Classically, SRAM-based products have served high performance requirements while DRAM-based products have been used in cost-optimized applications.  Today, SRAM- and DRAM-based products serve both performance and cost-based applications.  As the volatile memory market fragments into a variety of specialized products, more meaningful distinctions between volatile memory products can be made.

There is an increasingly broad variety of volatile memory products on the market, characterized by a number of attributes, such as speed, memory capacity, or density, I/O interface and power consumption. There are several different industry measures of speed:

 latency, which is the delay between the request for data and the delivery of such data for use and is measured in nanoseconds, or ns, or when used to describe performance of synchronous memory products may be described in terms of numbers of clock cycles required between the load of an address and the delivery of valid data;

 random access time, which is the minimum amount of time required between accesses to random locations within the memory array, typically measured in nanoseconds, or ns;

 bandwidth, which is the rate at which data can be streamed to or from a device and is often measured in megabits or gigabits per second (Mb/s or Gb/s);

 clock frequency, which is the cycle rate of a clock within a synchronous device and is often measured in megahertz or gigahertz (MHz or GHz); and

 transaction rate, which is the rate at which new commands can be executed by the memory device, and is often measured in millions or billions of transactions per second (MT/s or BT/s).

Historically, SRAMs have been utilized wherever other lower price-per-bit memory technologies have been inadequate. SRAMs demonstrate lower latency and faster random access times relative to DRAMs and other types of memory technologies, but at a higher price-per-bit. Historically, the volatile memory market has had three price-performance points, DRAM at the low end, Fast SRAM at the high end, and slow SRAM in the middle.  Gartner Dataquest divides the SRAM market into segments based on speed. The highest performance segment is comprised of SRAMs that operate at speeds of less than 10 nanoseconds, which we refer to as “Very Fast SRAMs.” Very Fast SRAMs are predominantly utilized in high-performance networking and telecommunications equipment.  Over the past two decades, alternative memory technologies have been introduced to address certain applications that formerly used slow SRAMs. For example, new types of DRAM have displaced slow SRAM in applications such as cell phones.  However, in the networking memory market a technology vacuum formed between Fast SRAMs on one end and commodity DRAMs at the other, with no high bandwidth, high transaction rate, moderate capacity, moderate latency, and moderate cost volatile memory product to fill the void. In the past decade, low latency DRAMs, or LLDRAMs, have been developed to fill that void. Like the slow SRAMs that came before them, LLDRAMs have a much higher price-per-bit than commodity DRAMs (in order to deliver higher transaction rates) but demonstrate slower random access times and longer latencies than Fast SRAMs.

The need for increasingly greater capacity, data bandwidth and transaction rates from the various memory technologies continues unabated as the networking market begins to make preparations for Terabit networking in the

latter half of the current decade.  We believe that Fast SRAM and LLDRAM, optimized for networking applications, will continue to play an essential role in enabling continued improvements in network performance.

We believe the key success factors for a networking memory vendor are the ability to offer a broad catalog of high-performance, high-quality and high-reliability networking memory products, to maintain timely availability of prior generations of products for several years after their introductions, and to provide effective logistic and technical support throughout their OEM customers’ product development and manufacturing life cycles.

Memory Requirements for “Big Data” Applications

With the vast amount of data currently being generated and the demand for faster processing of that data, processor speeds are continuing to increase.  However, existing systems that move data back and forth between the processor and memory are inadequate to address the fast response times required by “big data” applications (including machine learning, CNNs and natural language processing).  Faster response times are also needed to meet the demands of developers in such markets as cyber security and computer vision.  For example, in the automotive market, advanced driver assistance systems (“ADAS”) require a tremendous amount of image processing to be accomplished in real time

The GSI Solution

Continue Leadership in the High Performance Memory Market

We endeavor to address the overall needs of our OEM customers, not only satisfying their immediate requirements for our latest generation, highest performance networking memory, but also providing them with the ongoing long-term support necessary during the entire lives of the systems in which our products are utilized. Accordingly, the key elements of our solution include:

 Product Performance Leadership .  Through the use of advanced architectures and design methodologies, we have developed high-performance SRAM and LLDRAM products offering superior high speed performance capabilities and low power consumption, while our advanced silicon process technologies allow us to optimize yields, lower manufacturing costs and improve quality.

 Product Innovation .  We believe that we have established a position as a technology leader in the design and development of Very Fast SRAMs.  We are believed to have the industry’s highest density RadHard SRAM, the SigmaQuad‑II+, which is an example of our industry-leading product innovation.

 Broad and Readily Available Product Portfolio .  We have what we believe is the broadest catalog of Very Fast SRAM products.

 Master Die Methodology .  Our master die methodology enables multiple product families, and variations thereof, to be manufactured from a single mask set so that we are able to maintain a common pool of wafers that incorporate all available master die, allowing rapid fulfillment of customer orders and reducing costs.

 Customer Responsiveness .  We work closely with leading networking and telecommunications OEMs, as well as their chip-set suppliers, to anticipate their requirements and to rapidly develop and implement solutions that allow them to meet their specific product performance objectives. 

Development of In-Place Associative Computing Products

The in-place associative computing technology that we obtained in the MikaMonu acquisition addresses the bottleneck caused by the inability of memory bus speeds to keep up with increasing processor speeds by changing the concept of computing from serial data processing – where data is moved back and forth from the processor to the memory – to parallel processing computation and search functions being conducted directly in the main processing

array.  This new computing model has the potential to greatly expedite computation and response times in “big data” applications.  We believe that our state-of-the-art circuit design expertise will enable the development of high quality associative processors incorporating MikaMonu’s patented, in-place associative computing technology and algorithms to create a new category of computing products with substantial target markets and a large new customer base in those markets. We anticipate the release of our initial product based on the MikaMonu IP to be released late in calendar 2018. Our associative computing products will improve system performance, reducing query response times from hours to seconds and at the same time significantly reducing power consumption and reducing system cost.

The GSI Strategy

Our objective is to profitably increase our market share in the markets that we serve, while developing transformative new products utilizing our cutting-edge in-place associative computing technology.  Our strategy includes the following key elements:

 Continue to Focus on the Networking and Telecommunications Markets .  We intend to continue to focus on designing and developing high transaction rate, low latency, high bandwidth and feature-rich memory products targeted primarily at the networking and telecommunications markets.



 Complete the Development of Our Initial In-place Associative Computing Product .  Our principal strategic objective is the completion of our initial in-place associative computing product.  Realization of this goal will require additional development and marketing efforts during the remainder of calendar 2018, with initial product introduction and customer evaluation expected in late fiscal 2019.

 Exploit Opportunities to Expand the Market for Our Memory Products .  While we develop our high-performance memory products principally for the networking and telecommunications markets, they are often applicable across a wide range of industries and applications. We have experienced growth in product sales for military, industrial, test and measurement, and medical markets and intend to continue penetrating these and other new markets with similar needs for high-performance memory technologies.

 Strengthen and Expand Customer Relationships .  We are focused on maintaining close relationships with industry leaders to facilitate rapid adoption of our products and to enhance our position as a leading provider of high-performance memory.  We work with both our customers and with their non-memory IC suppliers that require high-performance memory support in order to anticipate their future high-performance memory needs and to identify and respond to their immediate requests for currently available products and variants on currently available products.

 Continue to Invest in Research and Development to Extend Our Technology Leadership .  We believe we have established a position as a technology leader in the design and development of Very Fast SRAMs. Our Very Fast SRAM products most often provide the highest speed available at a given density for a given device configuration. We intend to maintain and advance our technology leadership through continual enhancement of our existing Very Fast SRAM products, particularly our SigmaQuad/SigmaDDR family of low latency, high-bandwidth synchronous SRAMs, while we continue to broaden our product line with the introduction of other new high performance memory technologies targeted to address the evolving needs of the high performance memory market.

 Collaborate with Wafer Foundries to Leverage Leading-edge Process Technologies .  We will continue to rely upon advanced complementary metal oxide semiconductor, or CMOS, technologies, the most commonly used process technologies for manufacturing semiconductor devices, from TSMC for SRAM-based products and from Powerchip for DRAM-based products.

 Seek New Market Opportunities .  We intend to supplement our internal development activities by seeking additional opportunities to acquire other businesses, product lines or technologies, or enter into strategic partnerships, that would complement our current product lines, expand the breadth of our markets, enhance our technical capabilities, or otherwise provide growth opportunities.

Products

We design, develop and market a broad range of high-performance memory products primarily for the networking and telecommunications markets. We specialize in high performance memory products featuring very high transaction rates, high density, low latency, high bandwidth, fast clock access times and low power consumption. We commit to offering our products for longer periods of time than our competitors, typically seven years or more following their initial introduction. Accordingly, we continue to offer products in a variety of package types that have been discontinued by other suppliers.

