We were incorporated in 1996 under the laws of the State of Delaware. We are a provider of wireless broadband access solutions for the worldwide mobile
communications market. Our broad range of products includes third generation, or 3G, wireless PC card and ExpressCard modems, embedded modems, communications software and Fixed-Mobile Convergence, or FMC, solutions for wireless network operators,
infrastructure providers, distributors, original equipment manufacturers, or OEMs, and vertical markets worldwide. Through the integration of our hardware and software, our products are designed to operate on a majority of global wireless networks
and provide mobile subscribers with secure and convenient high speed access to corporate, public and personal information through the Internet and enterprise networks. We also offer software engineering, integration and design services to our
customers to facilitate the use of our products.
Our global end-customer base is comprised of wireless operators, OEMs, distributors and
various companies in other vertical markets. Our current customer base includes wireless operators and other wireless market participants such as Cingular, Hutchison 3G, O2, One, Optimus, Sprint PCS, Telefonica, Verizon Wireless, Vodafone and OEM
partners such as Dell, Panasonic, Sony, and Toshiba. We have strategic technology, development and marketing relationships with several of these customers.
For the years ended December 31, 2006, 2005 and 2004, revenue recognized from sales of our products was $218.0 million, $161.2 million, and $99.7 million, respectively. For the years ended December 31, 2006,
2005 and 2004, revenue recognized from development services was zero, $500,000, and $4.0 million, respectively.
Our Products
Our products are designed to operate across 3G networks, including:
Code Division Multiple Access, or CDMA, 1xEV-DO is designed to be employed by CDMA operators and provide wireless access speeds comparable to wireline
digital subscriber line, or DSL, services. Subscribers can attain wireless access to data at maximum speeds of up to 2.4 megabits per second, or Mbps, on CDMA 1xEV-DO Rev 0 networks and 3.1 Mbps on CDMA 1xEV-DO Rev A networks.
High Speed Downlink Packet Access, or HSDPA, is an enhancement of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System, or UMTS, standard
which enables packet data transmission in the UMTS downlink with data transmission at maximum speeds of up to 14.4 Mbps. HSDPA can be implemented as an upgrade to current UMTS infrastructure. With UMTS , subscribers can
attain wireless access to data at maximum speeds of up to 384 kilobits per second, or kbps. UMTS is also referred to as Wideband Code Division Multiple Access, or W-CDMA. The following table illustrates our current principal product lines and applications:
Product
Applications
Wireless PC Card and ExpressCard Modems
Merlin Wireless PC cards and ExpressCards for CDMA 1xEV-DO, Rev 0 and Rev
A
Merlin Wireless PC cards and ExpressCards for HSDPA
Merlin Wireless PC card for UMTS
Laptop PCs and other platforms supporting PCMCIA and ExpressCard/34/54 interfaces
Expedite Embedded PCI Express Mini Card Modems
Expedite PCI Express Mini Card for HSDPA and CDMA 1xEV-DO, Rev 0 and Rev A
Laptops and wireless devices requiring an integrated solution
Fixed-Mobile Convergence Solutions
Ovation 3G Multimedia Application Consoles for UMTS
Broadband WWAN internet access, advanced WLAN networking, analog voice calling and intelligent routing and multimedia
application support
USB modem for CDMA 1xEV-DO Rev A
Laptop PCs and other platforms supporting USB interfaces
Merlin Wireless PC Card and ExpressCard Modems
Our Merlin Wireless PC Card and ExpressCard modems provide mobile subscribers with secure and convenient high-speed wireless access to data
including corporate, public and personal information through the Internet and enterprise networks. Each of our Merlin Wireless PC Card and ExpressCard Modems slides inside standard laptop PCs and other products employing PCMCIA or
ExpressCard/34/54 interfaces, respectively. All our modems utilize modem manager software and are compatible with a range of devices including laptop PCs, PDAs, mobile phones, as well as operating systems including Microsoft Windows 98, 2000,
Millennium Edition, XP, Vista and Pocket PC. The following is a representative selection of our Merlin Wireless PC Card and ExpressCard Modems :
The Merlin PC720 is a dual band (800/1900 MHz) wireless ExpressCard modem designed to provide mobile broadband connections up to 3.1 Mbps on CDMA 1xEV-DO Rev
A networks in North America and is backward compatible to legacy CDMA networks. The Merlin PC720 incorporates an external flip antenna, maximizing data speed performance and allowing for stronger network signal reception.
The Merlin XV620 is a dual band (800/1900 MHz) wireless ExpressCard modem designed to provide mobile broadband connections up to 2.4 Mbps on CDMA 1xEV-DO
networks in North America and is backward compatible to legacy CDMA networks.
The Merlin S620 and Merlin V620 are dual band (800/1900 MHz) wireless PC card modems designed to provide mobile subscribers with wireless access to data at
maximum speeds of up to approximately 2.4 Mbps on CDMA 1xEV-DO networks in North America.
The Merlin XU870 is a tri-band HSDPA/UMTS (850/1900/2100 MHz) and quad-band EDGE/GPRS (850/900/1800/1900 MHz) wireless ExpressCard Modem designed to provide
mobile subscribers with high-speed wireless access to data over 3G UMTS/HSDPA networks. The Merlin XU870 enables mobile broadband connections up to 7.2 Mbps with software upgrade. The Merlin XU870 operates on networks in North America,
Europe and countries around the world in supported bands.
The Merlin U740 is a five-band (850/900/1800/1900/2100 MHz) wireless PC card modem designed to provide mobile subscribers with high-speed wireless access to
data over 3G UMTS/HSDPA networks. The Merlin U740 PC Card operates on HSDPA and UMTS 2100 MHz band networks in Asia, Europe
and the Middle East and GSM/GPRS 850, 900, 1800 and 1900 MHz band networks worldwide. The Merlin U740 enables wireless access to data at speeds of up
to 1.8 Mbps in HSDPA coverage areas, 384 kbps in UMTS coverage areas and 53.6 kbps in GPRS coverage areas.
