Overview
Pixelworks is a leading provider of high-performance and power-efficient visual processing solutions that bridge the gap between video content formats and rapidly advancing display capabilities. We develop and market semiconductor and software solutions that enable consistently high-quality, authentic viewing experiences in a wide variety of applications from cinema to smartphones. Our primary target markets include Mobile (smartphone, gaming and tablet), Home Entertainment (TV, personal video recorder ("PVR"), over-the-air ("OTA") and projector), Content (creation, remastering and delivery), and Business & Education (projector).
We were one of the first companies to commercially launch a video System on Chip ("SoC") capable of deinterlacing 1080i HDTV signals and the one of the first companies with a commercial dual-channel 1080i deinterlacer integrated circuit. Our Topaz product line was one of the industry’s first single-chip SoC for digital projection. We first introduced our motion estimation / motion compensation technology ("MEMC") for TVs and in recent years introduced a mobile-optimized MEMC solution for smartphones, one of several unique features in the mobile-optimized Iris visual processor. In 2019, we introduced our Hollywood award-winning TrueCut® video platform, the industry’s first motion grading technology that allows fine tuning of motion appearance in cinematic content for a wide range of frame rates, shutter angles and display types.
Our solutions enable worldwide manufacturers to offer leading-edge consumer electronics and professional display products, as well as video delivery and streaming solutions for content service providers. Our core visual display processing technology intelligently processes digital images and video from a variety of sources and optimizes the content for a superior viewing experience. Our video coding technology reduces storage requirements, significantly reduces bandwidth constraint issues and converts content between multiple formats to enable seamless delivery of video, including OTA streaming, while also maintaining end-to-end content security.
Rapid growth in video consumption, combined with the move towards high frame rate / refresh rate displays, especially in mobile, is increasing the demand for our visual processing and video delivery solutions. Our technologies can be applied to a wide range of devices from large-screen projectors to cinematic big screens, to low-power mobile tablets, smartphones, high-quality video infrastructure equipment and streaming devices. Our products are architected and optimized for power, cost, bandwidth, and overall system performance, according to the requirements of the specific application. On occasion, we have also licensed our technology.
As of December 31, 2019, we held an intellectual property portfolio of 347 patents related to the visual display of digital image data. We focus our research and development efforts on developing video algorithms that improve quality, and architectures that reduce system power, cost, bandwidth and increase overall system performance and device functionality. We seek to expand our technology portfolio through internal development and co-development with business partners, and we continually evaluate acquisition opportunities and other ways to leverage our technology into other high-value markets.
Key Markets
We target four key market segments with our products and solutions including:
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Market
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Products
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Mobile (Smartphone, Gaming, Tablet)
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Visual processors and software
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Home Entertainment (TV, PVR, OTA, Projector)
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XCode® transcoding solutions and visual processors
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Content (Creation, Remastering, Delivery)
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TrueCut® platform for content creators/video providers
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Business and Education (Projectors)
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Visual processors
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Bridging the Performance Gap Between Content Formats and Device Capabilities
In recent years, display refresh rates for TVs, tablets and smartphones have been advancing faster than the ability of content formats to keep up. The refresh rate, measured in Hertz ("Hz") is the number of times per second the display updates the image on screen to convey motion. Today, TV displays generally have a refresh rate of 120 Hz, while smartphones are now moving from 60 to 90 and 120 Hz. Despite this trend, the vast majority of produced video content exists only in 24-25 frames per second ("FPS"), while most user generated content is at 30 FPS. The resulting mismatch between low frame rate content and high refresh rate screens creates artifacts, such as judder and strobing, that degrade video quality and destroy creative intent. The trend towards brighter, high dynamic range ("HDR") capable screens make these artifacts more noticeable to viewers. Visual quality is further impeded by power constraints and changes in ambient lighting, particularly in mobile devices.
Our technologies and solutions efficiently bridge the quality gap and enable the visual storytelling that is richer and true to creative intent. In fact, our TrueCut Motion Grading is the industry’s first solution to give filmmakers the ability to cinematically fine-tune motion blur, judder and frame-rate appearance and is used as part of the creative process to empower filmmakers to shoot at any frame-rate, then deliver a cinematically tuned, broader set of motion and frame rate appearances. While TrueCut technology enables creation of new content or remastering of existing content that preserves artistic intent across screens, from cinema to home TVs to smartphones, our Iris display processors and software bridge the quality gap for all existing content viewed on mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets.
Display Trends
Display technologies have recently begun to transition from an era of higher resolutions, response times and frame rates, with lower power and thinner form factors, to one focused on higher contrast, brightness and more colors.
In mobile devices, Apple Inc. has brought wide color gamut to many of their devices including the iPhone, iPad Pro, MacBook Pro and iMac. These devices deliver the same color gamut used in digital cinema theatres ("DCI-P3"). Meanwhile, TV manufacturers including Samsung, Sony and LG are bringing high contrast, high brightness or HDR TVs based on organic light emitting diodes ("OLED") and local-dimming liquid crystal display ("LCD") panels to the living room. Furthermore, some premium and mid-tier smartphones and tablets from Apple, Samsung, Sony, LG and Huawei now include HDR as a standard feature.
Hardware improvements in color and contrast are of little value without content that can take advantage of them. In fact, a significant gap now exists between the vast majority of video content available to consumers, and these emerging display devices.
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Contrast and Brightness: Almost all movies available to consumers today use the "Rec.709" ITU standard format. This format defines brightness levels up to around 100 "nits" (a standard measure of brightness), whereas HDR TVs are five to ten times brighter, from 540 nits upwards. Most mobile devices support over 400 nits and sometimes over 600 nits.
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Color Gamut: DCI-P3 has a 25% larger color gamut than Rec.709.
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Frame Rate: TVs commonly display at 120 frames per second (120 Hz) and up to 240 Hz on more sophisticated higher-end models. Mobile devices are not far behind with displays that run at 60 to 90 frames per second. Some of the newest, flagship smartphones now have displays that run at up to 120 Hz.
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Resolution: TVs have achieved 4k resolutions (3840x2160) and mobile devices today can achieve up to 3440x1440 resolution, and while some content is available in 4k resolution, most movies are only available in FHD or HD resolutions, which is typically 1920x1080 and 1280x720 respectively.
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This gap between display capabilities and available content brings significant challenges to video display device manufacturers. Sophisticated video processing is required to accurately reproduce the intended video on today’s displays. We help bridge this gap between the display capabilities and available content with our visual processors and software and TrueCut® video platform for content creators and video providers.
Content formats are evolving to take advantage of these display improvements. For example, Dolby introduced the "Dolby Vision™" format for movies and devices, in order to allow consumers to realize the benefits of HDR and wide color gamut. The industry standards body Society of Motion Picture & Television Engineers, released a format specification known as "HDR10" that similarly bridges the gap in contrast and color between content and devices. The Ultra-HD Blu-ray disk format and streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Video now support 4k HDR, aided by improved compression standards such as H.265.
Managing many content formats across a rapidly evolving range of displays is a significant and growing challenge. Older content tends to not get upgraded to the newer formats, yet consumers expect all content to display correctly. As the number of content formats grow, the technology of video processing becomes increasingly complex.
Delivering the intent of the content creator, requires sophisticated algorithms and hardware circuits. Frame-rate and motion incompatibilities require a significantly higher level of processing and more sophisticated algorithms in order to avoid creating new problems. Most TVs today include frame-rate conversion chips, but many reviewers complain about artifacts such as halos, breakup in the image and the so-called "soap opera effect". Unfortunately, without frame-rate conversion the video can appear to have judder and blur at levels that have increased substantially as a result of the improvements in contrast, color and detail.
In addition to judder, high-resolution displays suffer from softness and smearing in motion sequences called motion blur. There are numerous causes of motion blur. The materials used in constructing pixels on the display take a finite amount of time to transition from one state to another. If this time is too long, the image does not update swiftly and motion sequences seem to smear or blur. For example, Hollywood movies, TV shows and other premium content are usually authored at 24 frames per second or 24 Hz. At this frame rate, the brain can easily notice the transition from one frame to the next. As the brain and eyes track objects in motion, they have to jump in discrete steps due to the low frame rate. This stop-start motion is perceived by the brain as motion blur, reducing the visible clarity and fidelity of objects in motion. Additionally, when a motion sequence is played on a digital display device, the new updated frame is drawn over the top of the still visible previous frame. This "hold" effect is perceived by the brain as blur.
Judder and motion blur artifacts are more noticeable on high contrast, wider gamut displays, regardless of screen size (for example, a 5-inch smartphone screen viewed from ten inches away appears to be the same size as a 60-inch large screen TV viewed from ten feet away). Our advanced video display processing provides original equipment manufacturers ("OEMs") with solutions that avoid or minimize these artifacts and help realize the potential of their investment in high-resolution displays. We believe the most effective method for removing both judder and reducing blur is MEMC technology. This technology is based on complex mathematical algorithms that insert additional, interpolated frames to create a new, faster sequence of frames that has smooth, continuous motion. This technique works for virtually all types of panel technology.
Video Consumption Trend
With the advent of digital video, it has become possible to deliver video to consumers in an ever increasing number of ways. Traditional delivery mechanisms such as over the air broadcasts, cable, satellite, DVDs and Blu-ray are being supplemented with Internet streaming and download services. With these new video delivery options comes the ability to offer more services and improved quality.
According to recent studies by Cisco Systems, Inc. ("Cisco"), video will constitute 82% of all global consumer Internet traffic by 2022. Global IP video traffic and Internet video traffic will both grow four-fold from 2017 to 2022. Live Internet video will account for 17 percent of Internet video traffic by 2022. Live video will grow 15-fold from 2017 to 2022. This rapid increase in video consumption is being driven by a variety of connected digital video devices and applications that allow consumers to easily create, share and consume video. In particular, mobile video consumption is rapidly expanding. The "always on" and ease of use of mobile devices are helping to make them the preferred choice as the "first screen" for many consumers.
As more content becomes increasingly available via the Internet, consumers have more choices for how and where they can enjoy content. According to Cisco, by 2022 there will be 9.4 billion connected mobile devices across the globe.
Video Market for Mobile Devices
Mobile devices have become the dominant driver of video consumption and growth. According to the Q3 2019 Global Video Index report from Brightcove, Inc., more than 62% of all video views are now on mobile devices. Video also continues to grow as a share of mobile traffic usage. According to the 2019 Visual Networking Index report by Cisco Systems, Inc., mobile video will grow at a CAGR of 55 percent between 2017 and 2022, higher than the overall average mobile traffic CAGR of 46 percent. By 2022, 79% of all mobile traffic is expected to be from video according to the Cisco report.
Mobile display systems pose a number of unique challenges. Power is of primary importance, impacting form factor, cost and performance. As these systems have added more functionality, new features have had to compete for battery life, internal bandwidth and space. The addition of high-resolution displays has further increased the burden on these resources.
Using the same technology developed for large screen TVs is neither feasible nor desirable. The video display processing pipelines used in TVs consume many watts of power and would be unsuitable for battery powered systems. In TVs, the size constraints on electronics are significantly less stringent when compared to mobile systems. To furnish the mobile market with appropriate solutions, we have taken a holistic, system-wide view and re-invented its video display processing technology to fit within the mobile constraints of battery life, bandwidth, form factor and performance. This approach has enabled us to create technology that meets the power and size requirements of mobile as well as offering additional benefits such as reducing the bandwidth burden of high-resolution video and freeing up more bandwidth for the CPU and GPU.
The mobile market today is primarily comprised of smartphones and tablets. Our technology addresses both of these markets.
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Smartphones. Smartphones have become a popular choice for many consumers. International Data Corporation ("IDC") estimates that 1.52 billion smartphones will be sold in 2023. The resolution of smartphone displays is growing, while the color gamut and contrast is moving toward DCI-P3 and HDR. These improvements in displays actually exacerbate the quality issues of video playback, a growing problem as users increasingly use their smartphones as their primary form of video consumption.
