UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d)

OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the Fiscal Year Ended June 29, 201328, 2014

Commission File Number 000-49602

SYNAPTICS INCORPORATED

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

(408) 904-1100

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

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

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.    Yes  x    No  ¨

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.    Yes  ¨    No  x

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

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).    Yes  x    No  ¨

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K (§229.405 of this chapter) is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K.  x¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act).    Yes  ¨    No  x

The aggregate market value of Common Stock held by nonaffiliates of the registrant (24,385,533(27,358,085 shares), based on the closing price of the registrant’s Common Stock as reported on the Nasdaq Global Select Market on December 28, 201227, 2013 of $29.58,$50.43, was $721,324,066.$1,379,668,227. For purposes of this computation, all officers, directors, and 10% beneficial owners of the registrant are deemed to be affiliates. Such determination should not be deemed to be an admission that such officers, directors, or 10% beneficial owners are, in fact, affiliates of the registrant.

As of August 5, 2013,15, 2014, there were outstanding 33,448,99536,744,790 shares of the registrant’s Common Stock, par value $.001 per share.

Documents Incorporated by Reference

Portions of the registrant’s definitive Proxy Statement for the 20132014 Annual Meeting of Stockholders are incorporated by reference into Part III of this Form 10-K.

SYNAPTICS INCORPORATED

ANNUAL REPORT ON FORM 10-K

FISCAL 20132014

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

The statements contained in this report on Form 10-K that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding our “expectations,” “anticipation,” “intentions,” “beliefs,” or “strategies” regarding the future, whether or not those words are used. Forward-looking statements also include statements regarding revenue, margins, expenses, and earnings analysis for fiscal 20142015 and thereafter; our positioning in our target markets; our ability to continue to enhance our market position and increase our business through introducing market leading interface solutions; the strength of our intellectual property portfolio, engineering know-how, systems engineering experience, and technological expertise; the success of our product development strategies; the attractiveness of our product solutions, including their performance, cost, customer satisfaction, market position, and potential; continued success of our virtual manufacturing platform; the strength of our customer relationships; the amounts of revenue generated as a result of sales to significant customers; our competitive position and competitive factors; acquisitions or strategic alliances; the success of particular product or marketing programs; and liquidity and anticipated cash needs and availability. All forward-looking statements included in this report are based on information available to us as of the filing date of this report, and we assume no obligation to update any such forward-looking statements. Our actual results could differ materially from the forward-looking statements. Among the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially are the factors discussed in Item 1A. Risk Factors.

PART I

Overview

We are a leading worldwide developer and supplier of custom-designed human interface solutions that enable people to interact more easily and intuitively with a wide variety of mobile computing, communications, entertainment, and other electronic devices. We currently target the markets for mobile product applications, including smartphones, and feature phones; tablets;tablets, the personal computer, or PC, product applications market,products, primarily notebook computers, and other select electronic device markets, with our customized human interface solutions.devices. Every solution we deliver either contains or consists of our touch-basedtouch- or finger-based semiconductor solution,solutions, which includes our capacitive sensing ASIC, customer-specific firmware, and software.

We are a market leader in providing human interface solutions to our target markets. Our original equipment manufacturer, or OEM, customers include most of the world’s largest OEMs for smartphones and feature phones and tier one PC OEMs. We generally supply our human interface solutions to our OEM customers through their contract manufacturers, which take delivery of our products and pay us directly for them.such products.

Our website is located atwww.synaptics.com. Through our website, we make available, free of charge, all of our Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, filings, including our annual reports on Form 10-K, our proxy statements, our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, and our current reports on Form 8-K, as well as Form 3, Form 4, and Form 5 Reports for our directors, officers, and principal stockholders, together with amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Sections 13(a), 15(d), or 16 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act. These reports are available on our website immediately after their electronic filing with the SEC. Our website also includes corporate governance information, including our Code of Conduct, our Code of Ethics for the CEO and Senior Financial Officers, and our Board Committee Charters.

Our fiscal year is the 52- or 53-week period ending on the last Saturday in June. The fiscal years presented in this report were 52-week periods ended June 28, 2014 and June 29, 2013 and a 53-week period ended June 30, 2012, and 52-week periods ended June 29, 2013 and June 25, 2011.2012.

Mobile Product Applications Markets

We believe our intellectual property portfolio, engineering know-how, systems engineering experience, technological expertise, and experience in providing human interface solutions to major OEMs of electronic devices position us to be a key technological enabler for multiple consumer electronic devices targeted to meet the growing mobile product applications markets, which include all touchscreen and video display products and finger-based products. Based on these strengths, we are addressing thepursuing opportunities created by the growth of mobile computing communications, mobile product applications and entertainment devices. Mobile product applications include smartphones, and feature phones, tablets, large touchscreen applications, global positioning devices, as well as a variety of mobile, handheld, wireless, and entertainment devices. Our array of human interface solutions for mobile product applications are designed to enrich the interface on mobile smartphones, and feature phones, tablets, and peripherals, allowing the user to access their devices or applications through fingerprint recognition and to more easily use or navigate complex menu systems on their devices. We believe our existing technologies, our range of product solutions, and our emphasis on ease of use, small size, low power consumption, advanced functionality, secure access, durability, and reliability enable us to serve multiple aspects of the markets for mobile product applications and other electronic devices.

Our human interface solutions for mobile product applications constitutesconstitute an important percentage of our net revenue. Net revenue for our human interface solutions for mobile product applications accounted for approximately 73%, 64%, and 49% of our net revenue infor fiscal 2014, 2013, and 2012, respectively. Our ongoing success in serving these markets will depend upon the continued growth of the mobile smartphone and feature phone portion of the overall mobile phone market; our continued growth in the tablet and large touchscreen applications markets; our ability to demonstrate to mobile product applications OEMs the advantages of our human interface solutions in terms of performance, usability, size, simplified security, durability, power consumption, integration, and industrial design possibilities; and the success of products utilizing our human interface solutions. In addition, our success will depend on our ability to demonstrate to mobile product applications OEMs the advantages of our flexible touchscreen and fingerprint sensor fulfillment model and systems engineering expertise.

Industry projections for the mobile smartphone market for the period 2013 through 20172014 to 2015 show a compound annual growth rate of 13.4%approximately 12.9%, reflecting the trend towards greater functionality in mobile smartphone products to meet and address the expanded needs and expectations of the consumer-oriented market. These products require a simple, durable, and intuitive human interface solution to access their devices or applications through fingerprint recognition and enable the user to navigate efficiently through menus and scroll through information contained in the host device. We believe we are well positioned to take advantage of this growing market based on our technology, engineering know-how, systems engineering experience, and the acceptance of our human interface solutions by OEMs in this market.

The tablet and large touchscreen markets also represent an opportunity for our touchscreen and fingerprint sensor intellectual property portfolio, engineering know-how, and technological expertise. Touchscreen and fingerprint sensor solutions required for the tablet market range from basic e-book vendor solutions to multi-function solutions designed for more complex operating systems. Tablet-based capacitive touch interface devices are now offered by several leading PC and mobile phone OEMs and utilize various operating systems, including Android and Windows 8. Industry projections for the tablet market for the period 2013 through 20172014 to 2015 show a compound annual growth rate of 15.7%approximately 12.9%.

