10-K 1 d10k.htm FORM 10-K Form 10-K
Table of Contents

 

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 


 

FORM 10-K

 


 

FOR ANNUAL AND TRANSITION REPORTS

PURSUANT TO SECTIONS 13 OR 15(d) OF THE

SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

 

(Mark One)

 

x ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

 

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2003

 

OR

 

¨ TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

 

For the transition period from ______________ to ______________

 

Commission File Number: 000-50460

 

Tessera Technologies, Inc.

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)

 

Delaware

(State or Other Jurisdiction of Incorporation or Organization)

  

16-1620029

(I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)

3099 Orchard Drive

San Jose, California 95134

(Address of Principal Executive Offices) (Zip Code)

  

(408) 894-0700

(Registrant’s Telephone Number, Including Area Code)

 

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

 

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:    Common stock, par value $0.001 per share

 

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

 

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

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an accelerated filer (as defined in Exchange Act Rule 12b-2).  Yes  ¨  No  x

The aggregate market value of the voting and non-voting common equity held by non-affiliates of the registrant, based upon the closing sale price of common stock as reported on the Nasdaq National Market, on March 1, 2004 was $416,838,577.

 

As of March 1, 2004, 38,477,776 shares of the registrant’s common stock were outstanding.

 


 

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE:

 

Portions of the Proxy Statement for registrant’s 2004 Annual Meeting of Stockholders to be held May 20, 2004 will be filed with the Commission within 120 days after the close of the registrant’s fiscal year and are incorporated by reference in Part III.

 


 


Table of Contents

ANNUAL REPORT ON FORM 10-K

FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2003

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

         Page

    PART I     

Item 1.

 

Business

   3

Item 2.

 

Properties

   13

Item 3.

 

Legal Proceedings

   13

Item 4.

 

Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders

   14
    PART II     

Item 5.

 

Market for Registrant’s Common Equity and Related Stockholder Matters

   14

Item 6.

 

Selected Financial Data

   16

Item 7.

 

Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

   17

Item 7A.

 

Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risks

   36

Item 8.

 

Financial Statements and Supplementary Data

   37

Item 9.

 

Changes in and Disagreements With Auditors on Accounting and Financial Disclosure

   62

Item 9A.

 

Controls and Procedures

   62
    PART III     

Item 10.

 

Directors and Executive Officers of the Registrant

   62

Item 11.

 

Executive Compensation

   62

Item 12.

 

Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters

   62

Item 13.

 

Certain Relationships and Related Transactions

   63

Item 14.

 

Principal Accountant Fees and Services

   63
    PART IV     

Item 15.

 

Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules, Exhibits and Reports on Form 8-K

   63

Signatures

   66

Exhibits Index

    

 

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PART I

 

Item 1.     Business

 

Corporate Information

 

Tessera, Inc. was incorporated in Delaware in May 1990. In January 2003, pursuant to a corporate restructuring, Tessera Technologies, Inc., a newly formed Delaware corporation, became the parent holding company of Tessera, Inc. The primary purpose of the restructuring was to terminate certain rights of first refusal previously held by some of Tessera, Inc.’s stockholders with respect to sales of Tessera, Inc. stock. Tessera Technologies, Inc. has no material assets other than its shares of Tessera, Inc., and conducts all of its business and operations through Tessera, Inc. We do not intend to cause or permit shares of the capital stock of Tessera, Inc. to be issued or sold to any other person. However, this holding company structure could result in our stockholders having subordinate rights, as compared to any future stockholders of Tessera, Inc., in a liquidation, dissolution or reorganization of Tessera, Inc.

 

Our principal executive offices are located at 3099 Orchard Drive, San Jose, California 95134. Our telephone number is (408) 894-0700. We maintain a website at www.tessera.com. The reference to our website address does not constitute incorporation by reference of the information contained on this website.

 

We own or have rights to trademarks and trade names that we use in conjunction with the operation of our business, including Tessera and Tessera Technologies. This annual report also includes trademarks and trade names of other parties.

 

In this annual report, the “Company,” “Tessera,” “we,” “us” and “our” refer to Tessera Technologies, Inc. and, for periods prior to our corporate restructuring in January 2003 or if the context otherwise requires, Tessera, Inc., which is our wholly-owned subsidiary.

 

Overview

 

We develop semiconductor packaging technology that meets the demand for miniaturization and increased performance of electronic products. We license our technology to our customers, enabling them to produce semiconductors that are smaller and faster, and incorporate more features. These semiconductors are utilized in a broad range of electronics products including digital cameras, MP3 players, personal computers, personal digital assistants, video game consoles and wireless phones. In addition, by using our technology, we believe that our customers are also able to reduce the time-to-market and development costs of their semiconductors.

 

Our patented technology enables our customers to assemble semiconductor chips into chip-scale packages, or CSPs, that are almost as small as the chip itself. Our technology also enables multiple chips to be stacked vertically in a single three-dimensional multi-chip package that occupies almost the same circuit board area as a CSP. By reducing the size of the semiconductor package and shortening electrical connections between the chip and the circuit board, our technology allows further miniaturization and increased performance and functionality of electronic products. We achieve these benefits without sacrificing reliability by allowing movement within the package, thus addressing critical problems associated with thermally-induced stress which can occur when packages decrease in size.

 

We derive license fees and royalties based upon our intellectual property and generate fees for related services. Our technology has been widely adopted and is currently licensed to more than 45 companies, including Intel, Renesas, Sharp Corporation, Texas Instruments and Toshiba. We believe that more than 100 companies across the semiconductor supply chain have invested in the materials, equipment and assembly infrastructure needed to manufacture products that incorporate our technology. As a result, our technology has been incorporated into more than three billion semiconductors worldwide, including more than one billion semiconductors shipped in 2003. According to Gartner Dataquest, the market for chip-scale packaging is expected to grow from 6.2 billion units in 2003 to 18.9 billion in 2006, representing a compound annual growth rate of 45%. We believe that we are well-positioned to take advantage of this significant expected growth in CSPs.

 

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Industry Background

 

Packaged semiconductor chips, which we refer to as semiconductors, are essential components in a broad range of communications, computing, and consumer electronic products. According to the Semiconductor Industry Association, worldwide semiconductor sales totaled $166.4 billion in 2003 and are expected to grow to $219.6 billion in 2006. Many electronic products require increasingly complex semiconductors that are smaller and higher-performing, integrate more features and functions, and are less expensive to produce than previous generations of semiconductors. Satisfying the demand for these complex semiconductors requires advances in semiconductor design, manufacturing and packaging technologies.

 

The disaggregation of the semiconductor industry and the emergence of intellectual property companies

 

Historically, most semiconductor companies were vertically integrated. They designed, fabricated, packaged and tested their semiconductors using internally developed software design tools and manufacturing processes and equipment. As the cost and skills required for designing and manufacturing complex semiconductors have increased, the semiconductor industry has become disaggregated, with companies concentrating on one or more individual stages of the semiconductor development and production process. This disaggregation has fueled the growth of fabless semiconductor companies, design tool vendors, semiconductor equipment manufacturers, third-party semiconductor manufacturers, or foundries, semiconductor assembly, package and test companies and intellectual property companies that develop and license technology to others.

 

While specialization has enabled greater development and manufacturing efficiency, it has also created an opportunity for intellectual property companies that develop and license technology to meet fundamental, industry-wide challenges. These intellectual property companies gain broad adoption of their technology throughout the industry by working with companies within the semiconductor supply chain to invest in the infrastructure needed to support their technology. This collaboration and investment benefits semiconductor companies by enabling them to bring new technology to market faster and more cost-effectively, without having to make the investment themselves.

 

Demand for system-level miniaturization and increased performance

 

Miniaturization of electronic products, or system-level miniaturization, is a significant challenge for manufacturers of electronic products and their suppliers, including semiconductor companies. Digital cameras, MP3 players, personal computers, personal digital assistants, video game consoles, wireless phones and other electronic products are being made smaller with improved performance and an increasing number of advanced features. Semiconductor companies have traditionally responded to these challenges by shrinking the size of the basic semiconductor building block, or transistor, allowing for more transistors to be integrated on a single chip. For decades, the consistent reduction in transistor size has resulted in higher-performance, lower-cost chips that require less silicon area. In addition, transistors have become small enough to make it economical to combine multiple functions, such as logic, memory and analog functions, on a single chip, in what is commonly referred to as a system-on-a-chip.

 

Importance of semiconductor packaging

 

While the integration of increased functionality on a chip is critical to the miniaturization of electronic products, its impact has been limited by packaging technology, which has not kept pace with the advancements achieved by chip integration. Semiconductor chips are typically assembled in packages that act as the physical and electrical interface between the chip and the printed circuit board. The package protects the chip from breakage, contamination and stress. In addition, the package enables a chip to be easily tested prior to its incorporation into a system, enabling high system yields lowering the total system cost. Traditional semiconductor packages are much larger than the chip itself and occupy significant circuit board and system area. Also, traditional packaging technologies are less capable of accommodating faster semiconductor speeds due to the package’s longer electrical connections. Due to these limitations, traditional semiconductor packages are not well suited to meet the increasing demand for product miniaturization, functionality and performance. As a result, in addition to continuing advancements in chip integration, advanced packaging technology is required to achieve further miniaturization and higher performance cost-effectively.

 

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Our Solution

 

We are a leading provider of intellectual property for chip-scale and multi-chip packaging that meets the increasing demand for miniaturization and performance of electronic products. We license a substantial portion of our intellectual property under our Tessera Compliant Chip, or TCC, license. This license primarily covers our core chip-scale and multi-chip packaging patents. In addition, we support the adoption of our technology by providing our customers with engineering services focused on addressing key issues related to the miniaturization and performance of electronics products. Our packaging technology provides the following benefits which are not provided by traditional packaging technologies:

 

Miniaturization.    Our CSP technology enables fully-packaged chips to be almost as small as the chip itself, which permits increased product miniaturization and functionality. Our multi-chip packaging technology extends this benefit by enabling multiple semiconductors to be stacked vertically, while occupying about the same circuit board area as a CSP. For example, our technology is broadly used to produce Flash memory and static random access memory, or SRAM, devices stacked in a multi-chip package utilized in wireless phones. As a result, we believe our multi-chip technology will enable electronic products to achieve new levels of miniaturization.

 

High performance.    Our technology offers shorter electrical connections between the chip and circuit board and between adjacent chips. Shorter connections allow information to be more rapidly transferred between the semiconductors and the system, yielding better system performance. Our technology has been widely adopted for use in high-speed memory applications, such as high-performance personal computers, network switches and routers, set-top boxes, workstations and video game consoles, such as the Sony PlayStation®2.

 

High reliability.    The miniaturization of semiconductors often presents reliability problems because the shorter connections are more vulnerable to breakage due to thermally-induced stress and mechanical shock. Overcoming these problems has been one of the most significant technical challenges in shrinking semiconductor packages to the size of the chip itself. Our technology alleviates these problems by allowing movement within the package. As a result, our technology provides high reliability without the increased package size or cost of competing technologies for a broad range of applications that require miniaturization.

 

Cost effectiveness.    The significant investment made by semiconductor chip makers, assemblers, and material and equipment providers in the manufacturing infrastructure that supports our technology enables high-volume production and broad availability of semiconductors that incorporate our technology. This in turn has reduced the cost of manufacturing products that incorporate our technology, allowing it to be used in cost-sensitive semiconductor applications such as dynamic random access memory, or DRAM, Flash memory or SRAM. We believe that this broad adoption and high volume production of our technology will further increase its cost-effectiveness.

 

Our Strategy

 

Our objective is to be the leading developer and licensor of chip-scale and multi-chip packaging technologies that meet the increasing demand for miniaturization and performance in a broad range of communication, computing and consumer electronic products. The following are key elements of our strategy:

 

Expand the market penetration of our CSP technology.    Our patented CSP technology has been incorporated in over three billion semiconductors worldwide. As a result of the broad adoption of our technology and existing infrastructure that supports our technology, we believe that we are well positioned to benefit from the substantial growth projected for the CSP market. We intend to further increase our share of the CSP market by:

 

  continuing to target and optimize our technology for large, growing product markets such as digital cameras, MP3 players, personal computers, personal digital assistants, video game consoles and wireless phones;

 

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  making continued design, process and cost improvements that drive the incorporation of our technology in new semiconductor applications, such as application specific integrated circuits, or ASIC semiconductors, high-performance DRAM, and other logic applications; and

 

  identifying and approaching companies whose current products potentially incorporate our technology, offering them licenses to our technology, and when necessary, enforcing our intellectual property rights to obtain compensation for the use of our technology.

 

Accelerate the market acceptance of our three-dimensional multi-chip packaging technology.    Our three-dimensional multi-chip packaging technology extends our CSP technology by enabling multiple chips to be stacked vertically, while occupying about the same circuit board area as a CSP. This technology is designed for products in which miniaturization and feature integration are critical, including digital cameras, MP3 players, personal digital assistants and wireless phones. We intend to accelerate the adoption of our three-dimensional multi-chip packaging technology by:

 

  collaborating with our customers to develop multi-chip packages to meet their specific product requirements;

 

  capitalizing on the existing materials, equipment and assembly infrastructure that supports our CSP technology; and

 

  continuing to reduce the cost of manufacturing semiconductors that incorporate our multi-chip technology through internal development and collaboration with leading semiconductor materials and equipment companies.

 

Provide engineering services to develop and promote the adoption of our technology.    We intend to continue to use our engineering services to accelerate the adoption of our technology, better understand our customers’ advanced packaging requirements, and develop and broaden our intellectual property portfolio. For example, we provide our customers with a broad range of services, such as package design, prototype manufacturing and reliability analysis, to help them develop products that incorporate our technology. This collaboration allows us to better understand our customers’ future product and packaging technology requirements. We have generated a substantial portion of our service revenues by providing our engineering services to various government agencies. These relationships contribute to the development of our advanced packaging technologies such as three-dimensional multi-chip packaging.

