SMTC-01.27.2013-10K


 
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549 
____________________________________
FORM 10-K
____________________________________
(Mark One)
x
Annual report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
For the fiscal year ended January 27, 2013
or
o
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 1-6395
____________________________________ 
SEMTECH CORPORATION
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
 ____________________________________
 
 
 
Delaware
 
95-2119684
(State or other jurisdiction of
incorporation or organization)
 
(I.R.S. Employer
Identification No.)

200 Flynn Road, Camarillo, California, 93012-8790
(Address of principal executive offices, Zip Code)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (805) 498-2111
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
 
Title of each class
 
Name of each exchange on which registered
Common Stock par value $.01 per share
 
The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:
None
(Title of Class) 
____________________________________
 
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes  x    No  ¨
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act.    Yes  ¨    No  x

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 whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).    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 a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
Large accelerated filer
 
x
  
Accelerated filer
  
o
 
 
 
 
Non-accelerated filer
 
o   (Do not check if a smaller reporting company)
  
Smaller reporting company
  
o
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act):    Yes  o    No  x
The aggregate market value of the common stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant (based upon the closing sale price of $24.39 on the NASDAQ Global Select Market) as of July 27, 2012 was approximately $1.37 billion. Stock held by directors, officers and shareholders owning 5% or more of the outstanding common stock (as reported by shareholders on Schedules 13D and 13G) were excluded as they may be deemed affiliates. This determination of affiliate status is not a conclusive determination for any other purpose.
Number of shares of Common Stock, $0.01 par value per share, outstanding at March 22, 2013: 67,090,054
____________________________________
DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE
Portions of the following documents are incorporated by reference in Part III, Item numbers 11, 12, 13 and 14 and portions of Item 10 of this report to: Definitive Proxy Statement in connection with registrant’s annual meeting of shareholders to be held on June 20, 2013, to be filed no later than 120 days after the end of the registrant’s fiscal year ended January 27, 2013.
 




SEMTECH CORPORATION
INDEX TO FORM 10-K
FOR THE YEAR ENDED JANUARY 27, 2013
 
 
 
 
 
 
Item 1
 
 
 
Item 1A
 
 
 
Item 1B
 
 
 
Item 2
 
 
 
Item 3
 
 
 
Item 4
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Item 5
 
 
 
Item 6
 
 
 
Item 7
 
 
 
Item 7A
 
 
 
Item 8
 
 
 
Item 9
 
 
 
Item 9A
 
 
 
Item 9B
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Item 10
 
 
 
Item 11
 
 
 
Item 12
 
 
 
Item 13
 
 
 
Item 14
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Item 15
 
 
 
 

2




Special Note Regarding Forward Looking and Cautionary Statements
This Annual Report on Form 10-K (the “Form 10-K”) contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). We may also make forward-looking statements in other reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), in materials delivered to shareholders and in press releases. In addition, Company representatives may make oral forward-looking statements from time to time. Forward-looking statements are statements other than historical information or statements of current condition and relate to matters such as our future financial performance, future operational performance, and our plans, objectives and expectations. Some forward-looking statements may be identified by use of terms such as “expects,” “anticipates,” “intends,” “estimates,” “believes,” “projects,” “should,” “will,” “plans” and similar words.
Forward-looking statements should be considered in conjunction with the cautionary statements contained in Item 1A “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this Form 10-K, in our other filings with the SEC, and in material incorporated herein and therein by reference. In light of the risks and uncertainties inherent in all such projected matters, forward-looking statements should not be regarded as a representation by the Company or any other person that our objectives or plans will be achieved or that any of our operating expectations or financial forecasts will be realized. Financial results could differ materially from those projected in forward-looking statements due to known or unknown risks. We assume no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
In addition to regarding forward-looking statements with caution, you should consider that the preparation of the consolidated financial statements requires us to draw conclusions and make interpretations, judgments, assumptions and estimates with respect to certain factual, legal, and accounting matters. Our financial statements might have been materially impacted if we had reached different conclusions or made different interpretations, judgments, assumptions or estimates.

PART I

Item 1.        Business
General
Unless the context otherwise requires, the use of the terms “Semtech,” “the Company,” “we,” “us” and “our” in this Annual Report on Form 10-K refers to Semtech Corporation and, as applicable, its consolidated subsidiaries. We are a leading supplier of analog and mixed-signal semiconductor products and were incorporated in Delaware in 1960. We design, develop and market a wide range of products for commercial applications, the majority of which are sold into the enterprise computing, communications, high-end consumer and industrial end-markets.
Enterprise Computing: datacenters, passive optical networks, optical receiver and transceiver, desktops, notebooks, servers, graphic boards, monitors, printers and other computer peripherals.
Communications: base stations, backplane, optical networks, carrier networks, switches and routers, cable modems, signal conditioners, wireless LAN and other communication infrastructure equipment.
High-End Consumer: handheld products, set-top boxes, digital televisions, tablet computers, digital video recorders, thunderbolt and fiberless high-speed interfaces and other consumer equipment.
Industrial: broadcast studio equipment, automated meter reading, military and aerospace, medical, security systems, automotive, industrial and home automation, video security and surveillance and other industrial equipment.
Our end-customers are primarily original equipment manufacturers and their suppliers, including Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco Systems, Inc., Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., LG Electronics, Motorola, Nokia Siemens Networks, Itron, Apple, Phonak International, Research In Motion Limited, Samsung Electronics Co., and ZTE Corporation.
Overview of the Semiconductor Industry
The semiconductor industry is broadly divided into analog and digital semiconductor products. Analog semiconductors condition and regulate “real world” functions such as temperature, speed, sound and electrical current. Digital semiconductors process binary information, such as that used by computers. Mixed-signal devices incorporate both analog and digital functions into a single chip and provide the ability for digital electronics to interface with the outside world.

3



The market for analog and mixed-signal semiconductors differs from the market for digital semiconductors. The analog and mixed-signal industry is typically characterized by longer product life cycles than the digital industry. In addition, analog semiconductor manufacturers tend to have lower capital investment requirements for manufacturing because their facilities tend to be less dependent than digital producers on state-of-the-art production equipment to manufacture leading edge process technologies. The end-product markets for analog and mixed-signal semiconductors are more varied and more specialized than the relatively standardized digital semiconductor product markets.
Another difference between the analog and digital markets is the amount of available talented labor. The analog industry relies more heavily than the digital industry on design and applications talent to distinguish its products from one another. Digital expertise is extensively taught in universities due to its overall market size, while analog and mixed-signal expertise tends to be learned over time based on experience and hands-on training. Consequently, personnel with analog training are scarcer than digital trained engineers. This has historically made it more difficult for new suppliers to quickly develop products and gain significant market share.
Advancements in digital processing technology typically drive the need for corresponding advancements in analog and mixed-signal solutions. We believe that the diversity of our applications allows us to take advantage of areas of relative market strength and reduces our vulnerability to competitive pressure in any one area.
Business Strategy
Our objective is to be a leading supplier of analog and mixed-signal semiconductor devices to the fastest growing areas of our target markets. We intend to leverage our pool of skilled technical personnel to develop new products, or, where appropriate, use acquisitions to either accelerate our position in the fastest growing areas or to gain entry into these areas. In order to capitalize on our strengths in analog and mixed-signal processing design, development and marketing, we intend to pursue the following strategies:
Leverage our rare analog design expertise
We have developed a strategy to invest heavily in human resources needed to define, design and market high-performance analog platform products. We have built a team of experienced engineers who combine industry expertise with advanced semiconductor design expertise to meet customer requirements and enable our customers to get their products to market rapidly. We intend to leverage this strategy to achieve new levels of integration, power reduction and performance, enabling our customers to achieve differentiation in their end systems.
Continue to release proprietary new products, achieve new design wins, and cross-sell products
We are focused on developing unique, new, proprietary products that bring value to our target customers in our target markets. These products typically are differentiated in performance but are priced competitively. We also focus on achieving design wins for our products with current and future customers. Design wins are indications by the customer that they intend to incorporate our products into their new designs. Our technical talent works closely with our customers in securing design wins, defining new products and in implementing and integrating our products into their systems. We also focus on selling our complete portfolio of products to our existing customers, as we believe the technical expertise of our marketing and sales team allows us to identify and capitalize on cross-selling opportunities.
Focus on fast-growing market segments and regions
We have chosen to target the analog segments of some of the fastest growing end-markets. We participate in these markets by focusing on specific product areas within the analog and mixed-signal market, including products for handheld equipment, high-end consumer equipment, and communications infrastructure and certain broad-based industrial markets. All of these markets are characterized by their need for leading-edge, high-performance analog and mixed-signal semiconductor technologies.
The enterprise computing, communications, high-end consumer and industrial end markets we supply are characterized by several trends that we believe drive demand for our products. The key trends that we target include:
Increasing bandwidth over high-speed networks, fueling growth in high speed voice, video and data transmission
Increasing electronic system requirements for smaller, lighter, highly integrated and feature rich devices
Increasing need for more efficient energy management in the home and in industrial environments and the proliferation of ”green” standards

4



Our products address these market trends by providing solutions that are ultra-low power thus extending battery life, small form factor enabling smaller devices, highly integrated enabling more functionality within devices and high performance enabling product differentiation within our customer base. Additionally, as communications functions are increasingly integrated into a range of systems and devices, these products require analog sensing, processing and control capabilities, which increases the number and size of our end-markets. Finally, industrial, medical, high-end consumer and other end-market applications have increasingly incorporated data processing and communications features into their end systems resulting in more complex power and protection requirements, which in turn, has broadened the opportunities for selling our power and protection devices.
We believe that certain geographic markets, such as Asia and North America represent opportunities for added sales and end-customer diversity. Accordingly, we have bolstered our efforts in these regions to enhance our ability to expand our customer base.
Leverage outsourced semiconductor fabrication capacity
We outsource most of our manufacturing in order to focus more of our resources on defining, developing and marketing our products. Our primary outside wafer foundries are based in China, Israel, the United States, Europe and Taiwan. Our largest wafer source is a foundry based in China. We believe that outsourcing provides us numerous benefits, including capital efficiency, the flexibility to adopt and leverage emerging process technologies without significant investment risk and a more variable cost of goods, which provides us with greater operating flexibility.
Products and Technology
We design, develop, manufacture and market high-performance analog and mixed signal semiconductor products. We operate and account for results in one reportable segment.
On March 20, 2012, we acquired, through our wholly-owned subsidiary Semtech Canada Inc., all outstanding equity interests of Gennum Corporation (“Gennum”) (TSX: GND), a leading supplier of high speed analog and mixed-signal semiconductors for the optical communications and video broadcast markets.
Our primary reasons for the acquisition were to broaden our existing portfolio of high-speed communications platforms through Gennum’s data communications and video platforms by combining Gennum’s 1 Gbps to 25 Gbps signal integrity solutions with our 40 Gbps to 100 Gbps SerDes solutions to create one of the industry’s most complete and robust analog and mixed signal portfolios. In addition, Gennum’s strong position in video broadcast and the emerging HD video surveillance market further diversifies our portfolio of high-performance analog semiconductors and provides cross-selling potential with the combined customer base.
On March 7, 2012, we completed the acquisition of Cycleo SAS (“Cycleo”), a privately held company based in France that develops intellectual property (“IP”) for wireless long-range semiconductor products used in smart metering and other industrial and consumer markets. This transaction, which was accounted for using the acquisition method of accounting, complements our current wireless offerings and will bring customers a set of high-end, digitally enhanced wireless solutions.
Our product lines include:
Protection Products. We design, develop and market high performance protection devices, which are often referred to as transient voltage suppressors (“TVS”). TVS devices provide protection for electronic systems where voltage spikes (called transients), such as electrostatic discharge or secondary lightning surge energy that can permanently damage voltage sensitive complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (“CMOS”) integrated circuits (“ICs”). Our portfolio includes filter and termination devices that are integrated in with the transient voltage suppressor (“TVS”) devices. Our protection products feature low capacitance, providing robust protection while preserving signal integrity in high-speed networking and video interfaces. These products also operate at very low voltage needed for today’s low voltage ICs. Our protection products can be found in a broad range of applications including smart phones, LCD TVs, set-top boxes, tablet computers, notebooks, base stations, routers, and industrial instruments.
Advanced Communications Products. We design, develop and market a portfolio of proprietary advanced wired communication, ultra-high speed Serializer/Deserializer (“SerDes”) and modulator driver products for transport communication. These ICs perform transmission and amplification functions used in high-speed networks, at 40Gbps and 100Gbps. Our advanced communications products also feature a leading integrated timing solution for packet based communication networks. Our advanced communications products are used in a variety of communications and industrial applications.
Gennum Products. We design, develop and market a portfolio of optical communications, broadcast video, active cable transceiver and backplane products used in a wide variety of enterprise computing, industrial, communications and high-end

5



consumer applications. Our broadcast video products offer advanced solutions for next generation video formats, ever increasing data rates and evolving I/O and distance requirements. Our security and surveillance products for HDcctv enable upgrade of analog cctv installations to full digital HD, leveraging the installed base of cabling, and our fully integrated transmit and receive products enable the highest performance, longest reach HDcctv standards-compliant designs. Our comprehensive portfolio of IC’s for optical transceivers, backplane applications and consumer high-speed interfaces ranges from 100Mbps to 100Gbps and supports key industry standards such as Fibre Channel, Infiniband, Ethernet, PON, SONET and PCI Express.
Power Management and High-Reliability Products. Power management products control, alter, regulate and condition the power supplies within electronic systems. The highest volume product types within the power management product line are switching voltage regulators, combination switching and linear regulators, smart regulators and charge pumps. Our power management products feature highly integrated devices for the telecom industry and low-power, small form factor and high-efficiency products for mobile phones, notebook computers, computer peripherals and other portable devices. The primary application for these products is power regulation for computer, communications, high-end consumer and industrial systems. Our high-reliability discrete semiconductor products comprised of rectifiers, assemblies (packaged discrete rectifiers) and other products are typically used to convert alternating currents (“AC”) into direct currents (“DC”) and to protect circuits against very high voltage spikes or high current surges. Our high-reliability products can be found in a broad range of applications including industrial, military, medical, aerospace and defense systems, including satellite communications.
Wireless and Sensing Products. We design, develop and market a portfolio of specialized radio frequency (“RF”) functions used in a wide variety of industrial, medical and networking applications, and specialized sensing functions used in industrial and consumer applications. Our wireless and sensing products feature industry leading and longest range industrial, scientific and medical (“ISM”) radio, enabling low cost of ownership and increased reliability in all environments. Our unique sensing interface platforms can interface to any sensor and output digital data in any form. Our wireless and sensing products can be found in a broad range of applications in the industrial, medical and consumer markets.
Semtech End-Markets
Our products are sold to customers in the enterprise computing, communications, high-end consumer, and industrial end-markets. Our estimates of sales by major end-markets are detailed below:
 
Fiscal Years
(percentage of net sales)
2013
 
2012
 
2011
Enterprise Computing
15
%
 
9
%
 
9
%
Communications
31
%
 
39
%
 
37
%
High-End Consumer
29
%
 
35
%
 
33
%
Industrial and Other
25
%
 
17
%
 
21
%
Total
100
%
 
100
%
 
100
%
We believe that our diversity in end-markets provides stability to our business and opportunity for growth.

6



The following table depicts our main product lines and their end-market and product applications:
Semtech’s
Specific End-Product Applications
Main Product Lines
Enterprise Computing
  
Communications
  
High-End Consumer
  
Industrial / Other
Protection
Desktop PC/Notebooks, Ultrabooks
  
3G/4G Base stations, 10/100/10000 Routers/Switches
  
Smartphones, tablets, cameras, TVs, settop boxes
  
Measurement & instrumentation devices, Automobile
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Advanced Communications
Data centers
  
40G/100G ULH/LH line cards, Optical Modules, 4G LTE wireless base stations
  
  
Military, aerospace
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Power Management and High-Reliability
Servers, workstations, notebook computers, add-on cards, computer gaming systems, printers, copiers
  
Network cards, routers and hubs, telecom network boards
  
Smartphones, tablets, cameras, TVs, settop boxes
  
Power supplies, industrial systems, military, aerospace, medical
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Wireless and Sensing
  
  
Smartphones, media players, tablets, LCD TVs, digital/still video cameras
  
Automated meter readers, industrial automation, home security, keyless entry hearing aids
Gennum
Servers, data centers, storage networks, cloud computing, fiber to the home
 
Backplane, LAN and WAN routers and switches
 
Thunderbolt cables
 
Video broadcast, video surveillance, ultrasound imaging
Seasonality
Historically, our results have reflected some seasonality, with demand levels generally being slightly higher in the computer and high-end consumer products segments during the third and fourth quarters of our fiscal year in comparison to the first and second quarters.
Intellectual Capital and Product Development
The design of intellectual property (“IP”) and the resulting development of proprietary products is a critical success factor for us. The recruiting and retaining of key technical talent is the foundation for designing, developing and selling this IP, in the form of new proprietary products, in the global marketplace. One of our strategies to recruit this talent is the establishment of multiple design center locations. As a result, we have design centers throughout the world.
Circuit design engineers, layout engineers, product and test engineers, application engineers and field application engineers are our most valuable employees. Together they perform the critical tasks of designing and laying out integrated circuits, turning these circuits into silicon devices, and conferring with customers about designing these devices into their applications. The majority of our engineers fit into one of these categories. Most of these engineers have many years of experience in the design, development and layout of circuits targeted for use in protection, advanced communications, power management and high-reliability, multimedia and data communications, and wireless and sensing applications. We also employ a number of software engineers and systems engineers that specialize in the development of software and systems architecture, who enable us to develop systems oriented products in select markets.
In fiscal year 2013, we incurred $120.0 million of product development and engineering expense. This represents 21% of net sales. Product development and engineering costs were $80.6 million or 17% of net sales and $69.6 million or 15% of net sales in fiscal years 2012 and 2011, respectively. We intend to make further investments in research and development in the future, which may include increasing our employee headcount and investing in design and development equipment.

