STX, §1A diff (2017 → 2018)

ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS Our industry is highly competitive and our failure to anticipate and respond to technological and market developments could harm our ability to compete. We operate in markets that are highly competitive and subject to rapid change, and that are significantly affected by new product introductions and technological advancements. Our competitors also may aggressively lower prices as part of a strategy to gain or retain market share and customers. If these practices continue, we may need to continually reduce our prices for existing products to retain our market share, which could adversely affect our results of operations. Our ability to offset the effect of price erosion through new product introductions at higher average prices may be diminished to the extent competitors introduce products before we introduce similar, competing products. We may also lose market share if we are unable to ramp volume production of new products as quickly as our competitors ramp production of similar competing products. Any significant decline in our market share in any of our principal market applications would adversely affect our results of operations. Our principal sources of competition include: • disk drive and solid state drive (“SSD”) manufacturers, such as Micron Technology, Inc., Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, Inc., Toshiba Corporation and Western Digital Corporation; • companies providing storage subsystems and components to OEMs; • electronic manufacturing services (“EMS”) companies acquiring the necessary skills and intellectual property to enter the enterprise data storage marketplace; and • collaborations between in-house development teams of existing and potential customers and a combination of EMS, contract electronic manufacturing (“CEM”) or emerging technology companies. We also experience competition from other companies that produce alternative storage technologies such as flash memory, where increasing capacity, decreasing cost, energy efficiency and improvements in performance ruggedness have resulted in competition with our lower capacity, smaller form factor disk drives. This competition has traditionally been in the markets for handheld consumer electronics applications and now it also includes SSDs for tablet, notebook and enterprise compute applications. Some customers for both enterprise and edge compute applications are adopting SSDs as alternatives to hard drives in certain applications. Further adoption of these alternative storage technologies may impact the competitiveness of our product portfolio and reduce our market share and adversely affect our results of operations. The markets for our data storage system products are also characterized by technological change, which is driven in part by the adoption of new industry standards. These standards provide mechanisms to ensure technology component interoperability can occur and may reduce our capability for differentiation or innovation. If this occurs, our affected products may be considered commodities. This could lower the barriers for entry to our market away from our specialized research and development skills and enable entry for the general-purpose design skills found in some large EMS and CEM companies. Commodity markets are driven by extremely low margins and very aggressive competitive pricing. If our market becomes more commoditized and we fail to deliver innovative value-added alternatives to our customers or if our component manufacturers transfer their business to our competitors, we will have difficulty competing against the larger EMS and CEM companies which could reduce our profit margin or result in a loss of market share, which could significantly harm our financial condition. We may be unable to effectively plan and make strategic changes in our business which may materially adversely affect our financial and business results. Additionally, even if we are able to make desired strategic changes, we may not achieve the intended benefits of our efforts. If we fail to predict demand accurately for our products in any quarter or if the market for our products changes, we may not be able to recapture the cost of our investments, which may materially adversely affect our financial results and results of operations. Our industry operates primarily on quarterly purchasing cycles, with much of the order flow in any given quarter typically coming at the end of that quarter. Our quarterly results are subject to substantial fluctuations and can be difficult to predict. Our Seagate Technology public limited company | 2018 Form 10-K | 14 manufacturing process requires us to make significant product-specific investments in inventory in each quarter for production in that quarter and future quarters. Since we typically receive the bulk of our orders late in a quarter after we have made our investments, there is a risk that our orders will not be sufficient to allow us to recapture the costs of our investment before the products resulting from that investment have become obsolete. We cannot provide any assurance that we will be able to accurately predict demand in the future. Our revenues in any quarter are substantially dependent upon customer orders in that quarter. We attempt to project future orders based, in part, on estimates from our key customers. Our customers’ estimated requirements are not always accurate and, therefore, we cannot predict our quarterly revenues with any degree of certainty. In addition, we derive a portion of our revenues in each quarter from a number of relatively large orders. If one or more of our key customers decides to defer a purchase order or delays product acceptance in any given quarter, our revenues for that quarter may be significantly reduced and fall below our expectations. The difficulty in forecasting demand also increases the difficulty in anticipating our inventory requirements, which may cause us to overproduce or underproduce finished goods. If we do not produce enough finished goods to meet customer requirements, we may be unable to maintain our market share. Additionally, the risk of obsolescence or lower of cost and net realizable value inventory write-offs could increase if we were to carry excess inventory levels for extended periods or due to volatility in the pricing environment. Our uneven sales cycle makes inventory management challenging and future financial results less predictable. We cannot be certain that we will be able to recover the costs associated with increased inventory. Other factors that may adversely affect our ability to recapture the cost of investments in any given quarter include: • the impact of variable demand and an aggressive pricing environment for disk drives or SSDs; • the impact of competitive product announcements and possible excess industry supply both with respect to particular disk drive products and with respect to competing alternative storage technology solutions, such as SSDs, in tablet, notebook and enterprise compute applications; • our inability to reduce our fixed costs to match sales in any quarter because of our vertical manufacturing strategy; • dependence on our ability to successfully qualify, manufacture and sell our disk drive products, particularly new disk drive products, in increasing volumes, on a cost-effective basis, and with acceptable quality; • uncertainty in the amount of purchases from our key customers who from time to time constitute a large portion of our total sales; • our product mix and the related gross margins of our products; • accelerated reduction in the price of our disk drives due to technological advances and/or an oversupply of disk drives in the market and shifting trends in demand which can create supply and demand imbalances; • manufacturing delays or interruptions, particularly at our manufacturing facilities in China, Malaysia, Northern Ireland, Singapore, Thailand, or the United States; • limited access to components that we obtain from a single or a limited number of suppliers; • the impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates on the cost of producing our products and the effective price of our products to foreign consumers; and • operational issues arising out of the increasingly automated nature of our manufacturing processes. In addition, the demand for edge non-compute/client non-compute products can be even more volatile and unpredictable than the demand for edge compute/client compute products. In some cases, our products manufactured for edge non-compute/client non-compute applications are uniquely configured for a single customer’s application, which creates a risk of unwanted and unsellable inventory if the anticipated volumes are not realized. This potential for unpredictable volatility is increased by the possibility of competing alternative storage technologies, such as flash memory, meeting the customers’ cost and capacity metrics, resulting in a rapid shift in demand from our products and disk drive technology, generally, to alternative storage technologies. Unpredictable fluctuations in demand for our products or rapid shifts in demand from our products to alternative storage technologies in new edge non-compute/client non-compute applications could materially adversely impact Seagate Technology public limited company | 2018 Form 10-K | 15 our future results of operations. Additionally, we are dependent on our long-term investment to manufacture adequate products. Our investment decisions in adding a new assembly and test capacity require significant planning and lead-time, and a failure to accurately forecast demand for our products could cause us to over-invest or under-invest, which would lead to excess capacity, under-utilization charges, impairments or loss of sales and revenue opportunities. Market acceptance of new product introductions cannot be accurately predicted, and our results of operations will suffer if there is less demand for our new products than is anticipated. The markets for our products are characterized by rapid technological change, frequent new product introductions and technology enhancements, uncertain product life cycles and changes in customer demand. The success of our new product introductions is dependent on a number of factors, including market acceptance, our ability to manage the risks associated with product transitions, our ability to effectively manage inventory levels in line with anticipated product demand and the risk that our new products will have quality problems or other defects in the early stages of introduction that were not anticipated in the design of those products. Accordingly, we cannot accurately determine the ultimate effect that our new products will have on our results of operations. Our failure to accurately anticipate customers’ needs and accurately identify the shift in technological changes could materially adversely affect our long-term financial results. Historically, our results of operations have substantially depended upon our ability to be among the first-to-market with new disk drive product offerings. We may face technological, operational and financial challenges in developing new products. In addition, our investments in new product development may not yield the anticipated benefits. Our market share and results of