DPW Ault Global Holdings Inc

RISK FACTORS

An investment in our securities is speculative and involves a high degree of risk. Our business, financial condition or results of operations could be adversely affected by any of these risks. You should carefully consider the following factors as well as the other information contained in this prospectus, in any supplement to this prospectus and in the other reports that we file with the SEC and that we incorporate by reference into this prospectus, before deciding to invest in our securities. The risks and uncertainties we have described are not the only ones we face. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial may also affect our operations. Past financial performance may not be a reliable indicator of future performance, and historical trends should not be used to anticipate results or trends in future periods. If any of these risks actually occurs, our business, business prospects, financial condition or results of operations could be seriously harmed. This could cause the trading price of our shares of common stock to decline, resulting in a loss of all or part of your investment. Please also read carefully the section below entitled “Forward-Looking Statements.”

We generated operating and net losses for the six months ended June 30, 2017, and for the years e n ded December 31, 2016, and 2015 ;  w e have a risk as a going concern .

We are a growth company and have experienced operating and net losses, and anticipate continuing to experience such losses in the future. For the six months ended June 30, 2017, we had a loss from operations of approximately $2,231,000 and a net loss of approximately $2,733,000. For the years ended December 31, 2016, and 2015, we had losses from operations of approximately $1,219,000 and $1,003,000 and net losses of approximately $1,122,000 and $1,096,000, respectively.

We expect to continue to incur losses for the foreseeable future and need to raise additional capital to continue business development initiatives and to support our working capital requirements. In March 2017, we were awarded a 3-year, $50 million purchase order by MTIX Ltd. (“MTIX") to manufacture, install and service the Multiplex Laser Surface Enhancement (“MLSE”) plasma-laser system. We believe that the MLSE purchase order will be a source of revenue and generate significant cash flows for us. However, if we are unable to raise additional capital, we may be required to curtail operations and take additional measures to reduce costs, including reducing our workforce, eliminating outside consultants and reducing legal fees in order to conserve cash in amounts sufficient to sustain operations and meet our obligations. As a result of these financing uncertainties, during the second quarter ended June 30, 2017, we recognized that our dependence on ongoing capital requirements to fund our operations raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern.

We have identified material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting, and our business and stock price may be adversely affected if we do not adequately address those weaknesses or if we have other material weaknesses or significant def iciencies in our internal control over financial reporting.

We did not adequately implement certain controls over our financial reporting in connection with a transaction with our President and CEO and certain of our obligations guaranteed by our Executive Chairman. We have therefore identified a material weakness in our internal controls over financial reporting as of June 30, 2017.  In particular, we had to restate our financial information for the second quarter as a result of our mistakenly recording a long-term asset for a short-term asset and not disclosing that our Executive Chairman had guaranteed certain obligations of the Company.  The existence of these or one or more other material weaknesses or significant deficiencies could result in errors in our financial statements, and substantial costs and resources may be required to rectify any internal control deficiencies. If we cannot produce reliable financial reports, investors could lose confidence in our reported financial information, the market price of our stock could decline significantly, we may be unable to obtain additional financing to operate and expand our business, and our business and financial condition could be harmed.

If we do not continue to satisfy the NYSE American continued listing requirements , our common stock could be delisted from NYSE American .

The listing of our common stock on the NYSE American is contingent on our compliance with the NYSE American’s conditions for continued listing. On December 18, 2015, we were notified by the NYSE American that we were no longer in compliance with the NYSE American continued listing standards because our reported stockholders' equity was below continued listing standards. The NYSE American requires that a listed company's stockholders' equity be $4.0 million or more if it has reported losses from continuing operations and/or net losses in three of its four most recent fiscal years. Subsequently, the NYSE American informed us that we are required to attain stockholders’ equity of $6.0 million or more because we experienced a loss for the year ended December 31, 2016.

Following submission of our compliance plan demonstrating how we intend to regain compliance with the continued listing standards, we were notified on March 9, 2016, that the NYSE American granted us a listing extension on the basis of our plan until June 19, 2017. We are subject to periodic review by NYSE American staff during the extension period. Failure to make progress consistent with the plan or to regain compliance with the continued listing standards by the end of the extension period could result in our common stock being delisted from the NYSE American.