The Merlin U730 is a quad-band (850/900/1800/1900 MHz) wireless PC card modem designed to provide mobile subscribers with high-speed wireless access to data
over 3G UMTS/HSDPA networks. The Merlin U730 PC Card operates on HSDPA and UMTS 850 and 1900 MHz band networks primarily in North America and GPRS/EDGE 850, 900, 1800 and 1900 MHz band networks worldwide. The Merlin U730 enables
wireless access to data at speeds of up to 1.8 Mbps in HSDPA coverage areas, 384 kbps in UMTS coverage areas and 53.6 kbps in GPRS coverage areas.
The Merlin U630 is a quad-band (900/1800/1900/2100 MHz) wireless PC card modem designed to provide mobile subscribers with high-speed wireless access to data
over 3G UMTS networks. The Merlin U630 PC Card operates on UMTS 2100 MHz band networks in Asia, Europe and the Middle East and GSM/GPRS 900, 1800 and 1900 MHz band networks worldwide. The Merlin U630 enables wireless access to data at
speeds of up to approximately 384 kbps in UMTS coverage areas and 53.6 kbps in GPRS coverage areas. Expedite
Embedded PCI Express Mini Card Modems for OEMs
Our Expedite Embedded PCI Express Mini Card modems are a form factor
specification designed for easy integration into multiple laptop platforms and other wireless devices. Each Expedite Embedded PCI Express Mini Card modem enables wireless high-speed streaming video and audio, secure access to emails with
large attachments and other corporate information stored behind firewalls providing reliable connectivity, maximum data throughput and efficient management of device power consumption. The following is a representative selection of our Expedite
Embedded PCI Express Mini Card modems :
The Expedite EU740 PCI Express Mini Card provides quad-band (850/900/1800/1900 MHz) GPRS/EDGE connectivity as well as HSDPA/UMTS access in the 2100 MHz band,
and enables wireless broadband data access on HSDPA and UMTS networks at speeds up to 1.8 Mbps.
The Expedite EU730 PCI Express Mini Card provides quad-band (850/900/1800/1900 MHz) GPRS/EDGE connectivity as well as HSDPA/UMTS access in the 850 and 1900
MHz bands, and enables wireless broadband data access on HSDPA and UMTS networks at speeds up to 1.8 Mbps.
The Expedite E720 PCI Express Mini Card provides dual band (800/1900 MHz) wireless access and is designed to provide mobile broadband connections at speeds
up to 3.1 Mbps on CDMA 1xEV-DO Rev A networks.
The Expedite EV620 PCI Express Mini Card includes receive diversity on 800 and 1900 MHz band CDMA2000 1xEV-DO and CDMA2000 1X networks, and enables wireless
broadband data access on CDMA 1xEV-DO networks at speeds up to 2.4 Mbps. Fixed-Mobile Convergence Solutions
The Ovation Family of 3G Multimedia Application Consoles is a portfolio of stand-alone desktop consoles that unifies WWAN, WLAN
and/or voice capability to provide cost-effective high speed wireless broadband access, optimal call routing and the delivery of multimedia applications. End-users are able to access Ovation using multiple devices, including landline
telephones, cordless telephones, desktop PCs, broadband enabled laptops, emerging WLAN-enabled devices such as handsets and smartphones, and other peripheral devices. Ovation is powered by Conversa , a software suite developed by us
that will enable access to advanced software applications resulting from an innovative convergence of high-speed WWAN and WLAN technologies.
The Ovation MCD3000 provides dual band (800/1900 MHz) wireless access and is designed based on the USB standard to provide mobile broadband connections at speeds up to 3.1 Mbps on CDMA 1xEV-DO Rev A networks.
The Ovation MCD3000 has a dual band diversity antenna system design that incorporates an external flip antenna.
MobiLink Mobile Communications Suite
Residing on the mobile subscribers laptop PC, our MobiLink mobile communications suite is an object-oriented software application that enables a user to gain quick and simple access to advanced connectivity features such as
SMS, multimedia messaging and virtual private networking. MobiLink also offers video telephony and WLAN management capabilities. MobiLinks graphical user interface and underlying functionality are designed to be modular, easily
configurable and expandable in order to enable our customers to differentiate their product offerings. MobiLink is engineered to work with all of our family of wireless PC modems.
Our Strategy
Our objective is to be the leading provider of broadband multimedia (data and voice)
solutions for the worldwide mobile communications market. The key elements of our strategy are to:
Broaden our Product Offering. We intend to diversify and continue to broaden our product line in four areas: wireless PC card and
ExpressCard modems, embedded modems, Fixed-Mobile Convergence solutions and software services and solutions.
Expand Our 3G PC Card and ExpressCard Modem Offerings Worldwide. We intend to continue expanding our portfolio of 3G wireless PC card
and ExpressCard modem products with leading wireless operators worldwide. We have introduced 14 3G products, including EV-DO and HSDPA products and plan to continue to introduce new products aimed at the next generation EV-DO, HSDPA and High
Speed Uplink Packet Access, or HSUPA, technologies.
Lead the Embedded Market . In 2005 and 2006, we received design wins from six leading laptop manufacturers and additional mass market
device manufacturers to embed our 3G products into their product lines. These wins included Dell and Toshibatwo of the worlds largest laptop manufacturer. In the future, we will continue to pursue additional opportunities with these
OEM partners and with other leading laptop manufacturers as we look to consolidate the largest market share of the embedded market. For some of our OEM partners, we build to order; for others, our technology is embedded in specific
wireless SKUs; and for others, our technology is embedded into complete laptop lines. Most of our customers are addressing world-wide markets and are shipping both our EV-DO and HSDPA products.
Capitalize on Our Direct Relationships with Wireless Operators. We intend to continue to capitalize on our direct relationships with
wireless operators in order to increase our worldwide market position. In the United States and internationally, we are working closely with wireless operators of 3G EV-DO, UMTS and HSDPA wireless networks.