PC Product Applications Market

We provide custom human interface solutions for navigation, cursor control, and multimedia controls and for access to devices or applications through fingerprint recognition for many of the world’s premier PC OEMs. In addition to notebook applications, other PC product applications for our technology include peripherals, such as keyboards, mice, and monitors, as well as remote control devices for desktops, PCs, and digital home applications. OurNet revenue for our human interface solutions for the PC product applications market include the TouchPad™accounted for approximately 27%, a touch-sensitive pad that senses the position36%, and movement51% of a person’s finger on its surface; the ClickPad™, a TouchPad application that eliminates the needour net revenue for physical buttons; the TouchStyk™, a self-contained, easily integrated pointing stick module;fiscal 2014, 2013, and dual pointing solutions that combine both a TouchPad and a pointing stick into a single notebook computer, enabling users to use the interface of their choice; the ForcePad™, a ClickPad that is thinner than conventional touchpads and provides for force sensitivity; and ThinTouch^®, a keyboard that is thinner than the conventional keyboard.2012, respectively.

The latest industry projections for notebook unit growth for the period 2013 through 20172014 to 2015 show a compound annual growth rate of 4% compared with a decrease of 0.2% for desktop computers, reflecting the continued migrationapproximately 2.9%. Customers continue to migrate from desktops to notebooks, which is fueled by users’ desire for mobile computing and on-the-go access to applications, information, and digital content. Based on the strength of our technology and engineering know-how, we believe we are well positioned to take advantage of the growth opportunity in the notebook computer market. We believe we are well positioned within the notebook computer market asOur position is further strengthened by our touchpad, pointing stick, fingerprint sensor, and keyboard product lines, of touch pads, pointing sticks and keyboardswhich allow us to address 100% of the notebook computer market.

Our Strategy

Our objective is to continue to enhance our position as a leading supplier of human interface solutions for the mobile product applications markets, including smartphones, and feature phones, for the tablet and large touchscreen markets, and for the PC product applications market. Key aspects of our strategy to achieve this objective include those set forth below.

Extend Our Technological Leadership

We plan to utilize our extensive intellectual property portfolio, engineering know-how, and technological expertise to extend the functionality of our product solutions and offer innovative product solutions to customers across multiple markets. We intend to continue utilizing our technological expertise to reduce the overall size, weight, cost, and power consumption of our human interface solutions while increasing their applications, capabilities, and performance. We plan to continue enhancing the ease of use and functionality of our solutions. We also plan to expand our research and development efforts through increased investment in our engineering activities, the hiring of additional engineering personnel, and strategic acquisitions and alliances. We believe that these efforts will enable us to meet customer expectations and to achieve our goal of supplying, on a timely and cost-effective basis, the most advanced, easy-to-use, functional human interface solutions to our target markets.

Enhance Our Position in the Mobile Smartphone, Feature Phone, Tablet, and PC Product Application Markets

We intend to continue introducing market-leading human interface solutions in terms of performance, functionality, size, and ease of use for the smartphone, feature phone, tablet, and PC product applications markets. We plan to continue enhancing our customers’ industrial design alternatives and device functionality through innovative product development, based onin order to enhance and grow our existing capabilities and technological advances.position within our target markets.

Capitalize on Growth of New and Evolving Markets

We intend to capitalize on the growth of new and evolving markets, such as the tablet market and the ultrabook portionand convertible portions of the PC product applications market, brought about by the convergence of computing, communications, and entertainment devices. We plan to offerbuild upon our existing innovative, intuitive human interface solutions thatand continue to address the evolving portability, connectivity, security, and functionality requirements of these new markets. We plan to offer these solutions to existing and potential OEM customers to enable increased functionality, reduced size, lower cost, andsimplified security, enhanced industrial design features, and to enhance the user experience of their products. We plan to utilize our existing technologies as well as aggressively pursue new technologies as new markets evolve that demand new solutions.

Emphasize and Expand Customer Relationships

We plan to emphasize and expand our strong and long-lasting customer relationships and to establish successful relationships with new customers. In each market we serve, we plan to provide the most advanced human interface solutions for our customers’ products. We believe that our human interface solutions enable our customers to deliver simplified security and a positive user experience and to differentiate their products from those of their competitors. We continually strive to enhance the competitive position of our customers by providing them with innovative, distinctive, and high-quality human interface solutions inon a timely and cost-effective basis. To do so, we work continually to improve our productivity, to reduce costs, and toincrease the speed theof delivery of our human interface solutions. We endeavor to streamline the entire design and delivery process through our ongoing design, engineering, and production improvement efforts. We also focus on providing timely support to our customers after thetheir purchase of our human interface solutions.

We plan to increase our business with existing customers and attract new customers by offering fingerprint sensor solutions and both custom designed touch solutions, as well as design tools, documentation, a family of capacitive sensing ASICs, and technical support to assist the development of human interface designs in products forsuch as smartphones, and feature phones, tablets, notebooks, PC peripherals, and other digital entertainment devices. We offer our smartphone and feature phone customers a choice of determining the most optimal way to meet their emerging and growing touch solution needs: our traditional custom module solutions or our chip or tail solutions, which enable customers to utilize our proprietary solutions together with third-party components and assembly. Our chip solution consists of our proprietary controller ASIC, customer-specific firmware, and software. Our tail solution consists of our proprietary controller ASIC, associated electronics, customer-specific firmware, software, and flexible circuit material. Touchscreen solutions for mobile phones, tablets, and notebooks are primarily a chip solution. Fingerprint sensor solutions are a module solution.

Pursue Strategic Relationships and Acquisitions

We intend to develop and expand strategic relationships to enhance our ability to offer value-added human interface solutions to our customers, penetrate new markets, and strengthen the technological leadership of our product solutions. We also intend to considerevaluate the potential acquisition of companies in order to expand our technological expertise and to establish or strengthen our presence in selected target markets.

Continue Virtual Manufacturing

We plan to expand and diversify our production capacity through third-party relationships, thereby strengthening our virtual manufacturing platform. This strategy results in a scalable business model; enables us to concentrate on our core competencies of research and development, technological advances, and product design and engineering;engineering, and reduces our capital expenditures and working capital requirements. Our virtual manufacturing strategy allows us to maintain a variable cost model, in which we do not incur most of our manufacturing costs until our product solutions have been shipped and billed to our customers.

Product Solutions

We develop and enhance interface technologies that provide simplified security and enrich the user’s experience in interacting with the user’s mobile computing, communications, and entertainment devices. We engage with our customers in the design of their custom products and offer product solutions ranging from ASICs, which may include customer-specific firmware, to full module solutions. Our innovative and intuitive human interface solutions can be engineered to accommodate many diverse platforms and our expertise in human factors and usability can be utilized to improve the features and functionality of our solutions. Our extensive array of technologies includes ASICs, firmware, software, mechanical and electrical designs, andfingerprint authentication, pattern recognition, and touch-sensing technologies.

Our custom-designed human interface solutions are custom engineered, total solutions for our customers, and include sensor design, module layout, ASICs, firmware, and software features for which we provide manufacturing and design support, and device testing. This allows us to be a one-stop supplier for complete human interface design from the early design stage, to manufacturing, to testing and support. Through our engineering know-how and technological expertise, we seek to provide our customers with solutions that address their individual design issuesrequirements and result in high-performance, feature-rich, and reliable interface solutions. We believe our interface solutions offer the following characteristics:

We believe these characteristics will enable us to continue to enhance our position as a technological enabler within the markets for mobile product applications, including smartphones, feature phones, and tablets, and the PC product applicationsour target markets.

Our emphasis on technological leadership and design capabilities positions us to provide unique human interface solutions are intended tothat address specific customer requirements, as well as satisfy our customers’ specification needs,specifications, including features and functionality, industrial design, security, mechanical, and electrical requirements. Our products also offer unique integration options, including allowing our capacitive sensors to be placed underneath the plastic of the device, which allows for streamlined and stylized designs, and LED integration to indicate status or enhance industrial design.