On June 19, 2017, we filed a Form 8-K report with the Securities and Exchange Commission, (the “SEC”) announcing that our Stockholders' Equity was approximately $6,409,000 on a pro-forma basis. In a letter dated June 20, 2017, the NYSE American notified us that we had successfully regained compliance with the NYSE American continued listing standards. Notwithstanding the foregoing, in light of our continue losses, there is no assurance that we will be able to continue to meet the NYSE American continued listing standard. Failure to meet the NYSE American listing requirement, we may be subject to delisting by the NYSE American. In the event our common stock is no longer listed for trading on the NYSE American, our trading volume and share price may decrease and we may experience further difficulties in raising capital which could materially affect our operations and financial results.

We will need to raise additional capital to increase our stockholders’ equity and to fund our operations in furtherance of our business plan .

Until we are profitable, w e will need to quickly raise additional capital in order to increase our stockholders’ equity in order to continue to meet NYSE American continued listing standards and fund our operations in furtherance of our business plan. The proposed financing may include shares of common stock, shares of preferred stock, warrants to purchase shares of common stock or preferred stock, debt securities, units consisting of the foregoing securities, equity investments from strategic development partners or some combination of each. Any additional equity financings may be financially dilutive to, and will be dilutive from an ownership perspective to our stockholders, and such dilution may be significant based upon the size of such financing. Additionally, we cannot assure that such funding will be available on a timely basis, in needed quantities, or on terms favorable to us, if at all.

Our growth strategy is risky .

Our growth strategy through acquisitions is risky. Some of the companies that we have identified to acquire or make a significant investment in may not have a developed business or are experiencing inefficiencies and incurring losses. Therefore, we may lose our investment in the event that these companies ’ businesses do not develop as planned or that we are unable to achieve the cost efficiencies or reduction of losses as anticipated.

Further, in order to implement our growth plan, we have hired additional staff and consultants to review potential investments and implement our plan. As a result, we have substantially increased our infrastructure and costs. If we fail to quickly find new companies that provide revenue to offset our costs, we will continue to experience losses. No assurance can be given that our product development and investments will produce sufficient revenues to offset these increases in expenditures.

Our inability to successfully integrate new acquisitions could adversely affect our combined business ; our operations are widely disbursed .

As stated above, our growth strategy through acquisitions is risky. On June 2, 2017, we acquired a majority interest in Microphase Corp. Our strategy and business plan is dependent on our ability to successfully integrate Microphase’s and our other acquisition’s operations. In addition, while we are based in Fremont, CA, Microphase’s operations are located in Shelton, Connecticut and Digital Power Limited’s (doing business as Gresham Power) operations are located in Salisbury, England. These distant locations will stretch our resources and management time. Further, failure to quickly and adequately integrate all of these operations and personnel could adversely affect our combined business and our ability to achieve our objectives and strategy. No assurance can be given that we will realize synergies in the areas we currently operate.

A   principal stockholder has significant influence over us .

Philou Ventures, LLC, (“Philou Ventures”) own approximately 31.1% of our currently outstanding Common Stock on a fully diluted basis. As a result, they will be able to exert a significant degree of influence over our management and affairs and over matters requiring stockholder approval, including the election of directors, any merger, consolidation or sale of all or substantially all of the Company ’s assets, and any other significant corporate transaction. Their interests may not always coincide with those of our other stockholders.

A principal stockholder has certain rights to maintain its ownership interest in us .

In connection with entering into a Series B Preferred Stock purchase agreement on March 9, 2017, with Philou Ventures, we granted Philou Ventures the right to participate in future offerings under substantially the same terms of such offerings in order to allow Philou Ventures to maintain its ownership interest. If exercised by Philou Ventures, this contractual right has the effect of allowing Philou Ventures to maintain its interest in us and further dilute existing shareholders’ ownership interests in the event that we issue equity securities in such further offerings.

Our success is dependent on key management.

Our success depends substantially on the performance of certain key officers and personnel, in particular their ability to identify, acquire and operate new businesses and opportunities. The loss of the services of either Messrs. Ault or Kohn would have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and prospects. We have not obtained key person insurance for these individuals.

We have pledged all of our assets .