 

Utilize and enhance the infrastructure supporting our technology.    For more than a decade, we have collaborated with our infrastructure partners to help them develop and make widely available low-cost materials, equipment and assembly capacity to manufacture products that incorporate our technology. We design new technologies that are compatible with this existing infrastructure, which facilitates more rapid adoption of these new technologies. We plan to continue to work with our infrastructure partners to expand the adoption of our technology.

 

Broaden our intellectual property portfolio.    We intend to continue to broaden our patent portfolio through internal development, strategic relationships and acquisitions, to enhance the competitiveness and size of our current businesses and diversify into markets and technologies that complement our current businesses. For example, we intend to extend our intellectual property portfolio in the area of radio frequency, or RF, module packaging technology for a broad range of wireless applications. We also intend to continue to utilize our core competency in aggregating and licensing intellectual property to grow and expand our business.

 

Create demand by collaborating with system manufacturers and electronic manufacturing service providers.    We work with leading system manufacturers and electronic manufacturing service providers to increase demand for our chip-scale and multi-chip packaging technology. Through these relationships, we align our research and development efforts to better meet their needs. This helps us to develop technologies such as packaging for RF modules, which can be used in new, growing markets, such as Bluetooth, global positioning systems and Wi-Fi.

 

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Our Technology and Services

 

We derive the majority of our revenues from license fees and royalties associated with our TCC license. Our TCC license grants a worldwide right to develop, assemble, use and sell certain CSPs and multi-chip packages. The licensed technology primarily includes issued patents and pending patent applications during the term of the license. We also license components of our intellectual property portfolio outside of the TCC license, such as module and passive component technology suitable for RF products. In addition, we provide a broad range of engineering, assembly and infrastructure services to our customers.

 

Our Technology

 

Our packaging technology is incorporated into semiconductors for use in a broad range of communication, computing and consumer electronics applications. These semiconductors include:

 

  Digital signal processor, or DSP, semiconductors, Flash memory, SRAM, and certain ASIC semiconductors, for use in wireless communication and digital consumer products, such as digital cameras, MP3 players, personal digital assistants and wireless phones. These markets are expected to enjoy strong growth. For example, Gartner Dataquest projects the market for CSP-based DSP semiconductors will grow from 396 million units in 2003 to 754 million units in 2006, representing a compound annual growth rate of 24%. Gartner Dataquest also projects the combined Flash memory and SRAM markets to grow from 1.8 billion units in 2003 to 2.7 billion units in 2006, a compound annual growth rate of 13%.

 

  DRAM, for use in computing, networking and home entertainment applications, such as personal computers, network switches and routers, set-top boxes and video game consoles. According to Gartner Dataquest, the market for CSP-based DRAM is expected to grow from 374 million units in 2003 to 4.0 billion units in 2006, a compound annual growth rate of 120%.

 

Chip-Scale Package Technology Platforms

 

Although most of our licensees have developed their own proprietary packages incorporating our intellectual property, we have developed the following CSP platforms which are included in our TCC license:

 

Micro Ball Grid Array, or µBGA®, Platform.    Our µBGA® platform includes the lead-bonded µBGA® package and the µBGA®-W package, an alternative that uses wire-bonding as opposed to lead bonding as the package’s internal electrical interconnect. In the µBGA® platform the chip is oriented face-down in the package with its contacts facing the circuit board. We believe this CSP platform offers the best combination of features to meet the requirements of high-performance DRAM semiconductors.

 

µBGA®-F Platform.    The µBGA®-F platform has the chip oriented face-up in the package, with its contacts facing away from the circuit board, and utilizes standard wire-bonding for the package’s internal electrical interconnect. The technology underlying this platform has been broadly adopted and incorporated into a large number of customer-developed proprietary packages for DSP semiconductors, Flash memory, SRAM and ASIC semiconductors used in wireless communication and consumer electronics products.

 

Multi-Chip Package Technology Platforms

 

Our technology is incorporated into a number of three-dimensional multi-chip packages used in wireless communication and digital consumer applications, such as digital cameras, MP3 players, personal digital assistants and wireless phones. These packages include various combinations of ASIC, DSP, Flash memory and SRAM semiconductors. In addition, we have developed a family of three-dimensional multi-chip platforms, which are collectively referred to as the µZTM Stacked Package family, to extend this innovative technology into new applications to meet the growing demand for higher levels of integration in computing, communications and consumer electronics.

 

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We also offer our PyxisTM RF Module platform, which incorporates RF technology in a three-dimensional platform for wireless applications. In addition to wireless phones, which typically incorporate multiple RF sections or modules, several initiatives such as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are aimed at incorporating additional RF capability into a broad range of handheld, computing and consumer electronic products.

 

We expect these platforms to build upon the existing CSP infrastructure and to enable further miniaturization and increased performance and functionality for a broad range of cost-sensitive, high volume applications. Each platform was developed to resolve complex, technical and business challenges inherent in the miniaturization of electronic products.

 

We offer the following multi-chip platforms:

 

µZTM Chip Stack Platform.    The µZTM chip stack platform consists of two or more semiconductors, stacked vertically on top of each other and wire-bonded to the package substrate. This is a cost-effective, versatile platform that can be used in a broad range of semiconductors and product applications. The technology underlying this platform has been broadly adopted and incorporated into a large number of customer-developed proprietary stacked multi-chip packages for Flash memory, SRAM, and ASIC semiconductors, that are used in wireless communication and consumer electronics products.

 

µZTM Fold-Over Stacked Platform.    We have recently introduced our µZTM Fold-Over Stacked platform to solve an industry-wide problem associated with the integration of different types of functional blocks, such as processor, memory and various analog blocks, onto a single system-on-a-chip. For example, this package enables DSP, ASIC and different memory semiconductors to be fully packaged, tested and then integrated, resulting in a high-yielding system-in-a-package. The µZTM Fold-Over Stacked platform provides a cost-effective solution that meets wireless phone package height requirements and saves valuable circuit board space, enabling wireless products that are smaller and lighter with more functionality.

 

µZTM Ball Stacked Platform.    We have also recently introduced our µZTM Ball Stacked platform as a multi-chip solution that enables the integration of high-performance DRAM while occupying 25% less circuit board area with 60% of the height of a traditional DRAM package. Because each semiconductor can be individually tested prior to being assembled in the multi-chip package, common yield problems associated with competing technologies can be overcome. Our µZTM Ball Stacked platform can be used for cost-sensitive, high-volume applications, including DRAM modules for high-performance personal computers, workstations and network switches and routers.

 

PyxisTM RF Module Platform.    With the proliferation of wireless technology, new industry standards are emerging, including Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, that require additional RF modules in a full range of wireless communication and digital consumer products. Our newly developed PyxisTM RF Module platform uses CSP technology to enable highly-integrated RF modules. This versatile package platform provides an integration and miniaturization path for radio-in-a-package, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and other complex RF modules. The PyxisTM module platform enables integration of chips and other components in a single, low-cost package solution. This platform is targeted at cost-sensitive, high-volume wireless, handheld and digital consumer products.

 

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The following table provides a summary of the key features and semiconductor and system applications for each of our package technologies and the related platforms, all of which, except the PyxisTM RF platform, are included in our standard TCC license:

 


 
Chip-Scale
Package
Technology
    Technology
Platform
    Key Features     Semiconductor
Applications
    System Applications  

 
  µBGA®    

•   Small

•   High performance

•   High reliability

    

    

    

  DRAM, Flash, SRAM      Digital TV, game console, personal computer, set-top box, server,
wireless phone
   

 
  µBGA®W    

•   Small

•   High performance

•   High reliability

•   Wire-bond

    

    

    

    

  DRAM     Digital TV, game console, personal computer, servers, set-top box    

 
  µBGA®F    

•   Small

•   Design flexibility

•   Low cost

•   Wire-bond

    

    

    

    

  ASIC, DSP, Flash, SRAM      Digital camera, MP3 player,
personal digital assistant, wireless
phone
   

 
Multi-Chip Package Technology       µZTM Chip Stack    

•   Vertical stack

•   Small

•   Wire-bond

•   Design flexibility

    

    

    

    

  Flash / SRAM stack      Digital camera, MP3 player,
personal digital assistant, wireless
phone
   

 
  µZTM Fold-Over Stack     

•   Pre-test

•   Stacked logic and memory

•   Enables system-in-a-package

•   Small

•   Low profile

•   2-4 semiconductor stack

•   High reliability

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

  Numerous logic / memory configurations       Digital camera, MP3 player,
personal digital assistant, wireless
phone
   

 
  µZTM Ball Stack    

•   Pre-test

•   Stacked memory

•   Small

•   Low profile

•   2-8 semiconductor stack

•   High reliability

    

    

    

    

    

    

  DRAM, Flash, numerous logic / memory configurations        Digital camera, MP3 player,
personal computer, personal digital
assistant, server, wireless phone
   

 
  PyxisTM RF Module     

•   High-density RF module

•   Small

•   Low profile

•   Integration of semiconductors and other components

    

    

    

     

  RF modules     Bluetooth, global positioning
system, personal digital assistant, Wi-Fi, wireless phone
   

 

 

Our Services

 

We provide our customers and partners with engineering, assembly and infrastructure services that we believe accelerate the adoption of our technology for a broad range of cost-sensitive, high-volume applications. We provide engineering services to semiconductor makers and assemblers, system manufacturers, electronic manufacturing service companies and government agencies and their contractors to enable the development of new packaging technologies. Most of our service revenues are derived from government-related engineering services.

 

Engineering services.    Our engineering services include customized package design and prototyping, modeling, simulation, failure analysis and reliability testing and related training services. We provide these services to semiconductor makers and assemblers, system manufacturers, electronic manufacturing service

 

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companies and government agencies and their contractors. We believe that offering these services accelerates the incorporation of our intellectual property into our customers’ products and aids in our understanding of their future packaging requirements.

 

Assembly services.    We provide training and consulting services to assist semiconductor assemblers in designing, implementing, upgrading and maintaining their CSP assembly lines. We also offer services to help customers address process, equipment, materials and other manufacturing-related issues. This allows our assembly customers to bring their manufacturing lines incorporating our technology into production more rapidly and cost-effectively.

 

Infrastructure services.    We offer evaluation, qualification, cost reduction and cost analysis services to companies that develop and manufacture equipment and materials to support the infrastructure needed to manufacture semiconductors that incorporate our technology. These services enable infrastructure customers to evaluate the impact of their specific materials and equipment on the manufacturability and reliability of our technology.

 

Customers

 

Our technology is currently licensed to more than 45 companies. For the year ended December 31, 2003, Texas Instruments accounted for 28.4% of total revenue.

 

We have a TCC license with Texas Instruments, dated January 1, 2002, that covers the types of BGA packages that were the subject of our legal proceeding against Texas Instruments in the U.S. District Court. Under this license Texas Instruments paid an upfront license fee and agreed to pay ongoing royalties on a quarterly basis. The license has termination provisions for breach, change of control, and bankruptcy. In addition, Texas Instruments may unilaterally terminate the license by giving six months prior notice at any time. Unless earlier terminated, the license will terminate on December 31, 2013. If the license is not terminated prior to December 31, 2013, Texas Instruments will have a fully paid-up license under the Tessera patents subject to the license. Any termination of the agreement would result in a loss by Texas Instruments of its right to use our intellectual property.

 

The following is a list of our current licensees and, where indicated, our current sublicensees:

 

Semiconductor Manufacturers


  

Semiconductor Assemblers


   Semiconductor Material Suppliers

Advanced Micro Devices Inc.

Cochlear Corporation

Hitachi, Ltd.

Hynix Semiconductor America, Inc.

Intel Corp.

Mitsubishi Electric and Electronics USA, Inc.

Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd. (OKI)

Renesas Technology Corp.*

ROHM Corp.

Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.

Seiko Epson Corp.

Sharp Corporation

Siemens AG

Sony Corp.

ST Microelectronics NV

Texas Instruments, Inc.

Toshiba

  

Advanced Semiconductor Engineering, Inc. (ASE)

Akita Electronics Systems Co., Ltd.*

Amkor Technology, Inc.

ChipMOS Technologies, Inc.

ChipPAC, Inc.

EEMS Italia, SpA

Hitachi Cable, Ltd.

Mitsui High-tec Inc.

Renesas Northern Japan Semiconductor, Inc.*

Renesas Eastern Japan Semiconductor, Inc.*

Orient Semiconductor Electronics Ltd (OSE)

Payton Technology Corp.

Plexus Corp.

Powertech Technology Inc. (PTI)

Shinko Electric Industries Co.

Siliconware Precision Industries Co., Ltd. (SPIL)

United Test and Assembly Center Ltd. (UTAC)

United Test Center Inc. (UTC)

University of Alaska

Walton Advanced Electronics, Ltd.

   3M Company
Compeq Manufacturing Inc.
Hitachi Cable, Ltd.
Hitachi, Ltd.
LG Electronics Inc.
LG Micron Ltd.
Mitsui Mining & Smelting Co., Ltd.
North Corporation
Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co., Ltd.
Samsung Techwin Co., Ltd.
Shinko Electric Industries Co.
Sunright Limited

* denotes a TCC sublicensee

 

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In addition to the licensees and sublicensees mentioned above, we license our Pyxis RF Module technology to Paratek Microwave, Inc.

 

Most semiconductor material suppliers are licensed under our TCMT license, which requires these licensees to pay us a license fee but not royalties.

