Sequans Communications S A (SQNS) Risk Factors

Attempts by others to gain unauthorized access to our information technology systems are becoming more sophisticated. These attempts, which might be related to industrial or other espionage, include covertly introducing malware to our computers and networks and impersonating authorized users, among others. Hackers may also develop and deploy viruses, worms and other malicious software programs that attack or otherwise exploit security vulnerabilities in our systems or products. Attacks may create system disruptions, cause shutdowns or result in the corruption of our engineering data, which could result in delays in product development or software updates and harm our business. Additionally, the theft, unauthorized use or publication of our intellectual property and/or confidential business information could harm our competitive position, reduce the value of our investment in research and development and other strategic initiatives or otherwise adversely affect our business. To the extent that any security breach results in inappropriate disclosure of our customers' or business partners' confidential information, we may incur liability as a result. We could also suffer monetary and other losses, including reputational harm, which costs we may not be able to recover. We seek to detect and investigate all security incidents and to prevent their recurrence, but in some cases, we might be unaware of an incident or its magnitude and effects. While we have identified some incidents involving attempts at unauthorized access, we are not aware of any that have succeeded. We expect to continue to devote resources to the security of our information technology systems.

We believe our future success will depend in large part upon our ability to attract, retain and motivate highly skilled management, engineering and sales and marketing personnel. The loss of any key employees or the inability to attract, retain or motivate qualified personnel, including engineers and sales and marketing personnel, could delay the development and introduction of and harm our ability to sell our semiconductor solutions. We believe that our future success is dependent on the contributions of Georges Karam, our co-founder and chief executive officer. The loss of the services of Dr. Karam, other executive officers or certain other key personnel could materially harm our business, financial condition and results of operations. For example, if any of these individuals were to leave unexpectedly, we could face substantial difficulty in hiring qualified successors, and could experience a loss in productivity during the search for any such successor and while any successor is integrated into our business and operations. Our key technical and engineering personnel represent a significant asset and serve as the source of our technological and product innovations. We plan to recruit additional design and application engineers with expertise in wireless broadband communications technologies. We may not be successful in attracting, retaining and motivating sufficient technical and engineering personnel to support our anticipated growth. In addition, to expand our customer base and increase sales to existing customers, we will need to hire additional qualified sales personnel. The competition for qualified marketing, sales, technical and engineering personnel in our industry is very intense. If we are unable to hire, train and retain qualified marketing, sales, technical and engineering personnel in a timely manner, our ability to grow our business will be impaired. In addition, if we are unable to retain our existing sales personnel, our ability to maintain or grow our current level of revenue will be harmed.

We may not be able to compete successfully against current or potential competitors. If we do not compete successfully, our revenue and market share may decline. We face or expect to face competition from established semiconductor companies such as Altair Semiconductor (a Sony Corporation subsidiary), HiSilicon Technologies (a Huawei subsidiary), Mediatek, Nordic Semiconductor, Qualcomm Incorporated, RDA, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and Unisoc (formerly Spreadtrum Communications), as well as smaller actors in the market such as GCT Semiconductor. Many of our competitors have longer operating histories, significantly greater resources and name recognition, and a larger base of existing customers than us. The significant resources of these larger competitors may allow them to respond more quickly than us to new or emerging technologies or changes in customer requirements or to bring new products to market in a more timely manner than us. For example, some competitors may have greater access or rights to complementary technologies, including GNSS (GPS), Bluetooth, sensors, graphic processing, etc., and we may need to develop or acquire complementary technologies or partner with others to bring to market solutions that integrate enhanced functionalities. We expect to pursue such transactions or partnerships if appropriate opportunities arise. However, we may not be able to identify suitable transactions or partners in the future, or if we do identify such transactions or partners, we may not be able to complete them on commercially acceptable terms, or at all. In addition, these competitors may have greater credibility with our existing and potential customers. Many of these competitors are located in Asia or have a significant presence and operating history in Asia and, as a result, may be in a better position than we are to work with manufacturers and customers located in Asia. Many of our competitors have been doing business with customers for a longer period of time and have well-established relationships, which may provide them with advantages, including access to information regarding future trends and requirements that may not be available to us. In addition, some of our competitors may provide incentives to customers or offer bundled solutions with complementary products, which could be attractive to some customers, or adopt more aggressive pricing policies, which may make it difficult for us to gain or maintain market share. Our ability to compete effectively will depend on a number of factors, including: - our ability to anticipate market and technology trends and successfully develop products that meet market needs;- our ability to deliver products in large volume on a timely basis at competitive prices;- our success in identifying and penetrating new markets, applications and customers;- our ability to accurately understand the price points and performance metrics of competing products in the market;- our products' performance and cost-effectiveness relative to those of our competitors;- our ability to develop and maintain relationships with key customers, wireless carriers, OEMs and ODMs;- our ability to secure sufficient high-quality supply for our products;- our ability to conform to industry standards while developing new and proprietary technologies to offer products and features previously not available in the 4G and 5G markets;- our ability to develop or acquire complementary technologies or to partner with others to bring to market products with enhanced functionalities; and - our ability to recruit design and application engineers with expertise in wireless broadband communications technologies and sales and marketing personnel. Our current or future competitors may establish cooperative relationships among themselves or with third parties. In addition, there has been consolidation within our industry over the past several years, notably the acquisition of smaller competitors by larger competitors with significantly greater resources than ours. These events may result in the emergence of new competitors with greater resources and scale than ours that could acquire significant market share, which could result in a decline of our revenue and market share. Our ability to maintain our revenue and market share will depend on our ability to compete effectively despite material changes in industry structure. If we are unable to do so, we may not increase or sustain our revenue or market share, which would harm our business. In addition, actual or speculated consolidation among competitors, or the acquisition by, or of, our partners and/or resellers by competitors can increase the competitive pressures faced by us as customers may delay spending decisions or not purchase our products at all. Consolidation could also delay spending or require us to reduce the prices of our products to compete, which could also adversely affect our business.