Our emphasis on technological leadership and design capabilities positions us to provide unique human interface solutions that address specific customer requirements. Our long-term working relationships with large, global OEMs provide us with the experience in satisfyingto satisfy their demanding design specifications and other requirements. Our custom product solutions provide OEMs with numerous benefits, including the following:

We workOur collaborative efforts with our customers in order to meet their technical and functional specifications, their industrial design requirements, and their desire to differentiate their products from those of their competitors. This collaborative effort reduces the duplication and overlap of investment and resources, enabling our OEM customerspartners to devote more time and resources to the market development of their differentiated products.

We utilize capacitive technology rather than resistive or mechanical technology in our producttouch and fingerprint sensor solutions. Unlike resistive and mechanical technology, our solid-state capacitive technology has no moving parts and does not require activation force, thereby providing a durable, more reliable solution that can be integrated into both curved and flat surfaces. Capacitive technologies also allow for much thinner sensors than resistive or mechanical technology, providing for slimmer, more compact and unique industrial designs.

Products

Our family of product solutions allows our customers to solve their interface needs and differentiate their products from those of their competitors.

ClearPad^TM

Our ClearPad family of products enables the user to interact directly with the display on electronic devices, such as mobile smartphones and feature phones and tablets. Our ClearPad has distinct advantages, including low-profile form factor; high reliability, durability, and accuracy; and low power consumption. We typically sell our ClearPad solution as a chip or tail, together with customer-specific firmware, to sensor manufacturers to use in the production of discrete touchscreen products. A discrete touchscreen product typically consists of a transparent, thin capacitive sensor that can be placed over any display, such as a Liquid Crystal Display, or LCD, or an Organic Light Emitting Diode, or OLED, and combined with a flexible circuit material and a touch controller chip. Each ClearPad solution is custom designed to integrate customer-specific input preferences such as pen input, gloved finger recognition, proximity, finger hover, and air swipe functionality.

Our ClearPad Series 3 product family can provide full-time tracking of ten or more fingers simultaneously and features stylus support andas well as support for various sensor configurations, including traditional discrete sensors,sensors; sensor-on-lens, which includes sensor electrodes patterned on the bottom of the glass cover lens; on-cell, which includes sensor electrodes patterned on the display glass; and in-cell, which includes sensor electrodes patterned inside the LCD glass.

Our ClearPad Series 4 product family combines our proprietary capacitive multi-touch technology with a device’s display driver (TDDI) in a single-chip solution delivering advanced display noise management and improved capacitive sensing performance. Our display integration on-cell and in-cell solutions provide cost-effective, capacitive, multi-touch interfaces for mobile devices and enablesenable thinner form factors.

Our ClearPad Series 7 product family is designed to meet the requirements of the large touchscreen market for products more closely related to clamshell notebooks, slates, tablets, and similar devices. Our ClearPad Series 7 products include low-cost, single-chip touchscreen solutions and multi-chip touchscreen solutions designed for devices that have more demanding user input requirements, such as gaming applications.

TouchPad^TM

Our TouchPad family of products, which takescan take the place of, and exceedsexceed, the functionality of a mouse, is a small, touch-sensitive pad that senses the position and movement of one or more fingers on its surface through the measurement of capacitance. Our TouchPad provides an accurate, comfortable, and reliable method for screen navigation, cursor movement, and gestures and provides a platform for interactive input for both the consumer and corporate markets. Our TouchPad solutions allow our customers to provide stylish, simple, user-friendly, and intuitive human interface solutions. Our TouchPad solutions also offer various advanced features, including scrolling, customizable tap zones, tapping and dragging of icons, and device interaction.

Our TouchPad solutions are available in a variety of sizes, electrical interfaces, and thicknesses. Our TouchPad solutionsthicknesses, and are designed to meet the electrical and mechanical specifications of our customers. Customized firmware and driver software ensure the availability of specialized features. As a result of their solid state characteristics, our TouchPad solutions have no moving parts that wear out, resulting in a robust and reliable input solution that also allows for unique industrial designs.

ClickPad^TM

Our ClickPad introduces a clickable mechanical design to the TouchPad application that eliminates the need for physical buttons. The buttonless design of our ClickPad allows for unique, intuitive industrial design and makes it an excellent alternative to conventional input and navigation devices. Our ClickPad is activated by pressing down on the internal tact switch to perform a left-button or right-button clicks and provides tactile feedback similar to pressing a physical button. The latest version of ClickPad features ClickEQ^TM, a mechanical solution that provides uniform click depth to maximize the surface area available for gestures and improveimproves click performance over hinged designs.

ForcePad^®

Our ForcePad is a thinner version of our ClickPad, which introduces a new dimension in control through the addition of variable force sensitivity. ForcePad is designed to provide consistent performance across OEM models through its design intelligence and self-calibration features. By varying the amount of force applied, ForcePad is engineered to enable more intuitive and precise user interactions in operating system controls and applications. Designed with thin and light notebooks in mind, ForcePad is 40% thinner than a conventional touch pad.

ThinTouch^TM®

ThinTouch is a design technology employing an innovative ramp capability that delivers a full keyboard solution that is 40% thinner than traditional keyboard solutions. ThinTouch providesutilizes an innovative design architecture that facilitates improved backlighting, reliability, and improved manufacturability when compared to conventional mechanical keyboards. By combining our TouchPad technology with ThinTouch technology, we expect to deliver keyboard solutions targeted for the next generation of thin and light notebook PC form factors, including ultrabooks.factors.

Natural ID™

Natural ID is an industry leading fingerprint ID family of products designed for use with Fast IDentity Online (FIDO) enabled devices. FIDO was formed to enhance online authentication by developing an open, scalable technical standard to help facilitate the adoption of robust, easy to use authentication that reduces the reliance on passwords.

Other Products

Other product solutions we offer include Dual Pointing Solutions, TouchStyk, FlexPad, ClearButtons, and TouchButtons. Our dual pointing solutions offer a TouchPad with a pointing stick in a single notebook computer, enabling users to select their interface of choice. TouchStyk is a self-contained pointing stick module that uses capacitive technology similar to that ofused in our TouchPad. FlexPad is a capacitive sensing interface which is mounted beneath a mechanical keypad and allows the keypad source to be used for scrolling and navigation, character entry, and gesture input. A ClearButton is a clear sensor that can be mounted under plastic, providing OEMs with easy integration and attractive design options for scrolling and buttons. TouchButtons provide capacitive buttons and scrolling controls for an easy-to-use and stylish interface solution designed to replace mechanical buttons.

Capabilities

Our products are supported by a variety of feature capabilities allowing for further product differentiation and easy customer integration.

ChiralMotion Gesture

With our ChiralMotion Gesture technology, the user can apply one continuous circular motion to initiate precise and fine-tuned scrolling on any two-dimensional input surface, such as our TouchPad and ClearPad solutions.

ChiralMotion Gesture technology is well suited for small handheld products, such as feature-rich mobile handsets, personal navigation systems, and personal media players that require easy access for entertainment, music, and other digital files. Scrolling through long documents or pages on a notebook PC becomes simple when using a TouchPad enhanced with ChiralMotion and reversing the direction of scrolling simply requires the user to reverse the circular motion of their finger.

Enhanced Gesture Recognition™

Our Enhanced Gesture Recognition is a suite of ClearPad gestures included in our firmware. Customers can easily enable SingleTouch gestures, such as Tap, Double Tap, Press, and Flick; DualTouch gestures, such as Pinch and Pivot Rotate; and multi-finger gestures for ClearPad directly from our touch module firmware. No additional recognition software is required on the host processor to implement these gestures. This approach lowers host processor resource requirements and ensures that gestures are implemented using our pattern-recognition technology.