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Tablets. The line between tablets and smartphones is becoming increasingly indistinct as more tablets are offering mobile connectivity and are now available in sizes similar to those of smartphones. Tablets offer broad appeal to consumers. With the display being the salient component of smartphones and tablets, and the rapidly increasing use of these devices for video consumption, we believe that the incorporation of video display processing is the next logical step.
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As 5G capability finds its way into cellular infrastructure and smartphones starting modestly in the second half of 2019, and more robustly in 2020, this should reinvigorate market growth given the increased speed and lower latency of the wireless connections. Gartner predicts that 5G smartphones will comprise 12% of all phone shipments in 2020, growing to 43% of all smartphones by 2022. In addition, service providers in some countries will also utilize 5G networks to provide fixed wireless broadband. We further believe our compelling mobile display processing functionality, combined with 5G capability, will help motivate consumers to replace their 3G and 4G phones at a faster rate than occurred in 2019. Finally, a new smartphone category has emerged as top vendors have previewed foldable smartphones which serve as a phone, and a mini tablet when unfolded. As prices for this capability inevitably come down, and further competition emerges, we believe this new category, along with the rollout of 5G networks, can strengthen the mobile device market.
Business and Education Market for Digital Projectors
Increasingly affordable price points are driving continued adoption of digital projectors in business and education, as well as among consumers. Technology improvements are helping to reduce the size and weight of projection devices while increasing their performance. Projector models range from larger units designed to be permanently installed in a conference hall or other venue, to ultra-portable devices weighing fewer than two pounds for maximum portability. According to PMA Research Limited, the worldwide front projector market shipped 9.8 million units in 2019 and is forecasted to reach 11.6 million units by 2023.
The feature set of projection systems differs from that of a typical large-screen flat panel display such as a TV. This is primarily because the projector is a sharing and collaboration device while the TV is designed for direct consumption of content.
The front projection market serves several different areas such as business, education and home theater. Business users employ multimedia projectors to display both still and video presentation materials from PCs and other sources. Requirements for the business market include portability, compatibility with multiple software and hardware applications, and features that ensure simple operation. In education environments ranging from elementary schools to university campuses, projectors help teachers integrate media-rich instruction into classrooms. Home theater projector systems can drive large-screen displays for content consumption where flat panel displays are either economically not viable or physically incompatible for use.
Consistent with the trends of other consumer products, digital projectors are increasingly incorporating networking capabilities that enable the sharing of video and other content among multiple devices. This, in turn, is enabling new use models for digital projection in both the education and business environments. For example, one teacher can present the same material simultaneously in multiple classrooms, and students in different classrooms can display and discuss their work. Such connectivity allows instant access to content and sharing of content, which promotes interaction and collaboration among dispersed groups. In the business setting, this connectivity enables teleconferencing and the seamless sharing of content for more effective meetings.
Video Delivery Market for Home Entertainment
With the acquisition of ViXS Systems Inc. in August 2017, we expanded both our market presence and product portfolio. The video industry continues to evolve and adopt new video standards such as High Efficiency Video Coding, 4K Ultra HD and HDR. The technical and processing demands of these standards are complex, and play directly into our core competencies. Our technologies for video delivery are highly integrated, low power and provide high quality video processing, allowing seamless connectivity between devices while maintaining end-to-end content security.
The home entertainment sub-markets that we address with our video delivery products include:
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Consumer Products - OEMs and Original Design Manufacturers ("ODMs") design products for the consumer electronics segments.
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OTA - Over the Air applications for single, dual, and quad streaming requirements. End users who want to either "cut the cord" or supplement their service offerings.
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IP Streaming - Network streaming devices capable of content portability, and support for your own screen (phone and tablet devices), deployed by service operators.
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Consumer Products
High resolution (UHD/4K), sustained bitrate decoding (100Mbit) and advanced video formats (HDR10, HDR10+) are key requirements for advanced personal video recorder ("PVR") products sold in the Japanese market, where the end consumers rate video quality as a key acquisition criteria. This advanced PVR market in Japan is experiencing growth as products move from 2K to UHD/4K formats. In addition, as the market introduces new broadcast technologies, like Advanced Digital Satellite Broadcast ("ADSB") in Japan, and ATSC 3.0 in Korea and North America, there are further growth opportunities in this market segment.
OTA
Subscribers to video content in the home are making changes and demanding choices. While content is freely available, if it is distributed over an operator network, or even simply over IP, there is a monthly re-transmit fee that is charged to the consumer. As the number of video subscribers to services such as cable TV has been declining, the monthly re-transmit fee has been increasing. These fee increases are leading more consumers to ‘cut the cord’ and replace their TV subscriptions with over the top ("OTT") video services and free OTA broadcast television. As part of their OTA experience, consumers are starting to require multiple stream support of concurrent channels, so various devices can view different channels at the same time.
IP Streaming
Related to OTA applications, the service operators that want to provide their own choice to their video subscribers are taking advantage of our IP Streaming applications. These re-use common platforms, and connect to the in-home infrastructure, either at the set top box level, or the Wi-Fi router level. This provides a centralized place where the management, and distribution of content can occur.
For service operators, the benefits are:
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Reduced use of network bandwidth for free OTA channels
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For consumers, the benefits are:
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One menu that provides aggregation of Linear, Video-on-Demand, OTT, and OTA content
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Reduced monthly fees related to lower re-transmission fees
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Core Technologies and Products
We have developed a portfolio of advanced video algorithms and IP to address a broad range of challenges in digital video. We believe our technologies can significantly improve video quality and will become increasingly important as the popularity of video content consumption grows, and pixel densities, screen size and image quality increase. Our products are designed with a flexible architecture that allows us to combine algorithms and functional blocks of digital and mixed signal circuitry. Accordingly, our technologies can be implemented across multiple products, in combinations within single products and can be applied to a broad range of applications including smartphones, tablets, and projectors. The majority of our products include one or more technologies to provide optimal high-quality video display processing solutions to our customers, regardless of screen size.
Our core Video Display Processing technologies include:
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MotionEngine® MEMC. Our proprietary MEMC technology significantly improves the performance and viewing experience of any screen by addressing problems such as judder and motion blur. Unlike competitive solutions it also reduces halo effects that are a byproduct of MEMC. Halos are objectionable blurred regions that surround moving objects as the MEMC algorithms try to reconstruct missing image data caused by the concealing and revealing of objects as they pass over or behind one another. Removing halos dramatically improves image quality and is of particular importance on high-resolution displays where artifacts become more visible.
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Advanced Scaling. As display resolutions continue to increase, there is a need to convert lower resolution content to higher resolution in order to display content properly. With the latest wave of high-resolution displays, the quality and quantity demands of scaling have increased significantly. Artifacts become more noticeable on these types of displays as they distract from the realism effect. In addition, with the availability of high resolution content lagging behind the availability of high resolution displays, high-quality scaling is required to ensure high resolution displays do not suffer when compared to Full-HD displays of the same size. Our advanced scaling is designed to ensure that up-conversion of lower resolution content is of the highest quality in maintaining the fidelity of image.
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Mobile Video Display Processing. We have developed innovative video display processing solutions, that are designed to optimize power consumption for mobile devices. Beyond MEMC and advanced scaling, these mobile solutions provide the kind of improvements in color, contrast, sharpness and de-blur that are currently only found in high quality TVs today. Furthermore, this technology can reduce system power consumption and extend battery life.
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Transcoding/Decoding. Digital Delivery forms the bulk of not just video content, but all internet bandwidth today. However, throughout the entire chain from inception to consumption, there are multiple variations in bitrate, resolution, and codecs used for both audio and video. Transcoding is a fundamental technology used throughout this pipeline that leads to moving pictures viewed on TVs and mobile devices. The XCODE family of ASICs has enabled many devices within this pipeline, from the racks in some service providers all the way down to the home user watching broadcast OTA TV on a smartphone. XCODE technology provides solutions that deliver UHD Blu-ray PVRs with capability of transcoding recorded content suitable for viewing on smartphones. The technology supports today’s broadcast standards, such as ATSC 1.0, DVB/T/T2/S/S2, ISDB/T/S, and ADSB and is scalable to support upcoming broadcast standards such as ATSC 3.0.
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SDR to HDR Conversion. UHD video has standardized on a technology known as HDR to deliver higher dynamic range content. This has resulted in several competing HDR deployments like HDR10, HLG and HDR10+ with support by multiple industry giants. Our HDR conversion technology can not only convert between SDR (Standard Dynamic Range) and HDR10, it can also convert among HDR10, HLG and HDR10+ solving an interconnectivity problem between content formatted in one HDR format to Display devices that supports a different HDR standard.
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Our product development strategy is to leverage our expertise in video display processing to address the evolving needs of our target markets. We plan to continue to focus our development resources to maintain our position in these markets by providing leading edge solutions for the advanced digital projection and video delivery markets and to enhance our video processing solutions for mobile markets. We deliver our technology in a variety of offerings, which take the form of single-purpose chips, highly integrated SoCs that incorporate specialized software, full solutions incorporating software and other tools and IP cores that allow our technology to be incorporated into third party solutions.
Our primary video display processor product categories include the following:
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ImageProcessor ICs. Our ImageProcessor ICs include embedded microprocessors, digital signal processing technology and software that control the operations and signal processing within high-end display systems. ImageProcessor ICs were our first product offerings and continue to comprise the majority of our business. We have continued to refine the architectures for optimal performance, manufacturing our products on process technologies that align with our customers’ requirements. Additionally, we provide a software development environment and operating system that enables our customers to more quickly develop and customize the "look and feel" of their products.
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Video Co-Processor ICs. Products in this category work with an image processor to post-process video signals to enhance the performance or feature set of the overall video solution (for example, by significantly reducing judder and motion blur). Our Video Co-Processor ICs can be used with our ImageProcessor ICs or with image processing solutions from other manufacturers, and in most cases can be incorporated without assistance from the supplier of the base image processor. This flexibility enables manufacturers to augment their existing or new designs to enhance their video display products.
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Transcoder ICs. Our Transcoder ICs include embedded microprocessors, digital signal processing technology and software that control the operations and signal processing for converting multiple bitrates, resolutions and codecs to provide bandwidth efficient video transmissions based on industry standard protocols. Our transcoder technology allows for single, dual and even quad streaming solutions for OTA products. Like our other ICs, we have continued to refine the architectures for optimal performance, manufacturing our products on process technologies that align with our customers’ requirements. Additionally, we provide a software development environment that enables our customers to more quickly develop and customize their products.
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Customers, Sales and Marketing
The key focus of our global sales and marketing strategy is to achieve design wins with industry leading branded manufacturers in our target markets and to continue building strong customer relationships. Once a design win has been achieved, sales and marketing efforts are focused on building long-term mutually beneficial business relationships with our customers by providing superior technology and reducing their costs, which complements our customers’ product development objectives and meets their expectations for price-performance and time to market. Marketing efforts are focused on building market-leading brand awareness and preference for our solutions.
We utilize direct sales and marketing resources in China, Japan, Taiwan, and the U.S. as well as indirect resources in several regions. In addition to sales and marketing representatives, we have field application engineers who provide technical expertise and assistance to manufacturing customers on final product development.
Our global distribution channel is multi-tiered and involves both direct and indirect distribution channels, as described below:
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Distributors. Distributors are resellers in local markets who provide engineering support and stock our semiconductors in direct relation to specific manufacturing customer orders. Our distributors often have valuable and established relationships with our end customers, and in certain countries it is customary to sell to distributors. While distributor payment to us is not dependent upon the distributor’s ability to resell the product or to collect from the end customer, our distributors may provide longer payment terms to end customers than those we would offer. Sales to distributors accounted for 44%, 44% and 47% of revenue in 2019, 2018 and 2017, respectively.