Leverage Strategic Relationships with Wireless Industry Leaders. We believe that strategic relationships with wireless and mobile
computing industry leaders are critical to our ability to leverage sales opportunities and ensure that our technology investments address customer needs. Through strategic relationships, we believe that we can increase market penetration and
differentiate our products by accessing the resources of others, including access to distribution resources, exclusive sales and marketing and addressing new market opportunities through innovation with our selected partners. We intend to continue
the development and leverage of strategic alignments in the industry.
Continue to Target Key Vertical Market Opportunities and Penetrate New Markets. We believe that on-going developments in wireless
technologies will create additional vertical market opportunities and more applications for our products. Currently, we market our broadband wireless access solutions to key vertical industry segments by offering innovative products that increase
productivity, reduce costs and create operational efficiencies.
Increase the Value of Our Products . We will continue to add new features and functionality to our products and develop new services
and software applications to enhance the overall value and ease of use that our products provide to our customers and end users. Customers
Our global end-customer base is comprised of wireless operators, OEMs, distributors and various companies in
other vertical markets. Our current customer base includes wireless operators and other wireless market participants such as Cingular, Hutchison 3G, O2, One, Optimus, Sprint PCS, Telefonica, Verizon Wireless, Vodafone and OEM partners such as Dell,
Panasonic, Sony and Toshiba.
Our strong customer relationships provide us with the opportunity to expand our market reach and sales:
Wireless Operators and Distributors . By working closely with our wireless operator and distributor customers, we are able to drive
demand for our products by combining our expertise in wireless technologies with our customers sales and marketing reach over a global subscriber base. Our customers also provide us with important services, including field trial participation,
technical support, wireless data marketing and access to additional indirect distribution channels.
OEMs . Our OEM customers integrate our products into devices that they manufacture and sell to end-users through their own direct sales
forces and indirect distribution channels. Our products are capable of being integrated into a broad range of devices, including but not limited to laptop PCs, PDAs, M2M devices, and vehicle location devices. We seek to build strong relationships
with our OEM customers by working closely with them and providing radio frequency, or RF, design consulting, performance optimization, software integration and customization and application engineering support during the integration of our products. Strategic Relationships
We continue to develop and maintain strategic relationships with wireless and computing industry leaders like Alcatel, Siemens, Dell, QUALCOMM, Sprint PCS, Verizon Wireless and Vodafone and major software vendors. Through strategic
relationships, we have been able to increase market penetration by leveraging the resources of our channel partners, including their access to distribution resources, increased sales opportunities and market opportunities.
Our strategic relationships include technology and marketing relationships with wireless operators, OEM customers that integrate our products into other
devices, distributors and leading hardware and software technology providers.
Sales and Marketing
We sell our wireless broadband solutions primarily to wireless operators either directly or through strategic relationships, as well as to OEMs and
distributors located worldwide. Most of our sales to wireless operators and OEMs are sold directly through our sales force. To a lesser degree, we also use an indirect sales distribution model through the use of select distributors. A significant
portion of our revenues comes from a small number of customers. Our revenues from sales to Sprint PCS and Verizon Wireless represented approximately 38.2% and 19.7%, respectively, of our total revenues for the year ended December 31, 2006.
In order to maintain strong sales relationships, we provide co-marketing, trade show support, product training and demo units for
merchandising. We are also engaged in a wide variety of activities, such as awareness and lead generation programs as well as product marketing. Other marketing initiatives include public relations, seminars, and co-marketing and co-branding with
partners.
We are continuing to drive widespread adoption of our products through increased global marketing
activities, expansion of our sales team and distribution networks and continued leverage of our strategic relationships with wireless industry leaders.
We have operations in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. The amount of our assets in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom as of December 31, 2006 were $172.8 million, $18.0 million, and
$835,000, respectively. As of December 31, 2005 the amount of our assets in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom were $166.5 million, $9.6 million and zero, respectively, and as of December 31, 2004 were $114.0 million, $2.3 million and
zero, respectively.
For the years ended December 31, 2006, 2005 and 2004, approximately 37%, 58% and 76%, respectively, of our revenue was
derived from international customers. See Note 10 to our Consolidated Financial Statements for further explanation of our revenue based on geography. Our continuing reliance on sales in international markets exposes us to risks attendant to foreign
sales. See Item 1A. Risk FactorsWe are subject to the risks of doing business abroad, which could negatively affect our international sales activities and our ability to obtain products from our foreign manufacturers.
Product Research and Development
Our
product development efforts are focused on developing innovative wireless broadband access solutions to address opportunities presented by next generation wireless networks and improving the functionality, design and performance of our products. Our
research and development expenses for the years ended December 31, 2006, 2005 and 2004 were $31.3 million, $20.5 million and $10.6 million, respectively. In addition, costs recovered from customer funded development contracts for the years
ended December 31, 2006, 2005 and 2004 were zero, $200,000 and $2.9 million, respectively, and were included in cost of revenue.
We
intend to continue to identify and respond to our customers needs by introducing new product designs with an emphasis on supporting cutting edge WAN technology, ease-of-use, performance, size, weight, cost and power consumption.
We manage our products through a structured life cycle process, from identifying initial customer requirements through development and commercial
introduction to eventual phase-out. During product development, emphasis is placed on time-to-market, meeting industry standards and customer product specifications, ease of integration, cost reduction, manufacturability, quality and reliability.
Our product development efforts leverage our core expertise in the following key technology areas:
Advanced Radio Frequency and Hardware Design. Advanced Radio Frequency, or RF, design is the key technology that determines the
performance of wireless devices. We have specialized in 800/900/1800/1900 and 2100 MHz designs for digital cellular, packet data and CDMA technology. Our expertise in RF and baseband technology contributes to the performance, cost advantages and
small size of our products.