 

The license agreement we entered into with Samsung on May 17, 1997 is currently the subject of litigation. The matter is described in more detail in “—Legal Proceedings” below.

 

Sales and Marketing

 

Our sales activities focus primarily on developing strong, direct relationships at the technical, marketing and executive management levels with leading companies in the semiconductor industry to license our technologies and sell our services. We also sell our engineering services to system manufacturers and government agencies and their contractors. Marketing activities include identifying and promoting application-based technologies for specific, vertical market needs, such as wireless communications or computing, and identifying major business opportunities for current and future product development. Product marketing focuses on identifying the needs and product requirements of our customers. Product marketing also manages the development of all of our technology throughout the development cycle and creates the required marketing materials to assist with the adoption of the technology. Marketing communications focuses on advertising and communications that promote the adoption of our technology.

 

Research and Development

 

We believe that our success depends in part on our ability to achieve the following in a cost-effective and timely manner:

 

  develop new technologies that meet the changing needs of our customers and their markets;

 

  improve our existing technologies to enable growth into new application areas; and

 

  expand our intellectual property portfolio.

 

Our research and development employees work closely with our sales and marketing employees, as well as our customers and partners, to bring new products incorporating our technology to market in a timely, high quality and cost-efficient manner. We also work closely with material and equipment infrastructure providers to identify new technologies and improve existing technologies for use in the assembly and manufacture of semiconductor packages that incorporate our technology.

 

Our service contracts involve research and development for commercial entities and government agencies. For example, some of our development activities for the µZ Fold-Over Stack package technology were partially funded through service contracts with one of our semiconductor company licensees.

 

Our research and development efforts currently focus on two major areas:

 

Chip-scale packaging.    Our CSP efforts focus on developing specific technologies for incorporation of our CSP technology into new applications, developing prototypes and supporting customers or infrastructure providers with improvements to products for existing applications.

 

Multi-chip packaging.    Our multi-chip packaging efforts focus on working with customers to incorporate our technology into their products and applications, developing prototypes and developing new, custom technologies to meet the needs of future applications.

 

We have additional research and development efforts underway in a number of areas related to the miniaturization of electronic products, including areas relating to materials, equipment, packaging, interconnect, assembly and testing of semiconductors and three-dimensional modules.

 

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Intellectual Property

 

Our future success and competitive advantage depend upon our continued ability to develop and protect our intellectual property. To protect our intellectual property, we rely on a combination of patents, trade secrets and trademarks. We also attempt to protect our trade secrets and other proprietary information through confidentiality agreements with licensees, customers and potential customers and partners, and through proprietary information agreements with employees and consultants.

 

Our patents address advanced single and multi-chip packaging, related processes, and complementary technologies. We have made and continue to make considerable investments in expanding and defending our patent portfolio. See “—Legal Proceedings” for a description of material legal proceedings in which we have recently been involved.

 

As of December 31, 2003, our intellectual property portfolio included 270 issued U.S. patents, 38 issued international patents, 112 additional pending U.S. patent applications and 40 additional pending international patent applications. Our patents have expiration dates ranging from January 25, 2009 to September 19, 2021. We continually file new patent applications for new developments in our technology. There are many countries in which we currently have no issued patents; however, products incorporating our technology that are sold in jurisdictions where patents have issued must be licensed in order to avoid infringing our intellectual property.

 

As of December 31, 2003, we had 15 U.S. trademark registrations and 35 international trademarks and had five domestic and international trademark applications pending.

 

Competition

 

As a developer and licensor of semiconductor packaging technology, we compete with other technologies, as opposed to other companies selling products. These competing technologies come principally from the internal design groups of a number of semiconductor and package assembly companies. Many of these companies are licensees, or potential licensees, of ours. In fact, many of our licensees consider packaging research and development to be one of their core competencies.

 

Semiconductor companies that have their own package design and manufacturing capabilities include Texas Instruments Incorporated, Micron Technology, Inc., and the semiconductor divisions of Fujitsu Microelectronics, Inc., IBM Instruments, Inc., Motorola, Inc., Sharp Corporation and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. Among the advanced packaging technologies developed by such companies are flip-chip and chip-on-board technologies that compete with our CSP and multi-chip technologies. Our technologies also compete with technologies developed by the internal design groups of package assembly companies such as Advanced Semiconductor Engineering, Inc., Amkor Technology, Inc. and ChipPAC, Inc.

 

We believe the principal competitive factors in the selection of semiconductor package technology by potential customers are:

 

  proven technology;

 

  cost;

 

  size and circuit board area;

 

  performance;

 

  reliability; and

 

  available infrastructure.

 

We believe that our CSP and multi-chip technologies compete favorably in each of these factors with other advanced packaging technology solutions.

 

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Employees

 

As of December 31, 2003, we had 86 employees, with 16 in sales, marketing and licensing, 53 in research and development (including employees who perform engineering, assembly and infrastructure services under our service agreements with third parties) and 17 in finance and administration. We have never had a work stoppage among our employees and no personnel are represented under collective bargaining agreements. We consider our relations with our employees to be good.

 

Item 2.    Properties

 

Our principal administrative, sales, marketing and research and development facilities occupy approximately 51,000 square feet in one building in San Jose, California, under a lease that expires on March 31, 2005. We believe our existing facilities are adequate for our current needs.

 

Item 3.    Legal Proceedings

 

As described below, we are currently involved in a material legal proceeding relating to our intellectual property and have been involved in others in the recent past. Given the importance of our intellectual property to our future success and competitive advantage, we expect to be involved in material legal proceedings relating to our intellectual property on a regular basis in the future.

 

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. v. Tessera, Inc., Civ. No. 02-05837 CW (N.D. Cal.)

 

On December 16, 2002, Samsung initiated a declaratory judgment action against us in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California seeking a declaratory judgment, alleging that: (1) it has not breached the license agreement it entered into with us in 1997 allegedly because its MWBGA, TBGA, FBGA, MCP and laminate PCB-based semiconductor chip packages are not covered by the license agreement and, therefore, it owes us no royalties for such packages; (2) the license agreement remains in effect because Samsung was not in breach for failing to pay royalties for such packages and, therefore, our termination of the license agreement was not effective; (3) its MWBGA, TBGA, FBGA, MCP and laminate PCB-based semiconductor chip packages do not infringe our U.S. Patents Nos. 5,852,326, 5,679,977, 6,433,419 and 6,465,893; (4) and these four Tessera patents are invalid and unenforceable. Samsung also seeks to recover its costs and attorney’s fees incurred in the action. Regarding the unenforceability claim, Samsung has asserted that we are precluded from enforcing our patents on the grounds that: (1) we had a duty to disclose certain of our patents to JEDEC (a standards body); (2) we breached our duty of disclosure to JEDEC; and (3) as a result of our failure to disclose these patents, we may not allege in this lawsuit that they cover Samsung’s products.

 

On February 18, 2003, we filed an answer in which we deny Samsung’s allegations, including its allegations that any of our patents are invalid or unenforceable. We also filed a counterclaim in which we allege that: (1) Samsung has breached the license agreement by, among other things, failing to pay us royalties for the use of our U.S. Patents 5,852,326, 5,679,977, 6,433,419, 6,465,893, 5,950,304 and 6,133,627; (2) our termination of the 1997 license agreement was effective and the 1997 license agreement is terminated; and (3) Samsung and its U.S. subsidiaries Samsung Electronics America and Samsung Semiconductor, Inc. have infringed these six Tessera patents. We have denied Samsung’s unenforceability allegations on several grounds, including that (1) we have satisfied the duty of disclosure to JEDEC as that duty has been defined by the courts in other cases; and (2) Samsung expressly agreed in its 1997 License Agreement with us to pay royalties for any of its products that are covered by our patents, which expressly precludes Samsung from arguing that it believed our patents are unenforceable against Samsung’s products. We further seek to recover damages, up to treble the amount of actual damages, together with attorney’s fees and costs. We also seek to enjoin Samsung and its U.S. subsidiaries from continuing to infringe these patents in the future. Samsung has continued to make payments under our license agreement and has responded by moving to dismiss our patent infringement counterclaims on the grounds that they are barred by existence of the 1997 license agreement. On August 11, 2003, the court granted Samsung’s motion to dismiss our patent infringement counterclaims on the grounds that, pending the outcome of the current litigation, Samsung does not infringe because its activities are covered by the 1997 license agreement. On

 

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November 12, 2003, the court held a patent claim construction hearing, and a claim construction order was entered on January 8, 2004. We are proceeding against Samsung with a breach of contract action with our infringement contentions being a central element of the action.

 

Discovery is ongoing and the trial is currently scheduled for November 1, 2004.

 

Tessera, Inc. v. Sharp Corporation and Sharp Electronics Corporation, Civ. No. 00-20337 JW (N.D. Cal.); In re Certain Semiconductor Chips with Minimized Chip Package Size and Products Containing Same, ITC Inv. No. 337-TA-432

 

On March 28, 2001, we filed two actions against Sharp Corporation for infringing our U.S. Patents 5,852,326 and 5,679,977, one in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California (Tessera, Inc. v. Sharp Corporation and Sharp Electronics Corporation, Civ. No. 00-20337 JW) and one in the International Trade Commission (In re Certain Semiconductor Chips with Minimized Chip Package Size and Products Containing Same, ITC Inv. No. 337-TA-432). The district court case was stayed pending a result in the ITC action. On September 25, 2001, an ITC administrative law judge found in a written decision that Sharp Corporation’s products infringed our patents and that our patents were not invalid and were enforceable. The full commission affirmed this decision on November 15, 2001. The parties settled both lawsuits on January 24, 2002, in connection with which Sharp Corporation and Sharp Electronics Corporation entered into a new license agreement with us.

 

Texas Instruments, Inc. v. Tessera, Inc., Civ. No. 00-2114 CW (N.D. Cal.)

 

On February 1, 2000, Texas Instruments initiated a declaratory judgment action in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California against us regarding our U.S. Patents Nos. 5,852,326, 5,679,977 and 5,347,159. On March 13, 2000, we responded by denying the allegations and filing a counterclaim alleging infringement of our U.S. Patents 5,852,326 and 5,679,977 and breach of contract for failing to pay royalties on products Texas Instruments made that were covered by these patents and by a license agreement between us. On June 2, 2000, the lawsuit was transferred to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California (Texas Instruments, Inc. v. Tessera, Inc., Civ. No. 00-2114CW) and the dispute was narrowed to the 5,852,326 and 5,679,977 patents. On December 31, 2001, after the court had issued orders regarding claim construction and the parties’ summary judgment motions, the parties settled with Texas Instruments entering into a new license agreement with us.

 

From time to time, we may be involved in other litigation involving claims arising out of our operations in the normal course of business.

 

Item 4.    Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders

 

None.

 

PART II

 

Item 5.    Market for Registrant’s Common Equity and Related Stockholder Matters

 

Our common stock began trading publicly on the Nasdaq National Market on November 13, 2003 and is traded under the symbol “TSRA.” Prior to that date, there was no public market for our common stock. The following table sets forth the high and low closing sales prices of the common stock during 2003.

 

     High

   Low

Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2003

             

Fourth Quarter (beginning November 13, 2003)

   $ 22.25    $ 16.95

 

As of December 31, 2003, there were outstanding 38,474,443 shares of common stock held by 271 stockholders of record, options to purchase 8,386,651 shares of common stock under our stock option plans and

 

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warrants to purchase 280,240 shares of common stock. We have not paid cash dividends on our common stock since our inception and we do not anticipate paying any in the foreseeable future.

 

Since March 1, 2001, we have issued and sold the following unregistered securities. In each sale of shares of common stock and preferred stock shown below, the share numbers and dollar amounts shown reflect the reverse stock split effected September 1, 2000.

 

Options Grants and Option Exercises

 

Since March 1, 2001, we have granted options to purchase 6,119,239 shares of common stock to employees, officers, directors and consultants under our 1999 Stock Plan and Amended and Restated 2003 Equity Incentive Plan at exercise prices ranging from $2.10 to $9.00 per share. During the same period, we issued and sold 564,257 shares of common stock pursuant to option exercises at prices ranging from $1.50 to $5.50 per share. These transactions were effected under Rule 701 and, in the case of certain consultants, Section 4(2) of the Securities Act.

 

Common Stock

 

On September 8, 2003, we issued and sold 6,698 shares of our common stock to Lerner, David, Littenberg, Krumholz & Mentlik, an accredited investor, upon exercise of a warrant at an exercise price of $0.15 for an aggregate consideration of $1,004.70. This transaction was effected in reliance on Rule 506 of Regulation D under the Securities Act.

 

Preferred Stock

 

On December 28, 2001, we issued and sold 40,833 shares of our Series C Preferred Stock to Venture Lending & Leasing, Inc., an accredited investor, upon exercise of a warrant at an exercise price of $7.50 for an aggregate consideration of $306,247.50. This transaction was effected in reliance on Rule 506 of Regulation D under the Securities Act.

 

On April 24, 2003, we issued and sold 27,472 shares of our Series B Preferred Stock to Sanford Garrett, an accredited investor, upon the cashless net exercise of a warrant. This transaction was effected in reliance on Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act and Rule 506 of Regulation D promulgated under the Securities Act.

 

Initial Public Offering

 

Our initial public offering of 7,500,000 shares of common stock was effected through a Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-108518) that was declared effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission on November 12, 2003. On November 12, 2003, 3,000,000 shares of common stock were sold on our behalf, and 4,500,000 shares of common stock were sold by our selling stockholders at an initial public offering price of $13.00 per share, for an aggregate offering price of approximately $97.5 million, with Lehman Brothers, Inc. acting as the sole book-running manager, and Merrill Lynch & Co., Needham & Company, Inc., and SoundView Technology Corporation acting as managers of the offering. In connection with the offering, the underwriters were granted a 30-day option to purchase up to 1,125,000 additional shares of common stock at the public offering price, less the underwriting discount, to cover any over-allotments, which they exercised on November 14, 2003, resulting in the purchase of 1,125,000 shares (1,066,427 shares sold by the selling stockholders and 58,573 shares sold by Tessera). Following the sale of the 7,500,000 shares and the exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option, the offering terminated.