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Our largest distributor, Tokyo Electron Device Ltd. represented more than 10% of revenue in each of 2019, 2018 and 2017, and accounted for more than 10% of accounts receivable as of December 31, 2019 and 2018. Another distributor, Upstar Technology Limited accounted for more than 10% of accounts receivable as of December 31, 2019. No other distributor accounted for more than 10% of revenue in 2019, 2018 and 2017 or represented more than 10% of accounts receivable as of December 31, 2019 or 2018.
We have distributor relationships in Japan, China, Europe, Korea, Southeast Asia, Taiwan and the U.S.
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Direct Relationships. We have established direct relationships with companies that manufacture high-end display systems. Some of our direct relationships are supported by commission-based manufacturers’ representatives, who are independent sales agents that represent us in local markets and provide engineering support but do not carry inventory. Revenue through direct relationships accounted for 56%, 56% and 53% of total revenue in 2019, 2018 and 2017, respectively.
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We have direct relationships with companies falling into the following three classifications:
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Integrators. Integrators are OEMs who build display devices based on specifications provided by branded suppliers.
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Branded Manufacturers. Branded manufacturers are globally recognized manufacturers who develop display device specifications, and manufacture, market and distribute display devices either directly or through resellers to end-users.
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Branded Suppliers. Branded suppliers are globally recognized suppliers who develop display device specifications and then source them from integrators, typically in Asia, and distribute them either directly or through resellers to end-users.
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Revenue attributable to our top five end customers together represented 77%, 82% and 79% of revenue in 2019, 2018 and 2017, respectively. End customers include customers who purchase directly from us as well as customers who purchase products indirectly through distributors. Sales to Seiko Epson Corporation represented more than 10% of revenue in each of 2019, 2018 and 2017, and accounted for more than 10% of accounts receivable as of December 31, 2019 and 2018. Sales to Sharp Corporation represented more than 10% of revenue in 2019. Sales to Hitachi Ltd. represented more than 10% of revenue in 2018. No other end customer accounted for more than 10% of revenue in 2019, 2018 or 2017 or represented more than 10% of accounts receivable as of December 31, 2019 or 2018.
Seasonality
Our business is subject to seasonality related to the markets we serve and the location of our customers. For example, we have historically experienced higher revenue from the digital projector market in the third quarter of the year, and lower revenue in the first quarter of the year, as our Japanese customers reduce inventories in anticipation of their March 31 fiscal year end.
Geographic Distribution of Sales
Sales outside the U.S. accounted for approximately 95%, 98% and 98% of revenue in 2019, 2018 and 2017, respectively.
Financial information regarding our domestic and foreign operations is presented in "Note 16: Segment Information" in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Backlog
Our sales are made pursuant to customer purchase orders for delivery of standard products. The volume of product actually purchased by our customers, as well as shipment schedules, are subject to frequent revisions that reflect changes in both the customers’ needs and product availability. In light of industry practice and our own experience, we do not believe that backlog as of any particular date is indicative of future results.
Competition
The semiconductor industry is intensely competitive. Further, the markets for higher performance display and projection devices, including the markets for mobile devices, digital projectors and other applications demanding high quality video, are characterized by rapid technological change, evolving industry standards, compressed product life cycles and declining average selling prices. We believe the principal competitive factors in our markets include product performance, time to market, cost, functional versatility provided by software, customer relationships and reputation, patented innovative designs, levels of product integration, compliance with industry standards and system design cost. We believe we compete favorably with respect to these factors.
Our current products face competition from developers of application processors and specialized display controllers designed by merchant chip vendors, our customers, potential customers and display panel vendors. Additionally, new alternative display processing technologies and industry standards may emerge that compete with technologies we offer.
We also compete with specialized and diversified electronics and semiconductor companies that offer display processors or scaling components including: Actions Microelectronics Co., Ltd., ARM Holdings PLC, Dolby Laboratories, Inc., Hisilicon Technologies Co., Ltd., i-Chips Technologies Inc., Lattice Semiconductor Corporation, MediaTek Inc., Novateck Microelectronics Corp., NVIDIA Corporation, Qualcomm Incorporated, Realtek Semiconductor Corp., Renesas Electronics America Inc., Solomon Systech (International) Ltd., STMicroelectronics N.V., Sunplus Technology Co., Ltd., Synaptics Incorporated, Texas Instruments Incorporated, Unisoc Communications, Inc., and other companies. Potential and current competitors may include diversified semiconductor manufacturers and the semiconductor divisions or affiliates of some of our customers, including: Apple Inc., Broadcom Inc., LG Electronics, Inc., MegaChips Corporation, Mitsubishi Digital Electronics America, Inc., NEC Corporation, Panasonic Corporation, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., Socionext, Inc., ON Semiconductor Corporation, Seiko Epson Corporation, Sharp Electronics Corporation, Sony Corporation, and Toshiba America, Inc. In addition, start-up companies may seek to compete in our markets.
Research and Development
Low power research and development efforts are focused on the development of our solutions for the mobile device, digital projector and video delivery markets. Our development efforts are focused on pursuing higher levels of video performance, integration and new features in order to provide our customers with solutions that enable them to introduce market leading products and help lower final systems costs.
We have invested, and expect to continue to invest, significant resources in research and development activities. Our research and development expenses were $26.0 million, $22.9 million and $21.4 million in 2019, 2018 and 2017, respectively. During 2018 and 2017, we received reimbursements related to a co-development arrangement with a customer for costs incurred in connection with our development of an integrated circuit ("IC") product. As a result of the reimbursements, our overall research and development expense was reduced by $4.0 million in 2018 and $4.0 million in 2017. There were no reductions to research and development expense related to co-development arrangements in 2019.
Manufacturing
Within the semiconductor industry we are known as a "fabless" company, meaning that we do not manufacture the semiconductors that we design and develop, but instead contract with a limited number of foundries and assembly and test vendors to produce all of our wafers and for completion of finished products. The fabless approach allows us to concentrate our resources on product design and development where we believe we have greater competitive advantages.
See "Risk Factors" in Part I, Item 1A of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for information on risks related to our manufacturing strategy and processes.
Intellectual Property
We protect our projector, mobile, video delivery and TrueCut businesses with a combination of nondisclosure agreements and patent, copyright, trademark and trade secret laws to protect the algorithms, design and architecture of our technology. As of December 31, 2019, we held 347 patents and have 17 patent applications pending, compared to 361 patents and 33 patent applications pending as of December 31, 2018. The decrease in patents from December 31, 2018 to December 31, 2019 is due to the abandonment or sale of patents received as part of the acquisition of ViXS in August 2017. The patents that were sold or abandoned were non-strategic or held in geographic regions where we do not do business. The patents we hold relate generally to improvements in the visual display of digital image data including, but not limited to, improvements in image scaling, image correction, automatic image optimization and video signal processing for digital displays. Our U.S. and foreign patents are generally enforceable for 20 years from the date they were filed. Accordingly, our issued patents have from approximately 1 to 18 years remaining in their respective term, depending on their filing dates. We believe that the remaining term of our patents is adequate relative to the expected lives of our related products.
We intend to seek patent protection for other significant technologies that we have already developed and expect to seek patent protection for future products and technologies as necessary. Patents may not be issued as a result of any pending applications and any claims allowed under issued patents may be insufficiently broad to protect our technology. Existing or future patents may be invalidated, diluted, circumvented, challenged or licensed to others. 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 in the same manner and to the same extent as do the laws of the U.S. 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 of intellectual property rights, which have resulted in significant and often protracted and expensive litigation. We, our customers or our foundries from time to time may be notified of claims that we may be infringing patents or other intellectual property rights owned by third parties. Litigation by or against us relating to 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. We may not be able to settle any alleged patent infringement claim through a cross-licensing arrangement. In the event any third party made a valid claim against us, our customers or our foundries, and a license was not made available to us on terms that are acceptable to us or at all, we would be adversely affected.
See "Risk Factors" in Part I, Item 1A, and "Note 13: Commitments and Contingencies" in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for information on various risks related to intellectual property.
Environmental Matters
Environmental laws and regulations are complex, change frequently and have tended to become more stringent over time. We have incurred, and may continue to incur, significant expenditures to comply with these laws and regulations and we may incur additional capital expenditures and asset impairments to ensure that our products and our vendors’ products are in compliance with these regulations. We would be subject to significant penalties for failure to comply with these laws and regulations.
See "Risk Factors" in Part I, Item 1A of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for information on various environmental risks.
Employees
As of December 31, 2019, we had a total of 229 employees, all of which were full-time, consistent with 215 employees as of December 31, 2018.
Corporate Information
Pixelworks was founded in 1997 and is incorporated under the laws of the state of Oregon. Our stock is traded on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol "PXLW".
Availability of Securities and Exchange Commission Filings
We make available through our website our annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and amendments to those reports and any filings filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act of 1934, free of charge as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file or furnish such material with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). Our Internet address is www.pixelworks.com. The content on, or that can be accessed through our website is not incorporated by reference into this filing. Our committee charters and code of ethics are also available free of charge on our website.
The SEC maintains an Internet site at http://www.sec.gov that contains our Annual Report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and amendments to those reports, if any, or other filings filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act, proxy and information statements.
The following risks could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations, and the trading price of our common stock could decline. These risk factors do not identify all of the risks that we face. Our business operations could also be affected by factors that we currently consider to be immaterial or that are unknown to us at the present time. Investors should also refer to the other information contained or incorporated by reference in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019, including our consolidated financial statements and related notes, and our other filings made from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC").
Company Specific Risks
If we fail to meet the evolving needs of our markets, identify new products, services or technologies, or successfully compete in our target markets, our revenue and financial results will be adversely impacted.
Pixelworks designs, develops and markets visual processing and advanced media processing solutions in the mobile video, digital projection and video delivery markets. Our success depends to a significant extent on our ability to meet the evolving needs of these markets and to enhance our existing products, solutions and technologies. In addition, our success depends on our ability to identify emerging industry trends and to develop new products, solutions and technologies. Our existing markets and products and new markets and products may require a considerable investment of technical, financial, compliance, sales and marketing resources. We are currently devoting significant resources to the development of technologies and business offerings in markets where our operating history is less extensive, such as the video delivery market where our acquisition of ViXS has allowed us to expand our market presence and product portfolio.
We cannot assure you that our strategic direction will result in innovative products and technologies that provide value to our customers and partners. If we fail to anticipate the changing needs of our target markets and emerging technology trends, or adapt that strategy as market conditions evolve, in a timely manner to exploit potential market opportunities our business will be harmed. In addition, if demand for products and solutions from these markets is below our expectations, if we fail to achieve consumer or market acceptance of them or if we are not able to develop these products and solutions in a cost effective or efficient manner, we may not realize benefits from our strategy.
Our target markets remain extremely competitive, and we expect competition to intensify as current competitors expand their product and/or service offerings, industry standards continue to evolve and new competitors enter these markets. If we are unable to successfully compete in our target markets, demand for our products, solutions and technologies could decrease, which would cause our revenue to decline and our financial results to suffer.
Our product strategy, which is targeted at markets demanding superior video and digital image quality as well as efficient video delivery, may not address the demands of our target customers and may not lead to increased revenue in a timely manner or at all, which could materially adversely affect our results of operations and limit our ability to grow.
We have adopted a product strategy that focuses on our core competencies in visual display processing and delivering high levels of video and digital image quality. With this strategy, we continue to make further investments in the development of our image processor architecture for the digital projector market, with particular focus on adding increased performance and functionality. For the mobile device market, our strategy focuses on implementing our intellectual property ("IP") to improve the video performance of our customers’ image processors through the use of our MotionEngine® advanced video co-processor integrated circuits. This strategy is designed to address the needs of the high-resolution and high-quality segment of these markets. Such markets may not develop or may take longer to develop than we expect. We cannot assure you that the products we are developing will adequately address the demands of our target customers, or that we will be able to produce our new products at costs that enable us to price these products competitively.