Miniaturization and System Integration . Small systems integration is the integration of application specific integrated circuits, or
ASICs, RF and baseband integrated circuits and packaging technologies. The complete wireless modem is packaged into a module less than half the size of a credit card through the use of advanced integrated circuit designs, embedded software modems
and multi-layer RF stripline technologies. We will continue to augment our miniaturization technology, working to further reduce the size and cost of current and future products.
Firmware and Software development. We have specialized in integrating 3G (HSDPA and 1xEV-DO) protocol stacks and customizing the
firmware to meet carrier and regulatory requirements. We supply end-to-end WAN modem solutions to our customers including the modem hardware, the customized firmware that runs on the 3G processor and the modem manager application that controls the
modem operation. Manufacturing and Operations
In September 2002, we entered into an agreement with LG Innotek Co., Ltd, or LG Innotek, a subsidiary of LG Group, located in South Korea, for the outsourced manufacturing of our products. In August 2006, we entered
into an agreement with Inventec Appliances Corp., or IAC, pursuant to which IAC manufactures certain products for us in China. Under our manufacturing agreements, LG Innotek and IAC provide us with services including component procurement, product
manufacturing, final assembly, testing, quality control, fulfillment and delivery. In addition, in June 2005 we entered into an agreement with Mobiltron (Europe) Limited, or Mobiltron, for certain distribution and fulfillment services related to our
business in Europe, Middle East, and Africa, or EMEA.
We outsource our manufacturing in an effort to:
focus on our core competencies;
minimize our capital expenditures and lease obligations;
realize manufacturing economies of scale;
achieve production scalability by adjusting manufacturing volumes to meet changes in demand; and
access best-in-class manufacturing resources. We believe that additional assembly line efficiencies are realized due to our product architecture and our commitment to process design. Direct materials for our products consist of tooled parts such as printed
circuit boards, molded plastic components, metal components and ASICs, as well as industry-standard components such as transistors, integrated circuits, piezo-electric filters, duplexers, inductors, resistors and capacitors. Many of the components
used in our products are similar to those used in cellular telephone handsets, helping to reduce our manufacturing costs through the use of standard components.
Our operations organization manages our relationships with LG Innotek, IAC and Mobiltron as well as key second tier suppliers. The organization focuses on improvements in design-for-manufacturing, test procedures,
quality, cost optimization, production scheduling, order management and new product introduction.
Intellectual Property
Our wireless broadband access solutions and operations rely on and benefit from our portfolio of intellectual property. We currently own 31 United States
patents, two of which are also registered in Canada. In addition, we currently have 23 United States patent applications pending. From time to time we also seek to have our patents registered in selected foreign jurisdictions. The patents that we
currently own expire at various times between 2007 and 2023.
We hold a number of trademarks including Merlin, Expedite, MobiLink, Ovation,
and Conversa, each with its accompanying designs, as well as the Novatel Wireless name and logo.
We have licensed software and other
intellectual property for use in our products from third-parties, such as QUALCOMM. In the case of QUALCOMM, these licenses allow us to manufacture CDMA, UMTS, HSDPA and EV-DO-based wireless modems and to sell or distribute them worldwide. In
connection with such sales, we pay royalties to QUALCOMM. The license from QUALCOMM does not have a specified term and may be terminated by us or by QUALCOMM for cause or upon the occurrence of other specified events. In addition, we may terminate
the licenses for any reason upon 60 days prior written notice. We have also granted to QUALCOMM a nontransferable, worldwide, nonexclusive, fully-paid and royalty-free license to use, in connection with wireless communications applications, certain
intellectual property of ours that is used in our products which incorporate the CDMA technology licensed to us by QUALCOMM. This license allows QUALCOMM to make, use, sell or dispose of such products and the related components.
Backlog
We do not believe that backlog is a meaningful indicator of our future business prospects due to the many variables, some outside our control, which could cause the actual volume of our product shipments to differ from those that comprise
the backlog, and our dependency on evolving wireless network standards. Therefore, we do not believe that backlog information is relevant to an understanding of our overall business.
Competition
The market for wireless broadband access solutions is rapidly evolving and highly
competitive. It is likely to continue to be significantly affected by the evolution of new wireless technology standards, new product introductions and the market activities of industry participants. We believe the principal competitive factors
impacting the market for our products are form factor, time-to-market, features and functionality, performance, quality, brand and price. To maintain and improve our competitive position, we must continue to develop new products, expand our customer
base, grow our distribution network and leverage our strategic relationships.
Our wireless communications products currently compete with
a variety of devices, including other wireless modems, wireless handsets, wireless handheld computing devices and other wireless devices. Our current and potential competitors include:
wireless data modem providers, such as Huawei, Option International, Sierra Wireless, Kyocera, and Sony-Ericsson; and
wireless handset and infrastructure manufacturers, such as Motorola, Nokia, Siemens and Sony-Ericsson. We believe that we have advantages over each of our primary competitors due to the technical and engineering design of our products, the broad range of
solutions that we offer, the ease-of-use of our products, our ability to adapt our products to specific customer needs and our competitive pricing. As the market for wireless broadband access solutions expands, other entrants may seek to compete
with us.
Employees
As of
December 31, 2006, we had 235 employees, including 36 in operations, 44 in sales and marketing, 121 in product development and research, and 34 in general and administrative functions. We also use the services of consultants and temporary
workers from time to time. Our employees are not represented by any collective bargaining unit and we consider our relationship with our employees to be good.
Website Access to SEC Filings
We maintain an Internet website at www.novatelwireless.com . The content of our
website is not part of this report. We make available, free of charge, through our Internet 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 filed or furnished
pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the Securities and Exchange
Commission, or SEC.
Item 1A.
Risk Factors
Before
deciding to purchase, hold or sell our common stock, you should carefully consider the risks described below in addition to the other cautionary statements and risks described elsewhere, and the other information contained in this Report and in our
filings with the SEC. The risk and uncertainties described below are those that we currently deem to be material, and do not represent all of the risks that we face. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently
consider immaterial may in the future become material and impair our business operations. If any of the following risks actually occur, our business could be materially harmed, and our financial condition and results of operations could be
materially and adversely affected. As a result, the trading price of our securities could decline, and you might lose all or part of your investment. You should also refer to the other information contained in this Form 10-K, including our financial
statements and the related notes.