 

We paid to the underwriters underwriting discounts and commissions of approximately $2.8 million (with the over-allotment option) in connection with the offering. In addition, we estimate that we incurred additional expenses of approximately $2.4 million in connection with the offering, which when added to the underwriting discounts and commissions paid by us, amounts to total estimated expenses of approximately $5.2 million. Thus, the net offering proceeds to us, after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses, were approximately $34.6 million. Other than approximately $21,525 paid to a director for consulting

 

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services rendered in connection with the offering, no offering expenses were paid directly or indirectly to any of our directors or officers (or their associates) or persons owning ten percent or more of any class of our equity securities or to any other affiliates or others.

 

All of the net proceeds from the initial public offering remain invested in short-term, money market funds pending application of the funds to general corporate purposes, as described in the Registration Statement on Form S-1.

 

Item 6.    Selected Financial Data

 

You should read the following selected consolidated financial data in conjunction with “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and our consolidated financial statements and the related notes appearing elsewhere in this annual report.

 

The consolidated statement of operations data for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2001, December 31, 2002 and December 31, 2003 and the consolidated balance sheet data as of December 31, 2002 and December 31, 2003 are derived from our audited consolidated financial statements appearing elsewhere in this annual report. The consolidated statement of operations data for the fiscal years ended December 31, 1999 and December 31, 2000 and the consolidated balance sheet data as of December 31, 1999, December 31, 2000 and December 31, 2001 are derived from our audited consolidated financial statements that are not included in this annual report. The historical results are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected in any future period.

 

     Fiscal Year Ended December 31,

 
     1999

    2000

    2001

    2002

    2003

 
     (in thousands, except per share data)  

Consolidated statement of operations data:

        

Revenues:

                                        

Intellectual property revenues

   $ 4,400     $ 7,850     $ 12,258     $ 17,925     $ 25,393  

Other intellectual property revenues (1)

                 13,291       5,715       3,169  

Service revenues

     2,019       3,630       1,466       4,630       8,759  
    


 


 


 


 


Total revenues

     6,419       11,480       27,015       28,270       37,321  
    


 


 


 


 


Operating expenses:

                                        

Cost of revenues

     6,608       7,003       5,298       4,264       6,734  

Research and development

     6,841       9,418       8,202       6,700       7,661  

Selling, general and administrative

     5,063       17,342       20,761       7,552       11,030  

Stock-based compensation

     1,497       13,276       1,364       1,942       1,110  
    


 


 


 


 


Total operating expenses

     20,009       47,039       35,625       20,458       26,535  
    


 


 


 


 


Operating income (loss)

     (13,590 )     (35,559 )     (8,610 )     7,812       10,786  

Interest and other income (expense), net

     (370 )     1,300       409       45       195  
    


 


 


 


 


Income (loss) before taxes

     (13,960 )     (34,259 )     (8,201 )     7,857       10,981  

Benefit (provision) for income taxes

                       (1,318 )     (1,626 )

Discontinued operations

     (3,817 )     179                    
    


 


 


 


 


Net income (loss)

   $ (17,777 )   $ (34,080 )   $ (8,201 )   $ 6,539     $ 9,355  
    


 


 


 


 


Cumulative preferred stock dividends in arrears (2)

   $     $ (10,347 )   $ (11,764 )   $ (12,941 )   $ (6,187 )

Deemed preferred stock dividend

           (1,284 )                  
    


 


 


 


 


Net income (loss) attributable to common stockholders

   $ (17,777 )   $ (45,711 )   $ (19,965 )   $ (6,402 )   $ 3,168  
    


 


 


 


 


Basic net income (loss) per common share

   $ (3.77 )   $ (8.45 )   $ (3.18 )   $ (0.94 )   $ 0.28  
    


 


 


 


 


Diluted net income (loss) per common share

   $ (3.77 )   $ (8.45 )   $ (3.18 )   $ (0.94 )   $ 0.22  
    


 


 


 


 


Shares used in basic per share calculations (3)

     4,713       5,411       6,282       6,784       11,141  
    


 


 


 


 


Shares used in diluted per share calculations (3)

     4,713       5,411       6,282       6,784       41,653  
    


 


 


 


 


 

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(1) Other intellectual property revenues consist of a portion of the payments received through license negotiations or the resolution of patent disputes, insofar as such payments include amounts for royalties related to previous periods.
(2) All outstanding shares of preferred stock were converted into shares of common stock in connection with our initial public offering.
(3) See note 2 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in this annual report for an explanation of the methods used to determine the number of shares used to compute per share amounts.

 

     As of December 31,

 
     1999

    2000

    2001

    2002

    2003

 
     (in thousands)  

Consolidated balance sheet data:

                                        

Cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments

   $ 3,890     $ 23,510     $ 1,577     $ 20,170     $ 64,379  

Total assets

     16,986       29,643       24,583       24,170       70,081  

Redeemable convertible preferred stock

     64,565       96,000       96,000       96,000        

Deferred stock-based compensation

     (7,126 )     (13,393 )     (2,477 )     (620 )     (153 )

Total stockholders’ (deficit) equity

     (58,899 )     (77,146 )     (83,764 )     (74,492 )     65,989  

 

Item 7.     Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

 

Overview

 

We develop semiconductor packaging technology that meets the demand for miniaturization and increased performance of electronic products. We license our technology to our customers, enabling them to produce semiconductors that are smaller and faster, and incorporate more features. These semiconductors are utilized in a broad range of communications, computing and consumer electronics products. In addition, by utilizing our technology, we believe that our customers are also able to reduce the time-to-market and development costs of their semiconductors.

 

From our inception in 1990 through 1995, we engaged principally in research and development activities related to chip-scale and multi-chip packaging technology. We began generating revenues from licenses of our intellectual property in 1994. We began manufacturing activities in 1997 to support market acceptance of our technology. We discontinued most of these manufacturing activities in 1999, after many suppliers had developed the manufacturing infrastructure to implement our technology. We continue to develop prototypes and manufacture limited volumes of select products.

 

We generate revenues from two primary sources:

 

  intellectual property, which represents the majority of our revenues and consists of license fees for our patented technologies and royalties on semiconductors shipped by our licensees that employ these patented technologies; and

 

  services, which utilize or further our intellectual property.

 

Licensees pay a non-refundable license fee. Revenues from license fees are generally recognized once the license agreement has been executed by both parties. In some instances, we provide training to our licensees under the terms of the license agreement. The amount of training provided is limited and is incidental to the licensed technology. Accordingly, in instances where training is provided under the terms of a license agreement, a portion of the license fee is deferred until the training has been provided. The amount of revenue deferred is based on the price we charge for similar services when they are sold separately.

 

Semiconductor manufacturers and assemblers pay on-going royalties on their shipment of semiconductors incorporating our intellectual property. Royalty payments are primarily based upon the number of electrical connections to the semiconductor chip in a package covered by our technology, although we do have arrangements in which royalties are paid based upon a percent of the net sales price. Our licensees report

 

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royalties quarterly, and most also pay on a quarterly basis. As there is no reliable basis on which to estimate our royalty revenues prior to obtaining these reports from our licensees, we recognize royalty revenue when we receive a royalty report from our customer. We receive these reports the quarter after the semiconductors that incorporate our technology have been shipped.

 

From time to time, we receive payments through license negotiations or the resolution of patent disputes. These settlements generally include amounts for royalties related to previous periods based on historical production volumes. These amounts are reported as “other intellectual property revenues” in the statement of operations. Other intellectual property revenue will vary significantly on a quarterly basis.

 

Service revenues are primarily derived from engineering services, including related training services. Revenues from services related to training are recognized as the services are performed. Revenues from other services are recognized on a percentage-of-completion or completed contract method of accounting depending on the nature of the project. Under the percentage-of-completion method, revenues recognized are that portion of the total contract price equal to the ratio of costs expended to date to the anticipated final total costs based on current estimates of the costs to complete the projects. If the total estimated costs to complete a project were to exceed the total contract amount, indicating a loss, the entire anticipated loss would be recognized immediately. Revenues under the completed contract method are recognized upon acceptance by the customer or in accordance with the contract specifications.

 

We derive a significant portion of our revenues from licensees headquartered outside of the United States, principally in Asia, and these revenues accounted for 39.0% of our total revenues for the year ended December 31, 2003. We expect that these revenues will continue to account for a significant portion of revenues in future periods. All of our revenues are denominated in U.S. dollars. For the year ended December 31, 2002, Sharp Corporation and Texas Instruments each accounted for over 10% of total revenues. For the year ended December 31, 2003, Texas Instruments accounted for over 10% of total revenues.

 

We license most of our CSP and multi-chip packaging technology under a license that we refer to as a Tessera Compliant Chip, or TCC, license. The TCC license grants a worldwide right under the licensed patent claims to assemble, use and sell certain CSPs and multi-chip packages. We generally license semiconductor material suppliers under our Tessera Compliant Mounting Tape, or TCMT, license. The TCMT license calls for a one-time license fee and, unlike most of our other licenses, does not require ongoing royalty payments. We also have begun to license components of our intellectual property portfolio that are outside of the TCC license, such as module and passive component technology suitable for radio frequency, or RF products, which we call the Pyxis platform.

 

Cost of revenues consists primarily of direct compensation, materials, supplies and equipment depreciation costs. Cost of revenues associated with services represent a significant portion of the associated revenues. Cost of revenues associated with our intellectual property revenues and other intellectual property revenues are de minimis. Consequently, cost of revenues as a percentage of total revenues will vary based on the percentage of our revenues that is attributable to service revenues.

 

Research and development expenses consist primarily of compensation and related costs for personnel as well as costs related to patent applications and examinations, materials, supplies and equipment depreciation. Our research and development is conducted primarily in-house and targets both CSP and multi-chip technology. All research and development costs are expensed as incurred. We believe that a significant level of research and development expenses will be required for us to remain competitive in the future. We have increased research and development personnel from 46 at December 31, 2002 to 53 at December 31, 2003, and expect to continue to increase research and development personnel in the future. We expect research and development costs to increase in absolute dollars, but to decline as a percentage of revenues.

 

Selling expenses consist primarily of compensation and related costs for sales and marketing personnel, marketing programs, public relations, promotional materials, travel and related trade show expenses. General and

 

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administrative expenses consist primarily of compensation and related costs for: general management, information technology, finance and accounting personnel; litigation expenses and related fees; facilities costs; and professional services. Our general and administrative expenses are not allocated to other expense line items. We anticipate that our selling, general and administrative expenses will increase as we hire additional personnel and incur the additional costs of being a public company. Excluding litigation expenses, we expect that as a percentage of revenues, these expenses will decrease over time. However, we expect that litigation expenses will continue to be a material portion of our general and administrative expenses in future periods, and may increase significantly in some periods, because of our ongoing litigation with Samsung and because we expect that we will become involved in other litigation from time to time in the future in order to enforce and protect our intellectual property rights.

 

In connection with the grant of stock options from 1996 through 2003, we recorded an aggregate of $29.9 million in deferred stock-based compensation within stockholders’ equity, due to the difference between the exercise price and the estimated fair value of common stock on the date of grant. The compensation expense is amortized over the vesting period of generally four years. As of December 31, 2003, we had an aggregate of $153,000 of deferred stock-based compensation remaining to be amortized.

 

Results of Operations

 

The following table presents our historical operating results for the periods indicated as a percentage of revenues:

 

     Year Ended December 31,

 
     2001

    2002

    2003

 

Revenues:

                  

Intellectual property revenues

   45.4 %   63.4 %   68.0 %

Other intellectual property revenues

   49.2     20.2     8.5  

Service revenues

   5.4     16.4     23.5  
    

 

 

Total revenues

   100.0     100.0     100.0  
    

 

 

Operating expenses:

                  

Cost of revenues

   19.6     15.1     18.0  

Research and development

   30.4     23.7     20.5  

Selling, general and administrative

   76.8     26.7     29.6  

Stock-based compensation

   5.1     6.9     3.0  
    

 

 

Total operating expenses

   131.9     72.4     71.1  
    

 

 

Operating income (loss)

   (31.9 )   27.6     28.9  

Interest and other income, net

   1.5     0.2     0.5  
    

 

 

Income (loss) before taxes

   (30.4 )   27.8     29.4  

Benefit (provision) for income taxes

       (4.7 )   (4.4 )
    

 

 

Net income (loss)

   (30.4 )%   23.1 %   25.0 %
    

 

 

 

Fiscal Year 2003 and 2002

 

Revenues.    Revenues for the year ended December 31, 2003 were $37.3 million compared with $28.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2002, an increase of $9.1 million, or 32.0%. The $9.1 million increase was primarily due to a $7.5 million increase in intellectual property revenues and a $4.1 million increase in service revenues, partially offset by a $2.5 million decrease in other intellectual property revenues. The increase in intellectual property revenues was principally due to a $3.5 million increase in revenues from existing licensees and a $3.9 million increase in revenues from signing of new licensees. The increase in revenue from existing licensees was primarily due to increased sales by our licensees of semiconductors that incorporate our

 

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technology, resulting in increased royalty payments. The increase in revenue from new licensees is primarily due to royalty payments. The increase in service revenues is due to service contracts entered into with new customers in late 2002 and early 2003. Other intellectual property revenues declined by $2.5 million primarily because the amounts we received upon our litigation settlement with Sharp Corporation in 2002, totaling $4.0 million, and upon resolution of negotiations with Hitachi, Rohm, Samsung and Toshiba, totaling $1.7 million, were greater than the aggregate amounts we received upon resolution of negotiations with Intel, Mitsubishi, Sanyo, Seiko Epson and Shinko in 2003, which totaled $3.1 million.