We currently offer more than 30 families of SRAMs and one family of LLDRAMs. These basic product configurations are the basis for over 16,000 individual products that incorporate a variety of performance specifications and optional features. Our products can be found in a wide range of networking and telecommunications equipment, including core routers, multi-service access routers, universal gateways, enterprise edge routers, service provider edge routers, optical edge routers, fast Ethernet switches and wireless base stations. We also sell our products to OEMs that manufacture products for military and aerospace applications such as radar and guidance systems and satellites, for professional audio applications such as sound mixing systems, for test and measurement applications such as high-speed testers, for automotive applications such as smart cruise control, and for medical applications such as ultrasound and CAT scan equipment .

We have spent in excess of two years developing and marketing in-place associative computing solutions since our acquisition of MikaMonu in November 2015, leveraging the patented technology obtained in our acquisition of MikaMonu and our 20-plus years of high-performance SRAM development experience.  Our new associative computing solutions will address evolving new markets, such as “big data” (including machine learning and CNNs), natural language processing, computer vision and cyber security.

Synchronous SRAM Products

Synchronous SRAMs are controlled by timing signals, referred to as clocks, which make them easier to use than older style asynchronous SRAMs with similar latency characteristics in applications requiring high bandwidth data transfers. Synchronous SRAMs that employ double data rate interface protocols can transfer data at much higher bandwidth than both single data rate and asynchronous SRAMs.  We currently supply synchronous SRAMs that can cycle at operating frequencies as high as 1,333 MHz.

BurstRAM™ and NBT™ SRAMs.     We currently offer BurstRAMs and No Bus Turnaround, or NBT, SRAMs that implement a single data rate bus protocol. BurstRAMs were originally developed for microprocessor cache applications and have become the most widely used synchronous SRAMs on the market. They are used in applications where large amounts of data are read or written in single sessions, or bursts. NBT SRAMs are a variation on the BurstRAM theme and were developed to address the needs of moderate performance networking applications. NBT SRAMs feature a single data rate bus protocol designed to minimize or eliminate wasted data transfer time slots on the bus when BurstRAMs switch from read to write operations. Both families of products can perform burst data transfers or single cycle transfers at the discretion of the user.

Our BurstRAMs and NBT SRAMs are offered in both pipeline and flow-through modes. Flow-through SRAMs allow the shortest latency. Pipelined SRAMs break the access into discrete clock-controlled steps, allowing new access commands to be accepted while an access is already in progress. Therefore, while flow-through SRAMs offer lower latency, pipelined SRAMs offer greater data bandwidth. Our BurstRAM and NBT SRAM products incorporate a number of features that reduce our OEM customers’ cost of ownership and increase their design flexibility, including a JTAG test port and our FLXDrive feature, which allows system designers to optimize signal integrity for a given application.

We currently offer BurstRAMs and NBT SRAMs with storage densities of up to 288 megabits with clock frequency of up to 400 MHz and clock access times as fast as 2 nanoseconds that operate at 3.3, 2.5 or 1.8 volts.

SigmaQuad and SigmaDDR Products.     High-performance double data rate and quad data rate synchronous SRAMs have become the de facto standard for the networking and telecommunications industry. We offer a full line of quad data rate separate I/O SRAMs, known as our SigmaQuad family, as well as a companion line of double data rate common I/O SRAMs, known as our SigmaDDR family.  SigmaQuad SRAMs feature two uni-directional (one input and one output) double data rate data ports (two data ports times double data rate transfers equals quad data rate), controlled via a single address and control port. SigmaDDR SRAMs feature a single bi-directional double data rate data port. We currently offer our SigmaQuad and SigmaDDR devices in multiple bus protocol versions and data burst lengths, and with various power supply and interface voltages, all under the names SigmaQuad, SigmaQuad-II,  SigmaQuad-IIIe and SigmaQuad-IVe, and their SigmaDDR equivalents. An additional variant in this family of SRAMs is the SigmaSIO DDR, which is designed to address some segments of the market currently served by dual-port SRAMs.

We currently offer SigmaQuad/SigmaDDR products in five storage densities, 18 megabits, 36 megabits, 72 megabits, 144 megabits and 288 megabits. These SRAMs are capable of speeds up to 1,333 MHz and operate on main power supply voltages that range from 2.5 volts to 1.2 volts and interface voltages that range from 1.8 volts to 1.2 volts.  

RadHard and RadTolerant SRAM Products .  We have committed to introduce and market radiation-hardened, or “RadHard”, and radiation-tolerant, or “RadTolerant”, SRAMs for aerospace and military applications such as networking satellites and missiles.  Our initial RadHard and RadTolerant products are 288 megabit devices from our SigmaQuad-II family.  The RadHard products are housed in a hermetically-sealed ceramic column grid array package, and undergo a special fabrication process that diminishes the adverse effects of high-radiation environments.

Low Latency DRAM Products

Our low latency DRAM family fills an under-served market segment between commodity DRAMs and Fast SRAMs. Offering moderate density, moderate speed and moderate cost, LLDRAM technology gives system designers a middle choice when commodity DRAM performance is insufficient but Fast SRAM performance is unnecessary. LLDRAMs offer one-third the latency of commodity DRAMs and four times the density of Fast SRAMs, giving networking equipment designers another tool for solving difficult data management problems.

Our current LLDRAM portfolio includes both 288 megabit and 576 megabit devices that are capable of speeds of up to 533 MHz, and that operate on a 1.8 volt power supply and support both 1.8 volt and 1.5 volt interfaces. They are available in five distinct configurations including common I/O and separate I/O types and data bus widths of x36, x18 and x9. These devices serve as an alternate source for users of a popular, functionally equivalent device from a competing vendor.

Customers

Historically, our primary sales and marketing strategy has been to achieve design wins with leading OEMs in the networking and telecommunications markets and the other markets we serve.  With the development of our new in-place associative computing products, we are focusing sales and marketing efforts in the markets for “big data” (including CNNs), natural language processing, computer vision and cyber security.

 The following is a representative list of our OEM customers that directly or indirectly purchased more than $500,000 of our products in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2018 :

Many of our OEM customers use contract manufacturers to assemble their equipment. Accordingly, a significant percentage of our net revenues is derived from sales to these contract manufacturers and to consignment warehouses who purchase products from us for use by contract manufacturers. In addition, we sell our products to OEM customers indirectly through domestic and international distributors.

In the case of sales of our products to distributors and consignment warehouses, the decision to purchase our products is typically made by the OEM customers. In the case of contract manufacturers, OEM customers typically provide a list of approved products to the contract manufacturer, which then has discretion whether or not to purchase our products from that list.

Direct sales to contract manufacturers and consignment warehouses accounted for 34.9%, 39.0% and 37.6% of our net revenues for fiscal 2018 ,   2017 and 2016 , respectively. Sales to foreign and domestic distributors accounted for 62.5%, 57.5% and 50.4% of our net revenues for fiscal 2018 ,   2017 and 2016 , respectively.

The following direct customers accounted for 10% or more of our net revenues in one or more of the following periods:

Nokia was our largest customer in fiscal 2018,  2017 and 2016.  Nokia purchases products directly from us and through contract manufacturers and distributors.  Based on information provided to us by its contract manufacturers and our distributors, purchases by Nokia represented approximately 36%, 41% and 32% of our net revenues in fiscal 2018 ,   2017 and 2016 , respectively. To our knowledge, none of our other OEM customers accounted for more than 10% of our net revenues in any of these periods.

Sales, Marketing and Technical Support

We sell our products primarily through our worldwide network of independent sales representatives and distributors. As of March 31, 2018 , we employed 16 sales and marketing personnel, and were supported by over 200 independent sales representatives, which we believe will enable us to address an expanded customer base with the introduction of our associative computing products in fiscal 2019. We believe that our relationship with our U.S. distributor, Avnet, puts us in a strong position to address the Very Fast SRAM and LLDRAM memory markets in the United States. We currently have regional sales offices located in Canada, China, Hong Kong, Israel and the   United States.   We believe this international coverage allows us to better serve our distributors and OEM customers by providing them with coordinated support. We believe that our customers’ purchasing decisions are based primarily on product performance, availability, features, quality, reliability, price, manufacturing flexibility and service. Many of our OEM customers have had long-term relationships with us based on our success in meeting these criteria.

Our sales are generally made pursuant to purchase orders received between one and six months prior to the scheduled delivery date. Because industry practice allows customers to reschedule or cancel orders on relatively short notice, these orders are not firm and hence we believe that backlog is not a good indicator of our future sales.

We typically provide a warranty of up to 36 months on our products. Liability for a stated warranty period is usually limited to replacement of defective products.