We have issued a 12% Secured Convertible Note with a face value of $530,000 due October 20, 2019, which is secured by all of our assets. The 12% Secured Convertible Note includes standard events of default. If we default under the 12% Secured Convertible Note, the holder may accelerate the due date of our repayment obligation. At such time, we may not have enough available cash to repay the 12% Secured Convertible Note and the holder could take control of and sell our pledged assets. An event of default could significantly harm our financial condition, operating results, business, and prospects and cause the price of our common stock to decline.

Microphase Corp. is in technical default of a $450,000 loan.

In connection with our acquisition of a controlling interest in Microphase Corp., Microphase delivered a promissory note in the principal face amount of $450,000 to an unsecured creditor for Microphase’s prior legal work.   The promissory note is secured by 10,000 shares of our Series E preferred stock.  Subject to shareholder approval, each share of Series E preferred stock is convertible into 60 shares of our common stock.  Under the terms of the promissory note, we were required to obtain shareholder approval of the conversion of the Series E preferred stock by August 1, 2017, which has not yet occurred. We are initiating action to hold a shareholders’ meeting as soon as practicable to, among other things, seek approval of the conversion of the Series E preferred stock. The holder of the Microphase promissory note has not initiated any action to notice an event of default and we have had some limited discussion with the holder as to this issue. No assurance can be given that the holder will not notice an event of default under the Microphase promissory note and seek immediate collection.  In the event the holder does initiate collection action under the promissory note, this could have an adverse effect on Microphase’s operations, and, in turn, our investment in Microphase.

We depend on Advice Electronics Ltd. (“Advice”) to maintain the technology used to manufacture our products and to manufacture some of our products. We also depend on the right to manufacture certain products subject to royalty payments with Advice.

In January 2016, Telkoor, a prior affiliate, sold its entire commercial assets to Advice which included without limitation product IP, manufacturing rights, customer base, inventory, staff and technological capabilities. Following such transaction, we entered into a manufacturing and distribution agreement with Advice. This agreement allows us to manufacture certain Advice products (formerly owned by Telkoor) through August 2017 against royalty payments. From August 2017 through December 2020, subject to Advice's consent, we will be allowed to continue distributing and selling certain Advice products while keeping product branding under our brand, after which we will be entitled to distribute the products under Digital Power Corporation brand until December 2020.

We depend on Advice to design and retain product technology up to date and for manufacturing capabilities for certain of the products that we sell. If Advice is unable or unwilling to continue designing or manufacturing our products in required volumes and with a certain level of quality on a timely basis, that could lead to loss of sales and adversely affect our operating results and cash position. We also depend on Advice's intellectual property and ability to transfer production to third party manufacturers. Failure to obtain new products in a timely manner or delay in delivery of products to customers will have an adverse effect on our ability to meet our customers ’ expectations. In addition, we operate in highly competitive markets where our ability to sell Advice’s products could be adversely affected by Advice's agreements with third parties, long lead-times and the high cost of Advice’s products. Also, in 2012, Telkoor’s products manufacturing lead-times increased, which hindered our ability to respond to our customers’ needs in timely manner. Advice's principal offices, research and development and manufacturing facilities are located in Israel. Political, economic and military conditions in Israel directly affect Advice operations. We are also dependent upon Advice’s terms and conditions with its contract manufacturers for some of our products, which terms and conditions may not always be in our best interest. In 2010, we purchased certain IP from Telkoor in order to reduce our dependency on Telkoor with respect to a certain line of products. We also entered into a Manufacturing Rights Agreement with Advice in 2016, pursuant to which we were granted the non-exclusive right to directly place purchase orders for certain products from a third-party manufacturer in consideration for payment of royalties to Advice. This agreement currently accounts for a significant portion of our sales. In the event this agreement is terminated for any reason, it would materially affect our financial position.

We are dependent upon our ability, and our contract manufacturers ’ ability, to timely procure electronic components.

Because of the global economy, many raw material vendors have reduced capacities, closed production lines and, in some cases, even discontinued their operations. As a result, there is a global shortage of certain electronic components, which has extended our production lead-time and our production costs. Some materials are no longer available to support some of our products, thereby requiring us to search for cross materials or, even worse, redesign some of our products to support currently-available materials. Such redesign efforts may require certain regulatory and safety agency re-submittals, which may cause further production delays. While we have initiated actions that we believe will limit our exposure to such problems, the dynamic business conditions in many of our markets may challenge the solutions that have been put in place, and issues may recur in the future.