 

Cost of Revenues.    Cost of revenues for the year ended December 31, 2003 increased to $6.7 million, or 18.0% of revenues, from $4.3 million, or 15.1% of revenues, for the year ended December 31, 2002 primarily due to increased costs associated with an increase in service revenues. Cost of revenues primarily relates to service revenue as the cost of revenues associated with intellectual property revenues is de minimis. Cost of revenue as a percentage of total revenue will vary based on the service revenue component of total revenue. The majority of this increase in the year of 2003 was attributable to the allocation of more personnel to service-related projects and an increase in the number of these projects. Increased materials and subcontractor costs related to service-related projects also accounted for part of the increase in cost of revenues.

 

Research and Development.    Research and development expenses for the year ended December 31, 2003 increased to $7.7 million, or 20.5% of revenues from $6.7 million, or 23.7% of revenues, for the year ended December 31, 2002. This increase in expenses was primarily due to the addition of personnel, which increased to 53 people as of December 31, 2003 as compared to 46 as of December 31, 2002 and personnel-related costs to accommodate our expanding research and development activities.

 

Selling, General and Administrative.    Selling, general and administrative expenses for the year ended December 31, 2003 increased to $11.0 million, or 29.6% of revenues, from $7.6 million, or 26.7% of revenues for the year ended December 31, 2002. The increase is attributable to our ongoing litigation with Samsung. Total litigation expenses were $2.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2003 as compared to $25,000 for the year ended December 31, 2002. We expect to continue to incur litigation expenses related to the Samsung legal proceeding in upcoming quarters. The addition of personnel and personnel-related expenses for the expansion of sales and marketing efforts also contributed to the increase in selling, general and administrative expenses.

 

Stock-based Compensation.    Stock-based compensation decreased to $1.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2003 as compared to $1.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2002. The decrease is due to lower amortization of deferred compensation related to issuance of stock options in 1998 through 2000.

 

Interest and Other Income, Net.    Interest and other income, net was $195,000 for the year ended December 31, 2003, compared to $45,000 for the year ended December 31, 2002. The increase was due to a one time charge for a foreign translation loss of $237,000 in 2002.

 

Provision for Income Taxes.    Provision for income taxes increased to $1.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2003 from $1.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2002. For the year ended December 31, 2003, the provision consisted of $213,000 of federal alternative minimum tax, or AMT, and $1.4 million of foreign withholding taxes. For the year ended December 31, 2002, the total provision related to foreign withholding taxes. Foreign withholding taxes paid relate to statutory withholding taxes on license and royalty revenues earned in Japan and Korea. We paid no state income taxes for the year ended December 31, 2003 and no U.S. federal or state income taxes for the year ended December 31, 2002.

 

Fiscal Year 2002 and 2001

 

Revenues.    Revenues were $28.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2002, as compared to $27.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2001, an increase of 4.7%. Intellectual property revenues increased $5.7 million, due to a $2.7 million increase in revenues from existing licensees and a $3.0 million

 

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increase in revenues from signing of new licensees. The increase in revenues from existing licensees is primarily due to increased production by our licensees of semiconductors that incorporate our technology, resulting in increased royalty payments. The increase in revenue from new licensees primarily is due to royalty payments. Service revenues increased $3.2 million due to an increase in service contracts. Other intellectual property revenues declined by $7.6 million because the amount we received upon our litigation settlement with Texas Instruments in 2001 was greater than the amount we received upon our litigation settlement with Sharp Corporation in 2002.

 

Cost of Revenues.    Cost of revenues was $4.3 million, or 15.1% of revenues for the year ended December 31, 2002, as compared to $5.3 million or 19.6% of revenues for the year ended December 31, 2001. The decrease in cost of revenues was primarily due to personnel related cost reductions undertaken throughout 2001. These cost reductions included the closing of a manufacturing facility that was not strategic to our operations with related headcount reductions which resulted in savings of $2.1 million. This decrease was partially offset by incremental costs associated with the increase in our service revenues, including increased allocation of personnel, materials and subcontracting costs of $1.1 million.

 

Research and Development.    Research and development expenses were $6.7 million, or 23.7% of revenues, for the year ended December 31, 2002, as compared to $8.2 million or 30.4% for the year ended December 31, 2001. The decrease in research and development expenses was primarily due to a reduction in personnel, totaling 15 persons which occurred during 2001.

 

Selling, General and Administrative.    Selling, general and administrative expenses were $7.6 million, or 26.7% of revenues for the year ended December 31, 2002, as compared to $20.8 million, or 76.8% of revenues for the year ended December 31, 2001. The decrease in selling, general and administrative expenses in 2002 was primarily due to a decrease in total litigation expenses from $12.8 million in 2001 to $25,000 in 2002 resulting from the settlement of our litigation with Texas Instruments and Sharp Corporation which were settled in December 2001 and January 2002, respectively.

 

Stock-based Compensation.    Stock-based compensation increased to $1.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2002 as compared to $1.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2001. The increase was due primarily to the reversal of a portion of previously recorded expense related to options forfeited upon termination of employees in 2001.

 

Interest and Other Income, Net.    Interest and other income, net was $45,000 for the year ended December 31, 2002, as compared to $409,000 for the year ended December 31, 2001, due to lower investment income earned and a one time charge for a foreign translation loss of $237,000 in 2002.

 

Provision for Income Taxes.    Provision for income taxes was $1.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2002, as compared to $0 for the year ended December 31, 2001. This increase was due to statutory withholding taxes on increased license and royalty revenues earned in Japan and Korea. We paid no federal or state income taxes for either of these periods due to federal net loss carryforwards and state tax credits.

 

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Quarterly Results of Operations

 

The following table presents our unaudited quarterly results of operations for the eight quarters in the period ended December 31, 2003. You should read the following table in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and related notes contained elsewhere in this annual report. We have prepared the unaudited information on the same basis as our audited consolidated financial statements. This table includes all adjustments, consisting only of normal recurring adjustments, that we consider necessary for fair presentation of our financial position and operating results for the quarters presented. Operating results for any quarter are not necessarily indicative of results for any future quarters or for a full year.

 

    Three Months Ended

 
    Mar 31,
2002


    Jun 30,
2002


    Sep 30,
2002


    Dec 31,
2002


    Mar 31,
2003


    Jun 30,
2003


    Sep 30,
2003


    Dec 31,
2003


 
    (in thousands)  

Intellectual property revenues

  $ 3,446     $ 4,292     $ 4,366     $ 5,821     $ 6,547     $ 5,503     $ 5,987     $ 7,356  

Other intellectual property revenues

    4,000       562       893       260       462       414       1,293       1,000  

Service revenues

    654       721       1,242       2,013       2,248       2,266       1,924       2,321  
   


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


Total revenues

    8,100       5,575       6,501       8,094       9,257       8,183       9,204       10,677  

Operating expenses:

                                                               

Cost of revenues

    907       967       1,221       1,169       1,385       1,657       1,849       1,843  

Research and development

    1,647       1,689       1,598       1,766       1,793       1,911       1,997       1,960  

Selling, general and administrative

    1,603       1,994       1,907       2,048       2,198       2,688       2,839       3,305  

Stock-based compensation

    690       530       422       300       233       163       612       102  
   


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


Total operating expenses

    4,847       5,180       5,148       5,283       5,609       6,419       7,297       7,210  
   


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


Operating income

    3,253       395       1,353       2,811       3,648       1,764       1,907       3,467  

Interest and other income (expense), net

    107       60       54       (176 )     81       52       69       (7 )
   


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


Income before taxes

    3,360       455       1,407       2,635       3,729       1,816       1,976       3,460  

Benefit (provision) for income taxes

    (588 )     (147 )     (242 )     (341 )     (520 )     (371 )     (370 )     (365 )
   


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


Net income

  $ 2,772     $ 308     $ 1,165     $ 2,294     $ 3,209     $ 1,445     $ 1,606     $ 3,095  
   


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 

The following table presents our historical results for the periods indicated as a percentage of revenues.

 

    Three Months Ended

 
    Mar 31,
2002


    Jun 30,
2002


    Sep 30,
2002


    Dec 31,
2002


    Mar 31,
2003


    Jun 30,
2003


    Sep 30,
2003


    Dec 31,
2003


 

Intellectual property revenues

  42.5 %   77.0 %   67.2 %   71.9 %   70.7 %   67.2 %   65.0 %   68.9 %

Other intellectual property revenues

  49.4     10.1     13.7     3.2     5.0     5.1     14.0     9.4  

Service revenues

  8.1     12.9     19.1     24.9     24.3     27.7     21.0     21.7  
   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total revenues

  100.0     100.0     100.0     100.0     100.0     100.0     100.0     100.0  

Operating expenses:

                                               

Cost of revenues

  11.2     17.3     18.8     14.5     15.0     20.2     20.1     17.3  

Research and development

  20.3     30.3     24.6     21.8     19.4     23.4     21.7     18.4  

Selling, general and administrative

  19.8     35.8     29.3     25.3     23.7     32.8     30.8     30.9  

Stock-based compensation

  8.5     9.5     6.5     3.7     2.5     2.0     6.6     0.9  
   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total operating expenses

  59.8     92.9     79.2     65.3     60.6     78.4     79.2     67.5  
   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Operating income

  40.2     7.1     20.8     34.7     39.4     21.6     20.8     32.5  

Interest and other income (expense), net

  1.3     1.1     0.8     (2.2 )   0.9     0.6     0.7     (0.1 )
   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Income before taxes

  41.5     8.2     21.6     32.5     40.3     22.2     21.5     32.4  

Benefit (provision) for income taxes

  (7.3 )   (2.7 )   (3.7 )   (4.2 )   (5.6 )   (4.5 )   (4.0 )   (3.4 )
   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net income

  34.2 %   5.5 %   17.9 %   28.3 %   34.7 %   17.7 %   17.5 %   29.0 %
   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Our intellectual property revenues grew sequentially in each quarter of 2002 and 2003, with the exception of the quarter ending June 2003, due to an increase in revenues from both existing licensees and the signing of new licensees. Our intellectual property revenues declined in the quarter ended June 2003 due to the timing of our signing of new licensees in the prior quarter. Other intellectual property revenues have been significantly impacted by revenues related to the resolution of license negotiations and patent disputes, particularly in the quarter ended March 31, 2002, due to our settlement with Sharp Corporation.

 

Cost of revenues has generally increased throughout 2002 and 2003 consistent with overall growth in service revenues. Our costs of revenues primarily relate to service revenues.

 

Operating expenses generally increased in the last three quarters of 2003 due to increased litigation expenses beginning in the quarter ended June 30, 2003. There were minimal litigation expenses in 2002. Litigation expenses steadily increased in 2003 as our involvement in the Samsung case increased. If litigation expenses are excluded, operating expenses have generally increased in 2002 and 2003 to support the growth in revenues.

 

Net Operating Losses and Tax Credit Carryforwards

 

At December 31, 2003, we had federal and state net operating loss carryforwards of approximately $56.1 million and $18.2 million, respectively. The net operating loss carryforwards began to expire on various dates beginning in 2003, and will continue to expire through 2021, if not utilized. Under the provisions of the Internal Revenue Code, substantial changes in our ownership may limit the amount of net operating loss carryforwards that can be utilized annually in the future to offset taxable income. A valuation allowance has been established to fully reserve the potential benefits of these carryforwards in our financial statements to reflect the uncertainty of future taxable income required to utilize available tax loss carryforwards and other deferred tax assets. We believe that, as a result of our initial public offering, it is likely that a change in our ownership has occurred. If such a change in our ownership occurs, our ability to use our net operating loss carryforwards in any fiscal year may be significantly limited.

 

Liquidity and Capital Resources

 

Since our inception, we have financed our operations primarily through sales of equity securities and, more recently, through cash generated from operations. We have received a total of $93.7 million from private offerings of our equity securities and we generated $34.6 million of net proceeds from our initial public offering in November 2003. At December 31, 2003 we had $64.4 million in cash and cash equivalents.

 

Net cash provided by operating activities for the year ended December 31, 2003 was $11.7 million compared to $18.8 million in the comparable period in 2002. Operating cash flows in 2003 were generated from net income adjusted for non-cash expenses of $2.1 million. Net cash generated by operating activities for the year ended December 31, 2002 was generated primarily from net income adjusted for non-cash expenses of $3.1 million and a decrease in accounts receivable of $18.8 million. This was partially offset by decreases in accrued liabilities of $7.1 million and deferred revenue of $1.8 million The decrease in accounts receivable was primarily due to the collection of a receivable related to a legal settlement with Texas Instruments late in 2001. The decrease in accrued liabilities was primarily due to payment of litigation costs.

 

Net cash provided by operating activities for the year ended December 31, 2002 was $18.8 million compared to net cash used in operating activities of $21.7 million for the comparable period in 2001. Operating cash flows in 2002 were generated from net income from operations adjusted for non-cash expenses of $3.1 million and a decrease in accounts receivable of $18.8 million. This was partially offset by decreases in accrued liabilities of $7.1 million and deferred revenue of $1.8 million. Net cash used in operating activities for the year ended December 31, 2001 was a result of a net loss from operations adjusted for non-cash expenses of $4.0 million and an increase in accounts receivable of $19.3 million. The changes in accounts receivable for both years were due to the legal settlement with Texas Instruments late in 2001. The decrease in accrued liabilities in 2002 was primarily due to payment of litigation costs.