The market for wireless broadband data access products is highly competitive, and we may be unable to compete
effectively.
The market for wireless broadband data access products is highly competitive, and we expect competition to continue to
increase and intensify. Many of our competitors or potential competitors have significantly greater financial, technical, operational and marketing resources than we do. These competitors, for example, may be able to respond more rapidly or more
effectively than we can to new or emerging technologies, changes in customer requirements, supplier related developments, or a shift in the business landscape. They also may devote greater resources than we do to the development, promotion, sale,
and post- sale support of their respective products.
Many of our current or potential competitors have more extensive customer bases and
broader customer, supplier and other industry relationships that they can leverage to establish competitive dealings with many of our current and potential customers. Some of these companies also have more established and larger customer support
organizations than we do. In addition, these companies may adopt more aggressive pricing policies or offer more attractive terms to customers than they currently do or than we are able to, may bundle their competitive products with broader product
offerings and may introduce new products and enhancements. Current and potential competitors might merge or otherwise establish cooperative relationships among themselves or with third parties to enhance their products or market position. As a
result, it is possible that new competitors or new relationships among existing competitors may emerge and rapidly acquire significant market share to the detriment of our business.
Our wireless communications products currently compete with a variety of devices, including other wireless modems, wireless handsets, wireless handheld
computing devices and other wireless devices. Our current and potential competitors include:
wireless data modem providers, such as Huawei, Option, Sierra Wireless, Kyocera, and Sony-Ericsson; and
wireless handset providers, such as Motorola, Nokia, Siemens and Sony-Ericsson. We expect our competitors to continue to improve the features and performance of their current products and to introduce new products, services and
technologies. Successful new product introductions or enhancements by our competitors could reduce our sales and the market acceptance of our products, cause intense price competition and make our products obsolete. To be competitive, we must
continue to invest significant resources in, among other things, research and development, sales and marketing, and customer support. We cannot be sure that we will have sufficient resources to make these investments or that we will be able to make
the technological advances necessary for our products to remain competitive. Increased competition could result in price reductions, fewer or smaller customer orders, reduced margins and loss of our market share. Our failure to compete successfully
could seriously harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our failure to predict and comply with evolving wireless industry standards, including 3G standards, could hurt our
ability to introduce and sell new products.
In our industry, it is critical to our success that we accurately anticipate evolving
wireless technology standards and that our products comply with such standards in relevant respects. We are currently focused on engineering and manufacturing products that comply with several different 3G wireless standards. Any failure of our
products to comply with any one of these or future applicable standards could prevent or delay their introduction and require costly and time-consuming engineering changes. Additionally, if an insufficient number of wireless operators or subscribers
adopt the standards to which we engineer our products, then sales of our new products designed to those standards could be materially harmed.
If we
fail to develop and introduce new products successfully, we may lose key customers or product orders and our business could be harmed.
The development of new wireless data products requires technological innovation and can be difficult, lengthy and costly. In addition, wireless operators require that wireless data systems deployed on their networks comply with their own
technical and product performance standards, which may differ from the standards our products are required to meet for other operators. This increases the complexity of the product development process. In addition, as we introduce new versions of
our existing products or new products altogether, our current customers may not require or desire the technological innovations of these products and may not purchase them or might purchase them in smaller quantities than we had expected.
Further, as part of our strategy, we enter into contracts with some customers pursuant to which we develop products for later sale to the
customer. Our ability to generate future revenue and operating income under any such contracts depends upon, among other factors, our ability to timely develop products that are suitable for manufacturing and in a cost effective manner and that meet
defined product design, technical and performance specifications. Our ability to maximize the benefits of these contracts depends in part on the following:
We have priced the products to be sold under these contracts based on our estimated development, production and post-production warranty costs. If these or other
related development and production costs are actually higher than our estimated costs, our gross margins and operating margins on the corresponding contracts will be less than anticipated.
If we are unable to commit the necessary engineering, program management and other resources or are otherwise unable to successfully develop products as required by
the terms of these contracts, our customers may cancel the related contracts, we may not be entitled to recover any costs that we incurred for research and development, sales and marketing, production and otherwise, and we may be subject to
additional costs such as contractual penalties.
If we fail to deliver in a timely manner a product that is suitable for manufacture or if a customer determines that a prototype product we delivered does not meet
the agreed-upon specifications, we may be unable to commercially launch the product, we may have to reduce the price we charge for such product if it launches, or we may be required to pay damages to the customer. If we are unable to successfully manage these risks or meet required delivery specifications or deadlines in connection with one or more of our key
contracts, we may lose key customers or orders and our business could be harmed.
If we fail to develop and maintain strategic relationships, we may
not be able to penetrate new markets.
A key element of our business strategy is to penetrate new markets by developing new products
through strategic relationships with industry leaders in wireless communications. We are currently investing, and plan to continue to invest, significant resources to develop these relationships. We believe that our success in penetrating new
markets for our products will depend, in part, on our ability to develop and maintain these relationships and
to cultivate additional or alternative relationships. There can be no assurance, however, that we will be able to develop additional strategic relationships,
that existing relationships will survive and successfully achieve their purposes or that the companies with whom we have strategic relationships will not form competing arrangements with others or determine to compete unilaterally with us.
Since we have historically depended, and continue to depend, upon only a small number of our customers for a substantial portion of our revenues,
our business could be negatively affected by an adverse change in our dealings with only a few customers.
A significant portion of
our revenue comes from a small number of customers. Our top ten customers for the years ended December 31, 2006 and 2005 accounted for approximately 83.3% and 80.3% of our revenue, respectively. Similarly, our revenue could be adversely
affected if we are unable to retain the level of business of any of our significant customers or if we are unable to diversify our customer base. We expect that a small number of customers will combine to account for a substantial amount of our
revenue for the foreseeable future.