Average selling prices of our semiconductor solutions have historically decreased over time, although such decreases have been reduced or eliminated during the inflationary period in 2022 and 2023, and we expect such declines to continue to occur in the future. Our gross profits and financial results will suffer if we are unable to offset reductions in our average selling prices by reducing our costs, developing new or enhanced semiconductor solutions on a timely basis with higher selling prices or gross profits, or increasing our sales volumes. Even if we are successful in reducing our costs or improving sales volumes, such improvements may not be sufficient to offset declines in average selling prices in the future. Additionally, because we do not operate our own manufacturing, assembly or testing facilities, we may not be able to reduce our costs and our costs may even increase, either of which would reduce our margins. In the past, we have reduced the prices of our semiconductor solutions in line with, and at times in advance of, competitive pricing pressures, new product introductions by us or our competitors and other factors. We expect that we will have to do so again in the future.

From time to time, we are subject to tax audits that could result in tax assessments and potential penalties, particularly with respect to claimed research tax credits due to the judgment involved in determining which projects meet the tax code's criteria for innovation and fundamental research. For example, in January 2022, we received notification from the French tax authorities that our tax declarations for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2020 would be reviewed. In December 2022, we received notification of an adjustment related to employment taxes on employees in foreign offices totaling €80,000 ($82,000) for the year ended December 31, 2019. After we contested the finding, the adjustment was reduced to €38,000 ($39,000), which we recorded as an expense in 2022. In December 2023, the tax audit was finalized and did not result in any further tax expense. Our actual costs for any disputes in the future may be materially different from the provisions recorded if we are not successful in our appeal of any assessment, which could have a material adverse effect on our business.

War, terrorism, geopolitical uncertainties and other business interruptions could cause damage to, disrupt or cancel sales of our products and services on a global or regional basis, which could have a material adverse effect on our business or vendors with which we do business. Such events could also make it difficult or impossible for us to deliver products and services to our customers, or to advance our product development efforts. In addition, territorial invasions can lead to cybersecurity attacks on technology companies, such as ours, located far outside of the conflict zone. In the event of prolonged business interruptions due to geopolitical events, we could incur significant losses, require substantial recovery time and experience significant expenditures in order to resume our business operations. We have certain key engineering competencies performed by a team of 42 engineers in Israel, and we outsource some application software development and testing activities to a Kyiv, Ukraine-based dedicated team of 50 software engineers from a global US-based independent third-party provider of engineering services. If the ongoing Russian-Ukraine or the Israeli-Hamas conflicts intensify, or if Ukraine experiences further political instability, the engineers in Ukraine or Israel may be unable to work for a sustained period of time, which could adversely impact our research and development operations. We have developed contingency plans if these engineers are unable to continue working on their projects for us for a sustained period of time, but if our contingency plans are not effective, or sanctions are imposed that prevent us from conducting business in Ukraine or Israel, we could suffer delays in product introduction or delays in resolution of customer software bugs, which could have a negative impact on our revenues. We do not and cannot know if the current uncertainties in these geopolitical areas, which are unfolding in real-time, may escalate and result in broad economic and security conditions, which could result in material implications for our business. In addition, our insurance policies typically contain a war exclusion of some description and we do not know how our insurers are likely to respond in the event of a loss alleged to have been caused by geopolitical uncertainties.