operations in the future may be adversely affected if we fail to: • consistently maintain our time-to-market performance with our new products; • produce these products in adequate volume; • qualify these products with key customers on a timely basis by meeting our customers’ performance and quality specifications; or • achieve acceptable manufacturing yields, quality and costs with these products. In addition, the success of our new product introductions is dependent upon our ability to qualify as a primary source of supply with our OEM customers. In order for our products to be considered by our customers for qualification, we must be among the leaders in time-to-market with those new products. Once a product is accepted, any failure or delay in the qualification process or a requirement that we requalify can result in our losing sales to that customer until new products are introduced. The limited number of high-volume OEMs magnifies the potential effect of missing a product qualification opportunity. These risks are further magnified because we expect competitive pressures to result in declining sales, eroding prices and declining gross margins on our current generation products. If the delivery of our products is delayed, our OEM customers may use our competitors’ products to meet their production requirements. We cannot assure you that we will be among the leaders in time-to-market with new products or that we will be able to successfully qualify new products with our customers in the future. We face the related risk that consumers and businesses may wait to make their purchases to evaluate new products or if they want to buy a new product that has been announced but not yet released. If this were to occur, we may be unable to sell our existing inventory of products that may be less efficient and cost effective compared to new products. As a result, even if we are among the first-to-market with a given product, subsequent introductions or announcements by our competitors of new products could cause us to lose revenue and not achieve a positive return on our investment in existing products and inventory. If we cannot successfully deliver competitive products, our future results of operations may be adversely affected. Further, due to market competition, volatility, and rapid technology and price changes, we may be unable to accurately forecast demand resulting in insufficient or excess production or purchase of products or components inventory, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business and financial results. We may not be able to identify suitable strategic alliances, acquisitions, joint ventures or investment opportunities to successfully acquire and integrate companies that provide complementary products or technologies or to realize the anticipated benefits of such transactions. Our long-term growth strategy involves pursuing strategic alliances with, making acquisitions of, forming joint ventures with or making investments in other companies that are complementary to our business. There is substantial competition for Seagate Technology public limited company | 2018 Form 10-K | 16 attractive strategic alliance, acquisition, joint venture and investment candidates. Additionally, a trend of consolidation in the data storage industry could materially adversely affect our business and financial results and our future growth prospects. Accordingly, we may not be able to identify suitable strategic alliances, acquisition, joint venture, or investment candidates. Even if we can identify them, the terms on which we are able to consummate a transaction may not be commercially reasonable for us to pursue. We cannot assure you that we will be able to partner with, acquire or invest in suitable candidates, or integrate acquired technologies or operations successfully into our existing technologies and operations. Moreover, our ability to finance potential strategic alliances, acquisitions, joint ventures or investments may be limited by our leverage level, the covenants contained in the instruments that govern our outstanding indebtedness, and any agreements governing any other debt we may incur. In addition, our cash reserves could diminish significantly as a result of any acquisitions, joint ventures, strategic alliances or other investments we pursue. Even if we are successful in forming strategic alliances or acquiring, forming joint ventures with or making investments in other companies, these transactions may have an adverse effect on our results of operations, particularly while the operations of an acquired business are being integrated. It is also likely that integration of acquired companies would lead to the loss of key employees from those companies or the loss of customers of those companies. In addition, the integration of any acquired companies would require substantial attention from our senior management, which may limit the amount of time available to be devoted to our day-to-day operations or to the execution of our strategy. Growth by strategic alliance, acquisition, joint venture or investment involves an even higher degree of risk to the extent we combine new product offerings and enter new markets in which we have limited experience, and no assurance can be given that acquisitions of entities with new or alternative business models will be successfully integrated or achieve the desired objectives. There can be no assurance that we will realize the anticipated benefits or synergies of any strategic alliance, acquisition, joint venture or investment that we make or, if we do, how long it will take to achieve such benefits. Furthermore, the expansion of our business involves the risk that we may not manage our growth effectively, that we would incur additional debt to finance these acquisitions or investments that would increase our debt service obligations, and that we may have impairment of goodwill or acquired intangible assets associated with these acquisitions and investments. Each of these items could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. In addition, we could issue additional ordinary shares in connection with future strategic alliances, acquisitions, joint ventures or investments. Issuing shares in connection with such transactions would have the effect of diluting the ownership percentage of the outstanding ordinary shares and could cause the price of our ordinary shares to decline and impact our existing dividend policy or share repurchase program resulting in diminishing shareholders’ value. If we do not develop products in time to keep pace with technological changes, our results of operations will be adversely affected. Our customers demand new generations of storage products as advances in computer hardware and software have created the need for improved storage products, with features such as increased storage capacity, enhanced security, improved performance and reliability and lower cost. We, and our competitors, have developed improved products, and we will need to continue to do so in the future. Such product development requires significant investments in research and development. We cannot assure you that we will be able to successfully complete the design or introduction of new products in a timely manner, that we will be able to manufacture new products in sufficient volumes with acceptable manufacturing yields, that we will be able to successfully market these new products or that these products will perform to specifications on a long-term basis. In addition, the impact of slowing areal density growth may adversely impact our ability to be successful. When we develop new products with higher capacity and more advanced technology, our results of operations may decline because the increased difficulty and complexity associated with producing these products increases the likelihood of reliability, quality or operability problems. If our products experience increases in failures rates, are of low quality or are not reliable, customers may reduce their purchases of our products, our factory utilization may decrease and our manufacturing rework and scrap costs and our service and warranty costs may increase. In addition, a decline in the reliability of our products may make us less competitive. Additionally, we may be unable to produce new products that have higher capacities and more advanced technologies in the volumes and timeframes that are required to meet customer demand. We announced our future transition to key areal density recording technologies that will use heated-assisted magnetic reading (“HAMR”) technology to increase HDD Seagate Technology public limited company | 2018 Form 10-K | 17 capacities. If our transitions to more advanced technologies, including the transition to HDDs utilizing HAMR technology, require development and production cycles that are longer than anticipated or if we otherwise fail to implement new HDD technologies successfully, we may lose sales and market share, which could significantly harm our financial condition. We may fail to successfully anticipate technological shifts, business opportunities and market demand. We also may be subject to risks associated with entry into the NAND flash memory market. If we are unable to successfully to penetrate the NAND flash memory market, our future growth prospects may be materially adversely affected. We may fail to develop new products, identify business strategies and introduce competitive product offerings to meet those technological shifts which may materially adversely affect our ability to compete effectively and may impact our future financial results. Servicing our indebtedness requires a significant amount of cash, and we may not have sufficient cash flow from our business to pay our substantial debt. We are leveraged and have significant debt service obligations. Our significant debt and debt service requirements could adversely affect our ability to operate our business and may limit our ability to take advantage of potential business opportunities and reduce our options for capital allocation. Our high level of debt presents the following risks: • we are required to use a substantial portion of our cash flow from operations to pay principal and interest on our debt, thereby reducing the availability of our cash flow to fund working capital, capital expenditures, product development efforts, strategic acquisitions, investments and alliances, and other general corporate requirements; • our substantial leverage increases our vulnerability to economic downturns and adverse competitive and industry conditions and could place us at a competitive disadvantage compared to those of our competitors that are less leveraged; • our debt service obligations could limit our flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, changes in our business and our industry and could limit our ability to pursue other business opportunities, borrow more money for operations or capital in the future and implement our business strategies; • our level of debt may restrict us from raising additional financing on satisfactory terms to fund working capital, capital expenditures, product development efforts, strategic acquisitions, investments and alliances, and other general corporate requirements; and • covenants in our debt instruments limit our ability to pay future dividends or make other