Design Studio™

Design Studio provides customers an advanced and comprehensive touch system tool set, designed to enable the customer to evaluate touch system performance and efficiently implement its ClearPad touchscreen solution.

Proximity Sensing

Our proximity sensing technology enables users to interact with consumer electronics without touch including our latest 3D-touch capability. With this technology, sensors in a device, such as a notebook PC, mobile phone, peripheral, or digital photo frame, sense the presence of a user’s finger or hand to activate a function. These sensors can illuminate LEDs for discoverable buttons, immediately wake devices from power-saving mode, or activate other functionality.

Design Studio™

Design Studio provides customers an advanced and comprehensive touch system tool set, designed to enable the customer to evaluate touch system performance and efficiently implement its ClearPad touchscreen solution.

SignalClarity Technology

SignalClarity technology provides an improved signal-to-noise ratio for enhanced touch detection and noise immunity and enables smartphone and feature phone OEMs to support inexpensive chargers and work with multiple display types. SignalClarity technology works with multidisplay configurations, including discrete sensors, sensor-on-lens, on-cell, and in-cell stackup solutions.

Synaptics Gesture Suite

Our Synaptics Gesture Suite, or SGS^TM, provides users with an intuitive way to interact productively with their notebook computers. SGS was developed by analyzing the most common workflows from entertainment activities, such as viewing photos and listening to music, to productivity activities, such as accessing emails and presentations. The result is an intelligent usability model that makes it intuitive for consumers to understand and discover features easily, resulting in a better user experience. SGS represents a growing portfolio of gestures available on our interface solutions. These gestures are compatible with a wide range of Microsoft Windows and Linux applications to enhance the value and productivity of notebook PCs and peripheral devices that use our TouchPads. Gestures currently in the market include Pinch, Rotate, ChiralMotion Scrolling, Two-Finger Scrolling, Three-Finger Flick, Three-Finger Down, and Four-Finger Flick.

ChiralMotion GestureTypeGuard™

With our ChiralMotion GestureTypeGuard technology allows the user can apply one continuous circular motionsystem to initiate precisedifferentiate between a finger and fine-tuneda palm, virtually eliminating accidental cursor movements, scrolling on any two-dimensional input surface, such as our TouchPad and ClearPad solutions.clicks.

ChiralMotion Gesture technology is well suited for small handheld products, such as feature-rich mobile handsets, personal navigation systems, and personal media players that require easy access for entertainment, music, and other digital files. Scrolling through long documents or pages on a notebook PC becomes simple when using a TouchPad enhanced with ChiralMotion and reversing the direction of scrolling simply requires the user to reverse the circular motion of their finger.

Enhanced Gesture Recognition™

Our Enhanced Gesture Recognition is a suite of ClearPad gestures included in our firmware. Customers can easily enable SingleTouch gestures, such as Tap, Double Tap, Press, and Flick; DualTouch gestures, such as Pinch and Pivot Rotate; and multi-finger gestures for ClearPad directly from our touch module firmware. No additional recognition software is required on the host processor to implement these gestures. This approach lowers host processor resource requirements and ensures that gestures are implemented using our proven pattern-recognition technology.

Technologies

We have developed and own an extensive array of technologies, encompassing ASICs, firmware, software, mechanical and electrical designs, display systems, pattern recognition, and touch-sensing technologies. With 260 U.S. patents in force and 157 U.S. patents pending, as well as many non-U.S. counterparts, weWe continue to develop technology in these areas. We believe these technologies and the related intellectual property rights create barriers for competitors and allow us to provide high-value human interface solutions in a variety of high-growth markets.

Our broad line of human interface solutions is currently is based upon the following key technologies:

In addition to these technologies, we develop firmware and device driver software that we incorporate into our products, which provide unique features, such as virtual scrolling, customizable tap zones, PalmCheck, EdgeMotion, and tapping and dragging of icons. In addition, our ability to integrate all of our products to interface with major operating systems provides us with a competitive advantage.

Capacitive Position Sensing TechnologyTechnology.. This technology provides a method for sensing the presence, position, and contact area of one or more fingers or a stylus on a flat or curved surface. Our technology works with very light touch, supports full multi-touch capabilities, and provides highly responsive cursor navigation, scrolling, and selection. It uses no moving parts, can be implemented under plastic, and is extremely durable. Our technology can also track one or more fingers in proximity to the touch surface.

Capacitive Force Sensing TechnologyTechnology.. This technology senses the direction and magnitude of a force applied to an object. The object can either move when force is applied, like a typical joystick used for gaming applications, or it can be isometric, with no perceptible motion during use, like our TouchStyk.TouchStyk or ForcePad. The primary competition for this technology is resistive strain gauge technology. Resistive strain gauge technology requires electronics that can sense very small changes in resistance, presenting challenges to the design of that circuitry, including sensitivity to electrical noise and interference. Our electronic circuitry determines the magnitude and direction of an applied force, permits very accurate sensing of tiny changes in capacitance, and minimizes electrical interference from other sources.

Transparent Capacitive Position Sensing TechnologyTechnology.. This technology allows us to build transparent sensors for use with our capacitive position sensing technology, such as in our ClearPad. It has all the advantages of our capacitive position sensing technology and allows for visual feedback when incorporated with a display device, such as an LCD. Our technology supports full multi-touch, does not require calibration, does not produce undesirable internal reflections, and has reduced power requirements, allowing for longer battery life.

Pattern Recognition TechnologyTechnology.. This technology is a set of software algorithms and techniques for converting real-world data, such as gestures and handwriting, into a digital form that can be recognized and manipulated within a computer. Our technology provides reliable gesture decoding and handwriting recognition, and can be used in other applications such as signature verification for a richer user experience.

Mixed-Signal Integrated Circuit Technology. This hybrid analog-digital integrated circuit technology combines the power of digital computation with the ability to interface with non-digital, real-world signals, such as the position of a finger or stylus on a surface. Our patented design techniques permit us to utilize this technology to optimize our core ASIC engine for all our products. Our mixed-signal technology consists of a broad portfolio of circuit expertise in areas such as the following:

Display Systems and Circuit Technology. This technology enables us to develop optimized human interface solutions with improved compatibility with their application environments. This technology consists of mobile and large format display semiconductor expertise, including the following functional blocks:

This technology also enables us to develop advanced products that combine the functions of the display and touch sensing systems to enable highly integrated display and touch functionality with improved performance, thinner form factors, and lower system cost.

Capacitive Active Pen Technology. This technology allows us to develop a pen that can be used for input on a capacitive touchscreen. As well as generating a signal that allows the touchscreen to track the pen, additional data, such as the pen applied force and pen button states, are also communicated to the touchscreen device.

Proprietary Microcontroller TechnologyTechnology.. One example of this technology is our proprietary 16-bit microcontroller core that is embedded in the digital portion of our mixed signal ASIC, which allows us to optimize our ASIC for position sensing tasks. Our embedded microcontroller provides great flexibility in customizing our products via firmware, which eliminates the need to design new circuitry for each new application.

Competing TechnologyThinTouch Technology. This keyboard technology allows a key to move downwards in a diagonal motion providing a longer total travel than a key that has purely vertical motion. This allows us to develop higher performing keyboards in low profile form factors. The technology also allows capacitive sensing to be integrated into the keyboard.