Our marketing efforts are, first and foremost, focused on ensuring that the products we develop meet or exceed our customers’ needs. Historically, those efforts have been focused on defining our high-performance SRAM and LLDRAM product roadmaps by working closely with key customers to understand their roadmaps and to ensure that the products we develop meet their requirements (primary aspects of which include functionality, performance, electrical interfaces, power, and schedule).  More recently, our marketing efforts have been expanded to include marketing the new in-place associative computing products that we are developing.  Our marketing group also provides technical, strategic and tactical sales support to our direct sales personnel, sales representatives and distributors. This support includes in-depth product presentations, datasheets, application notes, simulation models, sales tools, marketing communications, marketing research, trademark administration and other support functions.  We also engage in various marketing activities to increase brand awareness.

We emphasize customer service and technical support in an effort to provide our OEM customers with the knowledge and resources necessary to successfully use our products in their designs. Our customer service organization includes a technical team of applications engineers, technical marketing personnel and, when required, product design engineers. We provide customer support throughout the qualification and sales process and continue providing follow-up service after the sale of our products and on an ongoing basis. In addition, we provide our OEM customers with comprehensive datasheets, application notes and reference designs and access to our FPGA controller IP for use in their product development.

Manufacturing

We outsource our wafer fabrication, assembly and wafer sort testing, which enables us to focus on our design strengths, minimize fixed costs and capital expenditures and gain access to advanced manufacturing technologies. Our engineers work closely with our outsource partners to increase yields, reduce manufacturing costs, and help assure the quality of our products.

Currently, all of our wafers are manufactured by TSMC and Powerchip under individually negotiated purchase orders. We do not currently have a long-term supply contract with either of these foundries, and, therefore, neither of them is obligated to manufacture products for us for any specified period, in any specified quantity or at any specified price, except as may be provided in a particular purchase order. Our future success depends in part on our ability to secure sufficient capacity at TSMC, Powerchip or other independent foundries to supply us with the wafers we require.

The majority of our current SRAM products are manufactured using 0.13 micron, 90 nanometer,  65 nanometer and 40 nanometer process technologies on 300 millimeter wafers at TSMC. Our LLDRAM production at Powerchip uses 72 nanometer and 63 nanometer process technologies. We currently plan to have our new in-place associative computing products manufactured at TSMC using 28 nanometer process technology.

Our master die methodology enables multiple product families, and variations thereof, to be manufactured from a single mask set. As a result, based upon the way available die from a wafer are metalized, wire bonded, packaged and tested, we can create a number of different products. The manufacturing process consists of two phases, the first of which takes approximately eight to twelve weeks and results in wafers that have the potential to yield multiple products within a given product family. After the completion of this phase, the wafers are stored pending customer orders. Once we receive orders for a particular product, we perform the second phase, consisting of final wafer processing, assembly, burn-in and test, which takes approximately four to eight weeks to complete. This two-step manufacturing process enables us to significantly shorten our product lead times, providing flexibility for customization and to increase the availability of our products.

All of our manufactured wafers are tested for electrical compliance and most are packaged at Advanced Semiconductor Engineering, or ASE, which is located in Taiwan. Our test procedures require that all of our products be subjected to accelerated burn-in and extensive functional electrical testing which is performed at our Taiwan and U.S. test facilities. Our radiation-hardened products will be assembled and tested at STS, located near our Sunnyvale, California headquarters facility.

Research and Development

Research and development expenses were $17.0 million in fiscal 2018, $15.8 million in fiscal 2017 and $12.1 million in fiscal 2016.  During the past two fiscal years, we have devoted substantial resources to the development of a new category of in-place associative computing products based on patented technology obtained in our acquisition of MikaMonu in November 2015. Our research and development staff includes engineering professionals with extensive experience in the areas of high-speed circuit design, including SRAM design, DRAM design and systems level networking and telecommunications equipment design, and well suited for the development of our associative computing products. The design process for our products is complex. As a result, we have made substantial investments in computer-aided design and engineering resources to manage our design process.

Competition

Our existing and potential competitors include many large domestic and international companies, some of which have substantially greater resources, offer other types of memory and/or non-memory technologies and may have longer standing relationships with OEM customers than we do. Unlike us, some of our principal competitors maintain their own semiconductor fabs, which may, at times, provide them with capacity, cost and technical advantages.

Our principal competitors include Cypress Semiconductor, Integrated Silicon Solution, Micron and REC for our SRAM and LLDRAM products.  NVIDIA Corporation and Intel Corporation are prospective competitors for the in-place associative computing products that we are currently developing.  Other competitors are expected to enter this field as well. While some of our competitors offer a broader array of products and offer some of their products at lower prices than we do, we believe that our focus on performance leadership provides us with key competitive advantages.

We believe that our ability to compete successfully in the rapidly evolving markets for “big data” and memory products for the networking and telecommunications markets depends on a number of factors, including:

 product performance, features, quality, reliability and price;

 manufacturing flexibility, product availability and customer service throughout the lifetime of the product;

 the timing and success of new product introductions by us, our customers and our competitors; and

 our ability to anticipate and conform to new industry standards.

We believe we compete favorably with our competitors based on these factors. However, we may not be able to compete successfully in the future with respect to any of these factors. Our failure to compete successfully in these or other areas could harm our business.

The market for networking memory products is competitive and is characterized by technological change, declining average selling prices and product obsolescence. Competition could increase in the future from existing competitors and from other companies that may enter our existing or future markets with solutions that may be less

costly or provide higher performance or more desirable features than our products. This increased competition may result in price reductions, reduced profit margins and loss of market share.

In addition, we are vulnerable to advances in technology by competitors, including new SRAM architectures as well as new forms of DRAM and other new memory technologies. Because we have limited experience developing IC products other than Very Fast SRAMs and LLDRAMs, any efforts by us to introduce new products based on new technology, including the in-place associative computing products currently under development, may not be successful and, as a result, our business may suffer.

Intellectual Property

Our ability to compete successfully depends, in part, upon our ability to protect our proprietary technology and information. We rely on a combination of patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade secret laws, non-disclosure and other contractual arrangements and technical measures to protect our intellectual property. We believe that it is important to maintain a large patent portfolio to protect our innovations. We currently hold 70 United States patents, including 53 memory patents and 17 associative computing patents, and have in excess of a dozen patent applications pending. We cannot assure you that any patents will be issued as a result of our pending applications. We believe that factors such as the technological and creative skills of our personnel and the success of our ongoing product development efforts are also important in maintaining our competitive position. We generally enter into confidentiality or license agreements with our employees, distributors, customers and potential customers and limit access to our proprietary information. Our intellectual property rights, if challenged, may not be upheld as valid, may not be adequate to prevent misappropriation of our technology or may not prevent the development of competitive products. Additionally, we may not be able to obtain patents or other intellectual property protection in the future. Furthermore, the laws of certain foreign countries in which our products are or may be developed, manufactured or sold, including various countries in Asia, may not protect our products or intellectual property rights to the same extent as do the laws of the United States and thus make the possibility of piracy of our technology and products more likely in these countries.

The semiconductor industry is characterized by vigorous protection and pursuit of intellectual property rights, which have resulted in significant and often protracted and expensive litigation. We or our foundry from time to time are notified of claims that we may be infringing patents or other intellectual property rights owned by third parties. We have been involved in patent infringement litigation in the past.  We have been subject to other intellectual property claims in the past and we may be subject to additional claims and litigation in the future. Litigation by or against us relating to allegations of patent infringement or other intellectual property matters could result in significant expense to us and divert the efforts of our technical and management personnel, whether or not such litigation results in a determination favorable to us. In the event of an adverse result in any such litigation, we could be required to pay substantial damages, cease the manufacture, use and sale of infringing products, expend significant resources to develop non-infringing technology, discontinue the use of certain processes or obtain licenses to the infringing technology. Licenses may not be offered or the terms of any offered licenses may not be acceptable to us. If we fail to obtain a license from a third party for technology used by us, we could incur substantial liabilities and be required to suspend the manufacture of products or the use by our foundry of certain processes.

Employees

As of March 31, 2018 , we had 157 full-time employees, including 98 engineers, of which 68 are engaged in research and development and 51 have PhD or MS degrees, 16 employees in sales and marketing, ten employees in general and administrative capacities and 67 employees in manufacturing. Of these employees, 58 are based in our Sunnyvale facility, 60 are based in our Taiwan facility and 22 are based in our Israel facility.   We believe that our future success will depend in large part on our ability to attract and retain highly-skilled, engineering, managerial, sales and marketing personnel. Our employees are not represented by any collective bargaining unit, and we have never experienced a work stoppage. We believe that our employee relations are good.