7



Sales and Marketing
Sales made directly to customers during fiscal year 2013 were approximately 61% of net sales. The remaining 39% of net sales were made through independent distributors. We have direct sales personnel located throughout the United States, Europe and Asia who manage the sales activities of independent sales representative firms and independent distributors. We expense our advertising costs as they are incurred.
We operate internationally through our wholly owned Swiss and Canadian subsidiaries, Semtech International AG and Semtech Canada Corporation. Semtech International AG serves the European markets from its headquarters in Wil, Switzerland and through its wholly owned subsidiaries based in France, Germany, Neuchatel – Switzerland, the United Kingdom, China and Malaysia. Semtech International AG maintains branch offices, either directly or through one of its wholly owned subsidiaries, in Taiwan, Korea and Japan. Semtech International AG also maintains representative offices in China. Semtech Canada Corporation serves the North American market for GPG products from its headquarters in Burlington, Ontario. Semtech Canada Corporation also serves the European and Japanese markets for GPG products through its wholly owned subsidiaries in the United Kingdom and Japan. Semtech Canada Corporation also maintains research and development facilities in Mexico and India. Independent representatives and distributors are also used to serve customers throughout the world. Some of our distributors and sales representatives also offer products from our competitors, as is customary in the industry.
Customers, Sales Data and Backlog
As a result of the breadth of our products and markets, we have a broad range of customers.
Representative Customers by End-Markets:
Enterprise Computing
 
Communications
 
High-End Consumer
 
Industrial
Hewlett-Packard
 
Cisco
 
LG Electronics
 
General Atomics
Lenovo
 
Alcatel-Lucent
 
Motorola
 
Honeywell
Quanta
 
Huawei
 
Quanta
 
Itron
Samsung
 
Nokia Siemens
 
Research in Motion
 
Phonak
LuxNet
 
Ericsson
 
Samsung
 
Raytheon
Apple
 
Samsung
 
Sony Ericsson
 
Nokia Siemens
 
 
ZTE
 
Sumitomo Electric
 
 
Our customers include major original equipment manufacturers (“OEMs”) and their subcontractors in the enterprise computing, communications, high-end consumer and industrial end-markets. Our products are typically purchased by these customers for our performance, price, or technical support, as compared to our competitors.
During fiscal years 2013, 2012 and 2011, U.S. sales contributed 17%, 20% and 23%, respectively to our net sales. Foreign sales constituted 83%, 80% and 77% of our net sales during fiscal years 2013, 2012 and 2011, respectively. A majority of foreign sales were to customers located in the Asia-Pacific region, with sales to customers located in South Korea, Japan, and China (including Hong Kong) comprising 7%, 10%, and 35% of our net sales, respectively, in fiscal year 2013. No other foreign country comprised more than 7% of net sales in fiscal year 2013. See Note 16 to our consolidated financial statements included in Item 8 of this report for additional financial information by geographic region.
A summary of net sales by region follows.
Sales by Region
 
Fiscal Years
(in thousands, except percentages)
2013
 
2012
 
2011
North America
$
98,401

 
17
%
 
$
114,552

 
24
%
 
$
112,404

 
25
%
Asia-Pacific
405,179

 
70
%
 
298,477

 
62
%
 
272,079

 
60
%
Europe
75,247

 
13
%
 
67,572

 
14
%
 
70,019

 
15
%
Total Net Sales
$
578,827

 
100
%
 
$
480,601

 
100
%
 
$
454,502

 
100
%

8



The following table sets forth the concentration of net sales and accounts receivable among the customers that accounted for more than 10% of our net sales in one of the fiscal years 2013, 2012 and 2011:
Concentration of Net Sales - Significant Customers
 
Fiscal Years
(percentage of net sales)
2013
 
2012
 
2011
Samsung Electronics (and affiliates)
12
%
 
13
%
 
12
%
Huawei Technologies (and affiliates)
10
%
 
7
%
 
8
%
Frontek Technology Corp
6
%
 
10
%
 
11
%
Concentration of Accounts Receivable - Significant Customers
 
Fiscal Years
(percentage of net accounts receivable as of fiscal year end)
2013
 
2012
Samsung Electronics (and affiliates)
12
%
 
14
%
Frontek Technology Corp
4
%
 
10
%
Dragon Technology
3
%
 
11
%
Huawei Technologies (and affiliates)
14
%
 
11
%
For fiscal year 2013, end-market concentration for our significant customers was as follows:
(percentage of net sales)
Samsung Electronics (and affiliates)
 
Huawei Technologies Co (and affiliates)
Enterprise Computing
1
%
 
%
Communications
%
 
11
%
High-End Consumer
11
%
(1)
%
Industrial and Other
%
 
%
 
12
%
 
11
%
(1)
For Samsung Electronics, approximately 54% of the sales into the High-end Consumer end-market relate to products focused on the handheld market, which includes cell phones.
Our backlog of orders as of the end of fiscal years 2013, 2012 and 2011 was approximately $113.8 million, $75.6 million and $112.3 million, respectively. The majority of our backlog is typically requested for delivery within six months. In markets where the end system life cycles are relatively short, customers typically request delivery in four to eight weeks. A backlog analysis at any given time gives little indication of our future business except on a short-term basis, principally within the next 45 days. We do not have any significant contracts with our customers calling for shipments over a period of more than 18 months.
Manufacturing Capabilities
Our strategy is to outsource the majority of our manufacturing functions to third-party foundries and assembly and test contractors. The third-party foundries fabricate silicon wafers and the assembly and test contractors package and test our products. We believe this outsourcing permits us to take advantage of the best available technology, leverage the capital investment of others, and reduce our operating costs associated with manufacturing assets.
We perform a limited amount of internal probe and final test activities at our facilities in Camarillo, Irvine, Redondo Beach and San Diego, California; Neuchatel, Switzerland; and Reynosa, Mexico. These activities accommodate situations in which tight coupling with product design is desirable or where there are unique requirements. Our packaged discrete rectifier products are packaged and tested in-house in Reynosa, Mexico. Almost all of our other products are packaged and tested by outside subcontractors.
In keeping with our mostly “fabless” business model, we have no wafer fabrication facilities except for our operation in Reynosa, Mexico. For fiscal year 2013, the Reynosa facility provided almost all of the silicon for our packaged discrete rectifier products, which were approximately 3% of our end product sales. The remaining 97% of our end products were

9



supported with finished silicon wafers purchased from outside wafer foundries in China, Taiwan, the United States, Canada, Europe and Israel. We anticipate that more than 90% of all silicon wafers we require will come from outside foundries in fiscal year 2014.
Despite our use of outside wafer foundries for sourcing a majority of our silicon needs, we do maintain internal process development capabilities. Our process engineers work closely with our outside foundries on the improvement and development of process capabilities. In fiscal year 2013, we purchased the vast majority of our wafers from approximately nine different third-party wafer foundries and used various manufacturing processes, including Bipolar, High-Speed Bipolar, Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (“CMOS”), RF-CMOS, Bi-CMOS and SiGe processes.
While we do have some redundancy of fabrication processes by using multiple outside foundries, any interruption of supply by one or more of these foundries could materially impact us. As a result, we maintain some amount of business interruption insurance to help reduce the financial risk associated with a wafer supply interruption, but we are not fully insured against this risk.
Although our products are made from basic materials (principally silicon, metals and plastics), all of which are available from a number of suppliers, capacity at wafer foundries sometimes becomes constrained. The limited availability of certain materials, such as silicon wafer substrates, may impact our suppliers’ ability to meet our demand needs or impact the price we are charged. The prices of certain other basic materials, such as metals, gases and chemicals used in the production of circuits have all increased in recent years as demand has grown for these basic commodities. In most cases we do not procure these materials ourselves but we are nevertheless reliant on these materials for producing our products because our outside foundry and package and test subcontractors must procure them. To help minimize risks associated with constrained capacity, we use multiple foundries and have taken other steps to reserve capacity at certain foundries.
Our largest wafer source is a foundry in China. In fiscal year 2013, this Chinese foundry provided 38% of our total silicon requirements in terms of cost of wafers purchased. We have consigned certain equipment to this foundry to support our specialized processes run at the foundry and to ensure a specified level of capacity over the next few years. While the provision of these assets to the wafer foundry may be factored into certain pricing arrangements with the foundry, the impact of any pricing adjustments is insignificant and does not impact our margin trends.
Most of our ultra-high speed SerDes products and microwave and high-reliability products are dependent on a single fabrication facility, located within the United States, for wafers.
We use third-party subcontractors to perform almost all of our assembly and test operations. A majority of our assembly and test activity is conducted by third-party subcontractors based in Malaysia, the Philippines, Korea and China. We have operations offices located in the Philippines, Malaysia and China that support and coordinate some of the worldwide shipment of products. We have installed our own test equipment at some of our packaging and testing subcontractors in order to ensure a certain level of capacity, assuming the subcontractor has ample employees to operate the equipment.
Our arrangements with both outside wafer foundries and package and test subcontractors are designed to provide some assurance of capacity but are not expected to assure access to all the manufacturing capacity we may need in the future.
Competition
The analog and mixed-signal semiconductor industry is highly competitive, and we expect competitive pressures to continue. Our ability to compete effectively and to expand our business will depend on our ability to continue to recruit key engineering talent, our ability to execute on new product developments and our ability to persuade customers to design these new products into their applications. Our industry is characterized by decreasing unit selling prices over the life of a product as the volumes typically increase. However, price decreases can sometimes be quite rapid and faster than the rate of increase of the associated product volumes. We believe we compete effectively based upon our ability to capitalize on efficiencies and economies of scale in production and sales, and our ability to maintain or improve our productivity and product yields to reduce manufacturing costs.
We are in direct and active competition, with respect to one or more of our product lines, with numerous manufacturers of varying size, technical capability and financial strength. A number of these competitors are dependent on semiconductor products as their principal source of income, and some are much larger than we are. The number of competitors has grown due to expansion of the market segments in which we participate. We consider our primary competitors with respect to our protection products to include STMicroelectronics N.V., NXP Semiconductors N.V., ON Semiconductor Corporation, and Infineon Technologies AG. Our primary competitors with respect to our Advanced Communications products are Broadcom Corporation, AMCC, ClariPhy Communications, Inc., and our customer’s own internal solutions. With respect to our Power Management and High Reliability products, we consider our primary competitors to include Linear Technology Corporation,

10



Maxim Integrated Products Inc., Microsemi Corporation, and Monolithic Power Systems Inc. Our primary competitors with respect to our Wireless and Sensing products include Silicon Laboratories, Texas Instruments Inc., Atmel Corporation, Analog Devices Inc., and Cypress Semiconductor Corporation. With respect to our Gennum Product Group, we consider our primary competitors to include Texas Instruments, Maxim Integrated, Inc., Mindspeed Technology Inc., and Inphi Corporation.
Intellectual Property and Licenses
We have been granted 153 U.S. patents and 43 foreign patents and have numerous patent applications pending with respect to our products and to technologies associated with our business. The expiration dates of issued patents range from 2013 to 2031. Although we consider patents to be helpful in maintaining a competitive advantage, we do not believe they create definitive competitive barriers to entry. There can be no assurance that our patent applications will lead to issued patents, that others will not develop or patent similar or superior products or technologies, or that our patents will not be challenged, invalidated, or circumvented by others.
We have registered many of our trademarks in the U.S. and in various foreign jurisdictions. Registration generally provides rights in addition to basic trademark protections and is typically renewable upon proof of continued use. We have registered, or are in the process of registering, our SEMTECH trademark in many jurisdictions. In one location use of this trademark is prohibited, but we are permitted to use our Semtech International trade name. This restriction has not had a material impact on our business to date and we do not anticipate it will have a material impact in the future.
We also have registered certain materials in which we have copyright ownership, which provides additional protection for this intellectual property.
Employees
As of January 27, 2013, we had 1,433 full-time employees. There were 529 employees in research and development, 250 in sales, marketing and field services, and 174 in general, administrative and finance. The remaining employees support operational activities, including product and test engineering, assembly, manufacturing, distribution and quality functions.
We have not had a work stoppage in at least the last decade and the only unionized employees are approximately 128 Mexican nationals who work at our manufacturing facility in Reynosa, Mexico. Our employee relations during the last fiscal year have been, and remain, satisfactory.
We adjust our workforce from time to time to meet the changing needs of our business. Competition for key design engineering talent globally is significant.
Government Regulations and Environmental Matters
We are required to comply, and it is our policy to comply, with numerous government regulations that are normal and customary to businesses in our industry and that operate in our markets and operating locations.
Our sales that serve the military and aerospace markets primarily consist of our Microwave and High-Reliability products that have been qualified to be sold in these markets by the U.S. Department of Defense (“DOD”). In order to maintain these qualifications, we must comply with certain specifications promulgated by the DOD. As part of maintaining these qualifications, we are routinely audited by the DOD. Based on current specifications, we believe we can maintain our qualifications for the foreseeable future. However, these specifications could be modified by the DOD in the future or we could become subject to other government requirements, which could make the manufacturing of these products more difficult and thus could adversely impact our profitability in the Power Management and High Reliability and Advanced Communications product lines. The U.S. State Department has determined that a small number of special assemblies from the Power Management and High Reliability and Advanced Communications product lines are subject to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (“ITAR”). We have a Technical Assistance Agreement in place that permits us to assemble certain of these products in Mexico. Other products subject to ITAR regulations are manufactured in our Redondo Beach, CA facilities. International shipments of these products require a State Department license.
Our facilities throughout the world are subject to various environmental laws and regulations and we believe our operations are in substantial compliance with those laws and regulations. We have incurred, and may continue to incur, liabilities under various statutes for the cleanup of pollutants at locations we have operated and at third-party disposal and recycling sites we have used. During fiscal years 2012 and 2011, the expense incurred with respect to these clean up matters was not material. In fiscal year 2013, the Company has recorded $2.5 million environmental reserves associated with the November 2012 draft clean up and abatement order discussed below. New laws or regulations or changes to existing laws or regulations could subject our ongoing operations to different or additional environmental standards that could increase our cost of compliance in the

11



future. In addition, our cost of doing business could increase if our suppliers increase prices to recoup the cost of their compliance with environmental laws or regulations. See Note 15 to our consolidated financial statements included in Item 8 of this report.

The Company has used an environmental firm, specializing in hydrogeology, to perform monitoring of the groundwater at the Company’s former facility in Newbury Park, California that was leased for approximately forty years. The Company vacated the building in May 2002. Certain contaminants have been found in the local groundwater and site soils. Groundwater monitoring results to date over a number of years indicate that groundwater contaminants are, in full or in material part, from adjacent facilities. Responsibility for soil contamination remains under investigation. The location of key soil contamination is concentrated in an area of an underground storage tank that the Company believes to have been installed and used in the early 1960s by a former tenant at the site who preceded the Company’s tenancy. There are no claims pending with respect to environmental matters at the Newbury Park site. The applicable regulatory agency having authority over the site issued joint instructions in November 2008, ordering the Company and the current owner of the site to perform additional assessments and surveys, and to create ongoing groundwater monitoring plans before any final regulatory action for “no further action” may be approved. In September 2009, the regulatory agency issued supplemental instructions to the Company and the current site owner regarding previously ordered site assessments, surveys and groundwater monitoring. Most recently, in November 2012, the regulatory agency added two more potentially responsible parties to the matter, based on historical evidence of past occupancy or operations at the site dating to the 1960s. In addition, the regulatory agency has issued draft cleanup and abatement orders to all the parties. Responses to the draft orders were submitted in a timely manner by all the parties in January 2013. The parties are expected to work cooperatively in responding to and determining the appropriate scope and extent of additional site investigative and categorization work, as well as in relation to any ultimate proposed clean up and abatement work.
The Company has accrued liabilities where it is probable that a loss will be incurred and the cost or amount of loss can be reasonably estimated. Based upon, and in anticipation of the likely outcome associated with the November 2012 draft cleanup and abatement order, the Company engaged an environmental firm to assist in an assessment of this site consistent with the direction of the draft order. Based on the Company’s preliminary assessment, it has determined a likely range of probable loss between $2.5 million and $5.7 million . Given the early nature of the draft clean up and abatement order and uncertainties associated with environmental assessment and the remediation activities, the Company is unable to determine a best estimate within the range of loss. Therefore, the Company recorded the minimum amount of $2.5 million in fiscal year 2013 under “Other long-term liabilities” on the consolidated balance sheets, and included in the consolidated statement of income under “Selling, general and administrative.” These estimates could change as a result of changes in planned remedial actions, further actions from the regulatory agency, remediation technology, and other factors.
Available Information
General information about us can be found on our website at www.semtech.com. The information on our website is for informational purposes only and should not be relied on for investment purposes. The information on our website is not incorporated by reference into this report and should not be considered part of this or any other report filed with the SEC.
We make available free of charge, either by direct access on our website or a link to the SEC website, our annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act, as soon as reasonably practicable after such reports are electronically filed with, or furnished to, the SEC. Our reports filed with, or furnished to, the SEC are also available directly at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.