Many human interface solutions currently utilize resistive sensing technology. ResistiveFingerprint Sensing Technology. This technology provides for fingerprint authentication by scanning and matching an image of a user’s fingerprint. Our fingerprint sensing technology consists of a flexible membrane above a flat, rigid, electrically conductive surface. When fingersimplifies the system or stylus pressure is applied toapplication authentication process by substituting the membrane, it deforms until it makes contact withuser’s fingerprint for the rigid layer below, at which point attached electronics can determine the position of the finger or stylus. Since the flexible membrane is a moving part, it is susceptible to mechanical wearlogin name and will eventually suffer degraded performance. Due to the way that such resistive position sensors work, it is not possible for them to detect more than a single finger or stylus at any given time. The positional accuracy of a resistive sensor is limited by the uniformity of the resistive coating as well as by the mechanics of the flexible membrane. Finally, using resistive technology over displays, like LCDs, results in reduced display brightness, requiring the use of higher power backlighting and thereby reducing the battery life of the device.password.

Research and Development

We conduct ongoing research and development programs that focus on advancing our technologies, developing new products, improving design and manufacturing processes, and enhancing the quality and performance of our product solutions. Our goal is to provide our customers with innovative solutions that address their needs and improve their competitive positions. Our research and development focusesprograms focus on advancing our existing interface technologies, improving our current product solutions, and expanding our technologies to serve new markets. Our long-term vision is to offer human interface solutions, such as touch, fingerprint, handwriting, vision, voice capabilities, and other biometrics that can be readily incorporated into variedvarious electronic devices.

Our research and development programs focus on the development of accurate, easy to use, reliable, and intuitive human interfaces for electronic devices. We believe our innovative interface technologies can be applied to many diverse products. We believe the interface is a key factor in the differentiation of these products. We believe that our interface technologies enable us to provide customers with product solutions that have significant advantages over alternative technologies in terms of functionality, size, power consumption, durability, and reliability. We also intend to pursue strategic relationships and acquisitions to enhance our research and development capabilities, leverage our technology, and shorten our time to market with new technological applications.

Our research, design, and engineering teams frequently work directly with our customers to design custom solutions for specific applications. We focus on enabling our customers to overcome their technical barriers and enhance the performance of their products. We believe our engineering know-how and electronic systems expertise provide significant benefits to our customers by enabling them to concentrate on their core competencies of production and marketing.

As of the end of fiscal 2013,2014, we employed 573845 people in our technology, engineering, and product design functions in the United States, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Korea, Japan, India, and China. Our research and development expenses were approximately $192.7 million, $144.7 million, and $118.0 million for fiscal 2014, 2013, and $105.0 million in fiscal 2013, 2012, and 2011, respectively.

Intellectual Property Rights

Our success and ability to compete depend in part on our ability to maintain the proprietary aspects of our technologies and products. We rely on a combination of patents, copyrights, trade secrets, trademarks, confidentiality agreements, and other contractual provisions to protect our intellectual property, but these measures may provide only limited protection. Our research, design, and engineering teams frequently work directly with our OEM customers to design custom solutions for specific applications.

We hold 260As of June 11, 2014, we had 216 U.S. patents in force and have 157 U.S.348 patents pending, as well as manytheir non-U.S. counterparts to the U.S. patents and U.S. patents pending.counterparts. Collectively, these patents and patents pendingpatent applications cover various aspects of our key technologies, including those for opaque touchpads, clear touch sensing, pen sensing, handwriting recognition, customizable tap zones, edge motion,screens, fingerprint sensors, user interfaces, keyboards, displays, and virtual scrolling technologies.isometric joysticks. Our proprietary software, including source code, is also protected by copyright laws and the source code for our proprietary software is protected under applicable trade secret laws.

Our extensive array of technologies includes those related to ASICs, firmware, software, and pattern recognition and position sensing technologies.mechanical hardware. Our products rely on a combination of these technologies, making it difficult to use any single technology as the basis for replicating our products. Furthermore, the length and customization of the customer design cycle serve to protect our intellectual property rights.

Patent applications that we have filed or may file in the future may not result in a patent being issued. Our issued patents may be challenged, invalidated, or circumvented, and claims of our patents may not be of sufficient scope or strength, or issued in the proper geographic regions, to provide meaningful protection or any commercial advantage. We have not applied for, and do not have, any copyright registration on our technologies or products. We have applied to register certain of our trademarks in the United States and other countries. There can be no assurance that we will obtain registrations of trademarks in key markets. Failure to obtain registrations could compromise our ability to protect fully our trademarks and brands and could increase the risk of challenge from third parties to our use of our trademarks and brands. In addition, our failure to enforce and protect our intellectual property rights or obtain from third parties the right to use necessary technology could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and operating results.

We do not consistently rely on written agreements with our customers, suppliers, manufacturers, and other recipients of our technologies and products, and therefore some trade secret protection may be lost and our ability to enforce our intellectual property rights may be limited. Furthermore, our customers, suppliers, manufacturers, and other recipients of our technologies and products may seek to use our technologies and products without appropriate limitations. In the past, we did not consistently require our employees and consultants to enter into confidentiality, employment, or proprietary information and invention agreements. Therefore, our former employees and consultants may try to claim some ownership interest in our technologies and products and may use our technologies and products competitively and without appropriate limitations.

Other companies, including our competitors, may develop technologies that are similar or superior to our technologies, duplicate our technologies, or design around our patents and may have or obtain patents or other proprietary rights that would prevent, limit, or interfere with our ability to make, use, or sell our products. Effective intellectual property protection may be unavailable or limited in some foreign countries in which we operate, such as China and Taiwan. Unauthorized parties may attempt to copy or otherwise use aspects of our technologies and products that we regard as proprietary. There can be no assurance that our means of protecting our proprietary rights in the United States or abroad will be adequate or that competitors will not independently develop similar technologies. If our intellectual property protection is insufficient to protect our intellectual property rights, we could face increased competition in the market for our technologies and products.

We may receive notices from third parties that claim our products infringe their rights. From time to time, we receive notice from third parties of the intellectual property rights such parties have obtained. We cannot be certain that our technologies and products do not and will not infringe issued patents or other proprietary rights of third parties. Any infringement claims, with or without merit, could result in significant litigation costs and diversion of resources, including the payment of damages, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and operating results.

Customers

Our customers include many of the world’s largest mobile smartphone, feature phone, tablet, and PC OEMs, based on unit shipments, as well as a variety of consumer electronics manufacturers. Our demonstrated track record of technological leadership, design innovation, product performance, cost effectiveness, and on-time deliveries have resulted in our leadership position in providing human interface solutions. We believe our strong relationship with our OEM customers, many of which are also currently developing tablets, ultrabooks, and mobile application products, will continue to position us as a source of supply for their product offerings.

Our industry-leading OEM customers in fiscal 20132014 included the following:

We generally supply custom-designed products to our OEM customersOEMs through their contract manufacturers or supply chain. We sell our custom-designed products directly to these contract manufacturers,customers, some of which include Samsung Display Co., Japan Display Inc., Compal, Inventec, Kuroda, Techmosa, Tomen, TPK, and Wistron.Wintek. Sales to Samsung Display Co. and its affiliates accounted for approximately 28% and 14% of our net revenue for fiscal 2013.2014 and 2013, respectively. Sales to TPK accounted for approximately 12% of our net revenue for fiscal 2012. No customer accounted for more than 10% of our net revenue for fiscal 2011.

We consider both the OEMs and their contract manufacturers or supply chain partners to be our customers. Both the OEMs and their partners may determine the design and pricing requirements and make the overall decision regarding the use of our human interface solutions in their products. The contract manufacturers place orders with us for the purchase of our products, take title to the products purchased upon shipment by us, and pay us directly for those purchases. These customers have no return privileges except for warranty provisions.