Financial Information about Segments and Geographic Areas

Please see Note 10 of our Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for information regarding our foreign operations, and see Item 1A Risk Factors for further information on risks attendant to our foreign operations and dependence.  We operate all of our business as a single operating segment.

Investor Information

You can access financial and other information in the Investor Relations section of our website at www.gsitechnology.com . We make available, on our website, free of charge, copies of our annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act as soon as reasonably practicable after filing such material electronically or otherwise furnishing it to the SEC.

The charters of our Audit Committee, our Compensation Committee, and our Nominating and Governance Committee, our code of conduct (including code of ethics provisions that apply to our principal executive officer, principal financial officer, controller, and senior financial officers) and our corporate governance guidelines are also available at our website under “Corporate Governance.” These items are also available to any stockholder who requests them by calling (408) 331-8800. The contents of our website are not incorporated by reference in this report.

The SEC maintains an Internet site that contains reports, proxy statements and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC at www.sec.gov .

Lee-Lean Shu co-founded our company in March 1995 and has served as our President and Chief Executive Officer and as a member of our Board of Directors since inception. Since October 2000, Mr. Shu has also served as Chairman of our Board. From January 1995 to March 1995, Mr. Shu was Director, SRAM Design at Sony Microelectronics Corporation, a semiconductor company and a subsidiary of Sony Corporation, and from July 1990 to January 1995, he was a design manager at Sony Microelectronics Corporation.

Didier Lasserre has served as our Vice President, Sales since July 2002. From November 1997 to July 2002, Mr. Lasserre served as our Director of Sales for the Western United States and Europe. From July 1996 to October 1997, Mr. Lasserre was an account manager at Solectron Corporation, a provider of electronics manufacturing services. From June 1988 to July 1996, Mr. Lasserre was a field sales engineer at Cypress Semiconductor Corporation, a semiconductor company.

Douglas Schirle has served as our Chief Financial Officer since August 2000. From June 1999 to August 2000, Mr. Schirle served as our Corporate Controller. From March 1997 to June 1999, Mr. Schirle was the Corporate Controller at Pericom Semiconductor Corporation, a provider of digital and mixed signal integrated

circuits. From November 1996 to February 1997, Mr. Schirle was Vice President, Finance for Paradigm Technology, a manufacturer of SRAMs, and from December 1993 to October 1996, he was the Controller for Paradigm Technology. Mr. Schirle was formerly a certified public accountant.

Bor-Tay Wu has served as our Vice President, Taiwan Operations since January 1997. From January 1995 to December 1996, Mr. Wu was a design manager at Atalent, an IC design company in Taiwan.

Ping Wu has served as our Vice President, U.S. Operations since September 2006. He served in the same capacity from February 2004 to April 2006. From April 2006 to August 2006, Mr. Wu was Vice President of Operations at QPixel Technology, a semiconductor company. From July 1999 to January 2004, Mr. Wu served as our Director of Operations. From July 1997 to June 1999, Mr. Wu served as Vice President of Operations at Scan Vision, a semiconductor manufacturer.

Robert Yau co-founded our company in March 1995 and has served as our Vice President, Engineering and as a member of our Board of Directors since inception. From December 1993 to February 1995, Mr. Yau was design manager for specialty memory devices at Sony Microelectronics Corporation. From 1990 to 1993, Mr. Yau was design manager at MOSEL/VITELIC, a semiconductor company.

 changes in our product pricing policies, including those made in response to new product announcements and pricing changes of our competitors; and

 our ability to address technology issues as they arise, improve our products' functionality and expand our product offerings.

Our expenses are, to a large extent, fixed, and we expect that these expenses will increase in the future. We will not be able to adjust our spending quickly if our revenues fall short of our expectations. If this were to occur, our operating results would be harmed. If our operating results in future quarters fall below the expectations of market analysts and investors, the price of our common stock could fall.

Our largest OEM customer accounts for a significant percentage of our net revenues. If this customer, or any of our other major customers, reduces the amount they purchase or stop purchasing our products, our operating results will suffer.

Nokia, our largest customer, purchases our products directly from us and through contract manufacturers and distributors.  Purchases by Nokia represented approximately 36%, 41% and 32% of our net revenues in fiscal 2018,  2017 and 2016, respectively. We expect that our operating results in any given period will continue to depend significantly on orders from our key OEM customers, particularly Nokia, and our future success is dependent to a large degree on the business success of this customer over which we have no control. We do not have long-term contracts with Nokia or any of our other major OEM customers, distributors or contract manufacturers that obligate them to purchase our products.  We expect that future direct and indirect sales to Nokia and our other key OEM customers will continue to fluctuate significantly on a quarterly basis and that such fluctuations may substantially affect our operating results in future periods. If we fail to continue to sell to our key OEM customers, distributors or contract manufacturers in sufficient quantities, our business could be harmed.

We have incurred significant losses in prior periods and may incur losses in the future.

We have incurred significant losses in prior periods. We incurred losses of $4.5 million,  $115,000 and $2.2 million during fiscal 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively. Our operating expenses in fiscal 2016 included substantial expenses related to legal proceedings that resulted in operating losses. Although these proceedings have concluded, there can be no assurance that our Very Fast SRAMs will continue to receive broad market acceptance, that our new product development initiatives will be successful or that we will be able to achieve sustained revenue growth or profitability.

We depend upon the sale of our Very Fast SRAMs for most of our revenues, and a downturn in demand for these products could significantly reduce our revenues and harm our business.

We derive most of our revenues from the sale of Very Fast SRAMs, and we expect that sales of these products will represent the substantial majority of our revenues for the foreseeable future. Our business depends in large part upon continued demand for our products in the markets we currently serve, and adoption of our products in new markets. Market adoption will be dependent upon our ability to increase customer awareness of the benefits of our products and to prove their high-performance and cost-effectiveness. We may not be able to sustain or increase our revenues from sales of our products, particularly if the networking and telecommunications markets were to experience another significant downturn in the future. Any decrease in revenues from sales of our products could harm our business more than it would if we offered a more diversified line of products.

If we do not successfully develop new products to respond to rapid market changes due to changing technology and evolving industry standards, particularly in the networking and telecommunications markets, our business will be harmed.

If we fail to offer technologically advanced products and respond to technological advances and emerging standards, we may not generate sufficient revenues to offset our development costs and other expenses, which will hurt our business. The development of new or enhanced products is a complex and uncertain process that requires the accurate anticipation of technological and market trends. In particular, the networking and telecommunications markets are rapidly evolving and new standards are emerging. We are vulnerable to advances in technology by competitors, including new SRAM architectures, new forms of DRAM and the emergence of new memory technologies that could enable the development of products that feature higher performance or lower cost. We may experience development, marketing and other technological difficulties that may delay or limit our ability to respond to technological changes, evolving industry standards, competitive developments or end-user requirements. For example, because we have limited experience developing integrated circuits, or IC, products other than Very Fast SRAMs and LLDRAMs, our efforts to introduce new products may not be successful and our business may suffer. Other challenges that we face include:

 our products may become obsolete upon the introduction of alternative technologies;

 we may incur substantial costs if we need to modify our products to respond to these alternative technologies;

 we may not have sufficient resources to develop or acquire new technologies or to introduce new products capable of competing with future technologies;

 new products that we develop may not successfully integrate with our end-users’ products into which they are incorporated;

 we may be unable to develop new products that incorporate emerging industry standards;

 we may be unable to develop or acquire the rights to use the intellectual property necessary to implement new technologies; and

 when introducing new or enhanced products, we may be unable to manage effectively the transition from older products.

Our future success is substantially dependent on the successful development of new in-place associative computing products which entails significant risks. 

Since our acquisition of MikaMonu in November 2015, our principal strategic objective has been the development of a new category of in-place associative computing products based on patented technology that we acquired in the acquisition.  We have devoted, and are continuing to devote, substantial efforts and resources to this development effort.  This ongoing project involves the commercialization of new, cutting-edge technology, may require a substantial effort during fiscal 2019 and will be subject to significant risks.  In addition to the typical risks associated with the development of technologically advanced products (as outlined in the previous paragraph), this project will be subject to enhanced risks of technological problems related to the development of an entirely new category of products, substantial risks of delays or unanticipated costs that may be encountered and risks associated with the establishment of entirely new markets and customer relationships.  Our inability to successfully conclude this major development effort and establish a market for the products we hope to develop would have a material adverse effect on our future financial and business success, including our prospects for increased revenues. 

Additionally, if we are unable to meet the expectations of market analysts and investors with respect to this major development effort, then the price of our common stock could fall.

We are subject to the highly cyclical nature of the networking and telecommunications markets.