Achieving design wins involves lengthy competitive selection processes that require us to incur significant expenditures prior to generating any revenue or without any guarantee of any revenue related to this business. If we fail to generate revenue after incurring substantial expenses to develop our products, our business and operating results would suffer.
We must achieve "design wins" that enable us to sell our semiconductor solutions for use in our customers’ products. These competitive selection processes typically are lengthy and can require us to incur significant research and development expenditures and dedicate scarce engineering resources in pursuit of a single customer opportunity. We may not achieve a design win and may never generate any revenue despite incurring significant research and development expenditures. This could cause us to lose revenue and require us to write off obsolete inventory and could weaken our position in future competitive selection processes.
Even if our product strategy is properly targeted, we cannot assure you that the products we are developing will lead to an increase in revenue from new design wins. To achieve design wins, we must design and deliver cost-effective, innovative and integrated semiconductors that overcome the significant costs associated with qualifying a new supplier and which make developers reluctant to change component sources. Additionally, potential developers may be unwilling to select our products due to concerns over our financial strength. Further, design wins do not necessarily result in developers ordering large volumes of our products. Developers can choose at any time to discontinue using our products in their designs or product development efforts. A design win is not a binding commitment by a developer to purchase our products, but rather a decision by a developer to use our products in its design process. Even if our products are chosen to be incorporated into a developer’s products, we may still not realize significant revenue from the developer if its products are not commercially successful or it chooses to qualify, or incorporate the products, of a second source. Additionally, even if our product strategy is successful at achieving design wins and increasing our revenue, we may continue to incur operating losses due to the significant research and development costs that are required to develop competitive products for the digital projection market and mobile market.
System security and data protection breaches, as well as cyber-attacks, could disrupt our operations, reduce our expected revenue and increase our expenses, which could adversely affect our stock price and damage our reputation.
Security breaches, computer malware and cyber-attacks have become more prevalent and sophisticated in recent years. These attacks have occurred on our systems in the past and are expected to occur in the future. Experienced computer programmers, hackers and employees may be able to penetrate our security controls and misappropriate or compromise our confidential information, or that of our employees or third parties. These attacks may create system disruptions or cause shutdowns. For portions of our IT infrastructure, including business management and communication software products, we rely on products and services provided by third parties. These providers may also experience breaches and attacks to their products which may impact our systems. Data security breaches may also result from non-technical means, such as actions by an employee with access to our systems.
Actual or perceived breaches of our security measures or the accidental loss, inadvertent disclosure or unapproved dissemination of proprietary information or sensitive or confidential data about us, our partners, our customers or third parties could expose the parties affected to a risk of loss, or misuse of this information, resulting in litigation and potential liability, damage to our brand and reputation or other harm to our business. Our efforts to prevent and overcome these challenges could increase our expenses and may not be successful. We may experience interruptions, delays, cessation of service and loss of existing or potential customers. Such disruptions could adversely impact our ability to fulfill orders and interrupt other critical functions. Delayed sales, lower margins or lost customers as a result of these disruptions could adversely affect our financial results, stock price and reputation.
If we fail to retain or attract the specialized technical and management personnel required to successfully operate our business, it could harm our business and may result in lost sales and diversion of management resources.
Our success depends on the continued services of our executive officers and other key management, engineering, and sales and marketing personnel and on our ability to continue to attract, retain and motivate qualified personnel. Competition for skilled engineers and management personnel is intense within our industry, and we may not be successful in hiring and retaining qualified individuals. For example, we have experienced, and may continue to experience, difficulty and increased compensation expense in order to hire and retain qualified engineering personnel in our Shanghai design center. The loss of, or inability to hire, key personnel could limit our ability to develop new products and adapt existing products to our customers’ requirements, and may result in lost sales and a diversion of management resources. Any transition in our senior management team may involve a diversion of resources and management attention, be disruptive to our daily operations or impact public or market perception, any of which could have a negative impact on our business or stock price.
We may not fully realize the estimated savings from our restructurings in a timely manner or at all, and our restructuring programs may result in business disruptions and decrease productivity. Any of the foregoing would negatively affect our financial condition and results of operations.
In each of 2019, 2018 and 2017, we executed restructuring plans to make the operation of the Company more efficient. While these restructuring plans were complete as of June 30, 2019, we may not be able to implement future restructuring programs as planned, and we may need to take additional measures to fulfill the objectives of our restructuring. The anticipated expenses associated with our restructuring programs may differ from or exceed our expectations, and we might not be able to realize the full amount of estimated savings from the restructuring programs, in a timely manner, or at all. Additionally, our restructuring plans may result in business disruptions or decreases in productivity. As a result, our restructuring plans could have an adverse impact on our financial condition or results of operations.
We have significantly fewer financial resources than most of our competitors, which limits our ability to implement new products or enhancements to our current products and may require us to implement additional future restructuring plans, which in turn could adversely affect our future sales and financial condition.
Financial resource constraints could limit our ability to execute our product strategy or require us to implement additional restructuring plans, particularly if we are unable to generate sufficient cash from operations or obtain additional sources of financing. Any future restructuring actions may slow our development of new or enhanced products by limiting our research and development and engineering activities. Our cash balances are also lower than those of our competitors, which may limit our ability to develop competitive new products on a timely basis or at all. If we are unable to successfully introduce new or enhanced products, our sales, operating results and financial condition will be adversely affected.
If we are not profitable in the future, we may be unable to continue our operations.
We have incurred operating losses each fiscal year since 2010 and have an accumulated deficit of $388.6 million as of December 31, 2019. If and when we achieve profitability depends upon a number of factors, including our ability to develop and market innovative products, accurately estimate inventory needs, contract effectively for manufacturing capacity and maintain sufficient funds to finance our activities. We cannot assure our investors that we will ever achieve annual profitability, or that we will be able to maintain profitability if achieved. If we are not profitable in the future, we may be unable to continue our operations.
A significant amount of our revenue comes from a limited number of customers and distributors and from time to time we may enter into exclusive deals with customers, exposing us to increased credit risk and subjecting our cash flow to the risk that any of our customers or distributors could decrease or cancel its orders.
The display manufacturing market is highly concentrated and we are, and will continue to be, dependent on a limited number of customers and distributors for a substantial portion of our revenue. Sales to our top distributor represented 28%, 34% and 27% of revenue for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018, and 2017, respectively. If any of our distributors ceases to do business with us, it may be difficult for us to find adequate replacements, and even if we do, it may take some time. The loss of any of our top distributors could negatively affect our results of operations. Additionally, revenue attributable to our top five end customers represented 77%, 82% and 79% of revenue for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018, and 2017, respectively. As of December 31, 2019 we had three accounts that each represented 10% or more of accounts receivable. As of December 31, 2018, we had two accounts that each represented 10% or more of accounts receivable. All of the orders included in our backlog are cancelable. A reduction, delay or cancellation of orders from one or more of our significant customers, or a decision by one or more of our significant customers to select products manufactured by a competitor or to use its own internally-developed semiconductors, would significantly and negatively impact our revenue. Further, the concentration of our accounts receivable with a limited number of customers increases our credit risk. The failure of these customers to pay their balances, or any customer to pay future outstanding balances, would result in an operating expense and reduce our cash flows.
We generally do not have long-term purchase commitments from our customers and if our customers cancel or change their purchase commitments, our revenue and operating results could suffer.
Substantially all of our sales to date have been made on a purchase order basis. We generally do not have long-term commitments with our customers. As a result, our customers may cancel, change or delay product purchase commitments with little or no notice to us and without penalty. This, in turn, could cause our revenue to decline and materially and adversely affect our results of operations.
Our revenue and operating results can fluctuate from period to period, which could cause our share price to decline.
Our revenue and operating results have fluctuated in the past and may fluctuate from period to period in the future due to a variety of factors, many of which are beyond our control. Factors that may contribute to these fluctuations include those described in this "Risk Factors" section of this report, such as the timing, changes in or cancellation of orders by customers, market acceptance of our products and our customers’ products and the timing and extent of product development costs. Additionally, our business is subject to seasonality related to the markets we serve and the location of our customers. For example, we have historically experienced higher revenue from the digital projector market in the third quarter of the year, and lower revenue in the first quarter of the year. As a result of these and other factors, the results of any prior quarterly or annual periods should not be relied upon as indications of our future revenue or operating performance. Fluctuations in our revenue and operating results could cause our share price to decline.
We may not be able to borrow funds under our credit facility or secure future financing which could affect our ability to fund fluctuations in our working capital requirements.
In December 2010, we entered into a Loan and Security Agreement with Silicon Valley Bank, which was later amended on December 14, 2012, December 4, 2013, December 18, 2015, December 15, 2016, July 21, 2017, December 21, 2017, December 18, 2018 and December 18, 2019 (as amended, the "Revolving Loan Agreement"). The Revolving Loan Agreement provides a secured working capital-based revolving line of credit (the "Revolving Line") in an aggregate amount of up to the lesser of (i) $10.0 million or (ii) $2.5 million plus 80% of eligible domestic accounts receivable and certain foreign accounts receivable. The Revolving Line has a maturity date of December 27, 2020. We view this line of credit as a source of available liquidity to fund fluctuations in our working capital requirements; however, all credit extensions are subject to the bank’s sole discretion. If we experience an increase in order activity from our customers, our cash balance may decrease due to the need to purchase inventories to fulfill those orders. If this occurs, we may need to draw on this facility in order to maintain our liquidity.
This facility contains various conditions, covenants and representations with which we must be in compliance in order to borrow funds. We cannot assure you that we will be in compliance with these conditions, covenants and representations when we may need to borrow funds under this facility, nor can we assure you that the bank will consent to such borrowings, in which case we may need to seek alternative sources of funding, which may not be available quickly or which may be available only on less favorable terms. Our inability to raise the necessary funding in the event we need it could negatively affect our business. In addition, the amount available to us under this facility depends in part on our accounts receivable balance which could decrease due to a decrease in revenue.
This facility expires on December 27, 2020, after which time we may need to secure new financing to continue funding fluctuations in our working capital requirements. We cannot assure you that we will be able to secure new financing in a timely manner or at all, or secure financing on terms that are acceptable to us.
If we are unable to generate sufficient cash from operations and are forced to seek additional financing alternatives, or in the event we acquire or make an investment in companies that complement our business, our working capital may be adversely affected and our shareholders may experience dilution or our operations may be impaired.
We may be unable to generate or sustain positive cash flow from operating activities and would then be required to use existing cash and cash equivalents to support our working capital and other cash requirements. Additionally, from time to time, we may evaluate acquisitions of, or investments in, businesses, products or technologies that complement our business. For example, on August 2, 2017 we completed the acquisition of ViXS and issued approximately 3.7 million shares of our common stock as consideration. Any additional transactions, if consummated, may consume a material portion of our working capital or require the issuance of equity securities that may result in dilution to existing shareholders. If additional funds are required to support our working capital requirements, acquisitions or other purposes, we may seek to raise funds through debt and equity financing or from other sources. If we raise additional funds through the issuance of equity or convertible debt securities, the percentage ownership of our shareholders could be significantly diluted, and these newly-issued securities may have rights, preferences or privileges senior to those of existing shareholders. If we raise additional funds by obtaining loans from third parties, the terms of those financing arrangements may include negative covenants or other restrictions on our business that could impair our operating flexibility, and would also require us to incur interest expense. We can provide no assurance that additional financing will be available at all or, if available, that we would be able to obtain additional financing on terms favorable to us.
We license our intellectual property, which exposes us to risks of infringement or misappropriation, and may cause fluctuations in our operating results.