Strategic Relationships

We have used strategic relationships to enhance our ability to offer value-added customer solutions in the past. We intend to enter into additional strategic relationships with companies that may help us serve our target markets.

Sales and Marketing

We sell our product solutions for incorporation into the products of our OEM customers. We generate sales through direct sales employees as well as outside sales representatives and distributors. Our sales personnel receive substantial technical assistance and support from our internal engineering resources because of the highly technical nature of our product solutions. Sales frequently result from multi-level sales efforts that involve senior management, design engineers, and our sales personnel interacting with our customers’ decision makers throughout the product development and order process.

As of the end of fiscal 2013,2014, we employed 174247 sales and marketing professionals. We maintain nine customer support offices domestically and internationally, which are located in the United States, Taiwan, China, Korea, Japan, and Switzerland.Europe. In addition, we utilize sales representatives/representatives and sales distributors in China, Japan, and Taiwan.

International sales constituted over 95%90% of our revenue for each of fiscal 2014, 2013, 2012, and 2011.2012. Approximately 70% of our sales were made to companies located in China and TaiwanSouth Korea that provide design and manufacturing services for major notebook computer and mobile product applications OEMs. All of our sales were denominated in U.S. dollars. This information should be read in conjunction with Note 13note 12 to the financial statements contained elsewhere in this report.

Manufacturing

We employ a virtual manufacturing platform through third-party relationships. We currently utilize threetwo semiconductor wafer manufacturers to supply us with silicon wafers integrating our proprietary design specifications. The completed silicon wafers are forwarded to third-party package and test processors for further processing into die and packaged ASICs, as applicable, which are then utilized in our custom interface products or processed as our ASIC-based solution.

After processing and testing, the die and ASICs are consigned to various contract manufacturers for assembly or are shipped directly to our customers. During the assembly process, our die or ASIC is either combined with other components to complete the module for our custom human interface solution or the ASIC is keptmaintained as a standalone ASIC finished good. The finished assembled product is subsequently shipped directly to our customers or by our contract manufacturers directly to our customers for integration into their products.

We believe our virtual manufacturing strategy provides a scalable business model; enables us to concentrate on our core competencies of research and development, technological advances, and product design and engineering; and reduces our capital expenditures.investment. In addition, this strategy significantly reduces our working capital requirements for inventory because we do not incur most of our manufacturing costs until we have actually shipped our interface products to our customers and billedinvoiced those customers for those products.

Our third-party contract manufacturers and semiconductor fabricators are Asian-based organizations. We provide our contract manufacturers with six-month rolling forecasts of our production requirements. We do not, however, have long-term agreements with any of our contract manufacturers that guarantee production capacity, prices, lead times, or delivery schedules. Our reliance on those parties exposes us to vulnerability owing to our dependence on few sources of supply. We believe, however, that other sources of supply are available. In addition, we may establish relationships with other contract manufacturers in order to reduce our dependence on any one source of supply.

Periodically, we purchase inventory from our contract manufacturers when a customer delays its delivery schedule or cancels its order. In those circumstances in which our customer has cancelled its order and we purchase inventory from our contract manufacturers, we consider a write-down to reduce the carrying value of the inventory purchased to its net realizable value. We charge write-downs to reduce the carrying value of obsolete, slow moving, and non-usable inventory to its net realizable value and charge such write-downs to cost of revenue. We also record a liability and charge to cost of revenue for estimated losses on inventory we are obligated to purchase from our contract manufacturers when such losses become probable from customer delays or order cancellations.

Backlog

As of the end of fiscal 2013,2014, we had a backlog of orders of $96.0$132.3 million, an increase of $46.5$36.3 million compared with a backlog of orders as of the end of fiscal 20122013 of $49.5$96.0 million. The mix of products ordered by customers at the end of fiscal 20132014 had a slightly lower average selling price than those ordered at the end of fiscal 2012,2013; however, the quantity on backlog was significantlysubstantially higher due to improved demand for both mobile product applications and PC product applications as ofat the end of fiscal 20132014 compared with the end of fiscal 2012,2013, resulting in the increase inincreased backlog. Our backlog consists of product orders for which purchase orders have been received and which are scheduled for shipment in the subsequent quarter. Most orders are subject to rescheduling or cancellation with limited penalties. Because of the possibility of customer changes in product shipments, our backlog as of a particular date may not necessarily be indicative of net salesrevenue for any succeeding period.

Competition

Our touch-based semiconductor products are sold into markets for mobile applications products, PC product applications and other electronic devices. The markets for touchscreen products are characterized by rapidly changing technology and intense competition. Our principal competition in the sale of touchscreen products includes Atmel, Cypress, Elan Micro,Microelectronics, Focaltech, Goodix,Himax, Maxim, Melfas, MStar Semiconductor, STMicroelectronics, and various other companies involved in human interface solutions. Our principal competitors in the sale of notebook touch pads are Alps, ElectricCypress, and Elan Microelectronics. Our principal competitors in the sale of fingerprint authentication solutions for the mobile and PC product applications markets are Fingerprint Cards and IDEX. In certain cases, large OEMs may acquire a competing technology, develop alternative human interface solutions for their own products or provide alternative key components for use in designing human interface solutions.

We believe our solutions-based systems and engineering experience, coupled with our technologies, offer benefits in terms of size, power consumption, durability, ease of use, cost effectiveness, and reliability when compared to our competitors and other technologies. While our markets continue to evolve, we believe we are well positioned to compete aggressively for this business based on our proven track record, our technological expertise, our design innovation, our technology roadmap, our marquee global customer base, our technology roadmap, and our reputation for design innovation. Our competitive position could be adversely affected if one or more of our current OEMs reduce their orders or if we are unable to develop new customers for our human interface solutions.

Employees

As of the end of fiscal 2013,2014, we employed a total of 8521,230 persons, including 105138 in operations, finance, and administration; 174247 in sales and marketing; and 573845 in research and development. Of these employees, 487615 were located in North America, 360609 in Asia/Pacific, and fivesix in Europe. We consider our relationship with our employees to be good, and none of our employees are represented by a union in collective bargaining with us.

Competition for qualified personnel in our industry is extremely intense, particularly for engineering and other technical personnel. Our success depends on our continued ability to attract, hire, and retain qualified personnel.

Acquisition Activity

On November 7, 2013, we acquired Validity Sensors, Inc., or Validity, a leading provider of capacitive-based biometric fingerprint authentication solutions for smartphone and tablet applications, for approximately $127.8 million in cash and common stock. This acquisition is designed to bring together substantial synergies through the combination of the Validity technologies and workforce and our financial stability, scale, infrastructure, customer relationships, and technology delivery performance record. With this acquisition, our goal is to gain access to the fast-growing biometrics market, significantly expanding our market opportunity and underscoring our commitment to making smart devices easier to use.

On June 10, 2014, we entered into a stock purchase agreement to acquire Renesas SP Drivers, Inc., or RSP, a leading provider of small and medium-sized display driver ICs for smartphones and tablets, for approximately ¥48.5 billion (or approximately US$475 million based on a reference conversion rate of JPY102 to US$1). The purchase price is based on cash and other adjustments and is subject to customary adjustments for net working capital, net debt, target inventory and third party expenses. The transaction was approved by our company’s board of directors, RSP’s board of directors, and the board of directors of the companies that currently own RSP. The acquisition of RSP is intended to accelerate our product roadmap for high-performance, low-cost display integration products, strengthen our relationships with key customers, and create opportunities to drive increased revenue and research and development activity. Subject to certain financing conditions and other customary closing conditions, the transaction is expected to close in our second quarter of fiscal 2015.