Our products are incorporated into routers, switches, wireless local area network infrastructure equipment, wireless base stations and network access equipment used in the highly cyclical networking and telecommunications markets. We expect that the networking and telecommunications markets will continue to be highly cyclical, characterized by periods of rapid growth and contraction. Our business and our operating results are likely to fluctuate, perhaps quite severely, as a result of this cyclicality.

The market for Very Fast SRAMs is highly competitive.

The market for Very Fast SRAMs, which are used primarily in networking and telecommunications equipment, is characterized by price erosion, rapid technological change, cyclical market patterns and intense foreign and domestic competition. Several of our competitors offer a broad array of memory products and have greater financial, technical, marketing, distribution and other resources than we have. Some of our competitors maintain their own semiconductor fabrication facilities, which may provide them with capacity, cost and technical advantages over us. We cannot assure you that we will be able to compete successfully against any of these competitors. Our ability to compete successfully in this market depends on factors both within and outside of our control, including:

 real or perceived imbalances in supply and demand of Very Fast SRAMs;

 the rate at which OEMs incorporate our products into their systems;

 the success of our customers’ products;

 our ability to develop and market new products; and

 the supply and cost of wafers.

In addition, we are vulnerable to advances in technology by competitors, including new SRAM architectures and new forms of DRAM, or the emergence of new memory technologies that could enable the development of products that feature higher performance, lower cost or lower power capabilities. Additionally, the trend toward incorporating SRAM into other chips in the networking and telecommunications markets has the potential to reduce future demand for Very Fast SRAM products. There can be no assurance that we will be able to compete successfully in the future. Our failure to compete successfully in these or other areas could harm our business.  

The average selling prices of our products are expected to decline, and if we are unable to offset these declines, our operating results will suffer.

Historically, the average unit selling prices of our products have declined substantially over the lives of the products, and we expect this trend to continue. A reduction in overall average selling prices of our products could result in reduced revenues and lower gross margins. Our ability to increase our net revenues and maintain our gross margins despite a decline in the average selling prices of our products will depend on a variety of factors, including our ability to introduce lower cost versions of our existing products, increase unit sales volumes of these products, and introduce new products with higher prices and greater margins. If we fail to accomplish any of these objectives, our business will suffer. To reduce our costs, we may be required to implement design changes that lower our manufacturing costs, negotiate reduced purchase prices from our independent foundries and our independent assembly and test vendors, and successfully manage our manufacturing and subcontractor relationships. Because we

do not operate our own wafer foundry or assembly facilities, we may not be able to reduce our costs as rapidly as companies that operate their own foundries or facilities.

Global economic and market conditions may adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We sell our products to end customers both in the United States and internationally.  We also rely heavily on our suppliers in Asia.  We are therefore susceptible to adverse domestic and international economic and market conditions.  In recent years, turmoil in global financial markets and economic conditions has impacted credit availability, consumer spending and capital expenditures, including expenditures for networking and telecommunications equipment.  Weakness in global networking and telecommunications markets, particularly in Asia, has continued to adversely impact our revenues in recent quarters.  Slowness in economic growth, domestically and in our key markets, uncertainty regarding macroeconomic trends, and volatility in financial markets may continue to adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations over coming quarters.

We are dependent on a number of single source suppliers, and if we fail to obtain adequate supplies, our business will be harmed and our prospects for growth will be curtailed.

We currently purchase several key components used in the manufacture of our products from single sources and are dependent upon supply from these sources to meet our needs. If any of these suppliers cannot provide components on a timely basis, at the same price or at all, our ability to manufacture our products will be constrained and our business will suffer. Most significantly, we obtain wafers for our Very Fast SRAM products from a single foundry, TSMC, and most of them are packaged at ASE. Wafers for our LLDRAM products are obtained exclusively from Powerchip.  If we are unable to obtain an adequate supply of wafers from TSMC or Powerchip or find alternative sources in a timely manner, we will be unable to fulfill our customer orders and our operating results will be harmed. We do not have supply agreements with TSMC, Powerchip, ASE or any of our other independent assembly and test suppliers, and instead obtain manufacturing services and products from these suppliers on a purchase-order basis. Our suppliers, including TSMC and Powerchip, have no obligation to supply products or services to us for any specific product, in any specific quantity, at any specific price or for any specific time period. As a result, the loss or failure to perform by any of these suppliers could adversely affect our business and operating results.

Should any of our single source suppliers experience manufacturing failures or yield shortfalls, be disrupted by natural disaster or political instability, choose to prioritize capacity or inventory for other uses or reduce or eliminate deliveries to us for any other reason, we likely will not be able to enforce fulfillment of any delivery commitments and we would have to identify and qualify acceptable replacements from alternative sources of supply. In particular, if TSMC is unable to supply us with sufficient quantities of wafers to meet all of our requirements, we would have to allocate our products among our customers, which would constrain our growth and might cause some of them to seek alternative sources of supply. Since the manufacturing of wafers and other components is extremely complex, the process of qualifying new foundries and suppliers is a lengthy process and there is no assurance that we would be able to find and qualify another supplier without materially adversely affecting our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Because we outsource our wafer manufacturing and independent wafer foundry capacity is limited, we may be required to enter into costly long-term supply arrangements to secure foundry capacity.

We do not have long-term supply agreements with TSMC or Powerchip, but instead obtain our wafers on a purchase order basis. In order to secure future wafer supply from TSMC or Powerchip or from other independent foundries, we may be required to enter into various arrangements with them, which could include:

 contracts that commit us to purchase specified quantities of wafers over extended periods;

 investments in and joint ventures with the foundries; or

 non-refundable deposits with or prepayments or loans to foundries in exchange for capacity commitments.

We may not be able to make any of these arrangements in a timely fashion or at all, and these arrangements, if any, may not be on terms favorable to us. Moreover, even if we are able to secure independent foundry capacity, we may be obligated to use all of that capacity or incur penalties. These penalties may be expensive and could harm our financial results.

If we are unable to offset increased wafer fabrication costs by increasing the average selling prices of our products, our gross margins will suffer.

If there is a significant upturn in the networking and telecommunications markets that results in increased demand for our products and competing products, the available supply of wafers may be limited. As a result, we could be required to obtain additional manufacturing capacity in order to meet increased demand. Securing additional manufacturing capacity may cause our wafer fabrication costs to increase. If we are unable to offset these increased costs by increasing the average selling prices of our products, our gross margins will decline.

We rely heavily on distributors and our success depends on our ability to develop and manage our indirect distribution channels.

A significant percentage of our sales are made to distributors and to contract manufacturers who incorporate our products into end products for OEMs. For example, in fiscal 2018 ,   2017 and 2016 , our largest distributor Avnet Logistics accounted for 35.3%, 25.5% and 28.2%, respectively, of our net revenues. Avnet Logistics and our other existing distributors may choose to devote greater resources to marketing and supporting the products of other companies. Since we sell through multiple channels and distribution networks, we may have to resolve potential conflicts between these channels. For example, these conflicts may result from the different discount levels offered by multiple channel distributors to their customers or, potentially, from our direct sales force targeting the same equipment manufacturer accounts as our indirect channel distributors. These conflicts may harm our business or reputation.

We may be unable to accurately predict future sales through our distributors, which could harm our ability to efficiently manage our resources to match market demand.

Our financial results, quarterly product sales, trends and comparisons are affected by fluctuations in the buying patterns of the OEMs that purchase our products from our distributors. While we attempt to assist our distributors in maintaining targeted stocking levels of our products, we may not consistently be accurate or successful. This process involves the exercise of judgment and use of assumptions as to future uncertainties, including end user demand. Inventory levels of our products held by our distributors may exceed or fall below the levels we consider desirable on a going-forward basis. This could result in distributors returning unsold inventory to us, or in us not having sufficient inventory to meet the demand for our products. If we are not able to accurately predict sales through our distributors or effectively manage our relationships with our distributors, our business and financial results will suffer.

A small number of customers generally account for a significant portion of our accounts receivable in any period, and if any one of them fails to pay us, our financial position and operating results will suffer.

At March 31, 2018 , four customers accounted for 26%, 25%,  21% and 13% of our accounts receivable, respectively. If any of these customers do not pay us, our financial position and operating results will be harmed. Generally, we do not require collateral from our customers.

Our acquisition of companies or technologies could prove difficult to integrate, disrupt our business, dilute stockholder value and adversely affect our operating results.