In addition, our current customers typically purchase our products pursuant to overarching contracts
that do not require them to purchase any specific minimum quantity of units other than as indicated on individual purchase orders. Such customers have no contractual obligation to continue to purchase our products and if they do not continue to make
purchases consistent with their historical purchase levels, our revenue and our share price may decline.
The sale of our products depends on the
demand for broadband wireless access to enterprise networks and the Internet.
The markets for broadband wireless access solutions
are relatively new and rapidly evolving, both technologically and competitively, and the successful sale of related products and services depends in part on the strength of the demand for wireless access to enterprise networks and the Internet. In
the past, market demand for both wireless products and wireless access services for the transmission of data developed at a slower rate than we had anticipated and as a result our product sales did not generate sufficient revenue to cover our
operating costs. The failure of these markets to continue to grow at the rate that we currently anticipate may adversely impact our rate of growth and the growth in the demand for our products, and as a result, our business, financial condition and
results of operations may be harmed.
The marketability of our products may suffer if wireless telecommunications operators do not deliver acceptable
wireless services.
The success of our business depends, in part, on the capacity, affordability, reliability and prevalence of
wireless data networks provided by wireless telecommunications operators and on which our products operate. Currently, various wireless telecommunications operators, either individually or jointly with us, sell our products in connection with the
sale of their wireless data services to their customers. Growth in demand for wireless data access may be limited if, for example, wireless telecommunications operators cease or materially curtail operations, fail to offer services which customers
consider valuable, fail to maintain sufficient capacity to meet demand for wireless data access, delay the expansion of their wireless networks and services, fail to offer and maintain reliable wireless network services or fail to market their
services effectively. In addition, our future growth depends on the successful deployment of next generation wireless data networks provided by third parties, including those networks for which we are currently developing products. If these next
generation networks are not deployed or widely accepted, or if deployment is delayed, there will be no market for the products we are developing to operate on these networks. If any of these events occur, or if for any other reason the demand for
wireless data access fails to grow, sales of our products will decline and our business could be harmed.
If we do not properly manage the growth of our business, we may experience significant strains on our management
and operations and disruptions in our business.
Various risks arise when companies and industries grow quickly. If our business or
industry grows too quickly, our ability to meet customer demand in a timely and efficient manner could be challenged. We may also experience development or production delays as we seek to meet increased demand for our products. Our failure to
properly manage the growth that we or our industry might experience could negatively impact our ability to execute on our operating plan and, accordingly, could have an adverse impact on our business, our cash flow and results of operations, and our
reputation with our current or potential customers.
We currently rely on third parties to manufacture our products, which exposes us to a number of
risks and uncertainties outside our control.
We currently outsource our manufacturing to LG Innotek and IAC. If one of these
third-party manufacturers were to experience delays, disruptions, capacity constraints or quality control problems in its manufacturing operations, product shipments to our customers could be delayed or our customers could consequently elect to
cancel the underlying product purchase order, which would negatively impact our revenues and our competitive position and reputation. Further, if we are unable to manage successfully our relationship with a manufacturer, the quality and availability
of our products may be harmed. None of our third-party manufacturers is obligated to supply us with a specific quantity of products, except as may be provided in a particular purchase order which we may submit to them from time to time. Therefore,
such a third-party manufacturer could at any time and at its sole election decline to accept new purchase orders from us or otherwise reduce its respective business with us. If such a manufacturer stopped manufacturing our products for any reason or
reduced manufacturing capacity, we may be unable to replace the lost manufacturing capacity on a timely basis, which would adversely impact our operations. In addition, if a third-party manufacturer were to negatively change the payment and other
terms under which it agrees to manufacture for us and we are unable to locate a suitable alternative manufacturer, our manufacturing costs could significantly increase.
Because we outsource the manufacture of all of our products, the cost, quality and availability of third-party manufacturing operations are essential to the successful production and sale of our products. Our reliance
on third-party manufacturers exposes us to a number of risks which are outside our control, including:
unexpected increases in manufacturing costs;
interruptions in shipments if a third-party manufacturer is unable to complete production in a timely manner;
inability to control quality of finished products;
inability to control delivery schedules;
inability to control production levels and to meet minimum volume commitments to our customers;
inability to control manufacturing yield;
inability to maintain adequate manufacturing capacity; and
inability to secure adequate volumes of acceptable components, at suitable prices or in a timely manner. Although we promote ethical business practices and our operations personnel periodically visit and monitor the operations of our manufacturers, we do not
control the manufacturers or their labor practices. If our current manufacturers, or any other third-party manufacturer which we use in the future, violate United States or foreign laws or regulations, we may be subjected to extra duties,
significant monetary penalties, adverse publicity, the seizure and forfeiture of products that we are attempting to import or the loss of our import privileges. The effects of these factors could render the conduct of our business in a particular
country undesirable or impractical and have a negative impact on our operating results.
We might forecast customer demand incorrectly and order the manufacture of excess or insufficient quantities of
particular products.
We have historically placed purchase orders with our manufacturers at least three months prior to the
scheduled delivery of the finished goods to our customer. In some instances, due to the length of component lead times, we might need to place manufacturing orders on the basis of our receipt of a good-faith but non-binding customer forecast of the
quantity and timing of the customers expected purchases from us. Accordingly, if we inaccurately anticipate customer demand for our products, we might be unable to obtain adequate quantities of components to meet our customers delivery
requirements or, alternatively, we might accumulate excess inventory. Our operating results and financial condition have been in the past and may in the future be materially adversely affected by our ability to manage our inventory levels and
respond to short-term or unexpected shifts in customer demand as to quantities or the customers product delivery schedule.
We depend on sole
source suppliers for some components used in our products, and therefore the availability and sale of those finished products would be harmed if any of these suppliers is not able to meet our demand and in accordance with our production schedule and
alternative suitable components are not available.
