1036960--2/25/2010--FAIRCHILD_SEMICONDUCTOR_INTERNATIONAL

related topics

{customer, product, revenue}

{operation, international, foreign}

{debt, indebtedness, cash}

{condition, economic, financial}

{regulation, change, law}

{cost, operation, labor}

{acquisition, growth, future}

{property, intellectual, protect}

{product, market, service}

{loan, real, estate}

{product, liability, claim}

{competitive, industry, competition}

{personnel, key, retain}

{stock, price, operating}

{cost, regulation, environmental}

The price of our common stock has fluctuated widely in the past and may fluctuate widely in the future. We maintain a backlog of customer orders that is subject to cancellation, reduction or delay in delivery schedules, which may result in lower than expected revenues. Downturns in the highly cyclical semiconductor industry or changes in end user market demands could reduce the profitability and overall value of our business, which could cause the trading price of our stock to decline or have other adverse effects on our financial position. Our failure to execute on our cost reduction initiatives and the impact of such initiatives could adversely affect our business. We may not be able to develop new products to satisfy changing customer demands or we may develop the wrong products. If some original equipment manufacturers do not design our products into their equipment, our revenue may be adversely affected. We depend on demand from the consumer, original equipment manufacturer, contract manufacturing, industrial, automotive and other markets we serve for the end market applications which incorporate our products. Reduced consumer or corporate spending due to increased energy prices or other economic factors could affect our revenues. Our failure to protect our intellectual property rights could adversely affect our future performance and growth. Our failure to obtain or maintain the right to use some technologies may negatively affect our financial results. We may not be able to consummate future acquisitions or successfully integrate acquisitions into our business. We may face risks associated with dispositions of assets and businesses. We depend on suppliers for timely deliveries of raw materials of acceptable quality. Production time and product costs could increase if we were to lose a primary supplier or if we experience a significant increase in the prices of our raw materials. Product performance could be affected and quality issues could develop as a result of a significant degradation in the quality of raw materials we use in our products. Delays in expanding capacity at existing facilities, implementing new production techniques, or incurring problems associated with technical equipment malfunctions, all could adversely affect our manufacturing efficiencies. Slightly less than two-thirds of our sales are made to distributors who can terminate their relationships with us with little or no notice. The termination of a distributor could reduce sales and result in inventory returns. The semiconductor business is very competitive, especially in the markets we serve, and increased competition could reduce the value of an investment in our company. We may not be able to attract or retain the technical or management employees necessary to remain competitive in our industry. If we must reduce our use of equity awards to compensate our employees, our competitiveness in the employee marketplace could be adversely affected. Our results of operations could vary as a result of the methods, estimates and judgments we use to value our stock-based compensation. We may face product warranty or product liability claims that are disproportionately higher than the value of the products involved. Our international operations subject our company to risks not faced by domestic competitors. We acquired significant operations and revenues when we acquired a business from Samsung Electronics and, as a result, are subject to risks inherent in doing business in Korea, including political risk, labor risk and currency risk. A change in foreign tax laws or a difference in the construction of current foreign tax laws by relevant foreign authorities could result in us not recognizing any anticipated benefits. We have significantly expanded our manufacturing operations in China and, as a result, will be increasingly subject to risks inherent in doing business in China, which may adversely affect our financial performance. We are subject to many environmental laws and regulations that could affect our operations or result in significant expenses. We are a leveraged company with a ratio of debt to equity at December 27, 2009 of approximately 0.5 to 1, which could adversely affect our financial health and limit our ability to grow and compete. Despite current indebtedness levels, we may still be able to incur substantially more indebtedness. Incurring more indebtedness could exacerbate the risks described above. We may not be able to generate the necessary amount of cash to service our indebtedness, which may require us to refinance our indebtedness or default on our scheduled debt payments. Our ability to generate cash depends on many factors beyond our control. We have investments in auction rate securities that subject us to market risk which could adversely affect our liquidity and financial results.

Full 10-K form ▸

1036960--2/25/2010--FAIRCHILD_SEMICONDUCTOR_INTERNATIONAL_INC