Executive Officers of the Registrant

The following table sets forth certain information regarding our executive officers as of August 14, 2013:15, 2014:

Richard A. Bergmanhas been President and Chief Executive Officer of our company since September 2011. Prior to joining our company, Mr. Bergman was Senior Vice President and General Manager of Advanced Micro Device’sDevices (“AMD”) Product Group from May 2009 to September 2011. From October 2006 to May 2009, Mr. Bergman served as Senior Vice President and General Manager of AMD’s Graphics Product Group. Mr. Bergman’s career at AMD began in October 2006 when AMD acquired ATI Technologies (“ATI”), where he served as Senior Vice President and General Manager of the PC Group. Prior to ATI, Mr. Bergman served as Chief Operating Officer at S3 Graphics, a division of SonicBlue Inc. Mr. Bergman has held senior level management positions in the technology field since his early roles at Texas Instruments, Inc. and IBM. Mr. Bergman holds a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineeringElectrical Engineering from the University of Michigan and a Master’s Degreedegree in Business Administration from the University of Colorado.

Kathleen A. Bayless has been Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, Secretary, and Treasurer of our company since September 2009. Ms. Bayless served as the Senior Vice President – Finance of our company from March 2009 to September 2009.2009 and as Secretary of our company from September 2009 to November 2013. Ms. Bayless spent 13 years at Komag, a leading supplier of thin-film disks to the disk drive industry, where she served most recently as Executive Vice President, Secretary, and Chief Financial Officer beginning in September 2002. Prior to joining Komag, Ms. Bayless held the position of Senior Audit Manager at the public accounting firm of Ernst & Young. Ms. Bayless holds a Bachelor of Science degree from California State University Fresno and is a certified public accountant.

Kevin D. Barberhas been Senior Vice President and General Manager of Smart Display Division of our company since January 2011. Prior to joining our company, Mr. Barber was Chief Executive Officer of ACCO Semiconductor since 2008. From 2007 to 2008, Mr. Barber served as a principal consultant at PRTM focused on the electronics industry. Mr. Barber was Senior Vice President, General Manager of the Mobile Solutions business at Skyworks Solutions from 2003 to 2006 where he was responsible for delivering innovative RF products to the mobile industry. Mr. Barber was Senior Vice President of Operations at Skyworks Solutions from 2002 to 2003 and Conexant Systems from 2001 to 2002. Previously, Mr. Barber held various senior operations positions at Conexant Systems and Rockwell Semiconductor. Mr. Barber holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from San Diego State University and Masters ofa Master’s degree in Business Administration from Pepperdine University.

Scott Deutschhas been Senior Vice President of World Wide Sales of our company since January 2013. Prior to joining our company, Mr. Deutsch served as Vice President of Worldwide Sales for AuthenTec from 2010 to 2012. Mr. Deutsch held positions of Vice President of World Wide Sales at Alereon from 2008 to 2009 and Vice President of Sales and Marketing for SanDisk’s OEM Consumer Products Division from 2004 to 2008. Earlier in his career, Mr. Deutsch was the Director of Sales for the Western U.S. with MMC Networks. Before joining MMC Networks, Mr. Deutsch spent eight years at Cypress Semiconductor in various sales and management roles. Mr. Deutsch holds a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineeringElectrical Engineering from Fresno State University.

Ritu Favre has been the Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Biometrics Product Division of our company since June 2014. Prior to joining our company, Ms. Favre held various senior level positions at Freescale Semiconductor from 2003 to 2014, including Senior Vice President and General Manager of the RF Division from 2012 through 2014, and Vice President and Division General Manager of the RF Division from 2010 to 2012. Ms. Favre ran the North America/Japan Automotive Business in the Analog and Mixed Signal Products Division inside Motorola Semiconductor from 2002 to 2003 and the Compound Semiconductor business in the Motorola Wireless Infrastructure Division from 1999 to 2002. Ms. Favre holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering, as well as a Master’s of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Arizona State University.

John McFarland has been Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of our company since November 2013. Prior to joining our company, Mr. McFarland served for nine years as the Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of MagnaChip Semiconductor. Mr. McFarland spent his early career at law firms in Palo Alto, California, and Seoul, Korea. Mr. McFarland holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Asian Studies, conferred with highest distinction from the University of Michigan, and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law.

Bret C. Sewell has been Senior Vice President of CorporateMarketing and Business Development of our company since May 2012. Prior to joining our company, Mr. Sewell served as Executive Vice President at Coulomb Technologies from 2010 to 2011, and served as Chief Executive Officer of Venturi Wireless and Kiwi Networks from from 2005 to 2007, and Kiwi Networks from 2003 to 2004.2004, respectively. After SnapTrack’s acquisition by Qualcomm, he served as presidentPresident of Qualcomm’s SnapTrack subsidiary and Senior Vice President in Qualcomm’s semiconductor division. Earlier in his career, Mr. Sewell served as general manager for the Asia Pacific divisions of Octel Communications and Aspect Telecommunications. Mr. Sewell holds a Master ofMaster’s degree in Business Administration from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, a MasterMaster’s of Arts degree in International Studies from the University of Pennsylvania, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biological Anthropology from Harvard University.

Stanley A. Swearingenhas been Senior Vice President of Strategic Technology of our company since July 2010. Mr. Swearingen was also responsible for corporate development from July 2010 through May 2012. Prior to joining our company, Mr. Swearingen served as a member of the Office of the President at MiniCircuits from March 2009 to October 2009 where he was responsible for strategy and corporate development. From August 2004 to November 2008, Mr. Swearingen was the Vice President and General Manager of the Linear Product business unit at Skyworks Solutions, Inc., which designs, manufactures, sells, and supports a diverse portfolio of RF products and licensing of intellectual property. Mr. Swearingen was Vice President and General Manager of Agere Systems Computing Connectivity division, where he was responsible for the design and manufacturing of wired and wireless connectivity solutions from November 2000 to August 2004. From July 1999 to November 2000, Mr. Swearingen served as Chief Executive Officer of Quantex Microsystems, a direct provider of personal computers, servers, and Internet infrastructure products. Mr. Swearingen has also held senior management positions at National Semiconductor, Cyrix, and Digital Equipment Corp.

Alex Wong has been Senior Vice President of World Wide Operations of our company since July 2010. Mr. Wong served as Vice President of World Wide Operations of our company from September 2006 to July 2010. From 2003 to 2006, Mr. Wong served our company as Managing Director of Hong Kong and Director of Operations. Prior to joining our company, Mr. Wong held various management positions with National Semiconductor Corporation, including General Manager for National Joint Ventures in China and Hong Kong and Director of Corporate Business Development. Mr. Wong holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from California State University at Northridge and a MastersMaster’s degree in Business Administration from the University of East Asia, Macau.

There are no arrangements, understandings, or family relationships pursuant to which our executive officers were selected. There are no related party transactions between us and our executive officers. We have entered into indemnification agreements with our officers and directors.

ITEM 1A.

RISK FACTORS

You should carefully consider the following factors, together with all the other information included in this report, in evaluating our company and our business.

We currently depend on our human interface solutions for the mobile product applications market including tablets, and the PC product applications market for substantially all of our revenue, and any downturn in sales of these products would adversely affect our business, revenue, operating results, and financial position.condition.