In addition, some of our products are manufactured, assembled and tested by third party subcontractors and contract manufacturers located in Asia. While we have had relationships with many of these third parties in the past, we cannot predict how or whether these relationships will continue in the future. In addition, changes in management, financial viability, manufacturing demand or capacity, or other factors, at these third parties could hurt our ability to manufacture our products.

Our strategic focus on our custom power supply solution competencies and concurrent cost reduction plans may be ineffective or may limit our ability to compete.

As a result of our strategic focus on custom power supply solutions, we will continue to devote significant resources to developing and manufacturing custom power supply solutions for a large number of customers, where each product represents a uniquely tailored solution for a specific customer ’s requirements. Failure to meet these customer product requirements or a failure to meet production schedules and/or product quality standards may put us at risk with one or more of these customers. Moreover, changes in market conditions and strategic changes at the direction of our customers may affect their decision to continue to purchase from us. The loss of one or more of our significant custom power supply solution customers could have a material adverse impact on our revenues, business or financial condition.

We have also implemented a series of initiatives designed to increase efficiency and reduce costs. While we believe that these actions will reduce costs, they may not be sufficient to achieve the required operational efficiencies that will enable us to respond more quickly to changes in the market or result in the improvements in our business that we anticipate. In such event, we may be forced to take additional cost-reducing initiatives, including those involving our personnel, which may negatively impact quarterly earnings and profitability as we account for severance and other related costs. In addition, there is the risk that such measures could have long-term adverse effects on our business by reducing our pool of talent, decreasing or slowing improvements in our products or services, making it more difficult for us to respond to customers, limiting our ability to increase production quickly if and when the demand for our solutions increases and limiting our ability to hire and retain key personnel. These circumstances could cause our earnings to be lower than they otherwise might be.

We are dependent upon our ability to attract, retain and motivate our key personnel.

Our success depends on our ability to attract, retain and motivate our key management personnel, including, but not limited to, our President and Chief Executive Officer, our Vice President of Finance, marketing and sales personnel, and key engineers necessary to implement our business plan and to grow our business. Competition for certain specific technical and management skill sets is intense. If we are unable to identify and hire the personnel that we need to succeed, or if one or more of our present key employees were to cease to be associated with us, our future results could be adversely affected.

We depend upon a few major customers for a majority of our revenues, and the loss of any of these customers, or the substantial reduction in the quantity of products that they purchase from us, would significantly reduce our revenues and net income.

We currently depend upon a few major OEMs and other customers for a significant portion of our revenues. If our major OEM customers reduce or cancel their orders scaling back some of their activities, our revenues and net income would be significantly reduced. Furthermore, diversions in the capital spending of certain of these customers to new network elements have and could continue to lead to their reduced demand for our products, which could, in turn, have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations. If the financial condition of one or more of our major customers should deteriorate, or if they have difficulty acquiring investment capital due to any of these or other factors, a substantial decrease in our revenues would likely result.

We are dependent on the electronic equipment industry, and accordingly will be affected by the impact on that industry of current economic conditions.

Substantially all of our existing customers are in the electronic equipment industry, and they manufacture products that are subject to rapid technological change, obsolescence and large fluctuations in demand. This industry is further characterized by intense competition and volatility. The OEMs serving this industry are pressured for increased product performance and lower product prices. OEMs, in turn, make similar demands on their suppliers, such as us, for increased product performance and lower prices. Such demands may adversely affect our ability to successfully compete in certain markets or our ability to sustain our gross margins.

Our reliance on subcontract manufacturers to manufacture certain aspects of our products involves risks, including delays in product shipments and reduced control over product quality.

Since we do not own significant manufacturing facilities, we must rely on, and will continue to rely on, a limited number of subcontract manufacturers to manufacture our power supply products. Our reliance upon such subcontract manufacturers involves several risks, including reduced control over manufacturing costs, delivery times, reliability and quality of components, unfavorable currency exchange fluctuations and continued inflationary pressures on many of the raw materials used in the manufacturing of our power supply products. If we were to encounter a shortage of key manufacturing components from limited sources of supply, or experience manufacturing delays caused by reduced manufacturing capacity, inability of our subcontract manufacturers to procure raw materials, the loss of key assembly subcontractors, difficulties associated with the transition to our new subcontract manufacturers or other factors, we could experience lost revenues, increased costs, and delays in, or cancellations or rescheduling of, orders or shipments, any of which would materially harm our business.