We have licensed certain intellectual property to third parties and may enter into additional license arrangements in the future. We cannot assure you, however, that others will be interested in licensing our intellectual property on commercially favorable terms or at all. We also cannot ensure that licensees will honor agreed-upon market restrictions, not infringe upon or misappropriate our intellectual property or maintain the confidentiality of our proprietary information.
IP license agreements are complex and earning and recognizing revenue under these agreements depends upon many factors, including completion of milestones, allocation of values to delivered items and customer acceptances. Many of these factors require significant judgments. Also, generating revenue from these arrangements is a lengthy and complex process that may last beyond the period in which efforts begin and, once an agreement is in place, the timing of revenue recognition may depend on events such as customer acceptance of deliverables, achievement of milestones, our ability to track and report progress on contracts, customer commercialization of the licensed technology and other factors, any or all of which may or may not be achieved. The accounting rules associated with recognizing revenue from these transactions are complex and subject to interpretation. Due to these factors, the amount of licensing revenue recognized in any period, if any, and our results of operations, may differ significantly from our expectations.
Finally, because licensing revenue typically has a higher margin compared to product sales, licensing revenue can have a disproportionate impact on our gross profit and results of operations. There is no assurance that we will be able to maintain a consistent level of licensing revenue or mix of licensing revenue and revenue from product sales, which could result in wide fluctuations in our results of operations from period to period, making it difficult to accurately measure the performance of our business.
Our net operating loss carryforwards may be limited or they may expire before utilization.
As of December 31, 2019, we had federal, state and foreign net operating loss carryforwards of approximately $174.5 million, $10.9 million, and $38.5 million respectively, which will begin to expire in 2020. These net operating loss carryforwards may be used to offset future taxable income and thereby reduce our income taxes otherwise payable. However, we cannot assure you that we will have taxable income in the future before all or a portion of these net operating loss carryforwards expire. Additionally, our federal net operating losses may be limited by Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the "Code"), which imposes an annual limit on the ability of a corporation that undergoes an "ownership change" to use its net operating loss carryforwards to reduce its tax liability. An ownership change is generally defined as a greater than 50% increase in equity ownership by 5% shareholders in any three-year period. In the event of certain changes in our shareholder base, we may at some time in the future experience an "ownership change" and the use of our federal net operating loss carryforwards may be limited. In addition, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the "TCJA"), limits the deduction for net operating loss carryforwards to 80 percent of taxable income for losses arising in taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017.
We face a number of risks as a result of the concentration of our operations and customers in Asia.
Many of our customers are located in Japan, China, Korea, or Taiwan. Sales outside the U.S. accounted for approximately 95% , 98% and 98% of revenue for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017. We anticipate that sales outside the U.S. will continue to account for a substantial portion of our revenue in future periods. In addition, customers who incorporate our products into their products sell a substantial portion of their products outside of the U.S. All of our products are also manufactured outside of the U.S. and most of our current manufacturers are located in Taiwan. Furthermore, most of our employees are located in China, Japan and Taiwan. Our Asian operations require significant management attention and resources, and we are subject to many risks associated with operations in Asia, including, but not limited to:
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difficulties in managing international distributors and manufacturers due to varying time zones, languages and business customs;
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compliance with U.S. laws affecting operations outside of the U.S., such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act;
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reduced or limited protection of our IP, particularly in software, which is more prone to design piracy;
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difficulties in collecting outstanding accounts receivable balances;
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changes in tax rates, tax laws and the interpretation of those laws;
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difficulties regarding timing and availability of export and import licenses;
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ensuring that we obtain complete and accurate information from our Asian operations to make proper disclosures in the United States;
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political and economic instability;
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difficulties in maintaining sales representatives outside of the U.S. that are knowledgeable about our industry and products;
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changes in the regulatory environment in China, Japan, Taiwan and Korea that may significantly impact purchases of our products by our customers or our customers’ sales of their own products;
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outbreaks of health epidemics in China or other parts of Asia, including COVID-19;
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imposition of new tariffs, quotas, trade barriers and similar trade restrictions on our sales;
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varying employment and labor laws; and
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greater vulnerability to infrastructure and labor disruptions than in established markets.
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Any of these factors could require a disproportionate share of management’s attention, result in increased costs or decreased revenues, and could materially affect our product sales, financial condition and results of operations.
Global health crises may adversely affect our financial condition.
Our business, the businesses of our customers, and the businesses of our suppliers could be materially and adversely affected by the risks, or the public perception of the risks, related to a pandemic or other health crisis, such as the recent outbreak of novel coronavirus (COVID-19). A significant outbreak of contagious diseases in the human population could result in a widespread health crisis that could adversely affect the economies and financial markets of many countries, resulting in an economic downturn that could materially and adversely affect demand for our products and our operating results. Such events could result in the interruption of our distribution system, temporary or long-term disruption in our supply chains from our suppliers, or delays in the delivery of our product. If the impact of an outbreak continues for an extended period, it could materially adversely impact our supply chain and the growth of our revenues.
Our operations in Asia expose us to heightened risks due to natural disasters.
The risk of natural disasters in the Pacific Rim region is significant. Natural disasters in countries where our manufacturers or customers are located could result in disruption of our manufacturers’ and customers’ operations, resulting in significant delays in shipment of, or significant reductions in orders for, our products. There can be no assurance that we can locate additional manufacturing capacity or markets on favorable terms, or find new customers, in a timely manner, if at all. Natural disasters in this region could also result in:
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reduced end user demand due to the economic impact of any natural disaster;
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a disruption to the global supply chain for products manufactured in areas affected by natural disasters that are included in products purchased either by us or by our customers;
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an increase in the cost of products that we purchase due to reduced supply; and
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other unforeseen impacts as a result of the uncertainty resulting from a natural disaster.
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We face additional risks associated with our operations in China and our results of operations and financial position may
be harmed by changes in China's political, economic or social conditions or changes in U.S.-China relations.
We have, and expect to continue to have, significant operations in China. The economy of China differs from the economies of many countries in important respects such as structure, government involvement, level of development, growth rate, capital reinvestment, allocation of resources, self-sufficiency, rate of inflation, foreign currency flows and balance of payments position, among others. There can be no assurance that China’s economic policies will be consistent or effective and our results of operations and financial position may be harmed by changes in China’s political, economic or social conditions. Additionally, the political and economic relationship between the U.S. and China is uncertain, and any changes in policy as a result may adversely affect our business.
Additionally, our Chinese subsidiary is considered a foreign-invested enterprise and is subject to laws and regulations applicable to foreign investment in China and, in particular, laws applicable to foreign-invested enterprises. For example, China's government imposes control over the convertibility of RMB into foreign currencies, which can cause difficulties converting cash held in RMB to other currencies. While the overall effect of legislation over the past two decades has significantly enhanced the protections afforded to various foreign investments in China, China has not developed a fully integrated legal system, and recently enacted laws and regulations may not sufficiently cover all aspects of economic activities in China. Because these laws and regulations are relatively new, and published court decisions are limited and nonbinding in nature, the interpretation and enforcement of these
laws and regulations involve uncertainties. In addition, China's legal system is based in part on government policies and internal rules, some of which are not published on a timely basis or at all, which may have a retroactive effect. As a result, we may not be aware of our violation of these policies and rules until after the violation occurs. Any administrative and court proceedings in China may be protracted, resulting in substantial costs and diversion of resources and management attention. Further, since Chinese administrative and court authorities have significant discretion in interpreting and implementing statutory and contractual terms, it may be more difficult to evaluate the outcome of administrative and court proceedings. These uncertainties may also impede our ability to enforce the contracts entered into by our Chinese subsidiary and could materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations.
Our international operations expose us to risks resulting from the fluctuations of foreign currencies.
We are exposed to risks resulting from the fluctuations of foreign currencies, primarily those of Japan, Taiwan, Korea and China. Additionally, with the acquisition of ViXS, we are exposed to risks resulting from fluctuations in the Canadian dollar. We sell our products to OEMs that incorporate our products into other products that they sell outside of the U.S. While sales of our products to OEMs are denominated in U.S. dollars, the products sold by OEMs are denominated in foreign currencies. Accordingly, any strengthening of the U.S. dollar against these foreign currencies will increase the foreign currency price equivalent of our products, which could lead to a change in the competitive nature of these products in the marketplace. This, in turn, could lead to a reduction in revenue.
In addition, a portion of our operating expenses, such as employee salaries and foreign income taxes, are denominated in foreign currencies. Accordingly, our operating results are affected by changes in the exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and those currencies. Any future strengthening of those currencies against the U.S. dollar will negatively impact our operating results by increasing our operating expenses as measured in U.S. dollars.
We may engage in financial hedging techniques in the future as part of a strategy to address potential foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations. These hedging techniques, however, may not be successful at reducing our exposure to foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations and may increase costs and administrative complexity.
Failure to comply with anti-bribery, anti-corruption, and anti-money laundering laws could subject us to penalties and other adverse consequences.
We are subject to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act ("FCPA") and other anti-corruption, anti-bribery and anti-money laundering laws in various jurisdictions. From time to time, we may leverage third parties to help conduct our businesses abroad. We and our third-party intermediaries may have direct or indirect interactions with officials and employees of government agencies or state-owned or affiliated entities and may be held liable for the corrupt or other illegal activities of these third-party business partners and intermediaries, our employees, representatives, contractors, channel partners, and agents, even if we do not explicitly authorize such activities. While we have policies and procedures to address compliance with such laws, we cannot assure you that all of our employees and agents will not take actions in violation of our policies and applicable law, for which we may be ultimately held responsible. Any violation of the FCPA or other applicable anti-bribery, anti-corruption laws, and anti-money laundering laws could result in whistleblower complaints, adverse media coverage, investigations, loss of export privileges, severe criminal or civil sanctions, or suspension or debarment from U.S. government contracts, all of which may have an adverse effect on our reputation, our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Our reported financial results may be materially and adversely affected by changes in accounting principles generally accepted in the United States.
Generally accepted accounting principles in the United Sates are subject to interpretation by the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB"), the SEC, and various bodies formed to promulgate and interpret appropriate accounting principles. A change in these principles or interpretations could have a significant effect on our reported financial results and could materially and adversely affect the transactions completed before the announcement of a change. Additionally, the adoption of new or revised accounting principles may require that we make significant changes to our systems, processes and controls. In May 2014, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Codification 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, which we implemented on January 1, 2018. The adoption of this new standard did not result in a cumulative-effect adjustment to retained earnings as of January 1, 2018, however we cannot guarantee that there will be no unforeseen effects of this new standard on our financial statements. In February 2016, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842) ("ASU 2016-02"). ASU 2016-02 requires a dual approach for lessee accounting under which a lessee would account for leases as finance leases or operating leases. ASU 2016-02 became effective for us on January 1, 2019. Upon adoption, we recognized additional operating lease liabilities of $6,847 based on the present value of the remaining minimum rental payments under current leasing standards for existing operating leases. We also recognized ROU assets of $6,224, which represents the operating lease liability adjusted for accrued rent and impairment of ROU assets.
If we are unable to maintain effective disclosure controls and internal controls over financial reporting, investors may lose confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports, and the market price of our common stock may be materially and adversely affected.
In the second quarter of 2019, we identified a material weakness in our internal controls over financial reporting related to the review of aged liabilities for possible extinguishment due to the expiration of the statute of limitation, which was remediated as of December 31, 2019. As a result, investors may lose confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports and effectiveness which would cause the price of our common stock to decline. Additionally, if any new internal control procedures which may be adopted or our existing internal control procedures are deemed inadequate, or if we identify additional material weaknesses in our disclosure controls or internal controls over financial reporting in the future, we will be unable to assert that our internal controls are effective. If we are unable to do so, or if our auditors are unable to attest on the effectiveness of our internal controls, we could lose investor confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports, which would cause the price of our common stock to decline.