 

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Net cash provided by investing activities for the year ended December 31, 2003 was $17.4 million, due to the sales of short-term marketable securities. Net cash used in investing activities for the year ended December 31, 2002 was $18.3 million, primarily due to net purchases of short-term marketable securities, and was primarily funded by cash from operations. Net cash provided by investing activities for the comparable period in 2001 was primarily attributable to the sale of short-term marketable securities.

 

Net cash provided by financing activities for year ended December 31, 2003 was $33.9 million comprised primarily of net proceeds of $34.6 million from the Company’s initial public offering. Net cash provided by financing activities for the comparable period in 2002 was $295,000 representing $567,000 in proceeds from the exercise of stock options offset partially by repayment of capital lease obligations.

 

Net cash used in financing activities for the comparable period in 2001 was $143,000 representing $338,000 in proceeds from the exercise of stock options and warrants offset partially by repayment of $481,000 in capital lease obligations.

 

We believe that based on current levels of operations and anticipated growth, our cash from operations, together with cash currently available, will be sufficient to fund our operations for at least the next twelve months. Poor financial results, unanticipated expenses, unanticipated acquisitions of technologies or businesses or unanticipated strategic investments could give rise to additional financing requirements sooner than we expect. There can be no assurance that equity or debt financing will be available when needed or, if available, that the financing will be on terms satisfactory to us and not dilutive to our then-current stockholders.

 

Contractual Cash Obligations

 

As of December 31, 2003 the following sets forth our minimum commitments under operating leases:

 

Year Ended December 31,


   Amount

     (in thousands)

2004

   $ 541

2005

     141

2006

     7
    

Total minimum lease commitments

   $ 689
    

 

Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

 

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. By their nature, these estimates and judgments are subject to an inherent degree of uncertainty. On an ongoing basis we re-evaluate our judgments and estimates including those related to long-lived assets, income taxes, litigation and contingencies. We base our estimates and judgments on our historical experience, knowledge of current conditions and our beliefs of what could occur in the future considering available information. Actual results could differ from those estimates, and material effects on our operating results and financial position may result. Our estimates are guided by observing the following critical accounting policies:

 

Revenue Recognition.    We recognize revenues in accordance with Securities and Exchange Commission Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 101, Revenue Recognition in Financial Statements, as amended by SAB 101A and 101B. SAB 101 requires that four basic criteria must be met before revenues can be recognized: (1) persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists: (2) delivery has occurred or services have been rendered: (3) the fee is fixed and determinable; and (4) collectibility is reasonably assured.

 

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In order to determine whether collection is probable, we assess a number of factors, including past transaction history with the customer and the credit-worthiness of the customer. If we determine that collection is not reasonably assured, we defer the recognition of revenue at the time until collection becomes reasonably assured, which is generally upon receipt of payment.

 

Estimating accrued liabilities.    We review our accounts payable and accrued liabilities at each reporting period, and accrue liabilities as appropriate. During this analysis we consider items such as research and development activity, commitments made to or the level of activity with vendors, payroll and employee-related costs, historic spending, budgeted spending, and anticipated changes in the costs of services.

 

Valuation of Long Lived Assets.    We evaluate the recoverability of our long-lived assets whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of an asset might not be recoverable, in accordance with Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 144 (“SFAS 144”). Impairment evaluations involve management estimates of assets’ useful lives and future cash flows. When such an event occurs, we estimate the future cash flows expected to result from the use of the asset and its eventual disposition. If the undiscounted expected future cash flows are less than the carrying amount of the asset, an impairment loss is recognized. Actual useful lives and cash flows could be different from those estimated by our management. This could have a material effect on our operating results and financial position. To date, no impairment loss has been recognized. We assess the impairment in value to our long-lived assets whenever events or circumstances indicate that their carrying value may not be recoverable. Factors we consider important that could trigger an impairment review include the following:

 

  operating losses;

 

  significant negative industry trends;

 

  significant underutilization of the assets; and

 

  significant changes in how we use the assets or our plans for their use.

 

Stock-based compensation.    Our Amended and Restated 2003 Equity Incentive Plan is accounted for in accordance with Accounting Principles Board No. 25, “Accounting for Stock Issued to Employees,” (“APB 25”) and complies with the disclosure provisions of Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 123, “Accounting for Stock-Based Compensation,” (“SFAS 123”) and Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 148, “Accounting for Stock-Based Compensation, Transition and Disclosure” (“SFAS 148”). Expense associated with stock-based compensation is amortized on an accelerated basis over the vesting period of the individual award consistent with the method described in Financial Accounting Standards Board Interpretation No. 28, “Accounting for Stock Appreciation Rights and Other Variable Stock Option or Award Plans an interpretation of APB Opinions No. 15 and 25” (“FIN 28”).

 

We account for stock issued to non-employees in accordance with the provisions of SFAS 123 and Emerging Issues Task Force Consensus No. 96-18, “Accounting for Equity Instruments That are Issued to Other Than Employees for Acquiring, or in Conjunction with Selling, Goods or Services” (“EITF 96-18”). Under SFAS 123 and EITF 96-18, stock option awards issued to non-employees are accounted for at fair value using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model. We believe that the fair value of the stock options are more reliably measured than the fair value of the services received. The fair value of each non-employee stock award is remeasured at each period end until a commitment date is reached, which is generally the vesting date.

 

Accounting for Income Taxes.    We account for income taxes under the provisions of Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 109, “Accounting for Income Taxes.” Under this method, we determine deferred tax assets and liabilities based upon the difference between the financial statement and tax bases of assets and income. The tax consequences of most events recognized in the current year’s financial statements are included in determining income taxes currently payable. However, because tax laws and financial accounting standards differ in their recognition and measurement of assets, liabilities, equity, revenues, expenses, gains and losses,

 

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differences arise between the amount of taxable income and pretax financial income for a year and between the tax bases of assets or liabilities and their reported amounts in the financial statements. Because it is assumed that the reported amounts of assets and liabilities will be recovered and settled, respectively, a difference between the tax basis of an asset or a liability and its reported amount in the balance sheet will result in a taxable or a deductible amount in some future years when the related liabilities are settled or the reported amounts of assets are recovered, hence giving rise to a deferred tax asset. We must then assess the likelihood that our deferred tax assets will be recovered from future taxable income and to the extent we believe that recovery is not likely, we must establish a valuation allowance.

 

At December 31, 2003, we had recorded a full valuation allowance of $26.8 million against our deferred tax assets, due to uncertainties related to our ability to utilize our deferred tax assets, primarily consisting of certain net operating losses carried forward, before they expire.

 

Litigation and Contingencies.    From time to time, we have been subject to legal proceedings and claims with respect to such matters as patents and other actions arising out of the normal course of business, as well as other matters identified in “Business—Legal Proceedings”.

 

The results of any litigation are inherently uncertain, and any adverse decision could result in a loss of our proprietary rights, subject us to significant liabilities, require us to seek licenses from others, limit the value of our technologies and otherwise negatively impact over business. If we believe that it is probable for a certain proceeding to result in an adverse decision and that the loss is estimable, we would establish an appropriate accrual for the loss.

 

Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk

 

The primary objective of our investment activities is to preserve principal while maximizing the income we receive from our investments without significantly increasing risk of loss. Some of the securities that we may invest in the future may be subject to market risk for changes in interest rates. To mitigate this risk, we plan to maintain a portfolio of cash equivalents and short-term investments in a variety of securities, which may include commercial paper, money market funds, government and non-government debt securities. Currently, we are exposed to minimal market risks. We manage the sensitivity of our results of operations to these risks by maintaining a conservative portfolio, which is comprised solely of highly-rated, short-term investments. We do not hold or issue derivative, derivative commodity instruments or other financial instruments for trading purposes.

 

The risk associated with fluctuating interest rates is limited to our investment portfolio. We do not believe that a 10% change in interest rates would have a significant impact on our results of operations or cash flows.

 

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

 

In January 2003, the FASB issued FIN No. 46, “Consolidation of Variable Interest Entities, an Interpretation of ARB No. 51.” FIN No. 46, as amended, requires certain variable interest entities to be consolidated by the primary beneficiary of the entity if the equity investors in the entity do not have the characteristics of a controlling financial interest or do not have sufficient equity at risk for the entity to finance its activities without additional subordinated financial support from other parties. FIN No. 46 is effective immediately for all new variable interest entities created or acquired after January 31, 2003. For variable interest entities created or acquired prior to February 1, 2003, the provisions of FIN No. 46 must be applied for the first interim or annual period beginning after December 15, 2003. The adoption of this standard did not have any material impact on our financial position or results of operations.

 

In April 2003, the FASB issued SFAS No. 149, “Amendment of Statement 133 on Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities.” SFAS No. 149 amends and clarifies financial accounting and reporting of derivative

 

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instruments and hedging activities under SFAS No. 133, “Accounting for Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities.” SFAS No. 149 amends SFAS No. 133 for decisions made: (i) as part of the Derivatives Implementation Group process that require amendment to SFAS No. 133; (ii) in connection with other FASB projects dealing with financial instruments; and (iii) in connection with the implementation issues raised related to the application of the definition of a derivative. SFAS No. 149 is effective for contracts entered into or modified after June 30, 2003 and for designated hedging relationships after June 30, 2003. The adoption of SFAS No. 149 did not have any material impact on our financial position or results of operations.

 

In May 2003, the FASB issued SFAS No. 150, “Accounting for Certain Financial Instruments with Characteristics of both Liabilities and Equity.” The Statement establishes standards for how an issuer classifies and measures certain financial instruments with characteristics of both liabilities and equity and further requires that an issuer classify as a liability (or an asset in some circumstances) financial instruments that fall within its scope because that financial instrument embodies an obligation of the issuer. Many of such instruments were previously classified as equity. The statement is effective for financial instruments entered into or modified after May 31, 2003, and otherwise is effective at the beginning of the first interim period beginning after June 15, 2003. The adoption of this standard did not have any material impact on our financial position or results of operations.

 

In November 2002, the Emerging Issues Task Force reached a consensus on Issue No. 00-21 (“EITF No. 00-21”), “Multiple-Deliverable Revenue Arrangements.” EITF No. 00-21 addresses how to account for arrangements that may involve the delivery or performance of multiple products, services, and/or rights to use assets. The consensus mandates how to identify whether goods or services or both that are to be delivered separately in a bundled sales arrangement should be accounted for separately because they are separate units of accounting. The guidance can affect the timing of revenue recognition for such arrangements, even though it does not change rules governing the timing or pattern of revenue recognition of individual items accounted for separately. The provisions of EITF No. 00-21 apply to revenue arrangements entered into in fiscal periods beginning for June 15, 2003. The adoption of EITF No. 00-21 did not have any material impact on our financial position or results of operations.

 

Risk Factors

 

We expect our quarterly and annual operating results to fluctuate and these fluctuations may cause our stock price to be volatile and decline.

 

Our quarterly and annual operating results have fluctuated in the past and are likely to do so in the future. Because our operating results are difficult to predict, you should not rely on quarterly or annual comparisons of our results of operations as an indication of our future performance. We have had positive net income only since the fourth quarter of 2001. Factors that could cause our operating results to fluctuate during any period include those listed in this “Risk Factors” section of this annual report and the following:

 

  the timing of new license or service agreements, and the terms and conditions for payment to us of license or service fees under these agreements;

 

  changes in our royalties caused by changes in demand for products incorporating semiconductors that use our licensed technology;

 

  the amount of our service revenues;

 

  changes in the level of our operating expenses;

 

  delays in our introduction of new technologies or market acceptance of these new technologies through new license agreements;

 

  our failure to protect or enforce our intellectual property rights;

 

  legal proceedings affecting our patents or patent applications;

 

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  the timing of the introduction by others of competing technologies;

 

  changes in demand for semiconductor chips in the specific markets in which we concentrate — digital signal processor, or DSP, semiconductors, application specific integrated circuits, or ASIC semiconductors, and memory;

 

  changes in accounting principles or policies, including an election by us, or a requirement, to treat stock option grants as an operating expense; and

 

  cyclical fluctuations in semiconductor markets generally.

 

It is difficult to predict when we will enter into license agreements. The time it takes to establish a new licensing arrangement can be lengthy. Delays or deferrals in the execution of license agreements may also increase as we develop new technologies. Because we generally recognize a significant portion of license fee revenues in the quarter that the license is signed, the timing of signing license agreements may significantly impact our quarterly or annual operating results. Under our typical license agreements, we also receive ongoing royalty payments, and these may fluctuate significantly from period to period based on sales of products incorporating our licensed technology. We expect to expand our business rapidly which will require us to increase our operating expenses. We may not be able to increase revenues in an amount sufficient to offset these increased expenditures, which may lead to a loss for a quarterly or annual period.

 

Due to fluctuations in our quarterly and annual operating results and other factors, the price at which our common stock will trade is likely to continue to be highly volatile. In future periods, if our revenues or operating results are below our estimates or the estimates or expectations of public market analysts and investors our stock price could decline. In the past, securities class action litigation has often been brought against companies following a decline in the market price of their securities. Technology companies have experienced greater than average stock price volatility than companies in many other industries in recent years and, as a result, have, on average, been subject to a greater number of securities class action claims. If our stock price is volatile, we may become involved in this type of litigation in the future. Any litigation could result in substantial costs and a diversion of management’s attention and resources that are needed to successfully run our business.

 

If we fail to protect and enforce our intellectual property rights, our business will suffer.