Item 1A.    Risk Factors
You should carefully consider and evaluate all of the information in this report, including the risk factors listed below. The risks described below are not the only ones facing our company. Additional risks not now known to us or that we currently deem immaterial may also impair our business operations. If any of these risks actually occur, our business could be materially harmed. If our business is harmed, the trading price of our common stock could decline.
As discussed earlier in “Special Notes Regarding Forward Looking and Cautionary Statements,” this report contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Our actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward looking statements as a result of certain factors including the risks faced by us described below and elsewhere in this report, in our other filings with the SEC, and in material incorporated herein and therein by reference. We undertake no duty to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

12



Risks Relating to General Business Conditions
Our future results may fluctuate, fail to match past performance or fail to meet expectations
Our results may fluctuate in the future, may fail to match our past performance or fail to meet the expectations of analysts and investors. Our results and related ratios, such as gross margin, operating income percentage and effective tax rate may fluctuate as a result of:
general economic conditions in the countries where we sell our products;
seasonality and variability in the computer market and our other end-markets;
the timing of new product introductions by us and our competitors;
product obsolescence;
the scheduling, rescheduling or cancellation of orders by our customers;
the cyclical nature of demand for our customers’ products;
our ability to develop new process technologies and achieve volume production;
our ability to integrate and realize synergies from recent acquisitions;
changes in manufacturing yields;
capacity utilization;
product mix and pricing;
movements in exchange rates, interest rates or tax rates;
the availability of adequate supply commitments from our outside suppliers;
the manufacturing and delivery capabilities of our subcontractors; and
litigation and regulatory matters.
As a result of these factors, our past financial results are not necessarily indicative of our future results.
Downturns in the business cycle could adversely affect our revenues and profitability
The semiconductor industry is highly cyclical and has experienced significant downturns, which are characterized by reduced product demand, production overcapacity, increased levels of inventory, industry-wide fluctuations in the demand for semiconductors and the significant erosion of average selling prices. The cyclical nature of the semiconductor industry may cause us to experience substantial period-to-period fluctuations in our results of operations. The growth rate of the global economy is one of the factors affecting demand for semiconductor components. Many factors could adversely affect regional or global economic growth including increased price inflation for goods, services or materials, rising interest rates in the United States and the rest of the world, or tight credit markets. In addition, economic slowdowns may also affect our customers’ ability to pay for our products. Accordingly, economic slowdowns may harm our business.
Current global economic conditions could reduce demand for our products
Current global economic conditions pose a risk to the overall economy as consumers and businesses may continue to defer purchases in response to the uncertainty around tighter credit and negative financial news. These conditions could reduce demand for our products. Such demand could be different from our expectations due to many factors including changes in business and economic conditions, conditions in the credit market that affect consumer confidence, customer acceptance of our products, changes in customer order patterns, including order cancellations, and changes in the level of inventory held by vendors.
Business interruptions could harm our business
Our corporate headquarters, a portion of our assembly and research and development activities and certain other critical business operations are located near major earthquake fault lines. We do not maintain earthquake insurance and our business could be harmed in the event of a major earthquake. We generally do not maintain flood coverage, including for our Asian locations where certain of our operations support and sales offices are located. Such flood coverage has become very expensive; as a result the Company has elected not to purchase this coverage. If one of these locations were to experience a major flood, our business may be harmed.
Our business could be harmed if natural disasters interfere with production of wafers by our suppliers, assembly and testing of products by our subcontractors, or our distribution network. We maintain some business interruption insurance to help reduce

13



the effect of such business interruptions, but we are not fully insured against such risks. Likewise, our business could be adversely impacted if a natural disaster were to shut down or significantly curtail production by one or more of our end customers. Any such loss of revenue due to a slowdown or cessation of end customer demand is uninsured.
When natural disasters such as an earthquake or other causes result in wide-spread destruction, the impact on our business may not be readily apparent. This is especially true when trying to assess the impact of the disaster on our end customers, who themselves may not fully understand the impact of the event on their business. The full extent and scope of natural disaster impacts, both in terms of direct impact on the Company and our supply chain, as well as on our end customers (to include their own supply chain issues as well as end market issues), may not be known for a considerable period of time following the disaster. When any such natural disaster occurs, there can be no assurance that our results of operations may not be materially affected as a result of the impact of the disaster on the Company or on our end customers.
We rely on third party freight firms for nearly all of our shipments from vendors to assembly and test sites, primarily in Asia, and for shipments of our final product to customers. This includes ground and air transportation. Any significant disruption of such freight business globally or in certain parts of the world, particularly where our operations are concentrated, could materially affect our ability to generate revenues. Business interruption insurance may not provide enough protection to compensate us for losses that may occur. Accordingly, any of these disruptions could significantly harm our business.
 
Terrorist attacks, wars and other acts of violence, such as those that may result from the tension in the Middle East and the Korean peninsula, or any other national or international crisis, calamity or emergency, may result in interruption to the business activities of many entities, business losses and overall disruption of the U.S. economy at many levels. These events may directly impact our physical facilities or those of our customers and suppliers. Additionally, these events or armed conflicts may cause some of our customers or potential customers to reduce the level of expenditures on their services and products that ultimately may reduce our revenue. The consequences of these reductions are unpredictable, and we may not be able to foresee events that could have an adverse effect on our business. For example, as a result of these events, insurance premiums for businesses may increase and the scope of coverage may be decreased. Consequently, we may not be able to obtain adequate insurance coverage for our business and properties. To the extent that these disruptions result in delays or cancellations of customer orders, a general decrease in corporate spending, or our inability to effectively market our services and products, our business and results of operations could be harmed.

We operate a manufacturing facility in Reynosa, Mexico. Historically, certain regions in Mexico have experienced high levels of violence. Any significant disruption of our operations at this facility could materially affect our ability to generate revenues for certain products within our High-Reliability product line. Some of the products that we produce at this facility require certification by the Defense Contract Audit Agency (“DCAA”). Failure to secure or maintain the required certification, either directly through the DCAA or through a qualifying third party would materially affect our authorization to manufacture applicable products at this facility, and our revenue for certain products within our High-Reliability product line could materially decline. An audit was performed in May 2012 by the Defense Logistic Agency (DLA) Land and Maritime office, which is the Department of Defense (DoD) agency having oversight responsibility for applicable products manufactured in this facility. The DLA has indicated that a letter of certification to allow the Company to continue producing High-Reliability products will be issued in March 2013. The applicable certification will list the Company on the DoD Qualified Parts List (QPL) as a MIL-PRF-19500 Semiconductor Manufacturer of JAN, JANTX, JANTXV and JANS quality level components. The certification cycle is every two years. Semtech has been continuously certified to produce QPL components for over 20 years without lapse.
A large percentage of our sales are to customers located in Asia and a large percentage of our products are manufactured in Asia. One of our largest customer bases in Asia is located in Taiwan. Our largest wafer source is located in China. An outbreak of SARS or other health related issues, such as an avian influenza (bird flu) pandemic, could have a negative impact on consumer demand, on travel needed to secure new business or manage our operations, on transportation of our products from our suppliers or to our customers, or on workers needed to sell or manufacture our products or our customers’ products.
Risks Relating to Production Operations
We obtain many essential components and materials and certain critical manufacturing services from a limited number of suppliers and subcontractors, most of which are foreign-based entities
Our reliance on a limited number of subcontractors and suppliers for wafers, packaging, testing and certain other processes involves several risks, including potential inability to obtain an adequate supply of required components and reduced control over the price, timely delivery, reliability and quality of components. These risks are attributable to several factors, including limitations on resources, labor problems, equipment failures or the occurrence of natural disasters. The good working relationships we have established with our suppliers and subcontractors could be disrupted, and our supply chain could suffer,

14



if a supplier or subcontractor were to experience a change in control. There can be no assurance that problems will not occur in the future with suppliers or subcontractors. Disruption or termination of our supply sources or subcontractors could significantly delay our shipments and harm our business. Delays could also damage relationships with current and prospective customers. Any prolonged inability to obtain timely deliveries or quality manufacturing or any other circumstances that would require us to seek alternative sources of supply or to manufacture or package certain components internally could limit our growth and harm our business.
We are subject to risk from fluctuating market prices of certain commodity raw materials, particularly gold, that are incorporated into our end products or used by our suppliers to process our end products. Increased commodity prices are passed on to us in the form of higher prices from our suppliers, either in the form of general price increases or commodity surcharges. Although we generally deal with our suppliers on a purchase order basis rather than on a long-term contract basis, we generally attempt to obtain firm pricing for volumes consistent with planned production. Our gross margins may decline if we are not able to increase selling prices of our products or obtain manufacturing efficiencies to offset the increased cost. We do not enter into formal hedging arrangements to mitigate against commodity risk.
Most of our outside subcontractors and suppliers, including third-party foundries that supply silicon wafers, are located in foreign countries, including China, Taiwan, the United States, Canada, Europe and Israel. For fiscal year 2013, approximately 38% of our silicon in terms of cost of wafers, was supplied by a third-party foundry in China, and this percentage could be even higher in future periods. For fiscal years 2012 and 2011, approximately 59% and 49%, respectively, of our silicon in terms of cost of wafers was supplied by this third-party foundry in China. While our utilization of multiple outside foundries does create some redundancy of fabrication processes, any interruption of supply by one or more of these foundries could materially impact us. We maintain some amount of business interruption insurance to help reduce the risk of wafer supply interruption, but we are not fully insured against such risk.
 
A majority of our package and test operations are performed by third-party contractors based in Malaysia, Korea, the Philippines and China. Our international business activities, in general, are subject to a variety of potential risks resulting from political and economic uncertainties. Any political turmoil or trade restrictions in these countries, particularly China, could limit our ability to obtain goods and services from these suppliers and subcontractors. The effect of an economic crisis or political turmoil on our suppliers located in these countries may impact our ability to meet the demands of our customers. If we find it necessary to transition the goods and services received from our existing suppliers or subcontractors to other firms, we would likely experience an increase in production costs and a delay in production associated with such a transition, both of which could have a significant negative effect on our operating results, as these risks are substantially uninsured.
Our ultra-high speed SerDes products and most of our microwave products are dependent on a single fabrication facility, located within the United States, for wafers. Any extended or continued interruption of supply by this supplier facility could materially impact our ability to ship these products to customers. An extended or protracted failure by us to deliver products to customers in accordance with contractual delivery commitments could result in lost business opportunities and may in certain circumstances trigger contractual penalties or other contractual liabilities to customers, including stipulated delay fees and/or the cost differential of substitute products.
Our products may be found to be defective, product liability claims may be asserted against us and we may not have sufficient liability insurance
One or more of our products may be found to be defective after shipment, requiring a product replacement, recall, or a software solution that would cure the defect but impede performance of the product. We may also be subject to product returns in the ordinary course of our business which could impose substantial costs and harm our business. Beyond the potential direct cost associated with product failures, loss of confidence by major customers could cause sales of our other products to drop significantly.
Product liability claims may be asserted with respect to our technology or products. Our products are typically sold at prices that are significantly lower than the cost of the modules or end-products into which they are incorporated. A defect or failure in our product could give rise to failures in the module or the ultimate end-product, so we may face claims for damages that are disproportionately higher than the revenues and profits we receive from the products involved, especially if our customer seeks to recover for damage claims made against it by its own customers. While we maintain some insurance for such events, there can be no assurance that we have obtained a sufficient amount of insurance coverage, and that asserted claims will be within the scope of coverage of the insurance, or that we will have sufficient resources to satisfy any asserted claims not covered by insurance.
Our general warranty policy provides for repair or replacement of defective parts. In some cases, a refund of the purchase price is offered. In certain instances, we have agreed to other warranty terms, including some indemnification provisions, which could prove to be significantly more costly than repair, replacement or refund. If there is a substantial increase in the rate of

15



customer claims, if our estimate of probable losses relating to identified warranty exposures prove inaccurate, or if our efforts to contractually limit liability prove inadequate, we may record a charge against future cost of sales.
Risks Relating to Research and Development, Engineering, Intellectual Property and New Technologies
We may be unsuccessful in developing and selling new products, which is central to our objective of maintaining and expanding our business
We operate in a dynamic environment characterized by price erosion, rapid technological change, and design and other technological obsolescence. Our competitiveness and future success depend on our ability to achieve design wins for our products with current and future customers and introduce new or improved products that meet customer needs while achieving favorable margins. A failure to achieve design wins, to introduce these new products in a timely manner, or to achieve market acceptance for these products could harm our business.
The introduction of new products presents significant business challenges because product development commitments and expenditures must be made well in advance of product sales. The success of a new product depends on accurate forecasts of long-term market demand and future technological developments, as well as on a variety of specific implementation factors, including:
timely and efficient completion of process design and development;
timely and efficient implementation of manufacturing and assembly processes;
product performance;
the quality and reliability of the product; and
effective marketing, sales and service.

The failure of our products to achieve market acceptance due to these or other factors could harm our business.
We may be unable to adequately protect our intellectual property rights
We pursue patents for some of our new products and unique technologies, but we rely primarily on trade secret protections through a combination of nondisclosure agreements and other contractual provisions, as well as our employees’ commitment to confidentiality and loyalty, to protect our know-how and processes. We intend to continue protecting our proprietary technology, including through trademark and copyright registrations and patents. Despite this intention, we may not be successful in achieving adequate protection. Our failure to adequately protect our material know-how and processes could harm our business. There can be no assurance that the steps we take will be adequate to protect our proprietary rights, that our patent applications will lead to issued patents, that others will not develop or patent similar or superior products or technologies, or that our patents will not be challenged, invalidated, or circumvented by others. Furthermore, the laws of the countries in which our products are or may be developed, manufactured or sold may not protect our products and intellectual property rights to the same extent as laws in the United States.
The semiconductor industry is characterized by frequent claims of infringement and litigation regarding patent and other intellectual property rights. Due to the number of competitors, intellectual property infringement is an ongoing risk since other companies in our industry could have intellectual property rights that may not be identifiable when we initiate development efforts. Litigation may be necessary to enforce our intellectual property rights and we may have to defend ourselves against infringement claims. Any such litigation could be very costly and may divert our management’s resources. If one of our products is found to infringe on a third party’s rights, we may have liability for past infringement and may need to seek a license to use such intellectual property going forward. If a license is not available or if we are unable to obtain a license on terms acceptable to us, we would either have to change our product so that it does not infringe or stop making the product.
We must commit resources to product production prior to receipt of purchase commitments and could lose some or all of the associated investment
Sales are made primarily on a current delivery basis, pursuant to purchase orders that may be revised or cancelled by our customers without penalty, rather than pursuant to long-term contracts. Some contracts require that we maintain inventories of certain products at levels above the anticipated needs of our customers. As a result, we must commit resources to the production of products without binding purchase commitments from customers. Our inability to sell products after we devote significant resources to them could harm our business.

16



Risks Relating to International Operations
We sell and trade with foreign customers, which subjects our business to increased risks
Sales to foreign customers accounted for approximately 83% of net sales in the fiscal year ended January 27, 2013. Sales to our customers located in China (including Hong Kong) and South Korea constituted 35% and 7%, respectively, of net sales for fiscal year 2013. International sales are subject to certain risks, including unexpected changes in regulatory requirements, tariffs and other barriers, political and economic instability, difficulties in accounts receivable collection, difficulties in managing distributors and representatives, difficulties in staffing and managing foreign subsidiary and branch operations and potentially adverse tax consequences. These factors may harm our business. Our use of the Semtech name may be prohibited or restricted in some countries, which may negatively impact our sales efforts. In addition, substantially all of our foreign sales are denominated in U.S. dollars and currency exchange fluctuations in countries where we do business could harm us by resulting in pricing that is not competitive with prices denominated in local currencies.
Our foreign currency exposures may change over time as the level of activity in foreign markets grows and could have an adverse impact upon financial results
As a global enterprise, we face exposure to adverse movements in foreign currency exchange rates. Certain of our assets, including certain bank accounts, exist in non-U.S. dollar-denominated currencies, which are sensitive to foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations. The non-U.S. dollar-denominated currencies are principally the Swiss Franc, Euro, Canadian dollars, Mexican Peso, Japanese Yen and British Pound Sterling. We also have a significant number of employees that are paid in foreign currency, the largest groups being United Kingdom-based employees who are paid in British Pound Sterling, Swiss-based employees who are paid in Swiss Francs, Canada-based employees who are paid in Canadian dollars, and Mexican nationals who are paid in Mexican Pesos.
If the value of the U.S. dollar weakens relative to these specific currencies, as it has done in recent years, the cost of doing business in terms of U.S. dollars rises. With the growth of our international business, our foreign currency exposures may grow and under certain circumstances, could harm our business.
As a means of managing our foreign exchange exposure, we routinely convert U.S. dollars into foreign currency in advance of the expected payment. The Company regularly assesses whether or not to hedge foreign exchange exposure. Any future use of forward contracts to hedge foreign exchange exposure may be required to be marked-to-market each quarter and can create volatility in net income not directly tied to our operating results.
We may be subject to increased tax liabilities and an increased effective tax rate if we need to repatriate funds held by our foreign subsidiaries
As of January 27, 2013, our foreign subsidiaries held approximately $180.2 million of cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments and $383.7 million of unremitted earnings for which no Federal or State taxes have been provided. If we needed these funds for investment in our domestic operations, any repatriation, such as that which occurred in fiscal year 2010 to partially fund the acquisition of Sierra Monolithics, Inc. (“SMI”), could result in increased tax liabilities.
We are subject to export restrictions and laws affecting trade and investments
As a global company headquartered in the United States, we are subject to U.S. laws and regulations that limit and restrict the export of some of our products. Compliance with these laws has not significantly limited our operations or our sales in the recent past, but could significantly limit them in the future. We maintain an export compliance program but there are risks that the compliance controls could be circumvented, exposing us to legal liabilities. We must also comply with export restrictions and laws imposed by other countries affecting trade and investments. Although these restrictions and laws have not significantly restricted our operations in the recent past, there is a risk that they could do so in the future.
Risks Relating to Sales, Marketing and Competition
We compete against larger, more established entities and our market share may be reduced if we are unable to respond to our competitors effectively
The semiconductor industry is intensely competitive and is characterized by price erosion, rapid technological change, and design and other technological obsolescence. We compete with domestic and international semiconductor companies, many of which have substantially greater financial and other resources with which to pursue engineering, manufacturing, marketing and distribution of their products. Some of these competitors include: Linear Technology Corporation, Maxim Integrated Products Inc., Microsemi and Monolithic Power Systems Inc., with respect to our Power Management and High Reliability products; and STMicroelectronics N.V., NXP Semiconductors N.V., ON Semiconductor Corporation, and Infineon Technologies AG, with respect to our Protection products. Our primary competitors with respect to our Advanced Communication products are

17



Broadcom Corporation, ClariPhy Communications, Inc., and our customer’s own internal solutions. Our primary competitors with respect to our Wireless and Sensing products include Silicon Laboratories, Texas Instruments Inc., Atmel Corporation, Analog Devices Inc., and Cypress Semiconductor Corporation. With respect to our Gennum Product Group, we consider our primary competitors to include Texas Instruments, Maxim Integrated, Inc., Mindspeed Technology Inc., and Inphi Corporation.
We expect continued competition from existing competitors as well as competition from new entrants in the semiconductor market. Our ability to compete successfully in the rapidly evolving area of integrated circuit technology depends on several factors, including:
success in designing and manufacturing new products that implement new technologies;
protection of our processes, trade secrets and know-how;
maintaining high product quality and reliability;
pricing policies of our competitors;
performance of competitors’ products;
ability to deliver in large volume on a timely basis;
marketing, manufacturing and distribution capability; and
financial strength.
 