As we have limited insurance coverage, any incurred liability resulting from uncovered claims could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.
Our insurance policies may not be adequate to fully offset losses from covered incidents, and we do not have coverage for certain losses. For example, we do not have earthquake insurance related to our Asian operations because adequate coverage is not offered at economically justifiable rates. If our insurance coverage is inadequate to protect us against catastrophic losses, any uncovered losses could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.
Our dependence on selling to distributors and integrators increases the complexity of managing our supply chain and may result in excess inventory or inventory shortages.
Selling to distributors and OEMs that build display devices based on specifications provided by branded suppliers, also referred to as integrators, reduces our ability to forecast sales accurately and increases the complexity of our business. Our sales are generally made on the basis of customer purchase orders rather than long-term purchase commitments. Our distributors, integrators and customers may cancel or defer purchase orders at any time but we must order wafer inventory from our contract manufacturers three to four months in advance.
The estimates we use for our advance orders from contract manufacturers are based, in part, on reports of inventory levels and production forecasts from our distributors and integrators, which act as intermediaries between us and the companies using our products. This process requires us to make numerous assumptions concerning demand and to rely on the accuracy of the reports and forecasts of our distributors and integrators, each of which may introduce error into our estimates of inventory requirements. Our failure to manage this challenge could result in excess inventory or inventory shortages that could materially impact our operating results or limit the ability of companies using our semiconductors to deliver their products. If we overestimate demand for our products, it could lead to significant charges for obsolete inventory. On the other hand, if we underestimate demand, we could forego revenue opportunities, lose market share and damage our customer relationships.
We may be unable to successfully manage any future growth, including the integration of any acquisition or equity investment, which could disrupt our business and severely harm our financial condition.
If we fail to effectively manage any future internal growth, our operating expenses may increase more rapidly than our revenue, adversely affecting our financial condition and results of operations. To manage any future growth effectively in a rapidly evolving market, we must be able to maintain and improve our operational and financial systems, train and manage our employee base and attract and retain qualified personnel with relevant experience. We could spend substantial amounts of time and money in connection with expansion efforts for which we may not realize any profit. Our systems, procedures, controls or financial resources may not be adequate to support our operations and we may not be able to grow quickly enough to exploit potential market opportunities. In addition, we may not be able to successfully integrate the businesses, products, technologies or personnel of any entity that we might acquire in the future, or we may fail to realize the anticipated benefits of any such acquisition. The successful integration of any acquired business as well as the retention of personnel may require significant attention from our management and could divert resources from our existing business, which in turn could have an adverse effect on our business operations. Acquired assets or businesses may not achieve the anticipated benefits we expect due to a number of factors including: unanticipated costs or liabilities associated with such acquisition, including in the case of acquisitions we may make outside of the United States, difficulty in operating in foreign countries or complying with foreign regulatory requirements, incurrence of acquisition-related costs, harm to our relationships with existing customers as a result of such acquisition, harm to our brand and reputation, the loss of key employees in the acquired businesses, use of resources that are needed in other parts of our business, and use of substantial portions of our available cash to consummate any such acquisition. Any failure to successfully integrate any entity we may acquire or any failure to achieve the anticipated benefits of any such acquisition could disrupt our business and seriously harm our financial condition.
Continued compliance with regulatory and accounting requirements will be challenging and will require significant resources.
We spend a significant amount of management time and external resources to comply with changing laws, regulations and standards relating to corporate governance and public disclosure, including evolving SEC rules and regulations, Nasdaq Global Market rules, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 which requires management’s annual review and evaluation of internal control over financial reporting. Failure to comply with these laws and rules could lead to investigation by regulatory authorities, de-listing from the Nasdaq Global Market, or penalties imposed on us.
Regulations related to conflict minerals may adversely impact our business.
The SEC has adopted disclosure and reporting rules intended to improve transparency and accountability concerning the supply of certain minerals, known as conflict minerals, originating from the Democratic Republic of Congo ("DRC") and adjoining countries. These rules require us to conduct a reasonable inquiry to determine the origin of certain materials used in our products and disclose whether our products use any materials containing conflict minerals originating from the DRC and adjoining countries. Since we do not own or operate a semiconductor fabrication facility and do not manufacture our products internally, we are dependent on the information provided by third-party foundries and production facilities regarding the materials used and the supply chains for the materials. Further, there are costs associated with complying with these rules, including costs incurred to conduct inquiries to determine the sources of any materials containing conflict minerals used in our products, to fulfill our reporting requirements and to develop and implement potential changes to products, processes or sources of supply if it is determined that our products contain or use any conflict minerals from the DRC or adjoining countries. The implementation of these rules could also affect the sourcing, supply and pricing of materials used in our products. For example, there may only be a limited number of suppliers offering “conflict free” materials, we cannot be sure that we will be able to obtain necessary "conflict free" materials from such suppliers in sufficient quantities or at reasonable prices. In addition, we may face reputational challenges if we determine that any of our products contain minerals that are not conflict free or if we are unable to sufficiently verify the origins for all materials containing conflict minerals used in our products through the procedures we may implement.
Our effective income tax rate is subject to unanticipated changes in, or different interpretations of tax rules and regulations and forecasting our effective income tax rate is complex and subject to uncertainty.
As a global company, we are subject to taxation by a number of taxing authorities and as such, our tax rates vary among the jurisdictions in which we operate. Unanticipated changes in our tax rates could affect our future results of operations. Our effective tax rates could be adversely affected by changes in the mix of earnings in countries with differing statutory tax rates, changes in tax laws or the interpretation of tax laws either in the U.S. or abroad, or by changes in the valuation of our deferred tax assets and liabilities. The ultimate outcomes of any future tax audits are uncertain, and we can give no assurance as to whether an adverse result from one or more of them would have a material effect on our operating results and financial position.
The computation of income tax expense is complex as it is based on the laws of numerous tax jurisdictions and requires significant judgment on the application of complicated rules governing accounting for tax provisions under U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. Income tax expense for interim quarters is based on our forecasted tax rate for the year, which includes forward looking financial projections, including the expectations of profit and loss by jurisdiction, and contains numerous assumptions. For these reasons, our tax rate may be materially different than our forecast.
On December 22, 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the "TCJA") was signed into law. The TCJA contains significant changes to U.S. federal corporate income taxation, including reduction of the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21% for US taxable income, resulting in a one-time remeasurement of deferred taxes to reflect their value at a lower tax rate of 21%, limitation of the deduction for net operating losses to 80% of current year taxable income and elimination of net operating loss carrybacks, deemed repatriation, resulting in one-time U.S. taxation of undistributed prior offshore earnings at reduced rates, elimination of U.S. tax on future offshore earnings (subject to certain important exceptions), and immediate deductions for certain new investments instead of deductions for depreciation expense over time. Effective January 1, 2018, the new legislation contained several key tax provisions that impacted us including the reduction of the corporate income tax rate to 21%. ASC 740 required us to recognize the effect of the tax law change in the period of enactment. The lower tax rate required us to remeasure our deferred tax assets and liabilities as of December 31, 2017.
We rely upon certain critical information systems for the operation of our business, and the failure of any critical information system may result in serious harm to our business.
We maintain and rely upon certain critical information systems for the effective operation of our business. These information systems include telecommunications, the Internet, our corporate intranet, various computer hardware and software applications, network communications and e-mail. These information systems are subject to attacks, failures and access denials from a number of potential sources including viruses, destructive or inadequate code, power failures, and physical damage to computers, communication lines and networking equipment. To the extent that these information systems are under our control, we have implemented security procedures, such as virus protection software and firewall monitoring, to address the outlined risks. Security procedures for information systems cannot be guaranteed to be failsafe and our inability to use or access these information systems at critical times could compromise the timely and efficient operation of our business. Additionally, any compromise of our information security could result in the unauthorized publication of our confidential business or proprietary information, cause an interruption in our operations, result in the unauthorized release of customer or employee data, result in a violation of privacy or other laws, or expose us to a risk of litigation or damage our reputation, any or all of which could harm our business and operating results.
Environmental laws and regulations may cause us to incur significant expenditures to comply with applicable laws and regulations, and we may be assessed considerable penalties for noncompliance.
We are subject to numerous environmental laws and regulations. Compliance with current or future environmental laws and regulations could require us to incur substantial expenses which could harm our business, financial condition and results of operations. We have worked, and will continue to work, with our suppliers and customers to ensure that our products are compliant with enacted laws and regulations. Failure by us or our contract manufacturers to comply with such legislation could result in customers refusing to purchase our products and could subject us to significant monetary penalties in connection with a violation, either of which would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Company Risks Related to the Semiconductor Industry and Our Markets
Our highly integrated products and high-speed mixed signal products are difficult to manufacture without defects and the existence of defects could result in increased costs, delays in the availability of our products, reduced sales of products or claims against us.
The manufacture of semiconductors is a complex process and it is often difficult for semiconductor foundries to produce semiconductors free of defects. Because many of our products are more highly integrated than other semiconductors and incorporate mixed signal analog and digital signal processing, multi-chip modules and embedded memory technology, they are even more difficult to produce without defects. Defective products can be caused by design or manufacturing difficulties. Identifying quality problems can be performed only by analyzing and testing our semiconductors in a system after they have been manufactured. The difficulty in identifying defects is compounded because the process technology is unique to each of the multiple semiconductor foundries we contract with to manufacture our products. Despite testing by both our customers and us, errors or performance problems may be found in existing or new semiconductors. Failure to achieve defect-free products may result in increased costs and delays in the availability of our products. Defects may also divert the attention of our engineering personnel from our product development efforts to find and correct the issue, which would delay our product development efforts.
Additionally, customers could seek damages from us for their losses, and shipments of defective products may harm our reputation with our customers. If a product liability claim is brought against us, the cost of defending the claim could be significant and would divert the efforts of our technical and management personnel and harm our business. Further, our business liability insurance may be inadequate or future coverage may be unavailable on acceptable terms, which could adversely impact our financial results.
We have experienced field failures of our semiconductors in certain customer applications that required us to institute additional testing. As a result of these field failures, we have incurred warranty costs due to customers returning potentially affected products and have experienced reductions in revenues due to delays in production. Our customers have also experienced delays in receiving product shipments from us that resulted in the loss of revenue and profits. Additionally, shipments of defective products could cause us to lose customers or to incur significant replacement costs, either of which would harm our reputation and our business. Any defects, errors or bugs could also interrupt or delay sales of our new products to our customers, which would adversely affect our financial results.
The development of new products is extremely complex and we may be unable to develop our new products in a timely manner, which could result in a failure to obtain new design wins and/or maintain our current revenue levels.
In addition to the inherent difficulty of designing complex integrated circuits, product development delays may result from:
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difficulties in hiring and retaining necessary technical personnel;
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difficulties in reallocating engineering resources and overcoming resource limitations;
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difficulties with contract manufacturers;
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changes to product specifications and customer requirements;
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changes to market or competitive product requirements; and
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unanticipated engineering complexities.
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If we are not successful in the timely development of new products, we may fail to obtain new design wins and our financial results will be adversely affected.
Intense competition in our markets may reduce sales of our products, reduce our market share, decrease our gross profit and result in large losses.