We outsource, and are dependent upon developer partners for, the development of some of our custom design products.

We made an operational decision to outsource some of our custom design products to numerous developer partners. This business structure will remain in place until the custom design volume justifies expanding our in-house capabilities. Incomplete product designs that do not fully comply with the customer specifications and requirements might affect our ability to transition to a volume production stage of the custom designed product where the revenue goals are dependent on the high volume of custom product production. Furthermore, we rely on the design partners ’ ability to provide high quality prototypes of the designed product for our customer approval as a critical stage to approve production.

We face intense industry competition, price erosion and product obsolescence, which, in turn, could reduce our profitability.

We operate in an industry that is generally characterized by intense competition. We believe that the principal bases of competition in our markets are breadth of product line, quality of products, stability, reliability and reputation of the provider, along with cost. Quantity discounts, price erosion and rapid product obsolescence due to technological improvements are therefore common in our industry as competitors strive to retain or expand market share. Product obsolescence can lead to increases in unsaleable inventory that may need to be written off and, therefore, could reduce our profitability. Similarly, price erosion can reduce our profitability by decreasing our revenues and our gross margins. In fact, we have seen price erosion over the last several years on most of the products we sell, and we expect additional price erosion in the future.

Our future results are dependent on our ability to establish, maintain and expand our manufacturers ’ representative OEM relationships and our other relationships.

We market and sell our products through domestic and international OEM relationships and other distribution channels, such as manufacturers ’ representatives and distributors. Our future results are dependent on our ability to establish, maintain and expand our relationships with OEMs as well as with manufacturers’ representatives and distributors to sell our products. If, however, the third parties with whom we have entered into such OEM and other arrangements should fail to meet their contractual obligations, cease doing, or reduce the amount of their business with us or otherwise fail to meet their own performance objectives, customer demand for our products could be adversely affected, which would have an adverse effect on our revenues.

We may not be able to procure necessary key components for our products, or we may purchase too much inventory or the wrong inventory.

The power supply industry, and the electronics industry as a whole, can be subject to business cycles. During periods of growth and high demand for our products, we may not have adequate supplies of inventory on hand to satisfy our customers' needs. Furthermore, during these periods of growth, our suppliers may also experience high demand and, therefore, may not have adequate levels of the components and other materials that we require to build products so that we can meet our customers' needs. Our inability to secure sufficient components to build products for our customers could negatively impact our sales and operating results. We may choose to mitigate this risk by increasing the levels of inventory for certain key components. Increased inventory levels can increase the potential risk for excess and obsolescence should our forecasts fail to materialize or if there are negative factors impacting our customers ’ end markets. If we purchase too much inventory or the wrong inventory, we may have to record additional inventory reserves or write-off the inventory, which could have a material adverse effect on our gross margins and on our results of operations.

Although we depend on sales of our legacy products for a meaningful portion of our revenues, these products are mature and their sales will decline.

A relatively large portion of our sales have historically been attributable to our legacy products. We expect that these products may continue to account for a meaningful percentage of our revenues for the foreseeable future. However, these sales are declining. Although we are unable to predict future prices for our legacy products, we expect that prices for these products will continue to be subject to significant downward pressure in certain markets for the reasons described above. Accordingly, our ability to maintain or increase revenues will be dependent on our ability to expand our customer base, to increase unit sales volumes of these products and to successfully, develop, introduce and sell new products such as custom design and value added products. We cannot assure you that we will be able to expand our customer base, increase unit sales volumes of existing products or develop, introduce and/or sell new products.

Our operating results may vary from quarter to quarter.