To the extent that our products achieve market success, competitors typically seek to offer competitive products or lower prices; if they are successful, they could harm our business.
We receive a significant portion of our revenues from a small number of customers and the loss of any one of these customers or failure to collect a receivable from them could adversely affect our business
Our largest customers have varied from year to year. Historically, we have had significant customers that individually accounted for 10% or more of consolidated revenues in certain quarters or represented 10% or more of net accounts receivables at any given date. One of our authorized distributors regularly accounts for more than 10% of net sales on an annual basis. Depending on the authorized distributor and their strategic focus, they can support anywhere from a few end-customers to many end-customers.
Concentration of Net Sales - Significant Customers
 
Fiscal Years
(percentage of net sales)
2013
 
2012
 
2,011
Samsung Electronics (and affiliates)
12
%
 
13
%
 
12
%
Huawei Technologies (and affiliates)
10
%
 
7
%
 
8
%
Frontek Technology Corp
6
%
 
10
%
 
11
%
Concentration of Accounts Receivable - Significant Customers
 
Fiscal Years
(percentage of net accounts receivable as of fiscal year end)
2013
 
2012
Samsung Electronics (and affiliates)
12
%
 
14
%
Frontek Technology Corp
4
%
 
10
%
Dragon Technology
3
%
 
11
%
Huawei Technologies (and affiliates)
14
%
 
11
%
In addition to those customers representing greater than 10% of net sales listed above, we had several end-customers in fiscal year 2013 that, on an annual basis, accounted for more than 3% of net sales, but less than 10% of net sales.
Sales to our customers are generally made on open account, subject to credit limits we may impose, and the receivables are subject to the risk of being uncollectible.

18



We primarily conduct our sales on a purchase order basis, rather than pursuant to long-term contracts. The loss of any significant customer, any material reduction in orders by any of our significant customers, the cancellation of a significant customer order or the cancellation or delay of a customer’s significant program or product could harm our business.
Most of our authorized distributors, which together represent approximately half of our net sales, can terminate their contract with us with little or no notice. The termination of a distributor could negatively impact our business, including net sales and accounts receivable
In fiscal year 2013, authorized distributors accounted for approximately 39% of our net sales. We generally do not have long-term contracts with our distributors and most can terminate their agreement with us with little or no notice. For fiscal year 2013, our two largest distributors were based in Asia.
The termination of any of our distributor relationships could impact our net sales and limit our access to certain end-customers. It could also result in the return of excess inventory of our product held by that distributor. Since many distributors simply resell finished products, they generally operate on very thin profit margins. If a distributor were to terminate an agreement with us or go out of business, our accounts receivable from the particular distributor would be subject to significant collection risk.
Risks Relating to Governmental Regulations, including Taxes, Financial Reporting Rules and Regulations, and Environmental Regulations
We are subject to government regulations and other standards that impose operational and reporting requirements
We, our suppliers, and our customers are subject to a variety of United States federal, foreign, state and local governmental laws, rules and regulations, including those related to the use, storage, handling, discharge or disposal of certain toxic, volatile or otherwise hazardous chemicals and the incorporation of such substances into products available for sale. If we or our suppliers were to incur substantial additional expenses to acquire equipment or otherwise comply with environmental regulations, product costs could significantly increase, thus harming our business.
 
We are also subject to laws, rules, and regulations related to export licensing and customs requirements, including the International Traffic in Arms Controls, the North American Free Trade Agreement and State Department and Commerce Department rules.
Additional laws, rules and regulations at the United States federal and relevant foreign levels governing data privacy protections for personal information, and corrupt practices/anti-bribery prohibitions, impact our business in terms of ongoing monitoring of compliance. Legislation and related regulations in the United Kingdom under that country’s Bribery Act could have extra-territorial application of compliance standards that may be inconsistent with comparable United States law, requiring the Company to re-evaluate and amend its compliance programs, policies and initiatives.
The SEC and NASDAQ have revised, and continue to revise, their regulations and listing standards. These developments have increased, and may continue to increase, our legal compliance and financial reporting costs. These developments also may make it more difficult and more expensive for us to obtain director and officer liability insurance, and we may be required to accept reduced coverage or incur substantially higher costs to obtain coverage. This, in turn, could make it more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified members of our Board of Directors, or qualified executive officers.
Failure to comply with present or future laws, rules and regulations of any kind that govern our business could result in suspension of all or a portion of production, cessation of all or a portion of operations, or the imposition of significant regulatory, administrative, civil, or criminal penalties or sanctions, any of which could harm our business.
Our failure to comply with any applicable environmental regulations could result in a range of consequences, including fines, suspension of production, excess inventory, sales limitations, and criminal and civil liabilities and new regulations related to “conflict minerals” may force us to incur additional expenses, may make our supply chain more complex and may result in damage to our reputation with customers.
We are subject to various state, federal and international laws and regulations governing the environment, including restricting the presence of certain substances in electronic products and making producers of those products financially responsible for the collection, treatment, recycling and disposal of those products. Although our management systems are designed to maintain compliance, we cannot assure you that we have been or will be at all times in complete compliance with such laws and regulations. If we violate or fail to comply with any of them, a range of consequences could result, including fines, import/export restrictions, sales limitations, criminal and civil liabilities or other sanctions. We could also be held liable for any and all consequences arising out of exposure to hazardous materials used, stored, released, disposed of by us or located at, under or emanating from our facilities or other environmental or natural resource damage.

19



Environmental laws are complex, change frequently and have tended to become more stringent over time. For example, the European Union and China are two among a growing number of jurisdictions that have enacted in recent years restrictions on the use of lead, among other chemicals, in electronic products. These regulations affect semiconductor packaging. There is a risk that the cost, quality and manufacturing yields of lead-free products may be less favorable compared to lead-based products or that the transition to lead-free products may produce sudden changes in demand, which may result in excess inventory.
Future environmental legal requirements may become more stringent or costly and our compliance costs and potential liabilities arising from past and future releases of, or exposure to, hazardous substances may harm our business and our reputation.
On August 22, 2012, under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, or the Dodd-Frank Act, the SEC adopted new requirements for companies that use certain minerals and metals, known as conflict minerals, in their products, whether or not these products are manufactured by third parties. These requirements will require companies to diligence, disclose and report whether or not such minerals originate from the Democratic Republic of Congo and adjoining countries. We will have to diligence whether such minerals are used in the manufacture of our products. The implementation of these new requirements could adversely affect the sourcing, availability and pricing of such minerals used in the manufacture of semiconductor devices. As a result, there may only be a limited pool of suppliers who provide conflict free metals, and we cannot assure you that we will be able to obtain products in sufficient quantities or at competitive prices. In addition, we will incur additional costs to comply with the disclosure requirements, including costs related to determining the source of any of the relevant minerals and metals used in our products. Also, since our supply chain is complex, we may face reputational challenges with our customers and other stockholders if we are unable to sufficiently verify the origins for all metals used in our products. In such event, we may also face difficulties in satisfying customers who require that all of the components of our products are certified as conflict mineral free. The first report is due on May 31, 2014 for the 2013 calendar year. However, in October 2012, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers and the Business Roundtable filed a petition challenging the adoption of the rules by the SEC. It is presently unclear if this challenge will delay the effectiveness of the rule.
Changes in tax laws may materially impact tax liabilities and our effective tax rate
We do not provide U.S. federal or state taxes for our unremitted income of wholly owned foreign subsidiaries that is considered to be permanently reinvested offshore and is not otherwise subject to current domestic taxation. The current U.S. Administration and Congress have proposed changes to current U.S. tax law, including international tax reform that, if enacted, could materially impact our tax liabilities and effective tax rate.
 
We are subject to review by taxing authorities, including the Internal Revenue Service
We are subject to review by domestic and foreign taxing authorities, including the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”). Tax years prior to 2009 (fiscal year 2010) are generally not subject to examination by the IRS except for items with tax attributes that could impact open tax years. Changes to our tax filings could materially impact our tax liabilities and effective tax rate.
We may be subject to taxation in other jurisdictions which could negatively affect our operations
As a global organization, we may be subject to a variety of transfer pricing or permanent establishment challenges by taxing authorities in various jurisdictions. If certain of our non-U.S. activities were treated as carrying on business as a permanent establishment and therefore, subject to income tax in such jurisdiction, our results of operations could be materially adversely affected.
Failure to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting or disclosure controls and procedures could have a material adverse effect on our business and stock price
Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires an annual management assessment of the effectiveness of internal controls over financial reporting and an annual report by our independent registered public accounting firm opining on our internal controls over financial reporting. Management is similarly required to review disclosure controls, which are controls established to ensure that information required to be disclosed in SEC reports is recorded, processed, summarized and reported in a timely manner.
If we fail to maintain the adequacy of our internal controls, as such standards are modified, supplemented or amended from time to time, we may not be able to ensure that we can conclude on an ongoing basis that we have effective internal control over financial reporting. Effective internal controls are necessary for us to produce reliable financial reports and are important in the prevention of financial fraud. If we cannot produce reliable financial reports or prevent fraud, our business and operating results could be harmed, investors could lose confidence in our reported financial information, and there could be a material

20



adverse effect on our stock price. If we fail to maintain adequate disclosure controls and procedures, the reports we file with the SEC, including the financial statements contained therein, could be inaccurate or misleading.
Government investigations and inquiries from regulatory agencies could lead to enforcement actions, fines, restatement of our financial statements or other penalties and could result in litigation against us.
In the past, we have been subject to government investigations and inquiries from regulatory agencies such as the SEC and we have had to restate our historical financial statements in connection with such inquiry related to our historical stock option practices. We may be subject to government investigations and receive additional inquiries from regulatory agencies in the future, which may lead to enforcement actions, fines or other penalties.
In addition, litigation has often been brought against a company in connection with the announcement of a government investigation or inquiry from a regulatory agency. Such lawsuits could result in the diversion of management’s time and attention away from business operations, which could harm our business. In addition, the costs of defense and any damages resulting from litigation, a ruling against us, or a settlement of the litigation could adversely affect our cash flow and financial results.
If such government investigations or inquiries result in a restatement of our financial statements, this could delay the filing of our subsequent SEC reports which, in turn, might result in the delisting of our common stock from the NASDAQ Stock Market for failure to meet continued listing requirements.
Risks Relating to our Business Strategies, Personnel and Other Operations
The loss of any of our key personnel or the failure to attract or retain specialized technical and management personnel could impair our ability to grow our business
Our future success depends upon our ability to attract and retain highly qualified technical, marketing and managerial personnel. We are dependent on a relatively small group of key technical personnel with analog and mixed-signal expertise. Personnel with highly skilled managerial capabilities, and analog and mixed-signal design expertise, are scarce and competition for personnel with these skills is intense. There can be no assurance that we will be able to retain key employees or that we will be successful in attracting, integrating or retaining other highly qualified personnel in the future. If we are unable to retain the services of key employees or are unsuccessful in attracting new highly qualified employees, our business could be harmed.
If our stock price declines below the exercise price of stock options held by our employees, the retention incentive aspect of the stock options is lost and there is a greater likelihood we will be unable to retain key talent.
 
We face risks associated with companies we have acquired in the past and may acquire in the future
We have expanded our operations through strategic acquisitions, such as the acquisition of SMI in December 2009 and Gennum Corporation in March 2012, and we may continue to expand and diversify our operations with additional acquisitions. Acquisitions have used and could use in the future a significant portion of our available liquid assets or we could incur debt or issue equity securities to fund acquisitions. Issuance of equity securities could be dilutive to existing shareholders. Debt financing could subject us to restrictive covenants that could have an adverse effect on our business. Although we undertake detailed reviews of proposed acquisition candidates and attempt to negotiate acquisition terms favorable to us, we may encounter difficulties or incur liabilities for which we have no recourse. We cannot provide any assurance that any acquisition will have a positive impact on our future performance.
If we are unsuccessful in integrating acquired companies into our operations or if integration is more difficult than anticipated, then we may not achieve anticipated cost savings or synergies and may experience disruptions that could harm our business. Some of the risks that may affect our ability to successfully integrate acquired companies include those associated with:
conforming the acquired company’s standards, processes, procedures and controls with our operations;
coordinating new product and process development, especially with respect to highly complex technologies;
assuring acquired products meet our quality standards;
loss of key employees or customers of the acquired company;
hiring additional management and other critical personnel;
increasing the scope, geographic diversity and complexity of our operations;
consolidation of facilities and functions;

21



the geographic distance between the companies; and
disparate corporate cultures.
Acquisitions could have a negative impact on our future earnings by way of poor performance by the acquired company or, if we later conclude we are unable to use or sell an acquired product or technology, we could be required to write down the related intangible assets and goodwill.
Our ability to generate the significant amount of cash needed to service our debt obligations or to obtain additional financing depends on many factors beyond our control.
We completed the acquisition of Gennum on March 20, 2012 and entered into senior secured first lien credit facilities in an aggregate principal amount of $350 million as described further under “Note 10- Credit Facilities.” Prior to the completion of the acquisition of Gennum, we did not have any material outstanding indebtedness. As a result of the incurrence of such debt, we expect our consolidated interest expense will increase and our ability to make payments on amounts borrowed under our credit facilities, and to fund our operations will depend on our ability to generate substantial operating cash flow. Our cash flow generation will depend on our future performance, which will be subject to prevailing economic conditions and to financial, business and other factors, many of which are beyond our control.
Our business may not generate sufficient cash flow from operations and, if we cannot service our debt, we will have to take actions such as reducing or delaying capital investments, selling assets, or seeking additional equity capital. We may not be able to, if required, effect these actions on commercially reasonable terms, or at all. Because of these and other factors beyond our control, we may be unable to pay the interest on or other amounts in respect of our indebtedness.
Restrictive covenants in the credit agreement governing our senior secured first lien credit facilities may restrict our ability to pursue our business strategies.
The credit agreement governing our senior secured first lien credit facilities contain a number of restrictive covenants that impose significant operating and financial restrictions on us and may limit our ability to engage in acts that may be in our long-term best interests. The credit agreement includes covenants restricting, among other things, our and our subsidiaries’ ability to:
incur or guarantee additional debt or issue certain preferred stock; 
pay dividends or make distributions on our capital stock or redeem, repurchase or retire our capital stock;
make certain investments and acquisitions;
create liens on our or our subsidiaries’ assets;
enter into transactions with affiliates;
merge or consolidate with another person or sell or otherwise dispose of substantially all of our assets;
make certain payments in respect of other material indebtedness;
alter the business that we conduct; and
make certain capital expenditures.
Under the credit agreement, we are required to maintain a total leverage ratio and an interest expense coverage ratio. Our ability to meet such financial ratios can be affected by events beyond our control, and we cannot assure you that we will be able to meet such ratios. The credit agreement also contains various covenants and restrictions and a breach of any covenant or restriction could result in a default under our credit agreement. If any such default occurs, the lenders may elect (after the expiration of any applicable notice or grace periods) to declare all outstanding borrowings, together with accrued and unpaid interest and other amounts payable thereunder, to be immediately due and payable. Further, following an event of default under our credit facilities, the lenders will have the right to proceed against the collateral granted to them to secure that debt. If the debt under our credit facilities were to be accelerated, our assets may not be sufficient to repay in full that debt that may become due as a result of that acceleration.
We rely on certain critical information systems for the operation of our business
We maintain and rely upon certain critical information systems for the effective operation of our business. These information systems include telecommunications, the Internet, our corporate intranet, various computer hardware and software applications, network communications, and e-mail. These information systems may be owned by us or by our outsource providers or even

22



third parties such as vendors and contractors and may be maintained by us or by such providers or third parties. These information systems are subject to attacks, failures, and access denials from a number of potential sources including viruses, destructive or inadequate code, power failures, and physical damage to computers, hard drives, communication lines and networking equipment. To the extent that these information systems are under our control, we have implemented security procedures, such as virus protection software and emergency recovery processes, to address the outlined risks; however, security procedures for information systems cannot be guaranteed to be failsafe and our inability to use or access these information systems at critical points in time could unfavorably impact the timely and efficient operation of our business. Additionally, any compromise of our information security could result in the unauthorized publication of our confidential business or proprietary information or the unauthorized release of customer or employee data and result in a violation of privacy or other laws, thus exposing us to litigation or damage to our reputation.
The costs associated with our indemnification of certain customers, distributors, and other parties could be higher in future periods
In the normal course of our business, we indemnify other parties, including customers, distributors, and lessors, with respect to certain matters. These obligations typically arise pursuant to contracts under which we agree to hold the other party harmless against losses arising from a breach of representations and covenants related to certain matters, such as acts or omissions of our employees, infringement of third-party intellectual property rights, and certain environmental matters. We have not incurred any significant expense as a result of agreements of this type in at least a decade, but there can be no assurances that we will not incur expense under these indemnification provisions in the future.
We have also entered into agreements with our current and former directors and certain of our current and former executives indemnifying them against certain liabilities incurred in connection with their duties. Our Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws contain similar indemnification obligations with respect to our current and former directors and employees, as does the California Labor Code. We cannot estimate the amount of potential future payments, if any, that we might be required to make as a result of these agreements.
 