 

We rely primarily on a combination of license, development and nondisclosure agreements and other contractual provisions and patent, trademark, trade secret and copyright law to protect our intellectual property rights. If we fail to protect our intellectual property rights, our licensees and others may seek to use our technology without the payment of license fees and royalties, which could weaken our competitive position, reduce our operating results and increase the likelihood of costly litigation. The growth of our business depends in large part on our ability to convince third parties of the applicability of our intellectual property to their products, and our ability to enforce our intellectual property rights against them.

 

In certain instances, we attempt to obtain patent protection for portions of our intellectual property portfolio, and our license agreements typically include our patents and pending patent applications. If we fail to obtain patents or if the patents issued to us do not cover all of the claims we asserted in our patent applications, others could use portions of our intellectual property without the payment of license fees and royalties. We also rely on trade secret law rather than patent law to protect other portions of our proprietary technology. However, trade secrets are difficult to protect. We protect our proprietary technology and processes, in part, through confidentiality agreements with our employees, consultants and customers. We cannot be certain that these contracts have not been and will not be breached, that we will have adequate remedies for any breach or that our trade secrets will not otherwise become known or be independently discovered by competitors. If we fail to use these mechanisms to protect our intellectual property, or if a court fails to enforce our contractual provisions with respect to these rights, our business will suffer. We cannot be certain that these protection mechanisms can be successfully asserted in the future or will not be invalidated or challenged.

 

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A court invalidation or limitation of our key patents could significantly harm our business.

 

Our patent portfolio contains some patents that are particularly significant to our ongoing revenues and business. If any of these key patents are invalidated, or if a court limits the scope of the claims in any of these key patents, the likelihood that companies will take new licenses and that current licensees will continue to agree to pay under their existing licenses could be significantly reduced. The resulting loss in license fees and royalties could significantly harm our business. Moreover, our stock price may fluctuate based on developments in the course of ongoing litigation, including our litigation with Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. described below and elsewhere in this annual report.

 

We are currently involved in a legal proceeding with Samsung. This litigation involves some of our key patents. On December 16, 2002, Samsung initiated a declaratory judgment action against us in U.S. District Court. This action included the assertion of the defense of equitable estoppel, alleging that we are precluded from enforcing our patents on the grounds that: (1) we had a duty to disclose certain of our patents to JEDEC (a standards body); (2) we breached our duty of disclosure to JEDEC; and (3) as a result of our failure to disclose these patents, we may not allege that our patents cover Samsung’s products. On February 18, 2003, we filed our answer and counterclaim alleging patent infringement, termination of the license, and breach of the license by Samsung. In our answer and counterclaim we also denied Samsung’s allegations regarding JEDEC on several grounds, including that (1) we satisfied the duty of disclosure to JEDEC as that duty has previously been defined by the courts in other cases; and (2) Samsung expressly agreed in its 1997 license agreement with us to pay royalties for any of its products that are covered by our patents, which expressly precludes Samsung from arguing that it believes our patents are unenforceable against Samsung’s products. Samsung has continued to make payments under our license agreement and has responded by moving to dismiss our patent infringement counterclaims. On August 11, 2003, the court granted Samsung’s motion to dismiss our patent infringement counterclaims on the grounds that, pending the outcome of the current litigation, Samsung does not infringe because its activities are covered by the 1997 license agreement. On November 12, 2003, the court held a patent claim construction hearing, and a claim construction order was entered on January 8, 2004. We are proceeding against Samsung with a breach of contract action with our infringement contentions being a central element of the action. This proceeding is in its preliminary stages, and we cannot predict its outcome. An adverse decision in this proceeding could significantly harm our business.

 

We may be required to undertake costly legal proceedings to enforce or protect our intellectual property rights and this may harm our business.

 

In the past we have found it necessary to litigate to enforce our patents and other intellectual property rights, to protect our trade secrets, to determine the validity and scope of the proprietary rights of others or to defend against claims of infringement or invalidity. We are currently involved in litigation with Samsung regarding our intellectual property rights, as described above, and expect to be involved in similar litigation in the future. Litigation is inherently uncertain and any adverse decision could result in a loss of our proprietary rights, subject us to significant liabilities, require us to seek licenses from others, limit the value of our licensed technology and otherwise negatively impact our business. Whether or not determined in our favor or settled by us, litigation is costly and diverts our managerial, technical, legal and financial resources from our business operations.

 

We may become involved in litigation with our licensees, potential licensees or strategic partners, which could harm our business.

 

We may become involved in a dispute relating to our intellectual property or our contracts, which could include or be with a licensee, potential licensee or strategic partner. Our pending litigation with Samsung, as described above, is an example. Any such dispute could cause the licensee or strategic partner to cease making royalty or other payments to us and could substantially damage our relationship with the company on both business and technical levels. Any litigation stemming from such a dispute could be very expensive and may cause us to cease being profitable. Litigation could also severely disrupt or shut down the business operations of

 

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our licensees or strategic partners, which in turn would significantly harm our ongoing relations with them and cause us to lose royalty revenues. Any such litigation could also harm our relationships with other licensees or our ability to gain new customers, who may postpone licensing decisions pending the outcome of the litigation. We are unaware of any material harm or delay that the pending Samsung litigation has caused in our relationships with other licensees or potential customers. However, we believe that our previously-settled litigations with Sharp Corporation and Texas Instruments, which are described under “Business — Legal Proceedings,” encouraged some potential licensees to postpone their licensing decisions until those litigations were settled.

 

In addition, many semiconductor and package assembly companies maintain their own internal design groups and have their own package design and manufacturing capabilities. If we believe these groups have designed technologies that infringe upon our intellectual property, and if they fail to enter into a license agreement with us, then we may be forced to commence legal proceedings against them.

 

We have a royalty-based business model, which is inherently risky.

 

Our long-term success depends on future royalties paid to us by licensees. Royalty payments are primarily based upon the number of electrical connections to the semiconductor chip in a package covered by our licensed technology, although we do have royalty arrangements in which royalties are paid based upon a percent of the net sales price. We are dependent upon our ability to structure, negotiate and enforce agreements for the determination and payment of royalties. We face risks inherent in a royalty-based business model, many of which are outside of our control, such as the following:

 

  the rate of adoption and incorporation of our technology by semiconductor manufacturers and assemblers;

 

  the extent to which large equipment vendors and materials providers develop and supply tools and materials to enable manufacturing using our packaging technology;

 

  the demand for products incorporating semiconductors that use our licensed technology; and

 

  the cyclicality of supply and demand for products using our licensed technology.

 

It is difficult for us to verify royalty amounts owed to us under our licensing agreements, and this may cause us to lose revenues.

 

The standard terms of our license agreements require our licensees to document the manufacture and sale of products that incorporate our technology and report this data to us on a quarterly basis. Although our standard license terms give us the right to audit books and records of our licensees to verify this information, audits can be expensive, time consuming, and potentially detrimental to our ongoing business relationship with our licensees. As a result, to date, we have relied exclusively on the accuracy of the reports themselves without independently verifying the information in them. Our failure to audit our licensees’ books and records may result in us receiving less royalty revenues than we are entitled to under the terms of our license agreements.

 

Failure by our licensees to introduce products using our technology could limit our royalty revenue growth.

 

Because we expect a significant portion of our future revenues to be derived from royalties on semiconductors that use our licensed technology, our future success depends upon our licensees developing and introducing commercially successful products. Any of the following factors could limit our licensees’ ability to introduce products that incorporate our technology:

 

  the willingness and ability of materials and equipment suppliers to produce materials and equipment that support our licensed technology, in a quantity sufficient to enable volume manufacturing;

 

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  the ability of our licensees to purchase such materials and equipment on a cost-effective and timely basis;

 

  the willingness of our licensees and others to make investments in the manufacturing process that supports our licensed technology, and the amount and timing of those investments; and

 

  our licensees’ ability to design and assemble packages incorporating our technology that are acceptable to their customers.

 

Failure by the semiconductor industry to adopt new high performance DRAM chips that utilize our packaging technology would significantly harm our business.

 

To date, our packaging technology has been used by several companies for high performance dynamic random access memory, or DRAM, chips. For example, packaging using our technology was designated by Rambus as the reference design package for its high performance Rambus DRAM chips. However, the DRAM designed by Rambus has not been widely adopted due to the use of competing technologies such as the first generation of DDR DRAM, which does not currently utilize advanced packaging technologies. DRAM manufacturers are also currently developing new high performance DRAM chips such as the next generation of DDR, referred to as DDR2, to meet increasing speed and performance requirements of electronic products. We believe that these new high performance DRAM chips will require advanced packaging technologies such as CSP.

 

We anticipate that royalties from shipments of these new, high performance DRAM chips packaged using our technology may account for a significant percentage of our future revenues. If semiconductor manufacturers do not adopt new, high performance DRAM as quickly as is currently being projected by industry sources or find an alternate viable packaging technology for use with their high performance DRAM chips, or if we do not receive royalties from new, high performance DRAM chips that use our technology, our future revenues could be adversely affected.

 

Our technology may be too expensive for certain new, high performance DRAM manufacturers, which could significantly reduce the adoption rate of our packaging technology in new, high performance DRAM chips. Even if our package technology is selected for at least some of these new, high performance DRAM chips, there could be delays in the introduction of products utilizing these chips that could materially affect the amount and timing of any royalty payments that we receive. Other factors that could affect adoption of our technology for new, high performance DRAM products include delays or shortages of materials and equipment and the availability of testing services.

 

Further, one of the issues in dispute in our current litigation with Samsung is whether our patents cover specific embodiments of packages used by Samsung for packaging DRAM. If Samsung prevails on the question of infringement of our patents upon certain of its packages or succeeds in proving that our patents relevant to the DRAM package are invalid, unenforceable or should be limited, revenues from DRAM chip manufacturers for our licensed technology will be adversely affected.

 

A significant amount of our royalty revenues comes from a few market segments and products, and our business could be harmed if these market segments or products decline.

 

A significant portion of our royalty revenues comes from the manufacture and sale of packaged semiconductor chips for DSP, ASIC and memory. In addition, we derive substantial revenues from the incorporation of our technology into wireless phones. If demand for semiconductors in any one or a combination of these market segments or products declines, our royalty revenues may be reduced and our business could be harmed. Moreover, were such a decline to occur, our business could become more cyclical in nature.

 

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Our revenue is concentrated in a few customers and if we lose any of these customers our revenues may decrease substantially.

 

We receive a significant amount of our revenues from a limited number of customers. In fiscal 2003, revenues from our top customer, Texas Instruments, accounted for 28.4% of our total revenues. We expect that a significant portion of our revenues will continue to come from a few customers for the foreseeable future. If we lose any of these customers, or if our revenues from them decline, our revenues may decrease substantially.

 

Competing technologies may harm our business.

 

We expect that our technologies will continue to compete with technologies of internal design groups of semiconductor manufacturers and assemblers. These internal design groups create their own packaging solutions, and have direct access to their company’s technical information and technology roadmaps, and have capacity, cost and technical advantages over us. If these internal design groups design around our patents, they may not need to license our technology. These groups may design package technology that is less expensive to implement than ours or provides products with higher performance or additional features. Many of these groups have substantially greater resources, financial or otherwise, than us and lower cost structures. As a result, they may be able to get their package technology adopted more easily and quickly. For instance, certain flip chip technologies are being used by large semiconductor manufacturers and assemblers for a variety of semiconductors, including processors and memory. Another example of a competitive technology is the small format lead frame packages that are also gaining popularity. The companies using these technologies are utilizing their current lead frame infrastructure to achieve cost-effective results.

 

In the future our licensed technologies may also compete with other package technologies. These technologies may be less expensive than ours and provide higher or additional performance. Companies with these competing technologies may also have greater resources than us. Technological change could render our technologies obsolete, and new, competitive technologies could emerge that achieve broad adoption and adversely affect the use of our intellectual property.

 

If we do not create and implement new designs to expand our licensable technology portfolio our competitive position could be harmed and our operating results adversely affected.

 

We derive a significant portion of our revenues from licenses and royalties from a relatively small number of key technologies. We plan to devote significant engineering resources in order to develop new packaging technologies to address the evolving needs of the semiconductor and the consumer electronic industries. To remain competitive, we must introduce new technologies or designs in a timely manner and the market must adopt them. Developments in packaging technologies are inherently complex, and require long development cycles and a substantial investment before we can determine their commercial viability. We may not be able to develop and market new technologies in a timely or commercially acceptable fashion. Moreover, our currently issued U.S. patents expire at various times from January 25, 2009 through September 19, 2021. We need to develop and patent successful innovations before our current patents expire.

 

We also may attempt to expand our licensable technology portfolio and technical expertise by acquiring technology or developing strategic relationships with others. These strategic relationships may include the right for us to sublicense technology to others. However, we may not be able to acquire or obtain rights to licensable technology in a timely manner or upon commercially reasonable terms. Moreover, our research and development efforts, and acquisitions and strategic relationships, may be futile if we do not accurately predict the future packaging needs of the semiconductor and consumer electronics industries. Our failure to develop or acquire new technologies could significantly harm our business.

 

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Our licensing cycle is lengthy and costly and our marketing and sales efforts may be unsuccessful.

 

We generally incur significant marketing and sales expenses prior to entering into our license agreements, generating a license fee and establishing a royalty stream from each licensee. The length of time it takes to establish a new licensing relationship can range from 6 to 18 months. As such, we may incur significant losses in any particular period before any associated revenues stream begins.

 

We employ intensive marketing and sales efforts to educate materials suppliers, equipment vendors, licensees, potential licensees and original equipment manufacturers about the benefits of our technologies. In addition, even if these companies adopt our technologies, they must devote significant resources to integrate fully our technologies into their operations. If our marketing and sales efforts are unsuccessful, then we will not be able to achieve widespread acceptance of our packaging technology.

 

Cyclicality in the semiconductor industry may affect our revenues, and as a result our operating results could be adversely affected.