Our operating results have in the past been subject to quarter-to-quarter fluctuations, and we expect that these fluctuations will continue, and may increase in magnitude, in future periods. Demand for our products is driven by many factors, including the availability of funding for our products in our customers ’ capital budgets. There is a trend for some of our customers to place large orders near the end of a quarter or fiscal year, in part to spend remaining available capital budget funds. Seasonal fluctuations in customer demand for our products driven by budgetary and other concerns can create corresponding fluctuations in period-to-period revenues, and we therefore cannot assure you that our results in one period are necessarily indicative of our revenues in any future period. In addition, the number and timing of large individual sales and the ability to obtain acceptances of those sales, where applicable, have been difficult for us to predict, and large individual sales have, in some cases, occurred in quarters subsequent to those we anticipated, or have not occurred at all. The loss or deferral of one or more significant sales in a quarter could harm our operating results for such quarter. It is possible that, in some quarters, our operating results will be below the expectations of public market analysts or investors. In such events, or in the event adverse conditions prevail, the market price of our common stock may decline significantly.

Failure of our information technology infrastructure to operate effectively could adversely affect our business.

We depend heavily on information technology infrastructure to achieve our business objectives. If a problem occurs that impairs this infrastructure, the resulting disruption could impede our ability to record or process orders, manufacture and ship in a timely manner, or otherwise carry on business in the normal course. Any such events could cause us to lose customers or revenue and could require us to incur significant expense to remediate.

We are subject to certain governmental regulatory restrictions relating to our international sales.

Some of our products are su bject to International Traffic in Arms Regulation (“ITAR”), which are interpreted, enforced and administered by the U.S. Department of State. ITAR regulation controls not only the export, import and trade of certain products specifically designed, modified, configured or adapted for military systems, but also the export of related technical data and defense services as well as foreign production. Any delays in obtaining the required export, import or trade licenses for products subject to ITAR regulation and rules could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and/or operating results. In addition, changes in United States export and import laws that require us to obtain additional export and import licenses or delays in obtaining export or import licenses currently being sought could cause significant shipment delays and, if such delays are too great, could result in the cancellation of orders. Any future restrictions or charges imposed by the United States or any other country on our international sales or foreign subsidiary could have a materially adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and/or operating results. In addition, from time to time, we have entered into contracts with the Israeli Ministry of Defense which were governed by the U.S. Foreign Military Financing program (“FMF”). Any such future sales would be subject to these regulations. Failure to comply with ITAR or FMF rules could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, and/or operating results.

We depend on international operations for a substantial majority of our components and products.

We purchase a substantial majority of our components from foreign manufacturers and have a substantial majority of our commercial products assembled, packaged, and tested by subcontractors located outside the United States. These activities are subject to the uncertainties associated with international business operations, including trade barriers and other restrictions, changes in trade policies, governmental regulations, currency exchange fluctuations, reduced protection for intellectual property, war and other military activities, terrorism, changes in social, political, or economic conditions, and other disruptions or delays in production or shipments, any of which could have a materially adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and/or operating results.

We depend on international sales for a portion of our revenues.

Sales to customers outside of North America accounted for 40.2% and 55.8% of net revenues for the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2015, and we expect that international sales will continue to represent a material portion of our total revenues. International sales are subject to the risks of international business operations as described above, as well as generally longer payment cycles, greater difficulty collecting accounts receivable, and currency restrictions. In addition, D igital Power Limited, our wholly-owned subsidiary in England, supports our European and other international customers, distributors, and sales representatives, and therefore is also subject to local regulation. International sales are also subject to the export laws and regulations of the United States and other countries.

If our accounting controls and procedures are circumvented or otherwise fail to achieve their intended purposes, our business could be seriously harmed.

We evaluate our disclosure controls and procedures as of the end of each fiscal quarter, and are annually reviewing and evaluating our internal control over financial reporting in order to comply with SEC rules relating to internal control over financial reporting adopted pursuant to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate. If we fail to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting or our management does not timely assess the adequacy of such internal control, we may be subject to regulatory sanctions, and our reputation may decline.

The sale of our products is dependent upon our ability to satisfy the proprietary requirements of our customers.

We depend upon a relatively narrow range of products for the majority of our revenue. Our success in marketing our products is dependent upon their continued acceptance by our customers. In some cases, our customers require that our products meet their own proprietary requirements. If we are unable to satisfy such requirements, or forecast and adapt to changes in such requirements, our business could be materially harmed.

The sale of our products is dependent on our ability to respond to rapid technological change, including evolving industry-wide standards, and may be adversely affected by the development, and acceptance by our customers, of new technologies which may compete with, or reduce the demand for, our products.