Our share price could be subject to extreme price fluctuations, and stockholders could have difficulty trading shares
Historically, the market for the stock of high technology companies has been volatile, and the market price of our common stock has been and may continue to be subject to significant fluctuations. Fluctuations could be in response to items such as operating results, announcements of technological innovations, or market conditions for technology stocks in general. Additionally, the stock market in recent years has experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations that often have been unrelated to the operating performance of individual companies. These market fluctuations, as well as general economic conditions, may adversely affect the price of our common stock.
In addition, the future sale of a substantial number of shares of common stock by us or by our existing stockholders or option holders (including directors, officers, and employees, some of whom hold stock options that are approaching their expiration date) may have an adverse impact on the market price of the shares of common stock. There can be no assurance that the trading price of our common stock will remain at or near its current level.

Our decision to implement a new Enterprise Resource Planning (“ERP”) software platform has been subject to some delay, could be subject to further delays, may cost more than expected and could interrupt operational transactions during and following the implementation.

We are currently implementing SAP’s enterprise resource planning software and making related enhancements to our integrated financial and supply chain management systems. This process is complex, time-consuming and expensive. Operational disruptions during the course of this process or delays in or results from the implementation of these enhancements could materially impact our operations. Our ability to forecast sales demand, ship products, manage our product inventory and record and report financial and management information on a timely and accurate basis could be impaired while we are making these enhancements, as well as after we complete the implementation.

We have already experienced some delay in the implementation of the ERP system and there is no guarantee that other delays will not take place. Further changes in scope, timeline or cost could have a material adverse effect on our results of operation.

Item 1B.    Unresolved Staff Comments
None.


23



Item 2.        Properties
Our headquarters are located in Camarillo, California where we own an approximately 87,600 square foot facility that was completed in 2002. The parcel on which our headquarters is located can accommodate substantial expansion. The Camarillo facility houses inside sales, marketing and administrative offices as well as a very limited amount of test and probe activity.
We own a 30,000 square foot building in Reynosa, Mexico that supports some of the assembly and production needs of the Power Management and High-Reliability product line.
We lease an approximately 10,000 square foot building in San Diego, California that houses design, test and administrative functions and serves as a development center for our Wireless and Sensing product line. The lease on this facility runs through September 2014, with an option to extend for an additional five years.
Our Redondo Beach, California facilities consist of approximately 26,300 total square feet of leased space which house general offices for business functions relating to certain products of our Advanced Communications product line. The leases on these facilities expire at various times between 2013 and 2015. For the portion of the facilities for which the lease expires in 2013, we intend to continue occupancy in that space under a month to month tenancy. We also lease approximately 35,000 square feet in Irvine, California which facility houses design, test and administrative functions for our Advanced Communications product line. The leases on the Irvine facilities expire between 2014 and 2015.

We lease a facility in Wil, Switzerland which serves as corporate headquarters for our Semtech International AG subsidiary and houses finance, administrative and other general functions. The lease on this facility runs through June 2019. In addition, we lease office and warehouse space in Neuchatel, Switzerland, the headquarters for our Wireless and Sensing product line. The lease on this facility expires in March 2016.

We also lease space to house certain of our other administrative, design, sales and marketing, and operations in San Jose, California; Raleigh, North Carolina; Buckingham Township (Philadelphia), Pennsylvania; Canada; China; Finland; France; Germany; India; Japan; Lithuania; Mexico; South Korea; Sweden; the Philippines; Taiwan; and the United Kingdom.
We believe that our existing leased and owned space is more than adequate for our current operations, and that suitable replacement and additional space will be available in the future on commercially reasonable terms.

Item 3.
Legal Proceedings
The descriptions of the legal proceedings in Note 15 to the financial statements included in this report are incorporated by reference to this Item 3.
 
ITEM 4.
Mine Safety Disclosures
Not applicable.
 

24



PART II

Item 5.
Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
Market Information
During fiscal years 2013 and 2012, our common stock traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol “SMTC.” The following table sets forth, for the periods indicated, the high and low sale prices of our common stock, as reported on the NASDAQ market, giving effect to all stock splits through the date hereof.
 
High
 
Low
Fiscal year ended January 27, 2013:
 
 
 
First Quarter
$30.46
 
$25.54
Second Quarter
$27.59
 
$22.22
Third Quarter
$27.10
 
$23.18
Fourth Quarter
$30.12
 
$22.95
Fiscal year ended January 29, 2012:
 
 
 
First Quarter
$28.29
  
$21.30
Second Quarter
$29.47
  
$22.88
Third Quarter
$26.23
  
$19.16
Fourth Quarter
$29.40
  
$20.45
On March 22, 2013, the reported last sale price of our common stock on the NASDAQ Global Select Market was $33.69 per share.
Holders
As of March 22, 2013, we had 287 holders of record of our common stock.
Dividends
The payment of dividends on our common stock is within the discretion of our Board of Directors. Currently, we intend to retain earnings to finance the growth of our business. We have not paid cash dividends on our common stock during at least the five most recent fiscal years and our Board of Directors has not indicated any intent to declare a cash dividend on the common stock in the foreseeable future. The credit agreement governing our senior secured first lien credit facilities entered into in connection with our acquisition of Gennum includes covenants limiting our ability to pay dividends or make distributions on our capital stock.
Purchases of Equity
Information with respect to purchases by the Company of shares of common stock during the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2013 follows:
Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
Fiscal Month/Year
 
Total Number of
Shares Purchased 
(2)
 
Average Price Paid
per Share
 
Total Number of Shares
Purchased as Part of 
Publicly Announced Program
 
Approximate Dollar Value 
of Shares That May Yet 
Be Purchased Under 
The Program (1)
November 2012 (10/29/12-11/25/12)
 

 
$

 

 
$50.0 million
December 2012 (11/26/12-12/23/12)
 
178,085

 
$
28.37

 
178,085

 
$45.0 million
January 2013 (12/24/12-01/27/13)
 
85,358

 
$
28.67

 
85,358

 
$42.5 million
Total activity in the fourth quarter
 
263,443

 
 
 
263,443

 
 
(1)
On March 4, 2008, we announced that our Board of Directors authorized the repurchase of up to $50 million of our common stock from time to time through negotiated or open market transactions (“2008 Program”). This stock repurchase program does not have an expiration date. On August 24, 2011, we announced a $36 million expansion of the 2008 Program. On November 30, 2011, we announced an additional $50 million expansion of our existing stock repurchase program.
(2)
The table does not include shares surrendered to us in connection with the cashless exercise of stock options by employees and directors or shares surrendered to us to cover tax liabilities upon vesting of restricted stock.
Securities Authorized for Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans
See the information set forth in Part III, Item 12 of this Form 10-K.
Sales of Unregistered Securities
We did not make any unregistered sales of equity securities during fiscal year 2013.
Performance Graph
This chart and graph show the value of a $100 cash investment on the last day of fiscal year 2008 in (i) the Company’s common stock, (ii) the NASDAQ Composite Index, and (iii) the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. Note that historic stock price performance is not necessarily indicative of future stock price performance.


Fiscal Year
2008
 
2009
 
2010
 
2011
 
2012
 
2013
Semtech
$
100

  
$
93

  
$
120

  
$
175

  
$
233

  
$
240

NASDAQ Composite
$
100

  
$
64

  
$
92

  
$
116

  
$
121

  
$
135

PHLX SEMICONDUCTOR SECTOR
$
100

  
$
59

  
$
89

  
$
124

  
$
117

  
$
117

The information contained in this Item 5 under the heading “Performance Graph” (i) is being furnished and shall not be deemed “filed” for the purposes of Section 18 of the Exchange Act, or otherwise subject to the liabilities of that section, and (ii) shall not be incorporated by reference into any registration statement or other document pursuant to the Exchange Act, or the Securities Act, except as shall be expressly set forth by specific reference in such filing to this Item 5 Performance Graph information.

Item 6.        Selected Financial Data
The consolidated statement of income data set forth below for fiscal years 2013, 2012 and 2011 and the consolidated balance sheet data as of the end of fiscal years 2013 and 2012 are derived from, and qualified by reference to, the audited consolidated financial statements included in Item 8 of this report. The consolidated statement of income data for fiscal years 2010 and 2009 and the consolidated balance sheet data as of the end of fiscal years 2011, 2010 and 2009 are derived from the audited financial statements previously filed with the SEC on Form 10-K.
This information should be read in conjunction with Management’s Discussion and Analysis contained in Item 7 of this report, the audited financial statements and accompanying notes included in Item 8 of this report, and the corresponding items included in our Form 10-K for fiscal years 2012, 2011 and 2010.


25



The fiscal year ended January 31, 2010 consisted of fifty-three weeks with the extra week falling in the fourth quarter. All other fiscal years presented consisted of fifty-two weeks. Our past results are not necessarily indicative of our future performance.
Income Statement Data
 
Fiscal Year Ended
(in thousands, except per share amounts)
January 27, 2013
 
January 29, 2012
 
January 30, 2011
 
January 31, 2010
 
January 25, 2009
Net sales
$
578,827

  
$
480,601

  
$
454,502

  
$
286,560

  
$
294,820

Cost of sales
264,215

  
194,956

  
186,196

  
130,514

  
135,233

Gross profit
314,612

  
285,645

  
268,306

  
156,046

  
159,587

Operating costs and expenses:
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
  
 
Selling, general and administrative
149,070

  
100,629

  
110,404

  
77,934

  
75,200

Product development and engineering
120,009

  
80,577

  
69,624

  
44,847

  
41,405

Intangible amortization
29,944

  
10,853

  
9,520

  
2,348

  
1,091

Total operating costs and expenses
299,023

  
192,059

  
189,548

  
125,129

  
117,696

Operating income
15,589

  
93,586

  
78,758

  
30,917

  
41,891

Interest expense
(14,363
)
 

 

 

 

Interest income and other (expense) income, net
(977
)
  
593

  
574

  
3,054

  
4,287

Income before taxes
249

  
94,179

  
79,332

  
33,971

  
46,178

(Benefit) provision for taxes
(41,690
)
  
5,092

  
6,760

  
33,014

  
8,657

Net income
$
41,939

  
$
89,087

  
$
72,572

  
$
957

  
$
37,521

Earnings per share:
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
  
 
Basic
$
0.64

 
$
1.37

 
$
1.16

  
$
0.02

  
$
0.61

Diluted
$
0.62

 
$
1.32

 
$
1.12

  
$
0.02

  
$
0.61

Weighted average number of shares used in computing earnings per share:
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
  
 
Basic
65,809

 
65,099

 
62,339

  
60,779

  
61,249

Diluted
67,472

 
67,350

 
64,523

  
61,676

  
61,999

Anti-dilutive shares not included in the EPS calculations
783

 
625

 
1,700

  
8,900

  
10,600

Balance Sheet Data
(in thousands)
January 27, 2013
 
January 29, 2012
 
January 30, 2011
 
January 31, 2010
 
January 25, 2009
Cash, cash equivalents and investments
$
236,072

 
$
327,665

  
$
258,342

  
$
162,223

  
$
258,815

Working capital
248,311

 
360,330

  
259,873

  
146,086

  
279,887

Total assets
1,171,013

 
726,321

  
659,943

  
514,294

  
420,795

Long term debt, less current
282,286

 

 

 

 

Other long-term liabilities
34,177

 
29,151

  
37,503

  
35,173

  
8,960

Total stockholders’ equity
694,826

 
630,188

  
528,615

  
405,741

  
378,020

Note 1:
The Company acquired Gennum on March 20, 2012 and Cycleo SAS on March 7, 2012. Both of these acquisitions occurred during our fiscal year 2013 with Gennum being the more significant of the two. As a result, fiscal year 2013 reflects almost a full year on these acquisitions in our consolidated statements of income.
The Company acquired SMI on December 9, 2009 and Leadis Technology Inc. on February 6, 2009. Both of these acquisitions occurred during our fiscal year 2010 with SMI being the more significant of the two. As a result, fiscal year 2011 reflects a full year on these acquisitions in our consolidated statements of income.
Refer to Note 3 to our audited consolidated financial statements included in Item 8 of this report.


26



Item 7.         Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with Item 6 “Selected Consolidated Financial Data” and our audited consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this Form 10-K.
As discussed in “Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking and Cautionary Statements” earlier in this report, this Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Our actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in the forward looking statements, including as a result of the risks described in the cautionary statements in Item 1A “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this Form 10-K, in our other filings with the SEC, and in material incorporated herein and therein by reference. We undertake no duty to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Overview
We are a leading supplier of analog and mixed-signal semiconductor products and were incorporated in Delaware in 1960. We design, produce and market a broad range of products that are sold principally into applications within the high-end consumer, industrial, enterprise computing and communications end-markets. The high-end consumer market includes handheld products, tablet computers, set-top boxes, digital televisions, digital video recorders, thunderbolt and fiberless high-speed interfaces and other consumer equipment. Applications for the industrial market include broadcast studio equipment, automated meter reading, military and aerospace, medical, security systems, automotive, industrial and home automation, video security and surveillance and other industrial equipment. Enterprise computing product markets include optical receiver and transceiver, desktops, notebooks, servers, graphic boards, monitors, printers, and other computer peripherals. Communications market applications include base stations, backplane, optical networks, carrier networks, switches and routers, servers, cable modems, signal conditioners, wireless LAN, and other communication infrastructure equipment. Our end-customers are primarily original equipment manufacturers and their suppliers, including Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco Systems, Inc., Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., LG Electronics, Motorola, Nokia Siemens Networks, Itron, Apple, Phonak International, Research In Motion Limited, Samsung Electronics Co., and ZTE Corporation.
On March 20, 2012, we, through our wholly-owned subsidiary Semtech Canada Inc., completed the acquisition of all outstanding equity interests of Gennum Corporation (“Gennum”) (TSX: GND), a leading supplier of high speed analog and mixed-signal semiconductors for the optical communications and video broadcast markets.
Upon consummation of the acquisition, which constituted a change in control of Gennum, Gennum’s stock option awards and restricted shares became fully vested. We acquired 100% of the outstanding shares and vested stock options, restricted shares, and deferred share units of Gennum for CDN$13.55 per share for a total purchase price of $506.5 million. The acquisition was financed with a combination of cash from our international cash reserves and $347 million (net of original issue discount of $3 million) of five-year secured term loans with a combined interest rate of approximately 4% (see Note 10 to our audited consolidated financial statements included in Item 8 of this report).
Our primary reasons for the acquisition were to broaden our existing portfolio of high-speed communications platforms with Gennum’s 1 Gbps to 25 Gbps signal integrity platform, to complement our 40 Gbps to 100 Gbps SerDes solutions and to create one of the industry’s most complete and robust analog and mixed signal portfolios. In addition, Gennum’s strong position in video broadcast and the emerging HD video surveillance market further diversifies our portfolio of high-performance analog semiconductors and provides cross-selling potential with the combined customer base.
On March 7, 2012, we completed the acquisition of Cycleo SAS (“Cycleo”), a privately held company based in France that develops IP for wireless long-range semiconductor products used in smart metering and other industrial and consumer markets. This transaction, which was accounted for using the acquisition method of accounting, complements our current wireless offerings and will bring customers a set of high-end, digitally enhanced wireless solutions. Under the terms of the agreement, we paid the stockholders of Cycleo $5 million in cash at closing.
The audited consolidated financial statements for the fiscal year 2013 include the results of operations of Gennum and Cycleo commencing as of the acquisition dates.
We operate our business in one enterprise-wide reportable segment. Most of our sales to customers are made on the basis of individual customer purchase orders. Many customers include cancellation provisions in their purchase orders. Trends within the industry toward shorter lead-times and “just-in-time” deliveries have resulted in our reduced ability to predict future shipments. As a result, we rely on orders received and shipped within the same quarter for a significant portion of our sales. Orders received and shipped in fiscal years 2013 represented 41% of net sales. Sales made directly to customers during fiscal year 2013 were 61% of net sales. The remaining 39% of net sales were made through independent distributors.

27



Our business relies on foreign-based entities. Most of our outside subcontractors and suppliers, including third-party foundries that supply silicon wafers, are located in foreign countries, including China, Taiwan, the United States, Canada, Europe and Israel. For the fiscal year ended January 27, 2013, approximately 38% of our silicon, in terms of cost of wafers purchased, was manufactured in China. Foreign sales for fiscal year 2013 constituted approximately 83% of our net sales. Approximately 84% of foreign sales in fiscal year 2013 were to customers located in the Asia-Pacific region. The remaining foreign sales were primarily to customers in Europe and Canada.

Results of Operations
Fiscal Year 2013 Compared With Fiscal Year 2012
Presented below is our estimate of net sales by end-market.
 