restricted payments and investments. Our business may not generate cash flow in an amount sufficient to enable us to pay the principal of, or interest on, our indebtedness. Further, in the event that we need to refinance all or a portion of our outstanding debt as it matures or incur additional debt to fund our operations, we may not be able to obtain terms as favorable as the terms of our existing debt or refinance our existing debt at all. If prevailing interest rates or other factors result in higher interest rates upon refinancing, then the interest expense relating to the refinanced debt would increase. Furthermore, if any rating agency changes our credit rating or outlook, our debt and equity securities could be negatively affected, which could adversely affect our ability to refinance existing debt or raise additional capital. In addition, our business may not generate cash flow in an amount sufficient to enable us to fund our other liquidity needs, including working capital, capital expenditures, product development efforts, strategic acquisitions, investments and alliances and other general corporate requirements. If we cannot fund our liquidity needs, we will have to take actions such as reducing or delaying capital expenditures, product development efforts, strategic acquisitions, investments and alliances, and other general corporate requirements. We cannot assure you that any of these remedies could, if necessary, be effected on commercially reasonable terms, or at all, or that they would permit us to meet our scheduled debt service obligations. In addition, if we incur additional debt, the risks associated with our substantial leverage, including the risk that we will be unable to service our debt or generate enough cash flow to fund our liquidity needs, could intensify. Changes in demand for computer systems and storage subsystems may in the future cause a decline in demand for our products. Our products are components in computers, data storage systems, and consumer electronics devices. Historically, the demand for these products has been volatile. Unexpected slowdowns in demand for computer systems, storage subsystems Seagate Technology public limited company | 2018 Form 10-K | 18 or consumer electronics devices generally cause sharp declines in demand for our products. Declines in consumer spending could have a material adverse effect on demand for our products and services and on our financial condition and results of operations. While sales to edge non-compute/client non-compute and Cloud Systems and Solutions markets are becoming a more significant source of revenue, sales to the edge compute/client compute market remain an important part of our business. The edge compute/client compute market, however, has been, and we expect it to continue to be, adversely affected by the growth of tablet computers, smart phones and similar devices that perform many of the same capabilities as computers, the lengthening of product life cycles and macroeconomic conditions. We believe that the deterioration of the edge compute/client compute market has accelerated recently, and that this accelerated deterioration may continue or further accelerate, which could cause our operating results to suffer. Additionally, if demand in the edge compute/client compute market is worse than expected as a result of these or other conditions, demand for our products in the edge compute/client compute market may decrease at a faster rate and our operating results may be adversely affected. The Enterprise Storage market for disk drives has been adversely affected by the growth of the utilization of NAND flash memory in mission critical applications. This deterioration of the Enterprise Storage disk drive market could cause our operating results to suffer. An acceleration of the pace of migration of the Enterprise Storage market to NAND flash memory products may materially adversely affect our financial results. Historically, causes of declines in demand for our products have included weakness in macroeconomic environments, announcements or introductions of major new operating systems or semiconductor improvements or shifts in consumer preferences and behavior, such as the shift to mobile devices. We believe these announcements and introductions have from time to time caused consumers to defer their purchases and made inventory obsolete. Whenever an oversupply of products causes participants in our industry to have higher than anticipated inventory levels, we experience even more intense price competition from other manufacturers than usual, which may materially adversely affect our financial results. Increases in the areal density of our disk drives may outpace our customers’ demand for storage capacity. The rate of increase in areal density, or storage capacity per square inch on a disk, may be greater than the increase in our customers’ demand for aggregate storage capacity, particularly in certain market applications, such as edge compute/client compute. As a result, our customers’ storage capacity needs may be satisfied with lower priced, low capacity disk drives. These factors could decrease our sales, especially when combined with continued price erosion, which could adversely affect our results of operations. We may not be successful in our efforts to grow our cloud systems and solutions revenues. We have made and continue to make investments to grow our cloud systems and solutions revenues. Our ability to grow cloud systems and solutions revenues is subject to the following risks: • our position in the cloud systems and solutions revenues may grow more slowly than we expect; • we may be unable to accurately estimate and predict data center capacity and requirements; • we may not be able to offer compelling solutions to enterprises and consumers; • our cloud systems revenues generally have a longer sales cycle, and growth is likely to depend on relatively large customer orders, which may increase the variability of our results of operations and the difficulty of matching revenues with expenses; and • we may not be able to maintain our historical overall growth margins as we grow our cloud systems and solutions revenues. Our results of operations and share price may be adversely affected if we are not successful in our efforts to grow our revenues as anticipated. In addition, our growth in these markets may bring us into closer competition with some of our customers or potential customers, which may decrease their willingness to do business with us. Seagate Technology public limited company | 2018 Form 10-K | 19 Changes in the macroeconomic environment may in the future negatively impact, our results of operations. Changes in macroeconomic conditions may affect consumer and enterprise spending, and as a result, our customers may postpone spending in response to volatility in credit and equity markets, negative financial news and/or declines in income or asset values, all of which may have a material adverse effect on the demand for our products. Additionally, enterprise spending continues to remain cautious in many regions around the world. Other factors that could influence demand include conditions in the labor market, healthcare costs, access to credit, consumer confidence and other macroeconomic factors affecting consumer spending behavior. These and other economic factors could have a material adverse effect on demand for our products and on our financial condition and results of operations. Macroeconomic developments such as the pending withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union, the debt crisis in certain countries in the European Union, slowing economies in parts of Asia and South America or increased tariffs could negatively affect our business, operating results or financial condition which, in turn, could adversely affect the price of our ordinary shares. A general weakening of, and related declining corporate confidence in, the global economy or the curtailment in government or corporate spending could cause current or potential customers to reduce their IT budgets or be unable to fund hardware systems, which could cause customers to delay, decrease or cancel purchases of our products or cause customers not to pay us or to delay paying us for previously purchased products and services. Our quarterly results of operations fluctuate, sometimes significantly, from period to period, and may cause our share price to decline. Our quarterly revenue and results of operations may fluctuate, sometimes significantly, from period to period. These fluctuations, which we expect to continue, may be occasioned by a variety of factors, including: • current uncertainty in global economic and political conditions which may pose a risk to the overall economy and adversely affect our customers’ purchasing behavior; • adverse changes in the level of economic activity in the major regions in which we do business; • competitive pressures resulting in lower selling prices by our competitors which may shift demand away from our products toward our competitors; • delays or problems in our introduction of new, more cost-effective products, the inability to achieve high production yields or delays in customer qualification or initial product quality issues; • changes in purchasing patterns by our distributor customers; • application of new or revised industry standards; • disruptions in our supply chain; • increased costs or adverse changes in availability of supplies of raw materials or components; • the impact of corporate restructuring activities that we have and may continue to engage in; • changes in the demand for the computer systems and data storage products that contain our products due to seasonality, economic conditions and other factors; • changes in purchases from period to period by our primary customers; • shifting trends in customer demand which, when combined with overproduction of particular products, particularly when the industry is served by multiple suppliers, results in unfavorable supply and demand imbalances; • our high proportion of fixed costs, including research and development expenses; • any impairments in goodwill or other long-lived assets; • announcements of new products, services or technological innovations by us or our competitors; • changes in tax laws, regulatory requirements, including export regulations or tariffs, or accounting standards; and • adverse changes in the performance of our products. Seagate Technology public limited company | 2018 Form 10-K | 20 As a result, we believe that quarter-to-quarter and year-over-year comparisons of our revenue and results of operations may not be meaningful, and that these comparisons may not be an accurate indicator of our future performance. Our results of operations in one or more future quarters may fail to meet the expectations of investment research analysts or investors, which could cause an immediate and significant decline in our market value. We experience seasonal declines in the sales of our products during the second half of our fiscal year which may adversely affect our results of operations. Sales of computer systems, storage subsystems and consumer electronics tend to be seasonal, and therefore, we expect to continue to experience seasonality in our business as we respond to variations in our customers’ demand for our products. In