We compete with specialized and diversified electronics and semiconductor companies that offer display processors or scaling components including: Actions Microelectronics Co., Ltd., ARM Holdings PLC, Dolby Laboratories, Inc., Hisilicon Technologies Co., Ltd., i-Chips Technologies Inc., Lattice Semiconductor Corporation, MediaTek Inc., Novateck Microelectronics Corp., NVIDIA Corporation, Qualcomm Incorporated, Realtek Semiconductor Corp., Renesas Electronics America Inc., Solomon Systech (International) Ltd., STMicroelectronics N.V., Sunplus Technology Co., Ltd., Synaptics Incorporated, Texas Instruments Incorporated, Unisoc Communications, Inc., and other companies. Potential and current competitors may include diversified semiconductor manufacturers and the semiconductor divisions or affiliates of some of our customers, including: Apple Inc., Broadcom Inc., LG Electronics, Inc., MegaChips Corporation, Mitsubishi Digital Electronics America, Inc., NEC Corporation, Panasonic Corporation, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., Socionext, Inc., ON Semiconductor Corporation, Seiko Epson Corporation, Sharp Electronics Corporation, Sony Corporation, and Toshiba America, Inc. In addition, start-up companies may seek to compete in our markets.
Many of our competitors have longer operating histories and greater resources to support development and marketing efforts than we do. Some of our competitors operate their own fabrication facilities. These competitors may be able to react more quickly and devote more resources to efforts that compete directly with our own. Additionally, any consolidation in the semiconductor industry may impact our competitive position. Our current or potential customers have developed, and may continue to develop, their own proprietary technologies and become our competitors. Increased competition from both competitors and our customers’ internal development efforts could harm our business, financial condition and results of operations by, for example, increasing pressure on our profit margin or causing us to lose sales opportunities. For example, frame rate conversion technology similar to that used in our line of MotionEngine® advanced video co-processors continues to be integrated into the SoC and display timing controller products of our competitors. We cannot assure you that we can compete successfully against current or potential competitors.
If we are not able to respond to the rapid technological changes and evolving industry standards in the markets in which we compete, or seek to compete, our products may become less desirable or obsolete.
The markets in which we compete or seek to compete are subject to rapid technological change and miniaturization capabilities, frequent new product introductions, changing customer requirements for new products and features and evolving industry standards. The introduction of new technologies and emergence of new industry standards could render our products less desirable or obsolete, which could harm our business and significantly decrease our revenue. Examples of changing industry standards include the growing use of broadband to deliver video content, increased display resolution and size, faster screen refresh rates, video capability such as High Dynamic Range, the proliferation of new display devices and the drive to network display devices together. Our failure to predict market needs accurately or to timely develop new competitively priced products or product enhancements that incorporate new industry standards and technologies, including integrated circuits with increasing levels of integration and new features, using smaller geometry process technologies, may harm market acceptance and sales of our products.
Our products are incorporated into our customers’ products, which have different parts and specifications and utilize multiple protocols that allow them to be compatible with specific computers, video standards and other devices. If our customers’ products are not compatible with these protocols and standards, consumers will return, or not purchase these products and the markets for our customers’ products could be significantly reduced. Additionally, if the technology used by our customers becomes less competitive due to cost, customer preferences or other factors relative to alternative technologies, sales of our products could decline.
Dependence on a limited number of sole-source, third-party manufacturers for our products exposes us to possible shortages based on low manufacturing yield, errors in manufacturing, uncontrollable lead-times for manufacturing, capacity allocation, price increases with little notice, volatile inventory levels and delays in product delivery, any of which could result in delays in satisfying customer demand, increased costs and loss of revenue.
We do not own or operate a semiconductor fabrication facility and do not have the resources to manufacture our products internally. We rely on a limited number of foundries and assembly and test vendors to produce all of our wafers and for completion of finished products. Our wafers are not fabricated at more than one foundry at any given time and our wafers typically are designed to be fabricated in a specific process at only one foundry. Sole sourcing each product increases our dependence on our suppliers. We have limited control over delivery schedules, quality assurance, manufacturing yields, potential errors in manufacturing and production costs. We do not have long-term supply contracts with our third-party manufacturers, so they are not obligated to supply us with products for any specific period of time, quantity or price, except as may be provided in a particular purchase order. Our suppliers can increase the prices of the products we purchase from them with little notice, which may cause us to increase the prices to our customers and harm our competitiveness. Because our requirements represent only a small portion of the total production capacity of our contract manufacturers, they could reallocate capacity to other customers during periods of high demand for our products, as they have done in the past. We expect this may occur again in the future.
Establishing a relationship with a new contract manufacturer in the event of delays or increased prices would be costly and burdensome. The lead time to make such a change would be at least nine months, and the estimated time for us to adapt a product’s design to a particular contract manufacturer’s process is at least four months. Additionally, we have chosen, and may continue to choose new foundries to manufacture our wafers which in turn, may require us to modify our design methodology flow for the process technology and intellectual property cores of the new foundry. If we have to qualify a new foundry or packaging, assembly and testing supplier for any of our products or if we are unable to obtain our products from our contract manufacturers on schedule, at costs that are acceptable to us, or at all, we could incur significant delays in shipping products, our ability to satisfy customer demand could be harmed, our revenue from the sale of products may be lost or delayed and our customer relationships and ability to obtain future design wins could be damaged.
We use a customer-owned tooling process for manufacturing most of our products, which exposes us to the possibility of poor yields and unacceptably high product costs.
We build most of our products on a customer-owned tooling basis, whereby we directly contract the manufacture of our products, including wafer production, assembly and testing. As a result, we are subject to increased risks arising from wafer manufacturing yields and risks associated with coordination of the manufacturing, assembly and testing process. Poor product yields result in higher product costs, which could make our products less competitive if we increase our prices to compensate for our higher costs or could result in lower gross profit margins if we do not increase our prices.
We depend on manufacturers of our semiconductor products not only to respond to changes in technology and industry standards but also to continue the manufacturing processes on which we rely.
To respond effectively to changes in technology and industry standards, we depend on our contracted foundries to implement advanced semiconductor technologies and our operations could be adversely affected if those technologies are unavailable, delayed or inefficiently implemented. In order to increase performance and functionality and reduce the size of our products, we are continuously developing new products using advanced technologies that further miniaturize semiconductors and we are dependent on our foundries to develop and provide access to the advanced processes that enable such miniaturization. We cannot be certain that future advanced manufacturing processes will be implemented without difficulties, delays or increased expenses. Our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially adversely affected if advanced manufacturing processes are unavailable to us, substantially delayed or inefficiently implemented.
Creating the capacity for new technological changes may cause manufacturers to discontinue older manufacturing processes in favor of newer ones. We must then either retire the affected part or port (develop) a new version of the part that can be manufactured with a newer process technology. In the event that a manufacturing process is discontinued, our current suppliers may be unwilling or unable to manufacture our current products. We may not be able to place last time buy orders for the old technology or find alternate manufacturers of our products to allow us to continue to produce products with the older technology while we expend the significant costs for research and development and time to migrate to new, more advanced processes. For example, a portion of our products use 0.11um technology for memory die, which is being phased out in favor of 63nm technology to increase yields and decrease cost. Because of this transition, our customers must re-qualify the affected parts.
Shortages of materials used in the manufacturing of our products and other key components of our customers’ products may increase our costs, impair our ability to ship our products on time and delay our ability to sell our products.
From time to time, shortages of components and materials that are critical to the manufacture of our products and our customers’ products may occur. Such critical components and materials include semiconductor wafers and packages, double data rate memory die, display components, analog-to-digital converters, digital receivers, video decoders and voltage regulators. If material shortages occur, we may incur additional costs or be unable to ship our products to our customers in a timely fashion, both of which could harm our business and adversely affect our results of operations.
Because of our long product development process and sales cycles, we may incur substantial costs before we earn associated revenue and ultimately may not sell as many units of our products as we originally anticipated.
We develop products based on anticipated market and customer requirements and incur substantial product development expenditures, which can include the payment of large up-front, third-party license fees and royalties, prior to generating the associated revenue. Our work under these projects is technically challenging and places considerable demands on our limited resources, particularly on our most senior engineering talent. Additionally, the transition to smaller geometry process technologies continues to significantly increase the cost and complexity of new product development, particularly with regards to tooling, software tools, third party IP and engineering resources. Because the development of our products incorporates not only our complex and evolving technology, but also our customers’ specific requirements, a lengthy sales process is often required before potential customers begin the technical evaluation of our products. Our customers typically perform numerous tests and extensively evaluate our products before incorporating them into their systems. The time required for testing, evaluation and design of our products into a customer’s system can take nine months or more. It can take an additional nine months or longer before a customer commences volume shipments of systems that incorporate our products, if at all. Because of the lengthy development and sales cycles, we will experience delays between the time we incur expenditures for research and development, sales and marketing and inventory and the time we generate revenue, if any, from these expenditures.
Furthermore, we have entered into and may in the future enter into, co-development agreements that do not guarantee future sales volumes and limit our ability to sell the developed products to other customers. The exclusive nature of these development agreements increases our dependence on individual customers, particularly since we are limited in the number of products we are able to develop at any one time.
If actual sales volumes for a particular product are substantially less than originally anticipated, we may experience large write-offs of capitalized license fees, software development tools, product masks, inventories or other capitalized or deferred product-related costs, any of which would negatively affect our operating results.
Our developed software may be incompatible with industry standards and challenging and costly to implement, which could slow product development or cause us to lose customers and design wins.
We provide our customers with software development tools and with software that provides basic functionality for our integrated circuits and enables enhanced connectivity of our customers’ products. Software development is a complex process and we are dependent on software development languages and operating systems from vendors that may limit our ability to design software in a timely manner. Also, as software tools and interfaces change rapidly, new software languages introduced to the market may be incompatible with our existing systems and tools, requiring significant engineering efforts to migrate our existing systems in order to be compatible with those new languages. Software development disruptions could slow our product development or cause us to lose customers and design wins. The integration of software with our products adds complexity, may extend our internal development programs and could impact our customers’ development schedules. This complexity requires increased coordination between hardware and software development schedules and increases our operating expenses without a corresponding increase in product revenue. This additional level of complexity lengthens the sales cycle and may result in customers selecting competitive products requiring less software integration.
The competitiveness and viability of our products could be harmed if necessary licenses of third-party technology are not available to us on terms that are acceptable to us or at all.
We license technology from independent third parties that is incorporated into our products or product enhancements. Future products or product enhancements may require additional third-party licenses that may not be available to us on terms that are acceptable to us or at all. In addition, in the event of a change in control of one of our licensors, it may become difficult to maintain access to its licensed technology. If we are unable to obtain or maintain any third-party license required to develop new products and product enhancements, we may have to obtain substitute technology with lower quality or performance standards, or at greater cost, either of which could seriously harm the competitiveness of our products.
Our limited ability to protect our IP and proprietary rights could harm our competitive position by allowing our competitors to access our proprietary technology and to introduce similar products.
Our ability to compete effectively with other companies depends, in part, on our ability to maintain the proprietary nature of our technology, including our semiconductor designs and software code. We provide the computer programming code for our software to customers in connection with their product development efforts, thereby increasing the risk that customers will misappropriate our proprietary software. We rely on a combination of patent, copyright, trademark and trade secret laws, as well as nondisclosure agreements and other methods, to help protect our proprietary technologies. As of December 31, 2019, we held 347 patents and had 17 patent applications pending for protection of our significant technologies. Competitors in both the U.S. and foreign countries, many of whom have substantially greater resources than we do, may apply for and obtain patents that will prevent, limit or interfere with our ability to make and sell our products, or they may develop similar technology independently or design around our patents. Effective patent, copyright, trademark and trade secret protection may be unavailable or limited in foreign countries and, thus, make the possibility of piracy of our technology and products more likely in these countries.
We cannot assure you that the degree of protection offered by patent or trade secret laws will be sufficient. Furthermore, we cannot assure you that any patents will be issued as a result of any pending applications or that any claims allowed under issued patents will be sufficiently broad to protect our technology. We may incur significant costs to stop others from infringing our patents. In addition, it is possible that existing or future patents may be invalidated, diluted, circumvented, challenged or licensed to others.
Others may bring infringement or indemnification actions against us that could be time-consuming and expensive to defend.