Our products contain a variety of components, many of which are procured from
single suppliers. These components include both tooled parts and industry-standard parts, many of which are also used in cellular telephone handsets. From time to time, certain components used in our products have been in short supply worldwide or
their anticipated commercial introduction has been delayed. If there is a shortage of any such components, and we cannot obtain a suitable substitute or make sufficient and timely design or other product modifications to permit the use of such a
substitute, we may not be able to timely deliver sufficient quantities of our products to satisfy demand. Moreover, if we locate a substitute and its price is prohibitive, our ability to maintain cost-effective production of our products would be
seriously harmed.
Others might claim that our products infringe on their respective intellectual property rights, which may result in substantial
costs, diversion of resources and management attention, harm to our reputation or interference with our current or prospective customer relations.
It is possible that other parties may claim that we have violated their respective intellectual property rights. An infringement claim, regardless of the merits or success of the claim, could result in substantial
costs, diversion of resources and management attention and harm to our reputation. Infringement claims can be difficult and costly to verify and assess. A successful infringement claim against us could cause us to be liable for damages and
litigation costs. In addition, a successful infringement claim could have other negative consequences, including prohibiting us from further use of the intellectual property or causing us to have to license the intellectual property, thereby
incurring licensing fees, some of which could be retroactive. Upon the occurrence of a successful infringement claim, we may also have to develop a non-infringing alternative, which if available could be costly, and delay or prevent sales of our
products.
We may not be able to license necessary third-party technology or it may be expensive to do so.
We license technology from third parties for the development of our products. We have licensed from third parties, such as QUALCOMM, software and other
intellectual property for use in our products and from time to time we may elect or be required to license additional intellectual property. The license from QUALCOMM, for example, does not have a specified term and may be terminated by us or by
QUALCOMM for cause or upon the occurrence of other specified events. There can be no assurance that we will be able to maintain our third-party licenses or that additional third-party licenses will be available to us on commercially reasonable
terms, if at all. The inability to maintain or obtain third-party licenses required for our products or to develop new products and product enhancements could require us to seek to obtain substitute technology of lower quality or performance
standards, if such exists, or at greater cost which could seriously harm our competitive position, revenue and growth prospects.
We are subject to the risks of doing business abroad, which could negatively affect our international sales
activities and our ability to obtain products from our foreign manufacturers.
In addition to our manufacturing activities in Asia,
a significant portion of our sales activity takes place in Europe. In addition, a significant portion of our research and development staff is located in Canada. Our international sales accounted for approximately 37% of our revenue for the year
ended December 31, 2006 and 58.4% for the year ended December 31, 2005. Although our experience in marketing, selling, distributing and manufacturing our products and services internationally is limited, we expect to further expand our
international sales and marketing activities in the future. Consequently, we are subject to certain risks associated with doing business abroad, including:
difficulty in managing widespread sales, research and development operations and post sales logistics and support;
changes in a specific countrys or regions political or economic conditions, particularly in emerging markets, and changes in diplomatic and trade
relationships;
less effective protection of intellectual property and general exposure to different legal standards;
trade protection measures and import or export licensing requirements;
potentially negative consequences from changes in tax laws;
increased expenses associated with customizing products for different countries;
unexpected changes in regulatory requirements resulting in unanticipated costs and delays;
longer collection cycles and difficulties in collecting accounts receivable;
longer sales cycles;
international terrorism;
loss or damage to products in transit; and
international dock strikes or other transportation delays. Any disruption in our ability to obtain products from our foreign manufacturers or our ability to conduct international operations and sales could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition
and results of operations.
To the extent we enter into contracts that are denominated in foreign currencies and do not adequately hedge that
exposure, fluctuations in exchange rates between the United States dollar and foreign currencies may affect our operating results.
A significant amount of our revenues are generated from sales agreements denominated in foreign currencies, particularly the Euro, and we expect to enter into additional such agreements as we expand our international customer base. As a
result, we transact some of our business in foreign currencies, which exposes us to changes in foreign currency exchange rates and we currently expect the absolute value of this exposure may increase in the future. We attempt to manage this risk, in
part, by minimizing the effects of volatility on cash flows by identifying forecasted transactions exposed to these risks and using foreign exchange forward contracts. There can be no assurance that we will not incur foreign currency losses or that
foreign exchange forward contracts we may enter into to reduce the risk of such losses will be successful.
Our products may contain errors or
defects, which could prevent or decrease their market acceptance and lead to unanticipated costs or other adverse business consequences.
Our products are technologically complex and must meet stringent user requirements. We must develop our software and hardware products quickly to keep pace with the rapidly changing and technologically advanced
wireless communications market. Products as sophisticated as ours may contain undetected errors or defects, especially when first introduced or when new
models or versions are released. Our products may not be free from errors or defects after commercial shipments have begun, which could result in the rejection of our products, the loss of a customer or the failure to obtain one, damage to our
reputation, lost revenue, diverted development resources, increased customer service and support costs, unanticipated warranty claims, and the payment of monetary damages to our customers.
Our quarterly operating results may vary significantly from quarter to quarter and may cause our stock price to fluctuate.
Our future quarterly operating results may fluctuate significantly and may fall short of or exceed the expectations of securities analysts, investors or
management. If this occurs, the market price of our stock could fluctuate, in some cases materially. The following are some of the factors that may cause fluctuations in our operating results:
Decreases in revenue or increases in operating expenses . We budget our operating expenses based on anticipated sales, and a
significant portion of our sales and marketing, research and development and general and administrative costs are fixed, at least in the short term. If revenue decreases or does not grow as planned and we are unable to reduce our operating costs
quickly and sufficiently, our operating results could be materially adversely affected.
Product mix. The product mix of our sales affects profit margins in any given quarter. As our business evolves and the revenue from
the product mix of our sales varies from quarter to quarter, our operating results will likely fluctuate.