particular, we anticipate that sales of our products will continue to be lower during the second half of our fiscal year. In the edge compute/client compute and edge non-compute/client non-compute market applications of our disk drive business, this seasonality is partially attributable to the historical trend in our results derived from our customers’ increased sales of desktop computers, notebook computers, and consumer electronics during the back-to-school and winter holiday season. In the enterprise storage market, our sales are seasonal because of the capital budgeting and purchasing cycles of our end users. Since our working capital needs peak during periods in which we are increasing production in anticipation of orders that have not yet been received, our results of operations will fluctuate seasonally even if the forecasted demand for our products proves accurate. Furthermore, it is difficult for us to evaluate the degree to which this seasonality may affect our business in future periods because of the rate and unpredictability of product transitions and new product introductions, particularly in the edge non-compute/client non-compute market, as well as macroeconomic conditions. We have a long and unpredictable sales cycle for enterprise data storage solutions, which impairs our ability to accurately predict our financial and operating results in any periods and may adversely affect our ability to forecast the need for investments and expenditures. Our enterprise data storage solutions are technically complex and we typically supply them in high quantities to a small number of customers. Many of our products are also tailored to meet the specific requirements of individual customers, and are often integrated by our customers into the systems and products that they sell. Factors that affect the length of our sales cycle include: • the time required for developing, testing and evaluating our products before they are deployed; • the size of the deployment; and • the degree of system configuration necessary to deploy our products. As a result, our sales cycle for enterprise data storage solutions is often in excess of one year and frequently unpredictable. Given the length of development and unpredictability of the sales cycle, we may be unable to accurately forecast product demand, which may result in lost sales or excess inventory and associated inventory reserves or write-downs, each of which could harm our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, the emerging and evolving nature of the market for the products that we sell may lead prospective customers to postpone their purchasing decisions. We invest resources and incur costs during this cycle that may not be recovered if we do not successfully conclude sales. These factors lead to difficulty in matching revenues with expenses and increased expenditures and inventory, which together may adversely impact our results of operations. We may be adversely affected by the loss of, or reduced, delayed or canceled purchases by, one or more of our key customers or a counterparty’s default. Some of our key customers account for a large portion of our disk drive revenue. While we have long-standing relationships with many of our customers, if any of our key customers were to significantly reduce their purchases from us, our results of operations would be adversely affected. Although sales to key customers may vary from period to period, a key customer that permanently discontinues or significantly reduces its relationship with us could be difficult to replace. In line with industry practice, new customers usually require that we pass a lengthy and rigorous qualification process at the customer’s cost. Accordingly, it may be difficult or costly for us to attract new key customers. Additionally, mergers, acquisitions, Seagate Technology public limited company | 2018 Form 10-K | 21 consolidations or other significant transactions involving our customers generally entail risks to our business. If a significant transaction involving any of our key customers results in the loss of or reduction in purchases by these key customers, it could have a materially adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. If a counterparty fails to comply with their contractual obligations, our business, results of operations and financial condition may be adversely affected. Our ability to mitigate a counterparty’s default may be impeded or diminished by various factors including the terms of our contractual arrangements, market conditions, counterparty insolvency or bankruptcy, or applicable laws and regulations. We are dependent on sales to distributors and retailers, which may increase price erosion and the volatility of our sales. A substantial portion of our sales has been to distributors of disk drive products. Certain of our distributors may also market other products that compete with our products. Product qualification programs in this distribution channel are limited, which increases the number of competing products that are available to satisfy demand, particularly in times of lengthening product cycles. As a result, purchasing decisions in this channel are based largely on price, terms and product availability. Sales volumes through this channel are also less predictable and subject to greater volatility than sales to our OEM customers. In addition, deterioration in business and economic conditions could exacerbate price erosion and volatility as distributors lower prices to compensate for lower demand and higher inventory levels. Our distributors’ ability to access credit for purposes of funding their operations may also affect purchases of our products by these customers. If distributors reduce their purchases of our products or prices decline significantly in this distribution channel or if distributors experience financial difficulties or terminate their relationships with us, our revenues and results of operations would be adversely affected. In addition, retail sales of our consumer solutions traditionally experience seasonal variability in demand with higher levels of demand in the first half of our fiscal year driven by consumer spending in the back-to-school season from late summer to fall and the traditional holiday shopping season from fall to winter. Our ability to reach such consumers depends on us maintaining effective working relationships with major retailers and distributors. Failure to anticipate consumer demand for our branded solutions as well as an inability to maintain effective working relationships with retail and online distributors may adversely impact our future results of operations. Our international sales and manufacturing operations subject us to risks that may adversely affect our business related to disruptions in foreign markets, currency exchange fluctuations, longer payment cycles, seasonality, limitations imposed by a variety of legal and regulatory regimes, potential adverse tax consequences, increased costs, our customers’ credit and access to capital, health-related risks, investment risks, tariffs, privacy and protection of data and access to personnel. We have significant sales and manufacturing operations in foreign countries, including manufacturing facilities, sales personnel and customer support operations. We have manufacturing facilities in China, Malaysia, Northern Ireland, Singapore and Thailand, in addition to those in the United States. Additionally, the manufacturing of some of our products is concentrated in certain geographical locations. The production of certain drive subassemblies are limited to Thailand and the production of media is limited to Singapore. Disruptions in the economic, environmental, political, legal or regulatory landscape in these countries may have a material adverse impact on our manufacturing operations. Our international operations are subject to economic risks inherent in doing business in foreign countries, including the following: • Disruptions in Foreign Markets. Disruptions in financial markets and the deterioration of the underlying economic conditions in the past in some countries, including those in Asia, United Kingdom and the European Union have had an impact on our sales to customers located in, or whose end-user customers are located in, these countries. • Fluctuations in Currency Exchange Rates. Prices for our products are denominated predominantly in U.S. dollars, even when sold to customers that are located outside the United States. An increase in the value of the dollar could increase the real cost to our customers of our products in those markets outside of the U.S. where we sell in dollars. This could adversely impact our sales and market share in such areas or increase pressure on us to lower our price, and adversely impact our profit margins. A weakened dollar could increase the effective cost of expenses such as Seagate Technology public limited company | 2018 Form 10-K | 22 payroll, utilities, tax, and marketing expenses, as well as overseas capital expenditures. Any of these events could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations. We may attempt to manage the impact of foreign currency exchange rate changes by, among other things, entering into foreign currency forward exchange contracts which could be designated as cash flow hedges or not designated as hedging instruments. In addition, our hedges may be ineffective, may expire and not be renewed or may not offset any or more than a portion of the adverse financial impact resulting from currency variations. The hedging activities may may not cover our full exposure, subject us to certain counterparty credit risks and may impact our results of operations. See “Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk-Foreign Currency Exchange Risk” of this report for additional information about our foreign currency exchange risk. • Longer Payment Cycles. Our customers outside of the United States are sometimes allowed longer time periods for payment than our U.S. customers. This increases the risk of nonpayment due to the possibility that the financial condition of particular customers may worsen during the course of the payment period. • Seasonality. Seasonal reductions in the business activities of our customers during the summer months, particularly in Europe, and the impact of international holidays like Chinese New Year, typically result in lower earnings during those periods. • Legal and Regulatory Limitations. Our international operations are affected by limitations on imports, tariffs, duties, currency exchange control regulations, price controls, export control laws, antitrust matters including the trade and economic sanctions administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control, and other restraints on trade. In addition, China, Malaysia, Northern Ireland, Singapore and Thailand, in which we have significant operating assets, and the European Union have exercised and continue to exercise significant influence over many aspects of their domestic economies including, but not limited to, fair competition, tax practices, anti-corruption, anti-trust, price controls and international trade. Legislation addressing climate change and financial reform may also be enacted, generating additional federal, international or other regulatory compliance obligations. Although we have