In November 2015, we acquired all of the outstanding capital stock of privately held MikaMonu Group Ltd., a development-stage, Israel-based company that specializes in in-place associative computing for markets including big data, computer vision and cyber security. We also acquired substantially all of the assets related to the SRAM memory device product line of Sony Corporation in 2009. We intend to supplement our internal development activities by seeking opportunities to make additional acquisitions or investments in companies, assets or technologies that we believe are complementary or strategic. Other than the MikaMonu and Sony acquisitions, we have not made any such acquisitions or investments, and therefore our experience as an organization in making such acquisitions and investments is limited. In connection with the MikaMonu acquisition, we are subject to risks related to potential problems, delays or unanticipated costs that may be encountered in the development of products based on the MikaMonu technology and the establishment of new markets and customer relationships for the potential new products.  In addition, in connection with any future acquisitions or investments we may make, we face numerous other risks, including:

 difficulties in integrating operations, technologies, products and personnel;

 diversion of financial and managerial resources from existing operations;

 risk of overpaying for or misjudging the strategic fit of an acquired company, asset or technology;

 problems or liabilities stemming from defects of an acquired product or intellectual property litigation that may result from offering the acquired product in our markets;

 challenges in retaining key employees to maximize the value of the acquisition or investment;

 inability to generate sufficient return on investment;

 incurrence of significant one-time write-offs; and

 delays in customer purchases due to uncertainty.

If we proceed with additional acquisitions or investments, we may be required to use a considerable amount of our cash, or to finance the transaction through debt or equity securities offerings, which may decrease our financial liquidity or dilute our stockholders and affect the market price of our stock. As a result, if we fail to properly evaluate and execute acquisitions or investments, our business and prospects may be harmed.

Claims that we infringe third party intellectual property rights could seriously harm our business and require us to incur significant costs.

In recent years, there has been significant litigation in the semiconductor industry involving patents and other intellectual property rights.  We have recently been involved in protracted patent infringement litigation, and  we could become subject to additional claims or litigation in the future as a result of allegations that we infringe others’ intellectual property rights or that our use of intellectual property otherwise violates the law. Claims that our products infringe the proprietary rights of others would force us to defend ourselves and possibly our customers, distributors or manufacturers against the alleged infringement. Any such litigation regarding intellectual property could result in substantial costs and diversion of resources and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Similarly, changing our products or processes to avoid infringing the

rights of others may be costly or impractical. If any claims received in the future were to be upheld, the consequences to us could require us to:

 stop selling our products that incorporate the challenged intellectual property;

 obtain a license to sell or use the relevant technology, which license may not be available on reasonable terms or at all;

 pay damages; or

 redesign those products that use the disputed technology.

Although patent disputes in the semiconductor industry have often been settled through cross-licensing arrangements, we may not be able, in any or every instance, to settle an alleged patent infringement claim through a cross-licensing arrangement in part because we have a more limited patent portfolio than many of our competitors. If a successful claim is made against us or any of our customers and a license is not made available to us on commercially reasonable terms or we are required to pay substantial damages or awards, our business, financial condition and results of operations would be materially adversely affected.

Our business will suffer if we are unable to protect our intellectual property.

Our success and ability to compete depends in large part upon protecting our proprietary technology. We rely on a combination of patent, trade secret, copyright and trademark laws and non-disclosure and other contractual agreements to protect our proprietary rights. These agreements and measures may not be sufficient to protect our technology from third-party infringement. Monitoring unauthorized use of our intellectual property is difficult and we cannot be certain that the steps we have taken will prevent unauthorized use of our technology, particularly in foreign countries where the laws may not protect our proprietary rights as fully as in the United States. Our attempts to enforce our intellectual property rights could be time consuming and costly. We were recently involved in litigation to enforce our intellectual property rights and to protect our trade secrets. Additional litigation of this type may be necessary in the future. Any such litigation could result in substantial costs and diversion of resources. If competitors are able to use our technology without our approval or compensation, our ability to compete effectively could be harmed.

System security risks, data protection, cyber-attacks and systems integration issues could disrupt our internal operations or the operations of our business partners, and any such disruption could harm our reputation or cause a reduction in our expected revenue, increase our expenses, negatively impact our results of operation or otherwise adversely affect our stock price.

Security breaches, computer malware and cyber-attacks have become more prevalent and sophisticated in recent years. Experienced computer programmers and hackers may be able to penetrate our network security or the network security of our business partners, and misappropriate or compromise our confidential and proprietary information, create system disruptions or cause shutdowns. The costs to us to eliminate or alleviate cyber or other security problems, bugs, viruses, worms, malicious software programs and security vulnerabilities could be significant, and our efforts to address these problems may not be successful and could result in interruptions and delays that may impede our sales, manufacturing, distribution or other critical functions.

We manage and store various proprietary information and sensitive or confidential data relating to our business on the cloud. Breaches of our security measures or the accidental loss, inadvertent disclosure or unapproved dissemination of proprietary information or confidential data about us, including the potential loss or disclosure of such information or data as a result of fraud, trickery or other forms of deception, could expose us to a risk of loss or misuse of this information, result in litigation and potential liability for us, damage our reputation or

otherwise harm our business. In addition, the cost and operational consequences of implementing further data protection measures could be significant.

Portions of our IT infrastructure also may experience interruptions, delays or cessations of service or produce errors in connection with systems integration or migration work that takes place from time to time. We may not be successful in implementing new systems and transitioning data, which could cause business disruptions and be more expensive, time consuming, disruptive and resource-intensive than originally anticipated. Such disruptions could adversely impact our ability to fulfill orders and interrupt other processes and could adversely affect our financial results, stock price and reputation.

We may experience difficulties in transitioning to smaller geometry process technologies and other more advanced manufacturing process technologies, which may result in reduced manufacturing yields, delays in product deliveries and increased expenses.

In order to remain competitive, we expect to continue to transition the manufacture of our products to smaller geometry process technologies. This transition will require us to migrate to new manufacturing processes for our products and redesign certain products. The manufacture and design of our products is complex, and we may experience difficulty in transitioning to smaller geometry process technologies or new manufacturing processes. These difficulties could result in reduced manufacturing yields, delays in product deliveries and increased expenses. We are dependent on our relationships with TSMC and Powerchip to transition successfully to smaller geometry process technologies and to more advanced manufacturing processes. We cannot assure you that TSMC or Powerchip will be able to effectively manage the transition or that we will be able to maintain our relationship with them. If we or TSMC or Powerchip experience significant delays in this transition or fail to implement these transitions, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

Manufacturing process technologies are subject to rapid change and require significant expenditures for research and development.

We continuously evaluate the benefits of migrating to smaller geometry process technologies in order to improve performance and reduce costs. Historically, these migrations to new manufacturing processes have resulted in significant initial design and development costs associated with pre-production mask sets for the manufacture of new products with smaller geometry process technologies.  For example, in fiscal 2014, we incurred $809,000 and $648,000, respectively, in research and development expense associated with pre-production mask sets which were not later used in production as part of the transition to our new 40 nanometer SRAM process technology and 63 nanometer DRAM process technology.  We will incur similar expenses in the future as we continue to transition our products to smaller geometry processes. The costs inherent in the transition to new manufacturing process technologies will adversely affect our operating results and our gross margin.

Our products are complex to design and manufacture and could contain defects, which could reduce revenues or result in claims against us.

We develop complex products. Despite testing by us and our OEM customers, design or manufacturing errors may be found in existing or new products. These defects could result in a delay in recognition or loss of revenues, loss of market share or failure to achieve market acceptance. These defects may also cause us to incur significant warranty, support and repair costs, divert the attention of our engineering personnel from our product development efforts, result in a loss of market acceptance of our products and harm our relationships with our OEM customers. Our OEM customers could also seek and obtain damages from us for their losses. A product liability claim brought against us, even if unsuccessful, would likely be time consuming and costly to defend.

Defects in wafers and other components used in our products and arising from the manufacturing of these products may not be fully recoverable from TSMC or our other suppliers. For example, in the quarter ended December 31, 2005, we incurred a charge of approximately $900,000 related to the write-off of inventory resulting

from an error in the assembly process at one of our suppliers. This write-off adversely affected our operating results for fiscal 2006.

Demand for our products may decrease if our OEM customers experience difficulty manufacturing, marketing or selling their products.

Our products are used as components in our OEM customers’ products, including routers, switches and other networking and telecommunications products. Accordingly, demand for our products is subject to factors affecting the ability of our OEM customers to successfully introduce and market their products, including:

 capital spending by telecommunication and network service providers and other end-users who purchase our OEM customers’ products;

 the competition our OEM customers face, particularly in the networking and telecommunications industries;

 the technical, manufacturing, sales and marketing and management capabilities of our OEM customers;

 the financial and other resources of our OEM customers; and

 the inability of our OEM customers to sell their products if they infringe third-party intellectual property rights.

As a result, if OEM customers reduce their purchases of our products, our business will suffer.

Our products have lengthy sales cycles that make it difficult to plan our expenses and forecast results.