Our international revenues account for a substantial majority of our total revenues. As a result, we must provide significant service and support globally. We intend to maintain or expand our international operations and expect to incur costs doing so. We cannot assure you that we will be able to recover our investments in international markets. Our results of operations could be adversely affected by a variety of factors, including: - the longer payment cycles associated with many foreign customers;- the typically longer periods from placement of orders to revenue recognition in certain international and emerging markets;- currency fluctuations;- the difficulties in interpreting or enforcing our agreements and collecting receivables through many foreign countries' legal systems;- unstable regional political and economic conditions or changes in restrictions on trade among countries;- changes in the political, regulatory, safety or economic conditions in a country or region;- the imposition by governments of additional taxes, tariffs, global economic sanctions programs or other restrictions on foreign trade, including U.S. and Chinese tariffs and trade restrictions;- any inability to comply with export or import laws and requirements or any violation of sanctions regulations, which may result in enforcement actions, civil or criminal penalties and restrictions on exports;- any increase in the cost of trade compliance functions to comply with changes to regulatory requirements; and - the possibility that it may be more difficult to protect our intellectual property in foreign countries. In addition, our global operations are subject to numerous U.S. and foreign laws and regulations, including those related to anti-corruption, tax, corporate governance, imports and exports, financial and other disclosures, privacy and labor relations. These laws and regulations are complex and may have differing or conflicting legal standards, making compliance difficult and costly. In addition, there is uncertainty regarding how proposed, contemplated or future changes to these complex laws and regulations could affect our business. We may incur substantial expense in complying with the new obligations to be imposed by these laws and regulations, and we may be required to make significant changes in our business operations, all of which may adversely affect our revenues and our business overall. If we violate these laws and regulations we could be subject to fines, penalties or criminal sanctions, and may be prohibited from conducting business in one or more countries. Although we have implemented policies and procedures to help ensure compliance with these laws and regulations, there can be no assurance that our employees, contractors, agents or partners will not violate such laws and regulations. Any violation individually or in the aggregate could have a material adverse effect on our operations and financial condition.

If fires, coastal flooding, a large earthquake, volcanic eruption, new pandemic or other natural disaster were to directly damage, destroy or disrupt our partners' manufacturing facilities or the facilities of our testing, assembly and manufacturing contractors or our component suppliers, it could disrupt our operations, delay new production and shipments of existing inventory, or result in costly repairs, replacements, the need to find alternative suppliers or other costs, all of which would negatively impact our business. For example, a fire at Asahi Kasei Microsystem's semiconductor factory in Japan in October 2020 completely shut down production of its TCXO crystal oscillator products, which account for approximately half of the worldwide industry production of these products and are a primary component in our products. Unimicron, a major supplier of PCB and substrates for packaging, also had a factory fire in October 2020 which has constrained the supply of these components and increased lead times, as well as increasing pricing across. If similar events occur in the future and we are unable to qualify additional suppliers prior to exhausting our current inventory or are unable to source alternative components in sufficient quantity, we could experience significant delays in the production or shipment of our semiconductor solutions or experience significant increases in our supply chain costs until we are able to shift our supply to an alternative vendor. These events and their consequences could negatively impact our results of operations and cash flows, both during and after the period of operational difficulties, and could harm our reputation.

Our functional currency is the U.S. dollar. Substantially all of our sales are denominated in U.S. dollars and the payment terms of all of our significant supply chain vendors are also denominated in U.S. dollars. We incur operating expenses and hold assets and liabilities denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar, principally the euro, and to a lesser extent the British pound sterling and the New Israeli shekel. As a result, our results of operations and cash flows are subject to fluctuations due to changes in foreign currency exchange rates, in particular the U.S. dollar to euro exchange rate. As we grow our operations, our exposure to foreign currency risk could become more significant. If there had been a 10% increase or decrease in the exchange rate of the U.S. dollar to the euro, as measured using the Company's 2023 weighted average exchange rate of one euro = $1.0816, we estimate the impact, in absolute terms, on operating expenses and on financial liabilities for the year ended December 31, 2023 would have been $4.2 million. Our exposure to foreign currency risk may change over time as business practices evolve and economic conditions change. We from time to time enter into foreign currency hedging contracts primarily to reduce the impact of variations in the U.S. dollar to euro exchange rate on our operating expenses denominated in euros. However, hedging at best reduces volatility and helps to lock in a target rate for the following six to twelve months but cannot eliminate the fundamental exposure and may not be effective.