implemented policies and procedures designed to ensure compliance, there can be no assurance that our employees, contractors, or agents will not violate these or other applicable laws, rules and regulations to which we may be subject. The anti-corruption processes and controls we have implemented may be vulnerable to employee malfeasance and inadequate to fully insulate against all eventualities. Violations of these laws and regulations could lead to significant penalties, restraints on our export or import privileges, monetary fines, government investigations, disruption of our operating activities, damage to our reputation and corporate brand, criminal proceedings and regulatory or other actions that could materially adversely affect our results of operations. The political and media scrutiny surrounding a governmental investigation for the violation of such laws, even if an investigation does not result in a finding of violation, could cause us significant expense and collateral consequences, including reputational harm, that could have an adverse impact on our business, operating results and financial condition. • Potential Adverse Tax Consequences. Our international operations create a risk of potential adverse tax consequences, including imposition of withholding or other taxes on payments by our subsidiaries. In addition, our taxable income in any jurisdiction is dependent upon acceptance of our operational practices and intercompany transfer pricing by local tax authorities as being on an arm’s length basis. Due to inconsistencies in application of the arm’s length standard among taxing authorities, as well as a lack of adequate treaty-based protection, transfer pricing challenges by tax authorities could, if successful, substantially increase our income tax expense. We are subject to tax audits around the world, and are under audit in various jurisdictions, and such jurisdictions may assess additional income tax against us. Although we believe our tax positions are reasonable, the final determination of tax audits could be materially different from our recorded income tax provisions and accruals. The ultimate results of an audit could have a material adverse effect on our operating results or cash flows in the period or periods for which that determination is made and could result in increases to our overall tax expense in subsequent periods. In light of the ongoing fiscal challenges many countries are facing, various levels of government are increasingly focused on tax reform and other legislative action to increase tax revenue. In the United States, tax reform legislation commonly known as the Tax Act has significantly changed how the U.S. taxes corporate multinationals. In response to the Tax Act, foreign governments may enact new tax laws or new interpretations of the tax laws. In addition, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Base Erosion and Profit Shifting recommendations are reshaping international tax rules in numerous countries. These actual and potential changes in the relevant tax laws applicable to corporate multinationals, along with potential changes in accounting and other laws, regulations, administrative Seagate Technology public limited company | 2018 Form 10-K | 23 practices, principles, and interpretations, could increase the risk of double taxation, cause increased tax audit activity, impact our effective tax rate and adversely impact our operating results, cash flows and financial condition. • Increased Costs. The shipping and transportation costs associated with our international operations are typically higher than those associated with our U.S. operations, resulting in decreased operating margins in some foreign countries. Volatility in fuel costs, political instability or constrained in air transportation may lead us to develop alternative shipment methods, which could disrupt our ability to receive raw materials in, or ship finished product from and as a result our business and operating results may be harmed. • Credit and Access to Capital Risks. Our international customers could have reduced access to working capital due to higher interest rates, reduced bank lending resulting from contractions in the money supply or the deterioration in the customer’s or its bank’s financial condition, or the inability to access other financing. • Global Health Outbreaks. The occurrence of a pandemic disease may adversely impact our operations, and some of our key customers. Such diseases could also potentially disrupt the timeliness and reliability of the distribution network we rely on. • Acquisition, Alliance, Joint Venture and Investment Risks. International acquisitions, alliances, joint ventures or investment opportunities may increase our liabilities, fail to achieve expected benefits, disrupt our existing business and adversely affect our operating results. Regulatory review and approval by governmental authorities of an alliance, acquisitions, joint venture or investment may result in additional obligations, divestitures, or restrictions on the conduct of our business or the acquired business. • Tariffs or Other Restrictions on Foreign Imports. Changes in U.S. and international trade policy and resultant retaliatory countermeasures, including imposition of increased tariffs, quotas or duties by affected countries, and trading partners are difficult to predict and may adversely affect our business. The U.S. government has and could in the future impose trade barriers including tariffs, quotas, duties or other restrictions on foreign imports. The implementation of a border tax, tariff or higher customs duties on our products manufactured abroad or components that we import into the U.S., or any potential corresponding actions by other countries in which we do business, could negatively impact our financial performance. • Privacy and Protection of Data. Our business is subject to a number of laws, regulations, rules, and directives in the countries where we operate pertaining to the collection, processing, security, use, retention, and transfer of personally identifiable information about our customers, consumers and employees. For example, the General Data Protection Regulation, which came into effect in the European Union (“EU”) on May 25, 2018, applies to our operations. In addition, in the U.S. federal and state laws, regulations and rules may be enacted and affect our data handling practices. The legal and regulatory environment around privacy and data protection is continuing to develop in ways we cannot predict and from country to country may be interpreted and applied inconsistently. The various laws, regulations, rules, and directives may impose conflicting or inconsistent compliance obligations and could require us to change our data practices, which could have an adverse effect on our business and results of operations. Determinations that there have been violations of privacy or data protection laws could result in adverse effects on our business and results of operations including damage to our brand, significant financial penalties, and unanticipated changes to our data handling and processing practices. • Access to Personnel. There is substantial competition for qualified and capable personnel in certain jurisdictions in which we operate, including China, which may make it difficult for us to recruit and retain qualified employees in sufficient numbers. Factors including a perceived decrease in the retention value of our compensation package and increases in the cost of living in jurisdictions in which we operate may adversely affect our ability to attract, retain and further motivate key personnel. Increased difficulty in recruiting or retaining sufficient and adequate personnel in our international operations may lead to increased manufacturing and employment compensation costs, which could adversely affect our results of operations. The reductions in workforce that result from the restructuring plans we engage in may make it difficult for us to attract, retain and motivate highly skilled personnel and if the benefits of our restructuring plans are not realized, our operating results could be negatively affected. Seagate Technology public limited company | 2018 Form 10-K | 24 Declines in the value of our investment in K.K. Pangea (“Pangea”) may adversely impact our financial condition and results of operations. On May 31, 2018, we invested $1.3 billion in non-convertible preferred stock of Pangea for the acquisition of Toshiba Memory Corporation with a consortium of investors led by Bain Capital Private Equity. The investment, with a contractual maturity of six years, is accounted for as a held-to-maturity debt security, carried at amortized cost and has a contractual payment-in-kind (“PIK”) income that is accrued and added to the carrying value of the investment. If the fair value of our investment, including the accrued PIK income declines, we may be required to record impairment charges, which could have a material adverse effect on our liquidity and our results of operations. Numerous factors could cause the fair value of our investment to decline, including the credit worthiness of Pangea, adverse changes in business climate, adverse actions by regulators, or unanticipated changes in the competitive environment or the industries in which Pangea operates. Increased volatility in the financial markets and overall economic uncertainty could increase the risk that actual amounts realized on our investment may differ significantly from the fair values currently assigned to them. We could suffer a loss of revenue and increased costs, exposure to significant liability including legal and regulatory consequences, reputational harm, and other serious negative consequences if we encounter cyber-attacks, ransomware or other cyber security breaches that disrupt our operations or result in the dissemination of proprietary or confidential information about us or our customers or other third parties. Our operations are dependent upon our ability to protect our computer equipment and the electronic data stored in our databases from damage by, among other things, earthquake, floods, fire, natural disasters, accidents, power or water disruptions, telecommunications failures, acts of terrorism or war, employee misconduct, physical or electronic break-ins, cyber-attacks, ransomware, system security breaches or similar events or disruptions. We manage and store various proprietary information and sensitive or confidential data relating to our operations. As our operations become more automated and increasingly interdependent, our exposure to the risks posed by these types of events will increase. The measures we have implemented to secure our computer equipment and electronic data may be vulnerable to employee error, hacking, malfeasance, system error, or other irregularities and may not be sufficient for all eventualities. The insurance coverage we maintain that is intended to address certain data security risks, may be insufficient to cover all types of claims or losses that may arise. We have been, and will likely continue to be, subject to computer viruses or other malicious codes, cyber-attacks, or other computer-related attempts to breach the information technology (“IT”) systems we use for these purposes. We may also be subject to IT system failures and network disruptions due