New product introductions. As we introduce new products, the timing of these introductions within any given quarter will affect our
quarterly operating results. We may have difficulty predicting the timing of new product introductions and the market acceptance of these new products. If products and services are introduced earlier or later than anticipated, or if market
acceptance is unexpectedly high or low, our quarterly operating results may fluctuate unexpectedly.
Lengthy sales cycle. The length of time between the date of initial contact with a potential customer and the execution of and product
delivery under a contract may take several months, or longer, and is subject to delays or permanent interruptions over which we have little or no control. The sale of our products is subject to delays from, among other things, our customers
budgeting, product testing and vendor approval mechanics, and competitive evaluation processes that typically accompany significant information technology purchasing decisions. As a result, our ability to anticipate the timing and volume of sales to
specific customers is limited, and the delay or failure to complete one or more large transactions could cause our operating results to vary significantly from quarter to quarter.
Foreign currency . We are exposed to market risk from changes in foreign currency exchange rates. As a significant amount of our
revenues are generated in the Euro currency, we use foreign exchange forward contracts to minimize exposure to the risk of loss on changes in foreign currency exchange rates upon the eventual net cash inflows from foreign currency denominated sales
with our customers. Since there is a high correlation between the hedging instruments and the underlying exposures, the gains and losses on these underlying exposures are generally offset by reciprocal changes in the value of the hedging
instruments. We use derivative financial instruments as risk management tools and not for trading or speculative purposes. Fluctuations in the Euro currency may have a material impact on our future operating results and gross margins. Due to these and other factors, our results of operations may fluctuate substantially in the future and
quarter-to-quarter comparisons may not be reliable indicators of future operating or share price performance.
We incurred significant operating losses and negative cash flows between the date of our inception and the
beginning of 2004 and if our revenue and gross margins decline or we are unable to increase our revenue and gross margins relative to our operating expenses, we may incur significant net losses and negative cash flow from operations.
We incurred significant operating losses and net losses in each annual period between the date of our inception until the beginning
of 2004. In 2004, we reached profitability for the first time since our inception and recorded net income available to common stockholders of $13.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2004. We incurred net losses applicable to common
stockholders of $16.7 million for the fiscal year ending 2003 and $53.5 million for the fiscal year ending 2002. We had positive cash flows from operations of $5.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2004, while we had negative cash
flows from operations of $400,000 for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2003 and $28.7 million for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2002. As of December 31, 2006, we had an accumulated deficit of $221.9 million. If we are
unable to generate revenue and gross margins to sufficiently offset our increasing expenses, we may not maintain profitability and may incur operating losses, net losses and negative cash flow from operations.
We may not be able to maintain and expand our business if we are not able to hire, retain and manage additional qualified personnel.
Our success in the future depends in part on the continued contribution of our executive, technical, engineering, sales, marketing, operations and
administrative personnel. Recruiting and retaining skilled personnel in the wireless communications industry, including software and hardware engineers, is highly competitive.
Although we may enter into employment agreements with members of our senior management in the future, currently none of our senior management or other
key personnel is bound by an employment agreement. If we are not able to attract or retain qualified personnel in the future, or if we experience delays in hiring required personnel, particularly qualified engineers, we will not be able to maintain
and expand our business.
Any acquisitions we make could disrupt our business and harm our financial condition and results of operations.
As part of our business strategy, we review and intend to continue to review, on an ongoing basis, acquisition opportunities that
we believe would be advantageous or complementary to the development of our business. While we have no current agreements or plans with respect to any acquisitions, we may acquire businesses, assets, or technologies in the future. If we make any
acquisitions, we could take any or all of the following actions, any one of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations or share price:
issue equity or equity-based securities that would dilute existing stockholders percentage ownership;
use a substantial portion of our available cash;
incur substantial debt, which may not be available to us on favorable terms and may adversely affect our liquidity;
assume contingent liabilities; and
take substantial charges in connection with acquired assets. Acquisitions also entail numerous other risks, including: difficulties in assimilating acquired operations, products, technologies and personnel; unanticipated costs; diversion of managements attention from
other business concerns; adverse effects on existing business relationships with suppliers and customers; risks of entering markets in which we have limited or no prior experience; and potential loss of key employees from either our preexisting
business or the acquired organization. We may not be able to successfully integrate any businesses, products, technologies or personnel that we might acquire in the future, and our failure to do so could harm our business and operating results.
Any changes to existing accounting pronouncements or taxation rules or practices may cause adverse fluctuations in
our reported results of operations or affect how we conduct our business.
A change in accounting pronouncements or taxation rules
or practices can have a significant effect on our reported results and may even affect our reporting of transactions completed before the change is effective. Other new accounting pronouncements or taxation rules and varying interpretations of
accounting pronouncements or taxation practices have occurred and may occur in the future. The change to existing rules, future changes, if any, or the questioning of current practices may adversely affect our reported financial results or the way
we conduct our business.
We may not be able to develop products that comply with applicable government regulations.
Our products must comply with government regulations. For example, in the United States, the Federal Communications Commission, or FCC, regulates many
aspects of communications devices, including radiation of electromagnetic energy, biological safety and rules for devices to be connected to telephone networks. In addition to the federal government, some states have adopted regulations applicable
to our products. Radio frequency devices, which include our modems, must be approved under the above regulations by obtaining equipment authorization from the FCC prior to being offered for sale. Regulatory requirements in Canada, Europe, Asia and
other jurisdictions must also be met. Additionally, we cannot anticipate the effect that changes in domestic or foreign government regulations may have on our ability to develop and sell products in the future. Failure to comply with existing or
evolving government regulations or to obtain timely regulatory approvals or certificates for our products could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations or cash flows.
Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments
None
Novatel Wireless, Inc (NVTL) - Description of business
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Research Report
Description
Level 2 quotes
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Profile
Balance Sheet
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Cash Flow Statement
Insiders
SEC Filings
Analyst Recommendation
Earnings Report
Historical Prices
Recent Material Events
Key executives
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