Fiscal Years
 
 
(in thousands, except percentages)
2013
 
2012
 
Change
Enterprise Computing
$
85,945

 
15
%
 
$
41,716

 
9
%
 
106
 %
Communications
181,791

 
31
%
 
186,479

 
39
%
 
(3
)%
High-End Consumer
169,847

 
29
%
 
168,520

 
35
%
 
1
 %
Industrial and Other
141,243

 
25
%
 
83,886

 
17
%
 
68
 %
Total
$
578,826

 
100
%
 
$
480,601

 
100
%
 
20
 %
Net Sales. Net sales for fiscal year 2013 were $578.8 million, an increase of 20% compared to $480.6 million for fiscal year 2012. Fiscal year 2013 revenues increased driven by strengthening demand in the enterprise computing and industrial end markets and by the impact of approximately $129.6 million of Gennum sales in the current fiscal year, partially offset by a slight decrease in demand from the high-end consumer and communications end markets. Fiscal year 2012 was also impacted by softening global economic conditions that resulted in a reduction in orders of our component products during the fiscal year.

Higher revenue in the enterprise computing market is driven primarily by demand for the Gennum Product Group optical communications products. Within the communications category, lower revenue was attributed to softer demand for 40G communications products in our Advanced Communications product line, partially offset by increasing demand for 100G communication products. High-end consumer revenues were relatively flat due to softer demand in Protection products due to reduced demand from a North American Tier 1 smartphone customer offset by increasing demand for Gennum Product Group Thunderbolt cables. Higher revenue in the industrial category was attributed to video broadcast applications in the Gennum Product Group and continued strength in the medical business of our Wireless and Sensing Group.
Gross Profit. Gross profit was $314.6 million and $285.6 million in fiscal years 2013 and 2012, respectively. Our gross margin was 54.4% for fiscal year 2013, down from 59.4% in fiscal year 2012. Gross profit margins for fiscal year 2013 were negatively impacted by the amortization of $39.4 million of the fair value adjustment related to acquired inventory recorded to cost of sales from the Gennum acquisition which offset a favorable end-market product mix driven primarily by the impact of approximately $129.6 million of Gennum sales in fiscal year 2013.
Operating Costs and Expenses.
 
Fiscal Years
 
 
(in thousands, except percentages)
2013
 
2012
 
 
 
Cost/Exp.
 
% net sales
 
Cost/Exp.
 
% net sales
 
Change
Selling, general and administrative
$
149,070

 
26
%
 
$
100,629

 
21
%
 
48
%
Product development and engineering
120,009

 
21
%
 
80,577

 
17
%
 
49
%
Intangible amortization and impairments
29,944

 
5
%
 
10,853

 
2
%
 
176
%
Total operating costs and expenses
$
299,023

 
52
%
 
$
192,059

 
40
%
 
56
%
Selling, General & Administrative Expenses
Selling, general and administrative (“SG&A”) expenses for fiscal year 2013 increased by $48.4 million or 48% driven primarily by $11.4 million of transaction and integration expenses due to the acquisition of Gennum and Cycleo in March 2012 and the impact of incremental Gennum SG&A expenses.

28



Selling, general and administrative expenses for fiscal years 2013 include approximately $2.5 million environmental reserves and $13.4 million severance costs associated with the integration of the acquired Gennum business with the Company’s pre-existing business (refer to Note 15 and Note 17 to our audited consolidated financial statements for details). Fiscal year 2012 includes $2.0 million for expenses attributed to a reorganization plan initiated during the third quarter of fiscal year 2012 which resulted in consolidation of research and development activities and reduction in workforce.
SG&A stock-based compensation expense was $15.0 million and $15.8 million in fiscal years 2013 and 2012, respectively. The year over year decrease in equity compensation was principally driven by staffing reductions associated with our reorganization actions in fiscal year 2012 partially offset by the increase in stock price in fiscal year 2013.
Product Development and Engineering Expenses
Product development and engineering expenses for fiscal years 2013 and 2012 were $120.0 million and $80.6 million, respectively or an increase of 49%. The increase in fiscal year 2013 is principally driven primarily by the inclusion of Gennum expenses of $40.9 million since March 2012.
The levels of product development and engineering expenses reported in a fiscal period can be significantly impacted, and therefore experience period over period volatility, by the number of new product tape-outs and by the timing of recoveries from non-recurring engineering services which are typically recorded as a reduction to product development and engineering expense.
Intangible Amortization and Impairments
Intangible amortization and impairments was $29.9 million and $10.9 million in fiscal years 2013 and 2012, respectively. The increase reflects the impact of $19.7 million intangible amortization related to the acquisition of Gennum and an impairment charge of $0.7 million attributed to assets acquired from SMI Inc. As of January 27, 2013, we had a total of $228.6 million of gross carrying amount of finite-lived intangible assets, which included $129.9 million related to the acquisition of Gennum.
The purchase price allocation for the Gennum acquisition included $29.1 million of acquired in-process research and development (“IPR&D”) projects. Each project was analyzed to determine the unique technological innovations, the existence and reliance on core technology, the existence of any alternative future use or current technological feasibility, and the complexity, cost and time to complete the remaining development.
The fair value of the IPR&D projects was determined using an income approach or replacement cost approach as applicable. The replacement cost approach was used for IPR&D projects that were considered long-term core investments and were not anticipated to be profitable for a period of time. IPR&D projects which were valued using an income approach, measured the returns attributable to each specific IPR&D project, discounted to present value using a risk-adjusted rate of return, including as appropriate, any tax benefits derived from amortizing the intangible asset for tax purposes. Significant factors considered in the calculation of the rate of return are the weighted average cost of capital and return on assets, as well as the risks inherent in the development process, including the likelihood of achieving technological success and market acceptance. For IPR&D projects valued using a replacement cost approach, value was estimated by developing the cost to either replace or reproduce (replicate) the IPR&D to its current state.
The top three IPR&D projects that comprise $21.0 million of the total $29.1 million IPR&D balance are for enterprise computing, communications and high-end consumer products. The following table summarizes the significant assumptions underlying the valuation for such three IPR&D projects at the acquisition date:
Development Projects
 
Estimated Percent Complete
 
Estimated Time to Complete
(in years)
 
Estimated Cost to Complete
(in millions)
 
Risk Adjusted Discount Rate
 
Valuation Approach
 
IPR&D
(In millions)
Video Platform
 
10%-14%
 
1.7 to 1.9
 
$3.4 - $10.4
 
12%
 
Income
 
$4.0
Backplane
 
36%-40%
 
0.2 to 0.4
 
$18.4 - $20.2
 
NA
 
Replacement Cost
 
$12.0
Consumer
 
44%-48%
 
0.2
 
$5.2 - $6.0
 
NA
 
Replacement Cost
 
$5.0

Costs, timing, and successful completion are subject to additional risk factors such as (i) increase in the projected technological risk of completion, (ii) decrease in the projected market size for the developed product, and (iii) subsequent decisions to postpone or delay the development of the IPR&D project. Actual results to date have been consistent, in all material respects, with our assumptions at the time of the acquisition.
Acquired in-process research and development was tested for impairment as of November 30, 2012, the date of our annual impairment review. With the exception of the impairment charge of $0.7 million recorded to write-off acquired IPR&D from

29



SMI, we concluded that the fair value of the acquired in-process research and developments exceeded the carrying value and no impairment existed as of January 27, 2013 (see Note 8 to our audited consolidated financial statements).
Interest Expense. Interest expense was $14.4 million in fiscal year 2013. There was no interest expense in fiscal year 2012. The increase was due to interest expense and the amortization of the original issue discount and debt issuance costs related to the credit facilities to finance the acquisition of Gennum (see Notes 3 and 10 to our audited consolidated financial statements).
We are currently assessing our financing alternatives and may decide to replace our existing debt with lower interest debt in fiscal year 2014.
Interest Income and Other Expense, Net. Interest income and other expense, net was $(977,000) in fiscal year 2013, compared to $593,000 in fiscal year 2012. In fiscal year 2013, the interest income and other expense is primarily made of $(700,000) Swiss Stamp duty tax liabilities. In addition, interest income in fiscal year 2013 is lower as a result of a significant liquidation of investment to pay for acquisitions.
Provision for Taxes. The benefit for income taxes was $41.7 million for fiscal year 2013 compared to a provision of $5.1 million for fiscal year 2012. The effective tax rate for fiscal year 2013 reflects the impact of the one-time $23.4 million benefit related to our change in assertion regarding $70 million of foreign subsidiary earnings. Because income before taxes was near break-even for fiscal year 2013, comparison of year-over-year effective tax rates is meaningless.
 
In fiscal year 2010, we concluded that $120 million of foreign subsidiary earnings were no longer considered to be permanently reinvested offshore. In the first quarter of fiscal year 2013, in connection with the acquisition of Gennum, we reviewed our assertion regarding the amount of foreign subsidiary earnings that were considered to be permanently reinvested offshore and concluded that due to post-acquisition foreign operating cash needs, all of our foreign subsidiary earnings are considered to be permanently reinvested offshore. This change in assertion resulted in the recognition of a one-time tax benefit of $23.4 million in the first quarter of fiscal year 2013.

In fiscal year 2013, our tax provision was adversely affected by a net increase to our valuation allowance of $2.7 million. This net increase was primarily the result of concerns related to our ability to utilize our California net operating losses due to a projected lower California apportionment in future years.
Fiscal Year 2012 Compared With Fiscal Year 2011
Presented below is our estimate of net sales by end-market.
 
Fiscal Years
 
 
(in thousands, except percentages)
2012
 
2011
 
Change
Enterprise Computing
$
41,716

 
9
%
 
$
42,728

 
9
%
 
(2
)%
Communications
186,479

 
39
%
 
166,419

 
37
%
 
12
 %
High-End Consumer
168,520

 
35
%
 
151,945

 
33
%
 
11
 %
Industrial and Other
83,886

 
17
%
 
93,410

 
21
%
 
(10
)%
Total
$
480,601

 
100
%
 
$
454,502

 
100
%
 
6
 %
Net Sales. Net sales for fiscal year 2012 were $480.6 million, an increase of 6% from $454.5 million for fiscal year 2011. Fiscal year 2012 revenues increased driven by strengthening demand in the communications and consumer end markets. Fiscal year 2012 was also impacted by softening global economic conditions that resulted in a reduction in orders of our component products during the fiscal year.
Higher revenue in the communications end market was attributed to the impact of strengthening demand for our 40G and 100G communications infrastructure products in our Advanced Communications product line. Higher revenues in the high-end consumer end market were driven by strengthening demand for Protection products in consumer applications including LCD TVs, smartphones and tablet computers. Enterprise computing revenues were roughly flat. Within the industrial category, lower revenue was attributed to softer demand from the military segment in our Power Management and High-Reliability and Advanced Communications product lines.
Gross Profit. Gross profit was $285.6 million and $268.3 million for fiscal years 2012 and 2011, respectively. Our gross margin was 59.4% for fiscal year 2012, up from 59.0% in fiscal year 2011. Gross profit margins for fiscal year 2012 were positively impacted by higher revenues, increased manufacturing volumes and the impact of reduced equity compensation

30



expenses attributed to staffing reductions associated with a reduction in workforce. These factors offset the impact of a higher mix of consumer and enterprise computing revenues relative to communications and industrial revenues.
Operating Costs and Expenses.
 
Fiscal Years
 
 
(in thousands, except percentages)
2012
 
2011
 
 
 
Cost/Exp.
 
% net sales
 
Cost/Exp.
 
% net sales
 
Change
Selling, general and administrative
$
100,629

 
21
%
 
$
110,404

 
24
%
 
(9
)%
Product development and engineering
80,577

 
17
%
 
69,624

 
15
%
 
16
 %
Intangible amortization and impairments
10,853

 
2
%
 
9,520

 
2
%
 
14
 %
Total operating costs and expenses
$
192,059

 
40
%
 
$
189,548

 
41
%
 
1
 %
Selling, General & Administrative Expenses
Selling, general and administrative expenses for fiscal year 2012 decreased by $9.8 million or 9% driven by the reduction in class action lawsuit expenses as the Company settled the litigation in August 2011, and lower equity compensation expenses partially offset by the impact of transaction expenses, reorganization charges and the impact of higher staffing and information technology infrastructure upgrade spending. Approximately $2.9 million of transaction expenses attributed to the acquisition of Gennum and the evaluation of other acquisition candidates were recorded in fiscal year 2012.
Selling, general and administrative expenses for fiscal years 2012 and 2011 include approximately $0.2 million and $13.6 million (net of insurance recoveries of $10 million), respectively, for legal and other professional services incurred in connection with matters related to our historical stock option practices, including the government inquiries, the related litigation, and other associated matters. Fiscal year 2012 includes $2.0 million for expenses attributed to a reorganization plan initiated during the third quarter of fiscal year 2012 which resulted in consolidation of research and development activities and reduction in workforce.
SG&A stock-based compensation expense was $15.8 million and $19.3 million in fiscal years 2012 and 2011, respectively. The year over year decrease in equity compensation was principally driven by staffing reductions associated with our reorganization actions.
Product Development and Engineering Expenses
Product development and engineering expenses for fiscal years 2012 and 2011 were $80.6 million and $69.6 million, respectively or an increase of 16%. The increase in fiscal year 2012 is principally driven by the impact of increased new product and process development expenditures primarily in the Advanced Communications and Protection product lines. In addition, fiscal year 2012 includes a $0.9 million expense associated with the impairment of a new process development initiative.
Intangible Amortization and Impairments
Intangible amortization and impairments, which reflects amortization costs associated with acquired intangibles, increased by $1.3 million in fiscal year 2012 compared to fiscal year 2011, as a result of the impact of impairment charges attributed to assets acquired from Leadis Technology Inc. During the third quarter of fiscal year 2012, we abandoned certain development efforts related to acquired intangible assets and recorded an impairment charge of $2.5 million.
Interest Expense. There was no interest expense in fiscal year 2012 and 2011.
Interest Income and Other Expense, Net. Interest income and other expense, net was $593,000 for fiscal year 2012, up from $574,000 in fiscal year 2011. For fiscal years 2012 and 2011, the primary source of income was interest from investments offset by loss from foreign currency transactions.
Provision for Taxes. The provision for income taxes was $5.1 million for fiscal year 2012 compared to $6.8 million for fiscal year 2011. The effective tax rates for fiscal year 2012 and fiscal year 2011 were 5.4% and 8.5%, respectively. The rate for fiscal year 2012 reflects the impact of favorable trends in our regional mix of income. We expect our regional income trends to remain favorable. However, certain items which occurred in fiscal year 2012 are not expected to recur in fiscal year 2013. One such item includes a one-time benefit of $3.9 million related to a release of previously recorded reserves for uncertain tax positions, as a result of statutes of limitations for the taxing authority to challenge the positions expiring.

31



In fiscal year 2012, our tax provision was adversely affected by a net increase to our valuation allowance of $2.1 million. This net increase was primarily the result of concerns related to our ability to utilize our California net operating losses due to a projected lower California apportionment in future years.


Liquidity and Capital Resources
Our capital requirements depend on a variety of factors, including but not limited to, the rate of increase or decrease in our existing business base; the success, timing and amount of investment required to bring new products to market; revenue growth or decline; and potential acquisitions. We believe that we have the financial resources necessary to meet business requirements for the next 12 months, including funds needed for working capital requirements.

As of January 27, 2013, our total shareholders’ equity was $694.8 million. At that date we also had approximately $228.2 million in cash and cash equivalents, $7.9 million in long-term investments, and total debt of $330.7 million.
Our primary sources and uses of cash during the comparative fiscal years are presented below:         
 
Fiscal Year Ended
(in millions)
January 27, 2013
 
January 29, 2012
 
January 30, 2011
Sources of Cash
 
 
 
 
 
Operating activities
$
102.0

 
$
99.8

 
$
93.8

Proceeds from exercise of stock options including tax benefits
12.9

 
45.0

 
30.7

Proceeds from sale of investments
112.5

 
131.7

 
111.0

Issuance of debt, net of original issue discount and debt issuance cost
338.0

 

 

 
$
565.4

 
$
276.5

 
$
235.5

Uses of Cash
 
 
 
 
 
Capital expenditures, net of sale proceeds
$
(23.3
)
 
$
(21.5
)
 
$
(25.5
)
Acquisitions, net of cash acquired
(491.7
)
 

 

Purchase of intangible assets
(1.3
)
 
(3.0
)
 

Purchases of investments
(24.7
)
 
(93.3
)
 
(168.8
)
Purchase of cost method investments
(2.5
)
 

 

Payment of long-term debt
(16.9
)
 

 

Payment for interest rate cap
(1.1
)
 

 

Repurchase of common stock
(7.8
)
 
(50.7
)
 
(2.8
)
 
$
(569.3
)
 
$
(168.5
)
 
$
(197.1
)
Effect of exchange rate increase on cash and cash equivalents
$
0.1

 
$

 
$

Net (decrease) increase in cash and cash equivalents
$
(3.8
)
 
$
108.0

 
$
38.4

We incur significant expenditures in order to fund the development, design, and manufacture of new products. We intend to continue to focus on those areas that have shown potential for viable and profitable market opportunities, which may require additional investment in equipment and the hiring of additional design and application engineers aimed at developing new products. Certain of these expenditures, particularly the addition of design engineers, do not generate significant payback in the short-term. We plan to finance these expenditures with cash generated by our operations and our existing cash balances.
A meaningful portion of our capital resources, and the liquidity they represent, are held by our foreign subsidiaries. As of January 27, 2013, our foreign subsidiaries held approximately $180.2 million of cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments compared to $271.4 million at January 29, 2012. The decline was attributable to using approximately $213.0 million to partially fund the acquisitions of Gennum and Cycleo and to cover transaction and other related expenses.
One of our primary goals is to improve the cash flows from our existing business activities. Our cash, cash equivalents and investments give us the flexibility to use our free cash flow to return value to shareholders (in the form of stock repurchases) and also pursue business improvement opportunities.
Additionally, we will continue to seek to maintain and improve our existing business performance with capital expenditures and, potentially, acquisitions that meet our rate of return requirements. Acquisitions might be made for either cash or stock consideration, or a combination of both.