to these factors. Experienced computer programmers and hackers may be able to penetrate our network security, misappropriate or compromise our confidential information or that of third-parties, create system disruptions, or cause shutdowns. Computer programmers and hackers also may be able to develop and deploy viruses, worms, and other malicious software programs that attack our products or otherwise exploit any security vulnerabilities of our products. Such attempts are increasing in technical sophistication, number and ability to evade detection or to obscure such activities. Although we take steps to protect against and detect such attempts, our efforts may not be sufficient for all eventualities. In addition, sophisticated hardware and operating system software and applications that we produce or procure from third-parties may contain defects in design or manufacture, including “bugs” and other problems that could unexpectedly interfere with the operation of the system. The costs to us to eliminate or address the foregoing security problems and security vulnerabilities before or after a cyber-incident could be significant. System redundancy may be ineffective or inadequate, and our disaster recovery planning may not be sufficient for all eventualities. Our remediation efforts may not be successful and could result in interruptions, delays, or cessation of service, and loss of existing or potential customers that may impede our sales, manufacturing, distribution, or other critical functions. We could lose existing or potential customers for outsourcing services or other IT solutions in connection with any actual or perceived security vulnerabilities in our products. Some of our products contain encryption and other measures to protect third-party content stored on our products. Such measures may be compromised, breached or circumvented by sophisticated attackers and losses or unauthorized access to or releases of confidential information may occur. Breaches of our security measures and the unapproved dissemination of proprietary information or sensitive or confidential data about us or our customers or other third-parties, could expose us, our vendors and customers, or other third-parties affected to a risk of loss or misuse of this information, result in litigation or governmental investigations and potential liability for us, damage our brand and reputation, or otherwise harm our business. Failure to meet our contractual obligations to promote information security with certain customers may result in liability, including additional costs, indemnification claims, litigation and damage to our brand and reputation. In addition, we rely in certain limited capacities on third-party data Seagate Technology public limited company | 2018 Form 10-K | 25 management providers whose possible security problems and security vulnerabilities may have similar effects on us. Our business, brand and reputation could also be adversely affected by media or other reports of perceived security vulnerabilities in our products, network, or processes, even if unsubstantiated. We are subject to laws, rules, and regulations in the U.S., U.K., EU and other countries relating to the collection, use, and security of user data. In many cases, these laws apply not only to third-party transactions, but also to transfers of information between us and our subsidiaries, and among us, our subsidiaries and other parties with which we have commercial relations. Our ability to execute transactions and to possess and use personal information and data in conducting our business subjects us to legislative and regulatory burdens that may require us to notify vendors, customers or employees of a data security breach. We have incurred, and will continue to incur, significant expenses to comply with mandatory privacy and security standards and protocols imposed by law, regulation, industry standards, or contractual obligations. These laws, protocols and standards continue to develop and may be inconsistent from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Complying with emerging and changing international requirements may cause us to incur substantial costs or require us to change our business practices. If we fail to comply with applicable federal, state or international privacy-related or data protection laws we may be subject to proceedings by governmental entities and incur penalties, significant legal liability, or reputational harm. We must successfully maintain and upgrade our IT systems, and our failure to do so could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. From time to time, we expand and improve our IT systems to support our business going forward. Consequently, we are in the process of implementing, and will continue to invest in and implement, modifications and upgrades to our IT systems and procedures, including making changes to legacy systems or acquiring new systems with new functionality, and building new policies, procedures, training programs and monitoring tools. These types of activities subject us to inherent costs and risks associated with changing and acquiring these systems, including capital expenditures, additional operating expenses, demands on management time and other risks and costs of delays or difficulties in transitioning to or integrating new systems into our current systems. These implementations, modifications and upgrades may not result in productivity improvements at a level that outweighs the costs of implementation, or at all. In addition, difficulties with implementing new technology systems, delays in our timeline for planned improvements, significant system failures, or our inability to successfully modify our IT systems to respond to changes in our business needs may cause disruptions in our business operations and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. From time to time, we may be subject to litigation, government investigations or governmental proceedings, which may adversely impact our results of operations and financial condition. From time to time, we may be involved in various legal, regulatory or administrative investigations, negotiations or proceedings arising in the normal course of business. In the event of litigation, government investigations or governmental proceedings, we are subject to the inherent risks and uncertainties that may result if outcomes differ from our expectations. In the event of adverse outcomes in any litigation, investigation or government proceeding, we could be required to pay substantial damages, fines or penalties, and cease certain practices or activities, which could materially harm our business. The costs associated with litigation and government investigations can also be unpredictable depending on the complexity and length of time devoted to such litigation or investigation. Litigation, investigations or government proceedings may also divert the efforts and attention of our key personnel, which could also harm our business. If we do not control our fixed costs, we will not be able to compete effectively in our industry. We continually seek to make our cost structure and business processes more efficient. We are focused on increasing workforce flexibility and scalability, and improving overall competitiveness by leveraging our global capabilities, as well as external talent and skills, worldwide. Our strategy involves, to a substantial degree, increasing revenue and product volume while at the same time controlling operating expenses. If we do not control our operating expenses, our ability to compete in the marketplace may be impaired. In the past, activities to reduce operating costs have included closures and transfers of facilities, significant personnel reductions, restructuring efforts and efforts to increase automation. Our restructuring efforts may not yield the intended benefits and may be unsuccessful or disruptive to our business operations which may materially adversely affect our financial results. Seagate Technology public limited company | 2018 Form 10-K | 26 If we experience shortages or delays in the receipt of, or cost increases in, critical components, equipment or raw materials necessary to manufacture our products, we may suffer lower operating margins, production delays and other material adverse effects. The cost, quality and supply of components, subassemblies, certain equipment and raw materials used to manufacture our products and key components like recording media and heads are critical to our success. The equipment we use to manufacture our products and components is frequently custom made and comes from a few suppliers and the lead times required to obtain manufacturing equipment can be significant. Particularly important for our products are components such as read/write heads, substrates for recording media, ASICs, spindle motors, printed circuit boards, suspension assemblies and NAND flash memory. We rely on sole suppliers or a limited number of suppliers for some or all of these components that we do not manufacture, including substrates for recording media, read/write heads, ASICs, spindle motors, printed circuit boards, suspension assemblies and NAND flash memory. Many of such component suppliers are geographically concentrated which makes our supply chain more vulnerable to regional disruptions such as severe weather, acts of terrorism and an unpredictable geopolitical climate which may have a material impact on the production and availability of many components. If our vendors for these components are unable to meet our cost, quality, and supply requirements, continue to remain financially viable or fulfill their contractual commitments and obligations, we could experience a shortage in supply or an increase in production costs, which would materially adversely affect our results of operations. Certain rare earth elements are critical in the manufacture of our products. We purchase components that contain rare earth elements from a number of countries, including China. We cannot predict whether any nation will impose regulations or trade barriers including tariffs, duties, quotas or embargoes upon the rare earth elements incorporated into our products that would restrict the worldwide supply of such metals or increase their cost. We have experienced increased costs and production delays when we were unable to obtain the necessary equipment or sufficient quantities of some components, and/or have been forced to pay higher prices or make volume purchase commitments or advance deposits for some components, equipment or raw materials that were in short supply in the industry in general. Further, if our customers experience shortages of components or materials used in their products it could result in a decrease in demand for our products and have an adverse effect on our results of operations. If any major supplier were to restrict the supply available to us or increase the cost of the rare earth elements used in our products, we could experience a shortage in supply or an increase in production costs, which would adversely affect our results of operations. Consolidation among component manufacturers has resulted and may continue to result in some component manufacturers exiting the industry or not making sufficient investments in research to develop new components. If there is a shortage of, or delay in