Our products are generally incorporated in our OEM customers’ products at the design stage. However, their decisions to use our products often require significant expenditures by us without any assurance of success, and often precede volume sales, if any, by a year or more. If an OEM customer decides at the design stage not to incorporate our products into their products, we will not have another opportunity for a design win with respect to that customer’s product for many months or years, if at all. Our sales cycle can take up to 24 months to complete, and because of this lengthy sales cycle, we may experience a delay between increasing expenses for research and development and our sales and marketing efforts and the generation of volume production revenues, if any, from these expenditures. Moreover, the value of any design win will largely depend on the commercial success of our OEM customers’ products. There can be no assurance that we will continue to achieve design wins or that any design win will result in future revenues.

Any significant order cancellations or order deferrals could adversely affect our operating results.

We typically sell products pursuant to purchase orders that customers can generally cancel or defer on short notice without incurring a significant penalty. Any significant cancellations or deferrals in the future could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Cancellations or deferrals could cause us to hold excess inventory, which could reduce our profit margins, increase product obsolescence and restrict our ability to fund our operations. We generally recognize revenue upon shipment of products to a customer. If a customer refuses to accept shipped products or does not pay for these products, we could miss future revenue projections or incur significant charges against our income, which could materially and adversely affect our operating results.

If our business grows, such growth may place a significant strain on our management and operations and, as a result, our business may suffer.

We are endeavoring to expand our business, and any growth that we are successful in achieving could place a significant strain on our management systems, infrastructure and other resources. To manage the potential growth of our operations and resulting increases in the number of our personnel, we will need to invest the necessary capital to continue to improve our operational, financial and management controls and our reporting systems and procedures. Our controls, systems and procedures may prove to be inadequate should we experience significant growth. In addition, we may not have sufficient administrative staff to support our operations. For example, we currently have only five employees in our finance department in the United States, including our Chief Financial Officer. Furthermore, our officers have limited experience in managing large or rapidly growing businesses. If our management fails to respond effectively to changes in our business, our business may suffer.

We are substantially dependent on the continued services and performance of our senior management and other key personnel.

Our future success is substantially dependent on the continued services and continuing contributions of our senior management who must work together effectively in order to design our products, expand our business, increase our revenues and improve our operating results. Members of our senior management team have long-standing and important relationships with our key customers and suppliers.  The loss of services of Lee-Lean Shu, our President and Chief Executive Officer, Robert Yau, our Vice President of Engineering, Dr. Avidan Akerib, our Vice President of Associative Computing, any other executive officer or other key employee could significantly delay or prevent the achievement of our development and strategic objectives. We do not have employment contracts with, nor maintain key person insurance on, any of our executive officers or other key employees.

If we are unable to recruit or retain qualified personnel, our business and product development efforts could be harmed.

We must continue to identify, recruit, hire, train, retain and motivate highly skilled technical, managerial, sales and marketing and administrative personnel. Competition for these individuals is intense, and we may not be able to successfully recruit, assimilate or retain sufficiently qualified personnel. We may encounter difficulties in recruiting and retaining a sufficient number of qualified engineers, which could harm our ability to develop new products and adversely impact our relationships with existing and future end-users at a critical stage of development. The failure to recruit and retain necessary technical, managerial, sales, marketing and administrative personnel could harm our business and our ability to obtain new OEM customers and develop new products.

Our international business exposes us to additional risks.

Products shipped to destinations outside of the United States accounted for 51.5%,   59.1% and 60.3%  of our net revenues in fiscal 2018 ,   2017 and 2016 , respectively. Moreover, a substantial portion of our products is manufactured and tested in Taiwan, and the software development for our associative computing products occurs in Israel. We intend to continue expanding our international business in the future. Conducting business outside of the United States subjects us to additional risks and challenges, including:

 heightened price sensitivity from customers in emerging markets;

 compliance with a wide variety of foreign laws and regulations and unexpected changes in these laws and regulations;

 uncertainties regarding taxes, tariffs, quotas, export controls and license requirements, trade wars, policies that favor domestic companies over nondomestic companies, including government efforts to provide for the development and growth of local competitors, and other trade barriers;

 potential political and economic instability in, or foreign conflicts that involve or affect, the countries in which we, our customers and our suppliers are located;

 difficulties in collecting accounts receivable and longer accounts receivable payment cycles;

 difficulties and costs of staffing and managing personnel, distributors and representatives across different geographic areas and cultures, including assuring compliance with the U. S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and other U. S. and foreign anti-corruption laws;

 limited protection for intellectual property rights in some countries; and

 fluctuations in freight rates and transportation disruptions.

Moreover, our reporting currency is the U.S. dollar. However, a portion of our cost of revenues and our operating expenses is denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar, primarily the New Taiwanese dollar. As a result, appreciation or depreciation of other currencies in relation to the U.S. dollar could result in transaction gains or losses that could impact our operating results. We do not currently engage in currency hedging activities to reduce the risk of financial exposure from fluctuations in foreign exchange rates.

The United States could withdraw from or materially modify certain international trade agreements, or change tax provisions related to the global manufacturing and sales of our products.

A portion of our business activities are conducted in foreign countries, including Taiwan and Israel. Our business benefits from free trade agreements, and we also rely on various U.S. corporate tax provisions related to international commerce as we develop, manufacture, market and sell our products globally. The current U.S. administration has made comments suggesting that it is not supportive of certain existing international trade agreements. At this time, it remains unclear what the current U.S. administration will do with respect to these international trade agreements and U.S. tax provisions related to international commerce. Any action to withdraw from or materially modify international trade agreements, or change corporate tax policy related to international commerce, could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

U.S. federal income tax reform could adversely affect us.

On December 22, 2017, the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act” (“H.R. 1”) was signed into law, significantly impacting several sections of the Internal Revenue Code.  Following the enactment of the H.R. 1, the SEC staff issued SAB 118, which provides guidance on accounting for the tax effects of the Tax Act.  Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 118 (“SAB 118”) provides a measurement period that should not extend beyond one year from the H.R. 1 enactment date for companies to complete the accounting under ASC 740.  In accordance with SAB 118, we must reflect the income tax effects of those aspects of H.R. 1 for which the accounting under ASC 740 is complete.  To the extent that our accounting for certain income tax effects of the Tax Act is incomplete but we are able to determine a reasonable estimate, we must record a provisional estimate in the financial statements.  If we cannot determine a provisional estimate to be included in the financial statements, we should continue to apply ASC 740 on the basis of the provisions of the tax law that were in effect immediately before the enactment of the H.R 1.

This new law includes significant changes to the U.S. corporate income tax system, including a permanent reduction in the corporate income tax rate from 35% to 21%, limitations on the deductibility of interest expense and executive compensation and the transition of U.S. international taxation from a worldwide tax system to a territorial tax system.  We are continuing to examine the impact that H.R. 1 may have on our business.  W e re-measured certain deferred tax assets and liabilities based on the rates at which they are expected to reverse in the future. The re-measurement of our deferred tax balance of $1.1 million was offset by application of our valuation allowance. We have calculated our best estimate of the impact of H.R. 1 in the year end income tax provision, including the impact of the one-time transition tax, in accordance with our understanding of H.R. 1 and guidance available as of the date

of this filing and have recorded a tax expense of $367,000 related to the transition tax. As we complete the analysis of H.R. 1, collect and prepare necessary data, and interpret any additional guidance, we may make adjustments to our initial assessment. Pursuant to SAB 118, adjustments to the provisional amounts recorded by us as of March 31, 2018 that are identified within a subsequent measurement period of up to one year from the enactment date will be included as an adjustment to tax expense from continuing operations in the period the amounts are determined.

In addition, we recorded a deferred tax benefit related to a valuation allowance release of $101,000 as a result of provisions in the new   legislation related to indefinite lived net operating loss carryovers and the refundability of minimum tax credit carryovers.  Finally, we currently estimate that we will not have a liability for taxes currently payable at March 31, 2018 that is a result of H.R. 1.

This original estimate may be materially impacted by a number of additional considerations, including but not limited to the issuance of the final regulations and our ongoing analysis of the new law.

H.R. 1 subjects a U.S. shareholder to tax on global intangible low-taxed income (GILTI) earned by certain foreign subsidiaries.  The FASB Staff Q&A, Topic 740, No. 5, Accounting for Global Intangible Low-Taxed Income, states that an entity can make an accounting policy election to either recognize deferred taxes for temporary basis differences expected to reverse as GILTI in future years or provide for the tax expense related to GILTI in the year the tax is incurred.  Given the complexity of the GILTI provisions, we are still evaluating the effects of the GILTI provisions and have not yet determined our accounting policy.  At March 31, 2018, because we are still evaluating the GILTI provisions and our analysis of future taxable income that is subject to GILTI, we are unable to make a reasonable estimate and have not reflected any adjustments related to GILTI in our financial statements.