32



Operating Activities
Net cash provided by operating activities is primarily due to net income adjusted for non-cash items plus fluctuations in operating assets and liabilities.
Operating cash flows for fiscal year 2013 was impacted by several significant non-cash transaction related items including $39.4 million of purchase accounting adjustments related to inventory acquired from Gennum, $19.7 million of amortization expense for acquired intangible assets from Gennum. Also, accretion of deferred financing costs and debt discount was $2.5 million.
Investing Activities
Cash used for investing activities is primarily attributable to the acquisitions of Gennum and Cycleo, capital expenditures, purchases of investments, offset by proceeds from the sales/maturities of investments. Our marketable securities investment portfolio is invested primarily in highly rated securities, generally with a minimum rating of A/A2 or equivalent.
Capital expenditures were $23.3 million for fiscal year 2013 compared to $21.6 million for fiscal year 2012. Acquisitions of Gennum and Cycleo were $491.7 million, net of cash acquired. Funding of the purchase price was sourced from cash and cash equivalents, credit facilities and required the liquidation of a significant amount of our temporary and long-term investments.
Financing Activities
Cash provided by financing activities is primarily attributable to the following: net proceeds from credit facilities, proceeds from the exercise of stock options offset by the repurchase of common stock under the Company’s stock repurchase program and the payment of statutory tax withholding obligations resulting from the vesting of restricted stock settled by withholding shares.
In addition to using our cash, we incurred debt of $347 million (net of original issue discount of $3 million) in term loans during the quarter to complete the Gennum acquisition. On March 20, 2012, we entered into the senior secured first lien credit facilities in the aggregate principal amount of $350 million (the “Facilities”), consisting of Term A loans in an aggregate principal amount of $100 million (the “Term A Loans”) and Term B loans in an aggregate principal amount of $250 million (the “Term B Loans”). Both the Term A Loans and the Term B Loans mature on March 20, 2017. Repayments of long term debt during the fiscal year 2013 totaled $16.9 million. In accordance with the stipulations in the credit agreement, we entered into an interest rate cap agreement protecting at least 50% of the variable interest rate exposure on the term loans and made an upfront payment of $1.1 million in June 2012. Under the terms of the Facilities, we may request, at any time, subject to certain conditions, the establishment of one or more additional term loan facilities in an aggregate principal amount not to exceed $150 million, the proceeds of which may be used for working capital and general corporate purposes. The Facilities are subject to customary affirmative and negative covenants. We were in compliance with such covenants as of January 27, 2013 and we expect to remain in compliance with these covenants.

Pursuant to the Credit Agreement, under certain circumstances, the Company is obligated to apply 50% of its excess cash flow (as defined in the Credit Agreement) for each fiscal year, as well as net cash proceeds from specified other sources, such as asset sales, debt issuances or insurance proceeds, to prepay the Term A Loans and Term B Loans. The first excess cash flow payment is estimated to be $26.6 million. The earliest date that any such payment may be due is 95 days after the last day of the fiscal year ending closest to January 31, 2013. The Company has classified the potential early payment of $26.6 million from “Long term debt” to “Current portion - long term debt” in the consolidated balance sheets as of January 27, 2013.

The Company may decide to replace and refinance its Facilities associated with the Gennum acquisition. The Company does not believe the terms associated with the new facilities will have a significant impact on the Company’s liquidity or operations.
For fiscal year 2013, cash proceeds from the exercise of stock options were $12.9 million compared to $42.7 million in fiscal year 2012.
We do not directly control the timing of the exercise of stock options. Such exercises are independent decisions made by grantees and are influenced most directly by the stock price and the expiration dates of stock awards. Such proceeds are difficult to forecast, resulting from several factors which are outside our control. We believe that such proceeds will remain an important secondary source of cash after cash flow from operating activities.
We currently have in effect a stock repurchase program. This program represents one of our principal efforts to return value to our shareholders. In fiscal year 2013 and fiscal year 2012, we repurchased 0.3 million and 2.3 million shares, respectively, under this program for $7.5 million and $50 million, respectively. On August 24, 2011, we announced a $36 million expansion of our existing stock repurchase program. Refer to Exhibit 99.1 of our current report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on

33



August 24, 2011 for the complete announcement. On November 30, 2011, we announced an additional $50 million expansion of our existing stock repurchase program. Refer to Exhibit 99.1 of our current report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on November 30, 2011 for the complete announcement.
In addition to the stock repurchase program, shares valued at $0.3 million and $0.7 million were withheld in connection with the vesting of restricted stock to cover statutory tax withholding obligations in the fiscal years 2013 and 2012, respectively.
Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements     
We do not have any off-balance sheet arrangements, as those arrangements are defined by the SEC, that are reasonably likely to have a material effect on our financial condition, revenues or expenses, results of operations, liquidity, capital expenditures or capital resources.
We do not have any unconsolidated subsidiaries or affiliated entities. We have no special purpose or limited purpose entities that provide off-balance sheet financing, liquidity or market or credit risk support. We do not engage in leasing, hedging, research and development services, or other relationships that expose us to liability that is not reflected on the face of the financial statements.
Noted below under “Contractual Obligations” are various commitments we have associated with our business, such as lease commitments and open purchase obligations, which are not recorded as liabilities on our balance sheet because we have not yet received the related goods or services as of January 27, 2013.
Contractual Obligations
Presented below is a summary of our contractual obligations as of January 27, 2013.
(in thousands)
Less than 1 year
 
1-3 years
 
4-5 years
 
After 5 years
 
Total
Long-term debt
$
49,100

 
$
45,000

 
$
239,025

 
$

 
$
333,125

Operating leases
8,743

  
10,269

  
6,461

  
11,383

  
36,856

Open capital purchase commitments
1,451

  

  

  

  
1,451

Other open purchase commitments
57,314

  
7,327

  

  

  
64,641

Other vendor commitments
1,200

  
300

  

  

  
1,500

Deferred compensation
760

  
2,369

  
494

  
12,118

  
15,741

Stock-based compensation
3,241

  
5,738

  

  

  
8,979

Total contractual cash obligations
$
121,809

  
$
71,003

  
$
245,980

  
$
23,501

  
$
462,293

Capital purchase commitments, other open purchase commitments and other vendor commitments are for the purchase of plant, equipment, raw material, supplies and services. They are not recorded as liabilities on our balance sheet as of January 27, 2013, as we have not yet received the related goods or taken title to the property.
We maintain a deferred compensation plan for certain officers and key executives that allow participants to defer a portion of their compensation for future distribution at various times permitted by the plan. Our liability for deferred compensation under this plan was $13.9 million and $11.1 million as of January 27, 2013 and January 29, 2012, respectively, and is included in accrued liabilities and other long-term liabilities on the balance sheet and in the table above. The plan provides for a discretionary Company match up to a defined portion of the employee’s deferral, with any match subject to a vesting period.
In addition, during the fiscal year ended January 27, 2013, the Company recognized $1.8 million deferred compensation liability related to the payment of Cycleo earn-out liability which is contingent upon employment at the end of the four-year period beginning on April 30, 2012.
We have purchased whole life insurance on the lives of some of our current and former deferred compensation plan participants. This Company-owned life insurance is held in a grantor trust and is intended to cover a majority of our costs of the deferred compensation plan. The cash surrender value of our Company-owned life insurance was $10.0 million as of January 27, 2013 and $10.2 million as of January 29, 2012, and is included in other assets.
We have $11.1 million of accrued taxes for uncertain tax positions. We believe that it is reasonably possible that the amount of unrecognized tax benefits will decrease by approximately $0.2 million within twelve months as a result of expiring statutes.

34



Inflation
Inflationary factors have not had a significant effect on our performance over the past several years. A significant increase in inflation would affect our future performance.

Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
Our consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”). In connection with the preparation of our financial statements, we are required to make assumptions and estimates about future events, and apply judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenue, expenses and the related disclosures. We base our assumptions, estimates and judgments on historical experience, current trends and other factors that management believes to be relevant at the time our consolidated financial statements are prepared. On a regular basis, management reviews the accounting policies, assumptions, estimates and judgments to ensure that our financial statements are presented fairly and in accordance with GAAP. However, because future events and their effects cannot be determined with certainty, actual results could differ from our assumptions and estimates, and such differences could be material.
Our significant accounting policies are discussed in Note 2 to our audited consolidated financial statements, included in Item 8, of this report on Form 10-K. We believe that the following accounting estimates are the most critical to aid in fully understanding and evaluating our reported financial results, and they require our most difficult, subjective or complex judgments, resulting from the need to make estimates about the effect of matters that are inherently uncertain. We have reviewed these critical accounting estimates and related disclosures with the Audit Committee of our Board of Directors.
Allowance for Doubtful Accounts
We evaluate the collectability of our accounts receivable based on a combination of factors. If we are aware of a customer’s inability to meet its financial obligations to us, we record an allowance to reduce the net receivable to the amount we reasonably believe we will be able to collect from the customer. For all other customers, we recognize allowances for doubtful accounts based on the length of time the receivables are past due, the current business environment, the size and number of certain large accounts and our historical experience. If the financial condition of our customers were to deteriorate or if economic conditions worsen, additional allowances may be required in the future.
Revenue and Cost of Sales
We recognize product revenue when persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists, delivery has occurred, the fee is fixed or determinable and collectability is probable. Product design and engineering recoveries is recognized during the period in which services are performed. We include revenue related to granted technology licenses as part of “Net sales.” Historically, revenue from these arrangements has not been significant though it is part of our recurring ordinary business. In the third quarter of fiscal year 2013, we entered into a single licensing arrangement that resulted in the recognition of $7.5 million of revenue.
We record a provision for estimated sales returns in the same period as the related revenues are recorded. We base these estimates on historical sales returns and other known factors. Actual returns could be different from our estimates and current provisions for sales returns and allowances, resulting in future charges to earnings.

We defer revenue recognition on shipment of products to certain customers, principally distributors, under agreements which provide for limited pricing credits or product return privileges, until these products are sold through to end-users or the return privileges lapse. For sales subject to certain pricing credits or return privileges, the amount of future pricing credits or inventory returns cannot be reasonably estimated given the relatively long period in which a particular product may be held by the customer. Therefore, we have concluded that sales to customers under these agreements are not fixed and determinable at the date of the sale and revenue recognition has been deferred. We estimate the deferred gross margin on these sales by applying an average gross profit margin to the actual gross sales. The average gross profit margin is calculated for each category of material using current standard costs. The estimated deferred gross margin on these sales, where there are no outstanding receivables, is recorded on the balance sheet under the heading of “Deferred revenue.” There were no significant impairments of deferred cost of sales in fiscal year 2013 or fiscal year 2012.

35



The following table summarizes the deferred net revenue balance:
(in thousands)
January 27, 2013
 
January 29, 2012
Deferred revenues
$
4,467

  
$
4,964

Deferred cost of revenues
1,099

  
1,243

Deferred revenue, net
3,368

  
3,721

Deferred product design and engineering recoveries
377

  
132

Total deferred revenue
$
3,745

  
$
3,853

Inventory Valuation
Our inventories are stated at lower of cost or market and consist of materials, labor and overhead. We determine the cost of inventory by the first-in, first-out method. At each balance sheet date, we evaluate our ending inventories for excess quantities and obsolescence. This evaluation includes analyses of sales levels by product and projections of future demand. In order to state our inventory at lower of cost or market, we maintain specific reserves against our inventory which serve to write-down our inventories to a new cost basis. If future demand or market conditions are less favorable than our projections, a write-down of inventory may be required, and would be reflected in cost of goods sold in the period the revision is made.
Business Combinations
Business combinations are accounted for at fair value. Acquisition costs are expensed as incurred and recorded in general and administrative expenses; in-process research and development is recorded at fair value as an indefinite-lived intangible asset at the acquisition date; restructuring costs associated with a business combination are expensed subsequent to the acquisition date; contingent consideration obligations are recorded at fair value on the date of acquisition, with increases or decreases in the fair value arising from changes in assumptions or discount periods recorded as contingent consideration expenses in the consolidated statement of operations in subsequent periods; and changes in deferred tax asset valuation allowances and income tax uncertainties after the acquisition date generally affect income tax expense. All changes that do not qualify as measurement period adjustments are included in current period earnings. The fair values assigned to tangible and intangible assets acquired and liabilities assumed, including contingent consideration, are based on management’s estimates and assumptions, as well as other information compiled by management, including valuations that utilize customary valuation procedures and techniques. Significant judgment is required in estimating the fair value of intangible assets acquired in a business combination and in assigning their respective useful lives. The fair value estimates are based on available historical information and on future expectations and assumptions deemed reasonable by management at the time.
If the actual results differ from the estimates and judgments we utilized, the amounts recorded in the financial statements could result in a possible impairment of the intangible assets and goodwill, or require acceleration of the amortization expense of finite-lived intangible assets.
Interest Rate Derivative
We manage interest expense using variable rate debt. To manage its interest rate risk, we occasionally hedge the future cash flows of its variable rate debt, principally through interest rate contracts with major financial institutions. Interest rate cap contracts involve the receipts of variable amounts from a counterparty when one-month LIBOR exceeds the capped interest rate in exchange for an upfront payment from us, capping our one-month LIBOR floating interest payments at the strike rate on its interest rate cap contract. Interest rate contracts that meet specific criteria are accounted for as cash flow hedges.
The effective portion of changes in the fair value of derivatives designated and that qualify as cash flow hedges is recorded in accumulated other comprehensive income, net of taxes, and is subsequently reclassified into earnings in the period that the hedged forecasted transaction affects earnings. The ineffective portion of the change in fair value of the derivatives is recognized directly in earnings. Amounts reported in accumulated other comprehensive income related to derivatives will be reclassified to interest expense as interest payments are made on our variable-rate debt.

The assessment of effectiveness is based on the total changes in an option’s cash flows such that the assessment will include the interest rate caps entire change in fair value. The interest rate cap is considered a highly effective hedge since the key features and terms match with the hedged item at inception. Key features and terms are notional amount, cap effective date, rate threshold, index, repricing dates, payments dates, and maturity dates.

36



Contingencies and Litigation
We record accruals for contingencies when it is probable that a liability has been incurred and the amount can be reasonably estimated. These accruals are adjusted periodically as assessments change or additional information becomes available. Individually significant contingent losses are accrued when probable and reasonably estimable.
The legal defense costs we accrue is based on reviews by outside counsel, in-house counsel and management and some of the significant factors considered in the review of these reserves are as follows: the actual costs incurred by the Company; the development of the Company's legal defense strategy and structure in light of the scope of its litigation; the number of cases being brought against the Company; the costs and outcomes of completed trials and the most current information regarding anticipated timing, progression, and related costs of pre-trial activities and trials in the associated litigation.
In those situations where the Company is unable to determine the best estimate within the range of loss, it will record the minimum amount in the identified range of probable loss.
Stock-Based Compensation
We measure compensation cost for all share-based payments (including stock options) at fair value using a valuation model, which considers, among other things, estimates and assumptions on the rate of forfeiture, expected life of options and stock price volatility. If any of the assumptions used in the valuation model change significantly, stock-based compensation expense may differ materially in the future from that recorded in the current period and actual results may differ from estimates.
Impairment of Goodwill, Other Intangibles and Long-Lived Assets
We test goodwill and other indefinite-lived intangible assets for impairment in the fourth quarter of each fiscal year or more frequently if we believe indicators of impairment exist. The value of our intangible assets, including goodwill, could be impacted by future adverse changes such as: (i) any future declines in our operating results, (ii) a decline in the valuation of technology company stocks, including the valuation of our common stock, (iii) a significant slowdown in the worldwide economy and the semiconductor industry or (iv) any failure to meet the performance projections included in our forecasts of future operating results. For our annual impairment review, we primarily use a multi-period excess earnings approach methodology of valuation that includes the discounted cash flow method as well as other generally accepted valuation methodologies to determine the fair value of the assets. Our assumptions incorporate judgments as to the price received to sell a reporting unit as a whole in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. Considering the integration of our operations, we have assumed that the highest and best use of a reporting unit follows an “in-use” valuation premise. Significant management judgment is required in the forecasts of future operating results that are used in the discounted cash flow method of valuation. The estimates we have used are consistent with the plans and estimates that we use to manage our business. It is possible, however, that the plans and estimates used may be incorrect. If our actual results, or the plans and estimates used in future impairment analysis, are lower than the original estimates used to assess the recoverability of these assets, we could incur impairment charges in a future period.
Goodwill is tested for impairment as of November 30    , the date of our annual impairment review. We estimated the fair values of our reporting units using the income approach, which requires significant judgments, including estimation of future cash flows, which is dependent on internal forecasts, estimation of the long-term rate of growth for our business, estimation of the useful life over which cash flows will occur, and determination of our weighted average cost of capital. Our analysis included sensitivity analysis of key assumptions such as a 10% increase in the weighted-average cost of capital, a 10% increase in the effective tax rate or a 5% decline in our compound annual growth rate noting the fair value of the goodwill associated with the Advanced Communications, the Wireless and Sensing, and Gennum reporting units exceeded their respective carrying values and no impairment existed as of January 27, 2013.
The Company reviews indefinite-lived intangible assets for impairment annually or whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate the carrying value may not be recoverable. Recoverability of indefinite-lived intangible assets is measured by comparing the carrying amount of the asset to the future discounted cash flows that asset is expected to generate. Acquired in-process research and development projects (“IPR&D”) is tested for impairment as of November 30, the date of the Company’s annual goodwill impairment review.
We record impairment losses on long-lived assets used in operations when indicators of impairment, such as reductions in demand or significant economic slowdowns in the semiconductor industry, are present. Reviews are performed to determine whether the carrying value of an asset is impaired, based on comparisons to undiscounted expected future cash flows. If this comparison indicates that there is impairment, the impaired asset is written down to fair value, which is typically calculated using: (i) quoted market prices and/or (ii) discounted expected future cash flows utilizing a discount rate. Impairment is based on the excess of the carrying amount over the fair value of those assets.