supplying us with, critical components, equipment or raw materials, then: • it is likely that our suppliers would raise their prices and, if we could not pass these price increases to our customers, our operating margin would decline; • we may have to reengineer some products, which would likely cause production and shipment delays, make the reengineered products more costly and provide us with a lower rate of return on these products; • we would likely have to allocate the components we receive to certain of our products and ship less of others, which could reduce our revenues and could cause us to lose sales to customers who could purchase more of their required products from manufacturers that either did not experience these shortages or delays or that made different allocations; and • we may be late in shipping products, causing potential customers to make purchases from our competitors, thus causing our revenue and operating margin to decline. We cannot assure you that we will be able to obtain critical components in a timely and economic manner. Many of our suppliers’ manufacturing facilities are fully utilized. If they fail to invest in capacity or in the required timeframe, such failure would have an impact on our ability to ramp new products, and may result in a loss of revenue or market share if our competitors did not utilize the same components and were not affected. We often aim to lead the market in new technology deployments and leverage unique and customized technology from single source suppliers who are early adopters in the emerging market. Our options in supplier selection in these cases are Seagate Technology public limited company | 2018 Form 10-K | 27 limited and the supplier based technology may consequently be single sourced until wider adoption of the technology occurs and any necessary licenses become available. In such cases, any technical issues in the supplier’s technology may cause us to delay shipments of our new technology deployments and harm our financial position. If revenues fall or customer demand decreases significantly, we may not meet all of our purchase commitments to certain suppliers. From time to time, we enter into long-term, non-cancelable purchase commitments or make large up-front investments with certain suppliers in order to secure certain components or technologies for the production of our products or to supplement our internal manufacturing capacity for certain components. If our actual revenues in the future are lower than our projections or if customer demand decreases significantly below our projections, we may not meet all of our purchase commitments with these suppliers. As a result, it is possible that our revenues will not be sufficient to recoup our up-front investments, in which case we will have to shift output from our internal manufacturing facilities to these suppliers or make penalty-type payments under the terms of these contracts. Additionally, because our markets are volatile, competitive and subject to rapid technology and price changes, we face inventory and other asset risks in the event we do not fully utilize firm purchase commitments. Conflict minerals regulations may cause us to incur additional expenses and could limit the supply and increase the cost of certain metals used in manufacturing our products. In August 2012, the SEC adopted rules establishing additional disclosure and reporting requirements regarding the use of specified minerals, or conflict minerals, that are necessary to the functionality or production of products manufactured or contracted to be manufactured. These rules may require us to determine, disclose and report whether or not such conflict minerals originate from the Democratic Republic of the Congo or an adjoining country. These rules could affect our ability to source, directly or indirectly, certain materials used in our products at competitive prices and could impact the availability of certain minerals used in the manufacture of our products, including gold, tantalum, tin and tungsten. As there may be only a limited number of suppliers of “conflict free” minerals, we cannot be sure that we will be able to obtain necessary conflict free minerals in sufficient quantities or at competitive prices. Our customers, including our OEM customers, may require that our products be free of conflict minerals, and our revenues and margins may be harmed if we are unable to procure conflict free minerals at a reasonable price, or at all, or are unable to pass through any increased costs associated with meeting these demands. Additionally, we may face reputational challenges with our customers and our manufacturing stakeholders if we are unable to sufficiently verify the origins of all minerals used in our products through the due diligence procedures that we implement. We may also face challenges with government regulators and our customers and suppliers if we are unable to sufficiently verify that the metals used in our products are conflict free. We expect that there may be material costs associated with complying with the disclosure requirements, such as costs related to determining the source of certain minerals used in our products, as well as costs related to possible changes to products, processes, or sources of supply as a consequence of such verification and disclosure requirements. Additionally, the regulatory and compliance framework for conflict minerals may undergo changes which may further increase the cost of compliance. Our customers and manufacturing stakeholders may place increased demands on our compliance framework which may in turn negatively impact our relationships with our suppliers. The loss of key executive officers and employees could negatively impact our business prospects. Our future performance depends to a significant degree upon the continued service of key members of management as well as marketing, sales and product development personnel. The loss of one or more of our key personnel may have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. We believe our future success will also depend in large part upon our ability to attract, retain and further motivate highly skilled management, marketing, sales and product development personnel. We have experienced intense competition for personnel, and we cannot assure you that we will be able to retain our key employees or that we will be successful in attracting, assimilating and retaining personnel in the future. Due to the complexity of our products, some defects may only become detectable after deployment. Our products are highly complex and are designed to operate in and form part of larger complex networks and storage systems. Our products may contain a defect or be perceived as containing a defect by our customers, as a result of improper use or maintenance. Lead times required to manufacture certain components are significant, and a quality excursion may take Seagate Technology public limited company | 2018 Form 10-K | 28 significant time and resources to remediate. Defects in our products, third-party components, or in the networks and systems of which they form a part, directly or indirectly, have resulted in and may in the future result in: • increased costs and product delays until complex solution level interoperability issues are resolved; • costs associated with the remediation of any problems attributable to our products; • loss of or delays in revenues; • loss of customers; • failure to achieve market acceptance and loss of market share; • increased service and warranty costs; and • increased insurance costs. Defects in our products could also result in legal actions by our customers for property damage, injury or death. Such legal actions, including but not limited to product liability claims could exceed the level of insurance coverage that we have obtained. Any significant uninsured claims could significantly harm our financial condition. Political events, war, terrorism, natural disasters, public health issues and other circumstances could materially adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition. War, terrorism, geopolitical uncertainties, natural disasters, public health issues and other business interruptions have caused and could cause damage or disruption to international commerce and the global economy, and thus could have a strong negative effect on our business, our suppliers, logistics providers, manufacturing vendors and customers. Our business operations are subject to interruption by natural disasters such as floods and earthquakes, fires, power or water shortages, terrorist attacks, other hostile acts, labor disputes, public health issues, and other events beyond our control. Such events may decrease demand for our products, make it difficult or impossible for us to make and deliver products to our customers, or to receive components from our suppliers, and create delays and inefficiencies in our supply chain. In the event of a natural disaster, losses and significant recovery time could be required to resume operations and our financial condition and operating results could be materially adversely affected. Should major public health issues, including pandemics, arise, we could be negatively affected by stringent employee travel restrictions, additional limitations in freight services, governmental actions limiting the movement of products between regions, delays in production ramps of new products, and disruptions in our operations and some of our key customers. Failure to comply with applicable environmental laws and regulations could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. The sale and manufacturing of products in certain states and countries may subject us and our suppliers to state, federal and international laws and regulations governing protection of the environment, including those governing discharges of pollutants into the air and water, the management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes, the cleanup of contaminated sites, restrictions on the presence of certain substances in electronic products and the responsibility for environmentally safe disposal or recycling. We endeavor to ensure that we and our suppliers comply with all applicable environmental laws and regulations, however, compliance may increase our operating costs and otherwise impact future financial results. If additional or more stringent requirements are imposed on us in the future, we could incur additional operating costs and capital expenditures. If we fail to comply with applicable environmental laws, regulations, initiatives, or standards of conduct, our customers may refuse to purchase our products and we could be subject to fines, penalties and possible prohibition of sales of our products into one or more states or countries, liability to our customers and damage to our reputation, which could result in a material adverse effect on our financial condition or results of operations. Any cost reduction initiatives that we undertake may not deliver the results we expect, and these actions may adversely affect our business. From time to time, we engage in restructuring plans that may result in workforce reduction and consolidation of our real estate facilities and our manufacturing footprint. In addition, management will continue to evaluate our global footprint and cost Seagate Technology public