Rapid technological change, including evolving industry standards, could render our products obsolete. To the extent our customers adopt such new technology in place of our products, the sales of our products may be adversely affected. Such competition may also increase pricing pressure for our products and adversely affect the revenues from such products.

Our limited ability to protect our proprietary information and technology may adversely affect our ability to compete, and our products could infringe upon the intellectual property rights of others, resulting in claims against us, the results of which could be costly.

Many of our products consist entirely or partly of proprietary technology owned by us. Although we seek to protect our technology through a combination of copyrights, trade secret laws and contractual obligations, these protections may not be sufficient to prevent the wrongful appropriation of our intellectual property, nor will they prevent our competitors from independently developing technologies that are substantially equivalent or superior to our proprietary technology. In addition, the laws of some foreign countries do not protect our proprietary rights to the same extent as the laws of the United States. In order to defend our proprietary rights in the technology utilized in our products from third party infringement, we may be required to institute legal proceedings, which would be costly and would divert our resources from the development of our business. If we are unable to successfully assert and defend our proprietary rights in the technology utilized in our products, our future results could be adversely affected.

Although we attempt to avoid infringing known proprietary rights of third parties in our product development efforts, we may become subject to legal proceedings and claims for alleged infringement from time to time in the ordinary course of business. Any claims relating to the infringement of third-party proprietary rights, even if not meritorious, could result in costly litigation, divert management ’s attention and resources, require us to reengineer or cease sales of our products or require us to enter into royalty or license agreements which are not advantageous to us. In addition, parties making claims may be able to obtain an injunction, which could prevent us from selling our products in the United States or abroad.

If we are unable to satisfy our customers ’ specific product quality, certification or network requirements, our business could be disrupted and our financial condition could be harmed.

Our customers demand that our products meet stringent quality, performance and reliability standards. We have, from time to time, experienced problems in satisfying such standards. Defects or failures have occurred in the past, and may in the future occur, relating to our product quality, performance and reliability. From time to time, our customers also require us to implement specific changes to our products to allow these products to operate within their specific network configurations. If we are unable to remedy these failures or defects or if we cannot effect such required product modifications, we could experience lost revenues, increased costs, including inventory write-offs, warranty expense and costs associated with customer support, delays in, or cancellations or rescheduling of, orders or shipments and product returns or discounts, any of which would harm our business.

If we ship products that contain defects, the market acceptance of our products and our reputation will be harmed and our customers could seek to recover their damages from us.

Our products are complex, and despite extensive testing, may contain defects or undetected errors or failures that may become apparent only after our products have been shipped to our customers and installed in their network or after product features or new versions are released. Any such defect, error or failure could result in failure of market acceptance of our products or damage to our reputation or relations with our customers, resulting in substantial costs for us and our customers as well as the cancellation of orders, warranty costs and product returns. In addition, any defects, errors, misuse of our products or other potential problems within or out of our control that may arise from the use of our products could result in financial or other damages to our customers. Our customers could seek to have us pay for these losses. Although we maintain product liability insurance, it may not be adequate.

Our common stock price is volatile.

Our common stock is listed on the NYSE American. In the past, our trading price has fluctuated widely, depending on many factors that may have little to do with our operations or business prospects. The exercise of outstanding options and warrants may adversely affect our stock price and a shareholder’s percentage of ownership.

We have a substantial number of convertible notes, warrants and options outstanding that could affect our price.

Due to a number of financings, we have a substantial number of shares that are subject to issuance pursuant to outstanding convertible debt, warrants and options. These conversion prices and exercise prices range from $0.01 to $1.69 per share of common stock. As of September 30, 2017, the number of shares of common stock subject to convertible notes, warrants and options were 3,157,576, 10,233,199 and 2,891,000 respectively. The issuance of common stock pursuant to convertible notes, warrants and options at conversion or exercise prices less than market prices may have the effect of limiting an increase in market price of our common stock until all of these underling shares have been issued.

We have a number of shares of common stock subject to registration rights.

Due to a number of financings, we have contractually agreed to register with the SEC shares of common stock, and common stock underlying outstanding warrants and convertible debt in connection with private placements of our securities. The potential resale at the same time of a large number of shares of common stock and common stock underlying warrants and convertible debt by the selling stockholders may adversely affect the market price of our common stock.