37



Accounting for Income Taxes
As part of the process of preparing our consolidated financial statements, we are required to estimate our income taxes in each of the jurisdictions in which we operate. This process involves estimating our actual current tax liability together with assessing temporary differences resulting from differing treatment of items for tax and accounting purposes. These differences result in deferred tax assets and liabilities, which are included within our consolidated balance sheet.
We must 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. Generally, to the extent we change a valuation allowance; the change is recorded through the tax provision in the statement of operations. Management periodically evaluates our deferred tax assets to assess whether it is likely that the deferred tax assets will be realized. In determining whether a valuation allowance is required, we consider projected taxable income. The most significant assumptions used in preparing projections of taxable income include forecasting the levels of income by region and the amount of deductible stock based compensation.
We are subject to income taxes in both the United States and numerous foreign jurisdictions. Significant management estimates are required in determining our worldwide provision for income taxes. In the ordinary course of our business, there are many transactions and calculations where the ultimate tax impact is uncertain. The calculation of tax liabilities involves dealing with uncertainties in the application of complex tax laws. We recognize liabilities for uncertain tax positions based on a two-step process. The first step is to evaluate the tax position for recognition by determining if the weight of available evidence indicates that it is more likely than not that the position will be sustained on audit, including resolution of related appeals or litigation processes, if any. The second step requires us to estimate and measure the tax benefit as the largest amount that is more than 50% likely of being realized upon ultimate settlement. It is inherently difficult and subjective to estimate such amounts, as this requires us to determine the probability of various possible outcomes. We reevaluate these uncertain tax positions on a quarterly basis. This evaluation is based on factors including, but not limited to, changes in facts or circumstances, changes in tax law, effectively settled issues under audit, and new audit activity. Such a change in recognition or measurement would result in the recognition of a tax benefit or an additional charge to the tax provision in the period of change. Although we believe the estimates are reasonable, no assurance can be given that the final outcome of these matters will not be different than what is reflected in the historical income tax provisions and accruals. Should additional taxes be assessed as a result of an audit or litigation, a material effect on our income tax provision and net income in the period or periods for which that determination is made could result.
The income tax effects of share-based payments are recognized for financial reporting purposes only if such awards are expected to result in a tax deduction. We do not recognize a deferred tax asset for an excess tax benefit (that is, a tax benefit that exceeds the amount of compensation cost recognized for the award for financial reporting purposes) that has not been realized. In determining when an excess tax benefit is realized, we have elected to follow the ordering provision of the tax law.
In addition to the risks to the effective tax rate discussed above, the effective tax rate reflected in forward-looking statements is based on current enacted tax law. Significant changes in enacted tax law could materially affect these estimates.
In general, the amount of taxes we pay will differ from our reported tax provision as a result of differences between accounting for income under U.S. GAAP and accounting for taxable income. Typical book-tax differences include expense related to equity compensation, deemed dividends, depreciation, litigation expense and amortization of intangible assets. As a result of these book-tax differences, our tax payments are expected to exceed our tax provision during the next three years.
For intra-entity differences between the tax basis of an asset in the buyer’s tax jurisdiction and their cost as reported in the consolidated financial statements, we do not recognize a deferred tax asset. Income taxes paid on intra-entity profits on assets remaining within the group are accounted for as prepaid taxes.
We continually review our position on undistributed earnings from our foreign subsidiaries to determine whether those earnings are indefinitely reinvested offshore. Domestic and foreign operating cash flow forecasts are reviewed to determine the sources and uses of cash. Based on these forecasts, we determine the need to accrue deferred tax liabilities associated with our undistributed earnings offshore.

38



New Accounting Standards
In February 2013, the FASB issued an accounting standards update regarding the reporting of reclassifications out of accumulated other comprehensive income. This update, which will be effective prospectively for reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2012, requires disclosure of amounts reclassified out of accumulated other comprehensive income by component. In addition, an entity is required to present either on the face of the statement of operations or in the notes, significant amounts reclassified out of accumulated other comprehensive income by the respective line items of net income but only if the amount reclassified is required to be reclassified to net income in its entirety in the same reporting period. For amounts not reclassified in their entirety to net income, an entity is required to cross-reference to other disclosures that provide additional detail about those amounts. The Company will adopt the disclosure requirements of this update for the quarter ending April 28, 2013.

Item 7A.     Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
We are subject to a variety of market risks, including commodity risk and the risks related to foreign currency, interest rates and market performance that are detailed below. Many of the factors that can have an impact on our market risk are external to us, and so we are unable to fully predict them.
Market Conditions
Current global economic conditions pose a risk to the overall economy as consumers and businesses may defer purchases in response to the uncertainty around tighter credit and negative financial news. These conditions have historically resulted in periods where demand for our products is reduced.
In addition to risks associated with global economic conditions, demand for our products could be different from our expectations due to customer acceptance of our products, changes in customer order patterns, including order cancellations, and changes in the level of inventory held by vendors.
Commodity Risk
We are subject to risk from fluctuating market prices of certain commodity raw materials, particularly gold, that are incorporated into our end products or used by our suppliers to process our end products. Increased commodity prices are passed on to us in the form of higher prices from our suppliers, either in the form of general price increases or a commodity surcharge. Although we generally deal with our suppliers on a purchase order basis rather than on a long-term contract basis, we generally attempt to obtain firm pricing for volumes consistent with planned production. Our gross margins may decline if we are not able to increase selling prices of our products or obtain manufacturing efficiencies to offset the increased cost. We do not enter into formal hedging arrangements to mitigate against commodity risk.
Foreign Currency Risk
As a global enterprise, we face exposure to adverse movements in foreign currency exchange rates and we could experience foreign currency exchange gains or losses. Historically, we have not considered our foreign currency exposure to be material. Therefore, we have not utilized foreign currency hedging products to mitigate foreign currency risks. Our foreign currency exposures may increase over time as the level of activity in foreign markets grows. Changes in the rates could have an adverse impact upon our financial results.
A relatively small amount of our monetary assets and liabilities are denominated in foreign currencies, principally the Swiss Franc, Canadian dollars, Mexican Peso, British Pound Sterling and the Euro. Fluctuations in these currencies relative to the United States dollar will result in transaction gains or losses included in net earnings.
All of our foreign sales, which amounted to $488.1 million in fiscal year 2013, are denominated in United States dollars. Currency exchange rate fluctuations in foreign countries where we do business could harm our business by resulting in pricing that is not competitive with prices denominated in local currencies.

39



For fiscal year 2013, we spent approximately $42.3 million in Canadian dollars, $16.8 million in British Pound Sterling, $14.4 million in Swiss Francs, $4.6 million in Euros, $4.6 million in Japanese Yen, and $7.7 million in Mexican Pesos for operating expenses.
In general, we purchase foreign currencies on a spot basis as needed to fund local operations. As of January 27, 2013, we held cash funds of $16.7 million denominated in Canadian dollars, $0.8 million denominated in British Pound Sterling, $1.0 million denominated in Swiss Francs, $4.4 million denominated in Euros and $1.4 million denominated in Japanese Yen, and $0.7 million denominated in Mexican Pesos. We did not hold a significant amount of other foreign currencies. If rates of these foreign currencies were to strengthen or weaken relative to the U.S. dollar, we would realize gains or losses in converting these funds back into U.S. dollars.
Interest Rate and Market Risk
As a result of entering into the $350 million long-term debt with variable interest rates, our operating results are exposed to fluctuations in interest rates. Pursuant to the Credit Agreement, we were required to enter into an interest rate hedging agreement protecting at least 50% of all the variable interest rate exposure on the term loans within 90 days of entering into the Credit Agreement. We do not engage in the trading of derivative financial instruments in the normal course of business. On June 18, 2012, we entered into an interest rate cap agreement to fulfill the requirements of our Credit Agreement (see Note 11 to our audited consolidated financial statements for more information). In the event interest rates were to increase 100 basis points and holding all other variables constant, annual net income and cash flows for the following year would decrease by approximately $1.0 million associated with the Company’s variable-rate debt, including the effect of the interest rate contract. The effect of the 100 basis points increase would decrease the fair value of our variable-rate debt by approximately $3.4 million.
Interest rates affect our return on excess cash and investments. As of January 27, 2013, we had $223.2 million of cash and cash equivalents and $12.9 million of temporary and long-term investments. A majority of our cash and cash equivalents and investments generate interest income based on prevailing interest rates. Investments and cash and cash equivalents generated interest income of $0.4 million in fiscal year 2013. A significant change in interest rates would impact the amount of interest income generated from our cash and investments. It would also impact the market value of our investments.
Our investments are subject to market risks, primarily interest rate and credit risk. Our investments are managed by a limited number of outside professional managers following investment guidelines set by us. Such guidelines prescribe credit quality, permissible investments, diversification, and duration restrictions. These restrictions are intended to limit risk by restricting our investments to high quality debt instruments with relatively short-term durations. Our investment strategy limits investment of new funds and maturing securities to U.S. Treasury, Federal agency securities, high quality money market funds and time deposits with our principal commercial banks.


40



Item 8.         Financial Statements and Supplementary Data
The information required by Item 8 is presented in the following order:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 




41



MANAGEMENT’S REPORT ON INTERNAL CONTROL OVER FINANCIAL REPORTING
The report called for by Item 308(a) of Regulation S-K is incorporated herein by reference to the Report of Management on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting that is included in Part II, Item 9A of this report.


REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
ON INTERNAL CONTROL OVER FINANCIAL REPORTING
The report called for by Item 308(b) of Regulation S-K is incorporated herein by reference to the Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting that is included in Part II, Item 9A of this report.




42




REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
The Board of Directors and Stockholders of Semtech Corporation

We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Semtech Corporation and subsidiaries as of January 27, 2013 and January 29, 2012, and the related consolidated statements of income, comprehensive income, stockholders' equity and cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended January 27, 2013. Our audits also included the financial statement schedule listed in the Index at Item 15(a). These financial statements and schedule are the responsibility of the Company's management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements and schedule based on our audits.

We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards 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. An audit also includes assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

In our opinion, the financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the consolidated financial position of Semtech Corporation and subsidiaries at January 27, 2013 and January 29, 2012, and the consolidated results of their operations and their cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended January 27, 2013, in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. Also, in our opinion, the related financial statement schedule, when considered in relation to the basic financial statements taken as a whole, presents fairly in all material respects the information set forth therein.

We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), Semtech Corporation and subsidiaries' internal control over financial reporting as of January 27, 2013, based on criteria established in Internal Control-Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission and our report dated March 28, 2013 expressed an unqualified opinion thereon.
/s/ Ernst & Young LLP
Los Angeles, California
March 28, 2013


43





SEMTECH CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME
(in thousands, except earnings per share)
 
 
Fiscal Year Ended
 
January 27,
2013
 
January 29,
2012
 
January 30,
2011
Net sales
$
578,827

 
$
480,601

 
$
454,502

Cost of sales
264,215

 
194,956

 
186,196

Gross profit
314,612

 
285,645


268,306

Operating costs and expenses:
 
 
 
 
 
Selling, general and administrative
149,070

 
100,629

 
110,404

Product development and engineering
120,009

 
80,577

 
69,624

Intangible amortization and impairments
29,944

 
10,853

 
9,520

Total operating costs and expenses
299,023

 
192,059

 
189,548

Operating income
15,589

 
93,586

 
78,758

Interest expense
(14,363
)
 

 

Interest income and other (expense) income, net
(977
)
 
593

 
574

Income before taxes
249

 
94,179

 
79,332

(Benefit) provision for taxes
(41,690
)
 
5,092

 
6,760

Net income
$
41,939

 
$
89,087

 
$
72,572

Earnings per share:
 
 
 
 
 
Basic
$
0.64

 
$
1.37

 
$
1.16

Diluted
$
0.62

 
$
1.32

 
$
1.12

Weighted average number of shares used in computing earnings per share:
 
 
 
 
 
Basic
65,809

 
65,099

 
62,339

Diluted
67,472

 
67,350

 
64,523

See accompanying notes. The accompanying notes are an integral part of these statements.

44



SEMTECH CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME
(in thousands)
 
  
Fiscal Year Ended
 
January 27,
2013
 
January 29,
2012
 
January 30,
2011
Net income
$
41,939

 
$
89,087

 
$
72,572

Other comprehensive (loss) income, before tax:
 
 
 
 
 
Change in net unrealized holding loss on available-for-sale investments
(42
)
 
(262
)
 
(117
)
Change in unrealized loss on interest rate cap
(556
)
 

 

Change in cumulative translation adjustment
203

 
(4
)
 
1

Other comprehensive loss, before tax
(395
)
 
(266
)
 
(116
)
Benefit for taxes related to items of other comprehensive (loss) income
213

 
58

 
41

Other comprehensive loss, net of tax
(182
)
 
(208
)
 
(75
)
Total comprehensive income, net of tax
$
41,757

 
$
88,879

 
$
72,497

See accompanying notes. The accompanying notes are an integral part of these statements.

45



SEMTECH CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
AS OF JANUARY 27, 2013 AND JANUARY 29, 2012
(in thousands, except share data)
 
January 27,
2013
 
January 29,
2012
Assets
 
 
 
Current assets:
 
 
 
Cash and cash equivalents
$
223,192

 
$
227,022

Temporary investments
4,973

 
83,121

Accounts receivable, less allowances of $4,917 at January 27, 2013 and $3,594 at January 29, 2012
69,160

 
49,644

Inventories
74,878

 
46,995

Deferred tax assets
7,473

 
5,339

Prepaid taxes
7,794

 
9,580

Other current assets
18,523

 
5,611

Total current assets
405,993

 
427,312

Non-current assets:
 
 
 
Property, plant and equipment, net of accumulated depreciation of $101,766 at January 27, 2013 and $85,393 at January 29, 2012
101,837

 
69,713

Long-term investments
7,907

 
17,522

Deferred income taxes
33,563

 

Goodwill
393,584

 
129,651

Other intangible assets, net
206,058

 
66,720

Other assets
22,071

 
15,403

TOTAL ASSETS
$
1,171,013

 
$
726,321

Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity
 
 
 
Current liabilities:
 
 
 
Accounts payable
$
51,991

 
$
26,699

Accrued liabilities
49,276

 
32,389

Deferred revenue
3,745

 
3,853

Current portion - long term debt
48,449

 

Deferred tax liabilities
4,221

 
4,041

Total current liabilities
157,682

 
66,982

Non-current liabilities:
 
 
 
Deferred tax liabilities
2,042

 
1,000

Long term debt, less current
282,286

 

Other long-term liabilities
34,177

 
28,151

Stockholders’ equity:
 
 
 
Common stock, $0.01 par value, 250,000,000 shares authorized, 78,136,144 issued and 66,607,347 outstanding on January 27, 2013 and 78,136,144 issued and 64,964,780 outstanding on January 29, 2012
785

 
785

Treasury stock, at cost, 11,528,797 shares as of January 27, 2013 and 13,171,364 shares as of January 29, 2012
(200,604
)
 
(225,822
)
Additional paid-in capital
355,990

 
358,327

Retained earnings
538,302

 
496,363

Accumulated other comprehensive income
353

 
535

Total stockholders’ equity
694,826

 
630,188

TOTAL LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
$
1,171,013

 
$
726,321

See accompanying notes. The accompanying notes are an integral part of these statements.

46



SEMTECH CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
(in thousands, except share amounts)
 
Common Stock
 

 
 
 
 
 
Accumulated Other
 
 
 
Number of Shares Outstanding
 
Amount
 
Additional Paid-in Capital
 
Retained Earnings
 
Treasury Stock, at Cost
 
Comprehensive Income (Loss)
 
Stockholders’ Equity
Balance at January 31, 2010
61,261,015

 
$
784

 
$
348,741

 
$
334,704

 
$
(279,306
)
 
$
818

 
$
405,741

Net income

 

 

 
72,572

 

 

 
72,572

Other comprehensive (loss)

 

 

 

 

 
(75
)
 
(75
)
Stock-based compensation

 

 
24,204

 

 

 

 
24,204

Repurchase of outstanding common stock
(164,636
)
 

 

 

 
(2,819
)
 

 
(2,819
)
Treasury stock reissued
2,825,111

 

 
(19,169
)
 

 
49,858

 

 
30,689

Shares issued under equity award plans
6,250

 
1

 

 

 

 

 
1

Tax shortfall from stock based compensation

 

 
(1,698
)
 

 

 

 
(1,698
)
Balance at January 30, 2011
63,927,740

 
$
785

 
$
352,078

 
$
407,276

 
$
(232,267
)
 
$
743

 
$
528,615

Net income

 

 

 
89,087

 

 

 
89,087

Other comprehensive (loss)

 

 

 

 

 
(208
)
 
(208
)
Stock-based compensation

 

 
19,068

 

 

 

 
19,068

Repurchase of outstanding common stock
(2,279,526
)
 

 

 

 
(50,665
)
 

 
(50,665
)
Treasury stock reissued
3,316,566