We may become subject to claims involving patents or other intellectual property rights. In recent years, there has been significant litigation in the U.S. and in other jurisdictions involving patents and other intellectual property rights. This litigation is particularly prevalent in the semiconductor industry, in which a number of companies aggressively use their patent portfolios to bring infringement claims. In recent years, there has been an increase in the filing of so-called "nuisance suits," alleging infringement of intellectual property rights. These claims may be asserted initially or as counterclaims in response to claims made by a company alleging infringement of intellectual property rights. These suits pressure defendants into entering settlement arrangements to quickly dispose of such suits, regardless of merit. We may also face claims brought by companies that are organized solely to hold and enforce patents. In addition, we may be required to indemnify our customers against IP claims related to their usage of our products as certain of our agreements include indemnification provisions from third parties relating to our intellectual property.
IP claims could subject us to significant liability for damages and invalidate our proprietary rights. Responding to such claims, regardless of their merit, can be time-consuming, result in costly litigation, divert management’s attention and resources and cause us to incur significant expenses. As each claim is evaluated, we may consider the desirability of entering into settlement or licensing agreements. No assurance can be given that settlements will occur or that licenses can be obtained on acceptable terms or that litigation will not occur. In the event there is a temporary or permanent injunction entered prohibiting us from marketing or selling certain of our products, or a successful claim of infringement against us requiring us to pay damages or royalties to a third-party and we fail to develop or license a substitute technology, our business, results of operations or financial condition could be materially adversely affected. Any IP litigation or claims also could force us to do one or more of the following:
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stop selling products using technology that contains the allegedly infringing IP;
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attempt to obtain a license to the relevant IP, which may not be available on terms that are acceptable to us or at all;
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attempt to redesign those products that contain the allegedly infringing IP; or
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pay damages for past infringement claims that are determined to be valid or which are arrived at in settlement of such litigation or threatened litigation.
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If we are forced to take any of the foregoing actions, we may incur significant additional costs or be unable to manufacture and sell our products, which could seriously harm our business. In addition, we may not be able to develop, license or acquire non-infringing technology under reasonable terms. These developments could result in an inability to compete for customers or otherwise adversely affect our results of operations.
Our products are characterized by average selling prices that can decline over relatively short periods of time, which will negatively affect our financial results unless we are able to reduce our product costs or introduce new products with higher average selling prices.
Average selling prices for our products can decline over relatively short periods of time, while many of our product costs are relatively fixed. When our average selling prices decline, our gross profit declines unless we are able to sell more units or reduce the cost to manufacture our products. We have experienced declines in our average selling prices and expect that we will continue to experience them in the future, although we cannot predict when they may occur or how severe they will be. Our financial results will suffer if we are unable to offset any reductions in our average selling prices by increasing our sales volumes, reducing our costs, adding new features to our existing products or developing new or enhanced products in a timely manner with higher selling prices or gross profits.
The cyclical nature of the semiconductor industry may lead to significant variances in the demand for our products and could harm our operations.
In the past, the semiconductor industry has been characterized by significant downturns and wide fluctuations in supply and demand. Also, the industry has experienced significant fluctuations in anticipation of changes in general economic conditions, including economic conditions in Asia, Europe and North America. The cyclical nature of the semiconductor industry has also led to significant variances in product demand and production capacity. We have experienced, and may continue to experience, periodic fluctuations in our financial results because of changes in industry-wide conditions.
Other Risks
The price of our common stock has and may continue to fluctuate substantially.
Our stock price and the stock prices of technology companies similar to Pixelworks have been highly volatile. The price of our common stock may decline and the value of our shareholders' investment may be reduced regardless of our performance.
The daily trading volume of our common stock has historically been relatively low, although, in the three most recent years, trading volume increased compared to historical levels. As a result of the historically low volume, our shareholders may be unable to sell significant quantities of common stock in the public trading markets without a significant reduction in the price of our common shares. Additionally, market fluctuations, as well as general economic and political conditions, including recessions, interest rate changes or international currency fluctuations, may negatively impact the market price of our common stock. Other factors that could negatively impact our stock price include:
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actual or anticipated fluctuations in our operating results;
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changes in or failure to meet expectations as to our future financial performance;
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changes in or failure to meet financial estimates of securities analysts;
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announcements by us or our competitors of technological innovations, design wins, contracts, standards, acquisitions or divestitures;
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the operating and stock price performance of other comparable companies;
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issuances or proposed issuances of equity, debt or other securities by us, or sales of securities by our security holders; and
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changes in market valuations of other technology companies.
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Any inability or perceived inability of investors to realize a gain on an investment in our common stock could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations by potentially limiting our ability to retain our customers, to attract and retain qualified employees and to raise capital. In addition, in the past, following periods of volatility in the overall market and the market price of a particular company's securities, securities class action litigation has often been instituted against these companies. This litigation, if instituted against us, could result in substantial costs and a diversion of our management's attention and resources.
The interest of our current or potential significant shareholders may conflict with other shareholders and they may attempt to effect changes or acquire control, which could adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.
Our shareholders may from time to time engage in proxy solicitations, advance shareholder proposals, acquire control or otherwise attempt to effect changes, including by directly voting their shares on shareholder proposals. Campaigns by shareholders to effect changes at publicly traded companies are sometimes led by investors seeking to increase short-term shareholder value through actions such as financial restructuring, increased debt, special dividends, stock repurchases or sales of assets or the entire company. Responding to proxy contests and other actions by activist shareholders can be costly and time-consuming, disrupting our operations and diverting the attention of our Board of Directors and senior management from the pursuit of business strategies. Additionally, uncertainty over our direction and leadership may negatively impact our relationship with our customers and make it more difficult to attract and retain qualified personnel and business partners. As a result, shareholder campaigns could adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.
Future sales of our equity could result in significant dilution to our existing shareholders and depress the market price of our common stock.
It is likely that we will need to seek additional capital in the future and from time to time. If this financing is obtained through the issuance of equity securities, debt convertible into equity securities, options or warrants to acquire equity securities or similar instruments or securities, our existing shareholders will experience dilution in their ownership percentage upon the issuance, conversion or exercise of such securities and such dilution could be significant. New equity securities issued by us could have rights, preferences or privileges senior to those of our common stock.
In addition, any such issuance by us or sales of our securities by our security holders, including by any of our affiliates, or the perception that such issuances or sales could occur, could negatively impact the market price of our securities. For example, a number of shareholders own significant blocks of our common stock, and we have issued approximately 3.7 million shares of our common stock to the former holders of ViXS, such shares which were freely tradeable upon issuance. If one or more of these large shareholders were to sell large portions of their holdings in a relatively short time, or if the former holders of ViXS were to collectively sell large portions of the stock issued as consideration in the Acquisition in a relatively short time, for liquidity or other reasons, the prevailing market price of our common stock could be negatively affected. This could result in further potential dilution to our existing shareholders and the impairment of our ability to raise capital through the sale of equity, debt or other securities.
We may be unable to maintain compliance with Nasdaq Marketplace Rules which could cause our common stock to be delisted from the Nasdaq Global Market. This could result in the lack of a market for our common stock, cause a decrease in the value of our common stock, and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Under the Nasdaq Marketplace Rules our common stock must maintain a minimum price of $1.00 per share for continued inclusion on the Nasdaq Global Market. Our stock price was previously below $1.00 on May 6, 2009 and was $1.22 on February 12, 2016 and we cannot guarantee that our stock price will remain at or above $1.00 per share. If the price again drops below $1.00 per share, our stock could become subject to delisting, and we may seek shareholder approval for a reverse stock split, which in turn could produce adverse effects and may not result in a long-term or permanent increase in the price of our common stock. Further, for continued listing on the Nasdaq Global Market we must have at least 400 total shareholders.
In addition to the minimum $1.00 per share and 400 total shareholders requirements, the Nasdaq Global Market has other continued listing requirements, and we must meet all of the criteria under at least one of the following three standards: (i) a minimum of $50.0 million in total asset value and $50.0 million in revenues in the latest fiscal year or in two of the last three fiscal years, at least 1.1 million publicly held shares and at least $15 million in market value of publicly held shares; (ii) a minimum of $50.0 million in market value of listed securities, at least 1.1 million publicly held shares and at least $15.0 million in market value of publicly held shares; or (iii) a minimum of $10.0 million in shareholders' equity, at least 750,000 publicly held shares and at least $5 million in market value of publicly held shares. As of December 31, 2019, we were in compliance with these listing requirements. However, as recently as June 30, 2017, our total asset value was less than $50.0 million. In addition, as recently as during the first quarter of 2016, the aggregate market value of our listed securities was below $50.0 million. Our stock price is volatile and we believe that we continue to remain susceptible to the market value of our listed securities and/or the market value of our publicly held securities falling below $50.0 million and $15.0 million, respectively. Accordingly, we cannot assure you that we will be able to continue to comply with Nasdaq Global Market’s listing requirements. Should we be unable to remain in compliance with these requirements, our stock could become subject to delisting.
If our common stock is delisted, trading of the stock will most likely take place on an over-the-counter market established for unlisted securities. An investor is likely to find it less convenient to sell, or to obtain accurate quotations in seeking to buy, our common stock on an over-the-counter market, and many investors may not buy or sell our common stock due to difficulty in accessing over-the-counter markets, or due to policies preventing them from trading in securities not listed on a national exchange or other reasons. For these reasons and others, delisting would adversely affect the liquidity, trading volume and price of our common stock, causing the value of an investment in us to decrease and having an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations by limiting our ability to attract and retain qualified executives and employees and limiting our ability to raise capital.
The continued uncertain global economic environment and volatility in global credit and financial markets could materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations.
The state of the global economy continues to be uncertain. As a result of these conditions, our manufacturers, vendors and customers might experience deterioration of their businesses, cash flow shortages and difficulty obtaining financing which could result in interruptions or delays in the performance of any contracts, reductions and delays in customer purchases, delays in or the inability of customers to obtain financing to purchase our products, and bankruptcy of customers. Furthermore, the constraints in the capital and credit markets, may limit the ability of our customers to meet their liquidity needs, which could result in an impairment of their ability to make timely payments to us and reduce their demand for our products, adversely impacting our results of operations and cash flows. This environment has also made it difficult for us to accurately forecast and plan future business activities.
The anti-takeover provisions of Oregon law and in our articles of incorporation could adversely affect the rights of the holders of our common stock, including by preventing a sale or takeover of us at a price or prices favorable to the holders of our common stock.
Provisions of our articles of incorporation and bylaws and provisions of Oregon law may have the effect of delaying or preventing a merger or acquisition of us, making a merger or acquisition of us less desirable to a potential acquirer or preventing a change in our management, even if our shareholders consider the merger, acquisition or change in management favorable or if doing so would benefit our shareholders. In addition, these provisions could limit the price that investors would be willing to pay in the future for shares of our common stock. The following are examples of such provisions:
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if the number of directors is fixed by the board at eight or more, our board of directors is divided into three classes serving staggered terms, which would make it more difficult for a group of shareholders to quickly replace a majority of directors;
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our board of directors is authorized, without prior shareholder approval, to create and issue preferred stock with voting or other rights or preferences that could impede the success of any attempt to acquire us or to effect a change of control, commonly referred to as "blank check" preferred stock;
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members of our board of directors can be removed only for cause and at a meeting of shareholders called expressly for that purpose, by the vote of 75 percent of the votes then entitled to be cast for the election of directors;
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our board of directors may alter our bylaws without obtaining shareholder approval; and shareholders are required to provide advance notice for nominations for election to the board of directors or for proposing matters to be acted upon at a shareholder meeting;
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Oregon law permits our board to consider other factors beyond stockholder value in evaluating any acquisition offer (so-called "expanded constituency" provisions); and
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a supermajority (67%) vote of shareholders is required to approve certain fundamental transactions.
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