limited company | 2018 Form 10-K | 29 structure, and additional restructuring plans are expected to be formalized. As a result of our restructuring, we may experience a loss of continuity, loss of accumulated knowledge, disruptions to our operations and inefficiency during transitional periods. Additionally, global footprint consolidation and reduction in excess capacity may result in us being unable to respond to increase in forecasted volume of customer demand and loss of revenue opportunity if our competitors have underutilized factories. Any cost-cutting measures could impact employee retention. In addition, we cannot be sure that the cost reduction and global footprint consolidation will be successful in reducing our overall expenses as we expect or that additional costs will not offset any such reductions or global footprint consolidation. If our operating costs are higher than we expect or if we do not maintain adequate control of our costs and expenses, our results of operations may be adversely affected. Our ability to use our net operating loss and tax credit carryforwards might be limited. The use of a portion of our U.S. net operating loss and tax credit carryforwards is subject to annual limitations pursuant to U.S. tax law. Section 382 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code generally imposes an annual limitation on the amount of net operating loss or tax credit carryforwards that might be used to offset taxable income when a corporation has undergone significant changes in ownership. As a result, future changes in ownership could put further limitations on the availability of our net operating loss or tax credit carryforwards. Deterioration in global credit and financial market conditions could negatively impact the value of our current portfolio of cash equivalents or short-term investments and our ability to meet our financing objectives. Our cash and cash equivalents are maintained in highly liquid investments with remaining maturities of 90 days or less at the time of purchase. Our short-term investments may include readily marketable debt securities with remaining maturities of more than 90 days at the time of purchase. Our investment policy has as its principal objectives the preservation of principal and maintenance of liquidity. We mitigate default risk by investing in high-quality investment grade securities with different counterparties, limiting the time to maturity and by monitoring the counterparties and underlying obligors closely. We are not aware of any current material downgrades, losses, or other significant deterioration in the fair value of our cash equivalents or short-term investments, however, no assurance can be given that future deterioration in conditions of the global credit and financial markets would not negatively impact our current portfolio of cash equivalents or short-term investments or our ability to meet our financing objectives. We are at times subject to intellectual property legal proceedings and claims which could cause us to incur significant additional costs or prevent us from selling our products, and which could adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition. We are subject from time-to-time to legal proceedings and claims, including claims of alleged infringement of the patents, trademarks and other intellectual property rights of third parties by us, or our customers, in connection with their use of our products. Intellectual property litigation can be expensive and time-consuming, regardless of the merits of any claim, and could divert our management’s attention from operating our business. In addition, intellectual property lawsuits are subject to inherent uncertainties due to the complexity of the technical issues involved, which may cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations. Patent litigation has increased due to the current uncertainty of the law and the increasing competition and overlap of product functionality in the field. Some of the actions that we face from time-to-time seek injunctions against the sale of our products and/or substantial monetary damages, which if granted or awarded, could materially harm our business, financial condition and operating results. We cannot be certain that our products do not and will not infringe issued patents or other intellectual property rights of others. We may not be aware of currently filed patent applications that relate to our products or technology. If patents are later issued on these applications, we may be liable for infringement. If our products were found to infringe the intellectual property rights of others, we could be required to pay substantial damages, cease the manufacture, use and sale of infringing products in one or more geographic locations, expend significant resources to develop non-infringing technology, discontinue the use of specific processes or obtain licenses to the technology infringed. We might not be able to obtain the necessary licenses on acceptable terms, or at all, or be able to reengineer our products successfully to avoid infringement. Any of the foregoing could cause us to incur significant costs and prevent us from selling our products, which could adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition. See “Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data-Note 14. Legal, Environmental and Other Contingencies” contained in this report for a description of pending intellectual property proceedings. Seagate Technology public limited company | 2018 Form 10-K | 30 We may be unable to protect our intellectual property rights, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. We rely on a combination of patent, trademark, copyright and trade secret laws, confidentiality procedures and licensing arrangements to protect our intellectual property rights. In the past, we have been involved in significant and expensive disputes regarding our intellectual property rights and those of others, including claims that we may be infringing patents, trademarks and other intellectual property rights of third-parties. We expect that we will be involved in similar disputes in the future. There can be no assurance that: • any of our existing patents will continue to be held valid, if challenged; • patents will be issued for any of our pending applications; • any claims allowed from existing or pending patents will have sufficient scope or strength to protect us; • our patents will be issued in the primary countries where our products are sold in order to protect our rights and potential commercial advantage; • we will be able to protect our trade secrets and other proprietary information through confidentiality agreements with our customers, suppliers and employees and through other security measures; and • others will not gain access to our trade secrets. In addition, our competitors may be able to design their products around our patents and other proprietary rights. Enforcement of our rights often requires litigation. If we bring a patent infringement action and are not successful, our competitors would be able to use similar technology to compete with us. Moreover, the defendant in such an action may successfully counter sue us for infringement of their patents or assert a counterclaim that our patents are invalid or unenforceable. Furthermore, we have significant operations and sales in foreign countries where intellectual property laws and enforcement policies are often less developed, less stringent or more difficult to enforce than in the United States. Therefore, we cannot be certain that we will be able to protect our intellectual property rights in jurisdictions outside the United States. The price of our ordinary shares may be volatile and could decline significantly. The stock market, in general, and the market for technology stocks in particular, has experienced volatility that has often been unrelated to the operating performance of companies. If these market or industry-based fluctuations continue to occur in the future, the trading price of our ordinary shares could decline significantly independent of our actual operating performance, and shareholders could lose all or a substantial part of their investment. The market price of our ordinary shares could fluctuate significantly in response to several factors, including among others: • general uncertainty in stock market conditions occasioned by global economic conditions, negative financial news and the continued instability of several large financial institutions; • actual or anticipated variations in our results of operations; • announcements of innovations, new products or significant price reductions by us or our competitors, including those competitors who offer alternative storage technology solutions; • our failure to meet the performance estimates of investment research analysts; • the timing of announcements by us or our competitors of significant contracts or acquisitions; • general stock market conditions; • the occurrence of major catastrophic events; • changes in financial estimates by investment research analysts; • actual or anticipated changes in the credit ratings of our indebtedness by rating agencies; and • the sale of our ordinary shares held by certain equity investors or members of management. Seagate Technology public limited company | 2018 Form 10-K | 31 In the past, following periods of decline in the market price of a company’s securities, class action lawsuits have often been pursued against that company. If similar litigation were pursued against us, it could result in substantial costs and a diversion of management’s attention and resources, which could materially adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition and liquidity. Any decision to reduce or discontinue the payment of cash dividends to our shareholders or the repurchase of our ordinary shares pursuant to our previously announced share repurchase program could cause the market price of our ordinary shares to decline significantly. Although we have announced targeted regular cash dividend amounts and a share repurchase program, we are under no obligation to pay cash dividends to our shareholders in the future at the announced targeted levels or at all or to repurchase our ordinary shares at any particular price or at all. The declaration and payment of any future dividends is at the discretion of our Board of Directors and our previously announced share repurchase program may be suspended or discontinued at any time. Our payment of quarterly cash dividends and the repurchase of our ordinary shares pursuant to our share repurchase program are subject to, among other things, our financial position and results of operations, available cash and cash flow, capital and regulatory requirements, market and economic conditions, our ordinary share price and other factors. Any reduction or discontinuance by us of the payment of quarterly cash dividends or the repurchase of our ordinary shares pursuant to our share repurchase program could cause the market price of our ordinary shares to decline significantly. Moreover, in the event our payment of quarterly cash dividends or repurchases of our ordinary shares are reduced or discontinued, our failure to resume such activities at historical levels could result in a persistent lower market valuation of our ordinary shares. ITEM 1B.