TSMC and Powerchip, as well as our other independent suppliers and many of our OEM customers, have operations in the Pacific Rim, an area subject to significant earthquake risk and adverse consequences related to the potential outbreak of contagious diseases such as the H1N1 Flu.

The foundries that manufacture our Fast SRAM and LLDRAM products, TSMC and Powerchip, and all of the principal independent suppliers that assemble and test our products are located in Taiwan. Many of our customers are also located in the Pacific Rim. The risk of an earthquake in these Pacific Rim locations is significant. The occurrence of an earthquake or other natural disaster near the fabrication facilities of TSMC or our other independent suppliers could result in damage, power outages and other disruptions that impair their production and assembly capacity. Any disruption resulting from such events could cause significant delays in the production or shipment of our products until we are able to shift our manufacturing, assembling, packaging or production testing from the affected contractor to another third-party vendor. In such an event, we may not be able to obtain alternate foundry capacity on favorable terms, or at all.

If there were to be another outbreak of a contagious disease, such as SARS or the H1N1 Flu, that significantly affected the Asia-Pacific region, the operations of our key suppliers could be disrupted. In addition, our business could be harmed if such an outbreak resulted in travel being restricted,  or if it adversely affected the operations of our suppliers or our OEM customers or the demand for our products or our OEM customers’ products.

Changes in Taiwan’s political, social and economic environment may affect our business performance.

Because much of the manufacturing and testing of our products is conducted in Taiwan, our business performance may be affected by changes in Taiwan’s political, social and economic environment. For example, any political instability resulting from the relationship among the United States, Taiwan and the People’s Republic of China could damage our business. Moreover, the role of the Taiwanese government in the Taiwanese economy is significant. Taiwanese policies toward economic liberalization, and laws and policies affecting technology companies, foreign investment, currency exchange rates, taxes and other matters could change, resulting in greater restrictions on our ability and our suppliers’ ability to do business and operate facilities in Taiwan. If any of these changes were to occur, our business could be harmed and our stock price could decline.

We may need to raise additional capital in the future, which may not be available on favorable terms or at all, and which may cause dilution to existing stockholders.

We may need to seek additional funding in the future. We do not know if we will be able to obtain additional financing on favorable terms, if at all. If we cannot raise funds on acceptable terms, if and when needed, we may not be able to develop or enhance our products, take advantage of future opportunities or respond to competitive pressures or unanticipated requirements, and we may be required to reduce operating costs, which could seriously harm our business. In addition, if we issue equity securities, our stockholders may experience dilution or the new equity securities may have rights, preferences or privileges senior to those of our common stock.

Some of our products are incorporated into advanced military electronics, and changes in international geopolitical circumstances and domestic budget considerations may hurt our business.

Some of our products are incorporated into advanced military electronics such as radar and guidance systems. Military expenditures and appropriations for such purchases rose significantly in recent years. However, if current U.S. military operations around the world are scaled back, demand for our products for use in military applications may decrease, and our operating results could suffer. Domestic budget considerations may also adversely affect our operating results. For example, if governmental appropriations for military purchases of electronic devices that include our products are reduced, our revenues will likely decline.

Our operations involve the use of hazardous and toxic materials, and we must comply with environmental laws and regulations, which can be expensive, and may affect our business and operating results.

We are subject to federal, state and local regulations relating to the use, handling, storage, disposal and human exposure to hazardous and toxic materials. If we were to violate or become liable under environmental laws in the future as a result of our inability to obtain permits, human error, accident, equipment failure or other causes, we could be subject to fines, costs, or civil or criminal sanctions, face property damage or personal injury claims or be required to incur substantial investigation or remediation costs, which could be material, or experience disruptions in our operations, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business. In addition, environmental laws could become more stringent over time imposing greater compliance costs and increasing risks and penalties associated with violations, which could harm our business.

We face increasing complexity in our product design as we adjust to new and future requirements relating to the material composition of our products, including the restrictions on lead and other hazardous substances that apply to specified electronic products put on the market in the European Union, China and California. Other countries, including at the federal and state levels in the United States, are also considering similar laws and regulations. Certain electronic products that we maintain in inventory may be rendered obsolete if they are not in compliance with such laws and regulations, which could negatively impact our ability to generate revenue from those products. Although we cannot predict the ultimate impact of any such new laws and regulations, they will likely result in additional costs, or in the worst case decreased revenue, and could even require that we redesign or change how we manufacture our products. Such redesigns result in additional costs and possible delayed or lost revenue.

The trading price of our common stock is subject to fluctuation and is likely to be volatile.

The trading price of our common stock may fluctuate significantly in response to a number of factors, some of which are beyond our control, including:

 actual or anticipated declines in operating results;

 changes in financial estimates or recommendations by securities analysts;

 the institution of legal proceedings against us or significant developments in such proceedings;

 announcements by us or our competitors of financial results, new products, significant technological innovations, contracts, acquisitions, strategic relationships, joint ventures, capital commitments or other events;

 changes in industry estimates of demand for Very Fast SRAM products;

 the gain or loss of significant orders or customers;

 recruitment or departure of key personnel; and

 market conditions in our industry, the industries of our customers and the economy as a whole.

In recent years the stock market in general, and the market for technology stocks in particular, have experienced extreme price fluctuations, which have often been unrelated to the operating performance of affected companies. The market price of our common stock might experience significant fluctuations in the future, including fluctuations unrelated to our performance. These fluctuations could materially adversely affect our business relationships, our ability to obtain future financing on favorable terms or otherwise harm our business. In addition, in the past, securities class action litigation has often been brought against a company following periods of volatility in the market price of its securities. This risk is especially acute for us because the extreme volatility of market prices of technology companies has resulted in a larger number of securities class action claims against them. Due to the potential volatility of our stock price, we may in the future be the target of similar litigation. Securities litigation could result in substantial costs and divert management’s attention and resources. This could harm our business and cause the value of our stock to decline.

Use of a portion of our cash reserves to repurchase shares of our common stock presents potential risks and disadvantages to us and our continuing stockholders. 

From November 2008 through March 2018 we repurchased and retired an aggregate of 11,983,942 shares of our common stock at a total cost of $60.6 million, including 3,846,153 shares repurchased at a total cost of $25 million pursuant to a modified “Dutch auction” self-tender offer that we completed in August 2014 and additional shares repurchased in the open market pursuant to our stock repurchase program.  At March 31, 2018, we had outstanding authorization from our Board of Directors to purchase up to an additional $4.4 million of our common stock from time to time under our repurchase program.     Although our Board has determined that these repurchases are in the best interests of our stockholders, they expose us to certain risks including: 

 the risks resulting from a reduction in the size of our “public float,” which is the number of shares of our common stock that are owned by non-affiliated stockholders and available for trading in the securities markets, which may reduce the volume of trading in our shares and result in reduced liquidity and, potentially, lower trading prices; 

 the risk that our stock price could decline and that we would be able to repurchase shares of our common stock in the future at a lower price per share than the prices we have paid in our tender offer and repurchase program; and

 the risk that the use of a portion of our cash reserves for this purpose has reduced, or may reduce, the amount of cash that would otherwise be available to pursue potential cash acquisitions or other strategic business opportunities.

Our executive officers, directors and entities affiliated with them hold a substantial percentage of our common stock.

As of May 29, 2018 ,   our executive officers, directors and entities affiliated with them beneficially owned approximately 36% of our outstanding common stock. As a result, these stockholders will be able to exercise substantial influence over, and may be able to effectively control, matters requiring stockholder approval, including the election of directors and approval of significant corporate transactions, which could have the effect of delaying or preventing a third party from acquiring control over or merging with us.

The provisions of our charter documents might inhibit potential acquisition bids that a stockholder might believe are desirable, and the market price of our common stock could be lower as a result.

Our Board of Directors has the authority to issue up to 5,000,000 shares of preferred stock. Our Board of Directors can fix the price, rights, preferences, privileges and restrictions of the preferred stock without any further vote or action by our stockholders. The issuance of shares of preferred stock might delay or prevent a change in control transaction. As a result, the market price of our common stock and the voting and other rights of our stockholders might be adversely affected. The issuance of preferred stock might result in the loss of voting control to other stockholders. We have no current plans to issue any shares of preferred stock. Our charter documents also contain other provisions, which might discourage, delay or prevent a merger or acquisition, including:

 our stockholders have no right to remove directors without cause;

 our stockholders have no right to act by written consent;

 our stockholders have no right to call a special meeting of stockholders; and

 our stockholders must comply with advance notice requirements to nominate directors or submit proposals for consideration at stockholder meetings.

These provisions could also have the effect of discouraging others from making tender offers for our common stock. As a result, these provisions might prevent the market price of our common stock from increasing substantially in response to actual or rumored takeover attempts. These provisions might also prevent changes in our management.