 

The semiconductor industry has historically been cyclical and is characterized by wide fluctuations in product supply and demand. From time to time, this industry has experienced significant downturns, often in connection with, or in anticipation of, maturing product and technology cycles, excess inventories and declines in general economic conditions. This cyclicality could cause our operating results to decline dramatically from one period to the next. Our business depends heavily upon the volume of production by our licensees, which, in turn, depends upon the current and anticipated market demand for semiconductors and products that use semiconductors. Similarly, our services business relies at least in part upon the outsourcing of design and engineering projects by the semiconductor industry. Semiconductor manufacturers and package assembly companies generally sharply curtail their spending during industry downturns and historically have lowered their spending more than the decline in their revenues. As a result, if we are unable to control our expenses adequately in response to lower revenues from our licensees and service customers, our operating results will suffer and we might experience operating losses.

 

The international nature of our business exposes us to financial and regulatory risks and we may have difficulty protecting our intellectual property in some foreign countries.

 

We derive a significant portion of our revenues from licensees headquartered outside the United States, principally in Asia, and these revenues accounted for 39.0% of our total revenues in fiscal 2003. International operations are subject to a number of risks, including the following:

 

  international terrorism and anti-American sentiment, particularly in emerging markets;

 

  laws and business practices favoring local companies;

 

  withholding tax obligations on license revenues that we may not be able to offset fully against our U.S. tax obligations, including the further risk that foreign tax authorities may re-characterize license fees or increase tax rates, which could result in increased tax withholdings and penalties; and

 

  less effective protection of intellectual property than is afforded to us in the United States, or other developed countries.

 

Our intellectual property is also used in a large number of foreign countries. There are many countries, such as China, in which we currently have no issued patents. In addition, effective intellectual property enforcement may be unavailable or limited in some foreign countries. It may be difficult for us to protect our intellectual property from misuse or infringement by other companies in these countries. We expect this to become a greater problem for us as our licensees increase their manufacturing in countries which provide less protection for intellectual property. Our inability to enforce our intellectual property rights in some countries may harm our business.

 

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Our services business may subject us to specific costs and risks that we may fail to manage adequately which could harm our business.

 

We derive a substantial portion of our revenues from engineering services. Among the engineering services that we offer are customized package design and prototyping, modeling, simulation, failure analysis and reliability testing and related training services. A number of factors, including, among others, the perceived value of our intellectual property portfolio, our ability to convince customers of the value of our engineering services and our reputation for performance under our service contracts, could cause our revenues from engineering services to decline, which would in turn harm our operating results.

 

Moreover, most of our service revenues are derived from engineering services we provide to government agencies and their contractors to enable the development of new packaging technologies. If demand for our services from government agencies declines, due to changes in government policies or otherwise, our service revenues will be adversely affected.

 

Under our services contracts we are required to perform certain services, including sometimes delivering designs and prototypes. If we fail to deliver as required under our service contracts, we could lose revenues and become subject to liability for breach of contract.

 

We provide certain other services at below cost in an effort to increase the speed and breadth with which the semiconductor industry adopts our technologies. For example, we provide modeling, manufacturing process training, equipment and materials characterization and other services to assist licensees in designing, implementing, upgrading and maintaining their packaging assembly line. We frequently provide these services as a form of training to introduce new licensees to our technology and existing clients to new technologies, with the aim that these services will help us to generate revenues in the future. We need to monitor these services adequately in order to ensure that we do not incur significant expenses without generating corresponding revenues. Our failure to monitor these services or our design and prototype services adequately may harm our operating results.

 

Because our services sometimes involve the delivery of package designs and prototypes, we may be subject to claims that we infringed or induced the infringement of patents and other intellectual property rights belonging to others. If such a claim were made, we may have to take a license or stop manufacturing the offending packages, which could cause our services revenues to decrease. If we choose not to take a license, we may be sued for infringement, and may incur significant litigation costs in defending against the lawsuit. If we are found to infringe the intellectual property rights of others, we may have to pay damages and could be subject to an injunction preventing us from continuing to provide the services. Any of these outcomes could harm our business.

 

If our prototypes, manufactured packages or products based on our designs are used in defective products, we may be subject to product liability or other claims.

 

Under our service contracts, we may, at times, manufacture packages on a limited basis, deliver prototypes or design or help design prototypes or products. If these prototypes, manufactured packages or designs are used in defective or malfunctioning products, we could be sued for damages, especially if the defect or malfunction causes physical harm to people. The occurrence of a problem could result in product liability claims and/or a recall of, or safety alert or advisory notice relating to, the product. While we believe the amount of product liability insurance maintained by us combined with the indemnities that we have been granted under these service contracts are adequate, there can be no assurance that these will be adequate to satisfy claims made against us in the future or that we will be able to obtain insurance in the future at satisfactory rates or in adequate amounts. Product liability claims or product recalls in the future, regardless of their ultimate outcome, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and reputation, and on our ability to attract and retain licensees and customers.

 

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We intend to expand our operations which may strain our resources and increase our operating expenses.

 

We plan to expand our operations, domestically and internationally, and may do so through both internal growth and acquisitions. We expect that this expansion will strain our systems and operational and financial controls. In addition, we are likely to incur significantly higher operating costs. To manage our growth effectively, we must continue to improve and expand our systems and controls. If we do fail to do so, our growth would be limited. Our officers have limited experience in managing large or rapidly growing businesses. Further, our officers have limited experience managing companies through acquisitions and technological changes. In addition, our management has limited experience in managing a public company.

 

We may make acquisitions, which could divert management’s attention, cause ownership dilution to our stockholders, be difficult to integrate and adversely affect our financial results.

 

While we have not acquired any significant businesses, products or technologies in the past, acquisitions are commonplace in the semiconductor industry and we may acquire complementary businesses or technologies in the future. Integrating newly acquired businesses or technologies could put a strain on our resources, could be costly and time consuming, and might not be successful. Future acquisitions could divert our management’s attention from other business concerns. In addition, we might lose key employees while integrating new organizations. Future acquisitions could also result in customer dissatisfaction, performance problems with an acquired company or technology, potentially dilutive issuances of equity securities or the incurrence of debt, the assumption or incurrence of contingent liabilities, possible impairment charges related to goodwill or other intangible assets or other unanticipated events or circumstances, any of which could harm our business. Consequently, we might not be successful in integrating any acquired businesses, products or technologies, and might not achieve anticipated revenues and cost benefits.

 

If we lose any of our key personnel or are unable to attract, train and retain qualified personnel, we may not be able to execute our business strategy effectively.

 

Our success depends, in large part, on the continued contributions of our key management, engineering, sales and marketing, legal and finance personnel, many of whom are highly skilled and would be difficult to replace. In particular, the services of Dr. McWilliams, our President, Chief Executive Officer and the Chairman of our Board of Directors, who has led our company since May 1999 and been Chairman since February 2002, are very important to our business. None of our senior management, key technical personnel or key sales personnel are bound by written employment contracts to remain with us for a specified period. In addition, we do not currently maintain key person life insurance covering our key personnel. The loss of any of our senior management or other key personnel could harm our ability to implement our business strategy and respond to the rapidly changing market conditions in which we operate.

 

Our success also depends on our ability to attract, train and retain highly skilled managerial, engineering, sales, marketing, legal and finance personnel and on the abilities of new personnel to function effectively, both individually and as a group. Competition for qualified senior employees can be intense. For example, we have experienced, and we expect to continue to experience, difficulty in hiring and retaining highly skilled engineers with appropriate qualifications to support our growth and expansion. Further, we must train our new personnel, especially our technical support personnel, to respond to and support our licensees and customers. If we fail to do this, it could lead to dissatisfaction among our licensees or customers, which could slow our growth or result in a loss of business.

 

Moreover, some of the individuals on our management team have been in their current positions for a relatively short period of time. For example, our chief financial officer has been with us for less than 12 months. Our future success will depend to a significant extent on the ability of our management team to effectively work together.

 

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Failure to comply with environmental regulations could harm our business.

 

We use hazardous substances in the manufacturing and testing of prototype products and in the development of our technologies in our research and development laboratories. We are subject to a variety of local, state, federal and foreign governmental regulations relating to the storage, discharge, handling, emission, generation, manufacture and disposal of toxic or other hazardous substances. Our past, present or future failure to comply with environmental regulations could result in the imposition of substantial fines on us, suspension of production, alteration of our manufacturing processes or cessation of operations. Compliance with such regulations could require us to acquire expensive remediation equipment or to incur other substantial expenses. Any failure by us to control the use, disposal, removal or storage of, or to adequately restrict the discharge of, or assist in the cleanup of, hazardous or toxic substances, could subject us to significant liabilities, including joint and several liability under certain statues. The imposition of such liabilities could significantly harm our business.

 

Our operations are primarily located in California and, as a result, are subject to catastrophes.

 

Our business operations depend on our ability to maintain and protect our facilities, computer systems and personnel, which are primarily located in or near our principal headquarters in San Jose, California. San Jose exists on or near a known earthquake fault zone. Should an earthquake or other catastrophes, such as fires, floods, power loss, communication failure or similar events disable our facilities, we do not have readily available alternative facilities from which we could conduct our business.

 

Item 7A.    Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk

 

The primary objective of our investment activities is to preserve principal while maximizing the income we receive from our investments without significantly increasing risk of loss. Some of the securities that we may invest in the future may be subject to market risk for changes in interest rates. To mitigate this risk, we plan to maintain a portfolio of cash equivalents and short-term investments in a variety of securities, which may include commercial paper, money market funds, government and non-government debt securities. Currently, we are exposed to minimal market risks. We manage the sensitivity of our results of operations to these risks by maintaining a conservative portfolio, which is comprised solely of highly-rated, short-term investments. We do not hold or issue derivative, derivative commodity instruments or other financial instruments for trading purposes.

 

The risk associated with fluctuating interest rates is limited to our investment portfolio. We do not believe that a 10% change in interest rates would have a significant impact on our results of operations or cash flows.

 

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Item 8.    Financial Statements and Supplementary Data

 

INDEX TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

     Page

Report of Independent Auditors

   38

Consolidated Balance Sheets

   39

Consolidated Statements of Operations

   40

Consolidated Statements of Stockholders’ Equity and Comprehensive Income

   41

Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows

   42

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

   43

 

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REPORT OF INDEPENDENT AUDITORS

 

To the Board of Directors and Stockholders of

Tessera Technologies, Inc. (formerly Tessera, Inc.):

 

In our opinion, the accompanying consolidated balance sheets and the related consolidated statements of operations, of stockholders’ equity and comprehensive income and of cash flows present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of Tessera Technologies, Inc. (formerly Tessera, Inc.) and its subsidiary at December 31, 2002 and 2003 and the results of their operations and their cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2003, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management; our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audits. We conducted our audits of these statements in accordance with auditing standards generally accepted in the United States of America, which require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements, assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, and evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

 

/s/ PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP

 

San Jose, California

February 6, 2004

 

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TESSERA TECHNOLOGIES, INC.

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

(In Thousands, Except for Share Amounts)

 

     December 31,

 
     2002

    2003

 

ASSETS

                

Current Assets:

                

Cash and cash equivalents

   $ 1,341     $ 64,379  

Short-term investments

     18,829        

Accounts receivable

     1,883       2,540  

Other current assets

     763       1,335  
    


 


Total current assets

     22,816       68,254  

Property and equipment, net

     1,220       1,725  

Other assets

     134       102  
    


 


Total assets

   $ 24,170     $ 70,081  
    


 


LIABILITIES, MANDATORILY REDEEMABLE CUMULATIVE

CONVERTIBLE PREFERRED STOCK AND STOCKHOLDERS’ (DEFICIT)

EQUITY

                

Current Liabilities:

                

Accounts payable

   $ 650     $ 876  

Accrued liabilities

     2,012       3,014  

Deferred revenue

           202  
    


 


Total current liabilities

     2,662       4,092  
    


 


Commitments and contingencies (Note 8)

                

Mandatorily redeemable cumulative convertible preferred stock:

                

$0.001 par value; 39,293,571 and 10,000,000 shares authorized, 25,123,676 and 0 shares issued and outstanding

     96,000        

Stockholders’ (deficit) equity:

                

Common stock: $0.001 par value; 54,666,666 and 150,000,000 shares authorized; 6,962,031 and 38,474,443 shares issued and outstanding

     7       38  

Additional paid-in capital

     26,561       157,178  

Deferred stock-based compensation

     (620 )     (153 )

Accumulated deficit

     (100,429 )     (91,074 )

Accumulated other comprehensive loss

     (11 )      
    


 


Total stockholders’ (deficit) equity

     (74,492 )     65,989  
    


 


Total liabilities, mandatorily redeemable cumulative convertible preferred stock and stockholders’ equity

   $ 24,170     $ 70,081  
    


 


 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.

 

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TESSERA TECHNOLOGIES, INC.

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

(In Thousands, Except Per Share Amounts)

 

     Years Ended December 31,

 
     2001

    2002

    2003

 

Revenues:

                        

Intellectual property revenues

   $ 12,258     $ 17,925     $ 25,393  

Other intellectual property revenues

     13,291       5,715       3,169  

Service revenues

     1,466       4,630       8,759  
    


 


 


Total revenues

     27,015       28,270       37,321  
    


 


 


Operating expenses:

                        

Cost of revenues (1)

     5,298       4,264       6,734  

Research and development (1)

     8,202       6,700       7,661  

Selling, general and administrative (1)

     20,761       7,552       11,030  

Stock-based compensation

     1,364       1,942       1,110  
    


 


 


Total operating expenses

     35,625       20,458       26,535  
    


 


 


Operating income (loss)

     (8,610