We currently depend on our human interface solutions for the mobile product applications market and the PC product applications market for substantially all of our revenue. Any downturn in sales of these products would adversely affect our business, revenue, operating results, and financial position. Weakness in the PC product applications market in fiscal 2013 adversely affected our business although this weakness was overcome by strength in the mobile product applications market. Any weakness in the markets for mobile product applications or PC product applications, particularly in the high end portions of such markets, could adversely affect our business, revenues, operating results, and financial condition. Net revenue for our human interface solutions for our mobile product applications and PC product applications accounted for approximately 64% and 36%, respectively, of our net revenue for fiscal 2013, 49% and 51%, respectively, of our net revenue for fiscal 2012, and 52% and 48%, respectively, of our net revenue for fiscal 2011.

The lack of market acceptance of our product solutions compared with competitive products in the mobile smartphone and feature phone market, the tablet market, or the PC product applications markets, or our inability to be a leading supplier of human interface solutions for mobile smartphone, feature phone, tablet products, and PC products would have a negative effect on our business, operating results, and financial position. Similarly, a softening of demand in the mobile smartphone and feature phone market, the tablet market, or the notebook portion of the PC product applications market, a reduced level of our participation in the notebook portion of the PC product applications market, or a slowdown of growth in the notebook portion of the PC product applications market because of consumer preferences, the emergence of ultrabooksapplications not including our product solutions, or other factors would cause our business, operating results, and financial position to suffer.

Net revenue from our human interface solutions for mobile product applications has been volatile in the past, and may not increase or be less volatile in the future.

Net revenue from our human interface solutions for mobile product applications, particularly mobile smartphones and feature phones, has been volatile in the past. Our net revenue from our human interface solutions for mobile product applications may not increase or be less volatile in the future. Net revenue from our human interface solutions for mobile product applications was $689.9 million for fiscal 2014, $424.1 million infor fiscal 2013, and $270.1 million infor fiscal 2012, and $309.1 million in fiscal 2011.2012. Our interface business for mobile product applications faces many uncertainties, including our success in enhancing our market shareposition in evolving markets dominated by a limited number of OEMs, and market acceptance of our product solutions over competitive product solutions. Our inability to address these uncertainties successfully and to be a leading supplier of human interfaces for mobile product applications would negatively affect our business.

We are exposed to industry downturns and cyclicality in our target markets that may result in fluctuations in our operating results.

The PC and electronics industries have transitioned aexperienced significant portioneconomic downturns at various times. These downturns are characterized by diminished product demand, accelerated erosion of average selling prices, and production overcapacity. In addition, the PC and electronics industries are cyclical in nature. We seek to reduce our product solutionsexposure to industry downturns and cyclicality by providing design and production services for the mobile smartphone and feature phone marketleading companies in fiscal 2012 from full module solutions to chiprapidly expanding industry segments. We may, however, experience substantial period-to-period fluctuations in future operating results because of general industry conditions or tail solutions, which has resulted in lower revenue per unit.

We have transitioned a significant portion of our product solutions for the mobile smartphone and feature phone market from full module solutions to chip or tail solutions, which has resulted in lower revenue per unit. Historically, we provided a significant portion of our mobile smartphone and feature phone customers with a complete touchscreen module, including our proprietary controller ASIC, associated electronics, firmware, software, and systems engineering and design as well as athird-party capacitive sensor and module assembly. As a result of industry factors, many of our customers are moving to either a chip solution in which we offer our proprietary controller ASIC, firmware, software, and systems engineering and design with the customer utilizing third-parties for the associated electronics, sensor, and module assembly or a tail solution in which we offer our proprietary controller ASIC, associated electronics, firmware, software, and systems engineering and design with the customer utilizing third-parties for the sensor and module assembly. During fiscal 2012, our full module solutions for the mobile smartphone and feature phone market declined from approximately 50% of quarterly mobile product revenueevents occurring in the prior year to approximately 1% of quarterly mobile product revenue. During fiscal 2013, our full module solutions for the mobile smartphone and feature phone market declined to less than 1% of quarterly mobile product revenue. Our chip solutions for mobile smartphones and feature phones typically generate lower revenue per unit than our full module solutions.

Our historical financial performance is based on our human interface solutions for mobile product applications and net revenue generated from our human interface solutions for the notebook computer market, and may not be indicative of our future performance.

Our historical financial performance is based on our human interface solutions for mobile product applications, particularly mobile smartphones and feature phones, and tablets, as well as net revenue generated from our human interface solutions for the notebook computer market. As recently as fiscal 2008, we derived a large majority of our net revenue from the sale of our TouchPad products for notebook computers. In fiscal 2011, net revenue from our human interface solutions for mobile product applications exceeded net revenue from our PC product solutions for the first time in our history. In fiscal 2012, net revenue from our human interface solutions for mobile product applications decreased and was less than our net revenue from our PC product applications. In fiscal 2013, net revenue from our human interface touchscreen solutions for mobile product applications again exceeded net revenue from our PC product solutions. In the future, we expect a larger concentration of revenue from our human interface solutions for mobile smartphones and feature phones, tablets and large touchscreen applications than from our human interface touchpad solutions for notebook computers. However, we have a more limited operating history in the markets for mobile product applications, including mobile smartphones and feature phones, and limited operating history for other products, such as tablets and ultrabooks. In addition, in fiscal 2012 we transitioned our product solutions for the mobile smartphone and feature phone market from full module solutions to chip or tail solutions; this trend continued in fiscal 2013 and we anticipate that chip solutions will be the primary solution during fiscal 2014.

We cannot assure you that our human interface business for new markets will be successful or that we will be able to continue to generate significant revenue from these markets.

Our product solutions may not be successful in new markets despite the fact that these product solutions are capable of enabling people to interact more easily and intuitively with a wide variety of mobile computing, communication, entertainment, and electronic devices in addition to notebook computers and mobile smartphones and feature phones. We are currently targeting the rapidly developing tablet market and the ultrabook portion of the PC product applications market. Our success in these markets will depend primarily on the success in these markets of the products of our OEM customers who utilize our solutions for their products. As a result, we do not know whether our product solutions for the tablet market and the ultrabook portion of the PC product applications market will result in a substantial portion of our revenue on a consistent basis. Our inability to become a leading supplier in the tablet market and the ultrabook portion of the PC product applications market would result in a slower growth rate than we currently anticipate. The failure to succeed in the tablet market and the ultrabook portion of the PC product applications market would result in no return on the substantial investments we have made to date and plan to make in the future to penetrate such markets.smartphones.

Various target markets for our interface solutions, such as tablets and large touchscreen applications including automotive touchscreens, may develop slower than anticipated or could utilize competing technologies. The markets for certain of these products depend in part upon the continued development and deployment of wireless and other technologies, which may or may not address the needs of the users of these products.

Our ability to generate significant revenue from new markets will depend on various factors, including the following:

Many manufacturers of these products have well-established relationships with competitive suppliers. Our ongoing success in these markets will require us to offer better performance alternatives to other solutions at competitive costs. The failure of any of these target markets to develop as we expect, or our failure to serve these markets to a significant extent, will impede our sales growth and could result in substantially reduced earnings. We cannot predict the size or growth rate of these markets or the market share we will achieve or maintain in these markets in the future.

Market acceptance ofIf we fail to maintain and build relationships with our customers, or our customers’ existing or new products thatwhich utilize our human interface solution may decline or maysolutions do not develop and, as a result,gain widespread market acceptance, our revenue may declinestagnate or may not increase.decline.

We do not sell any products to end users. Instead,users and we design various human interface solutions that our OEM customers incorporate into their products. As a result, our success depends almost entirely upon the widespread market acceptance of our OEM customers’ products. We do not control or influence the manufacture, promotion, distribution, or pricing of the products that incorporate our human interface solutions. Instead, we design various human interface solutions that our OEM customers incorporate into their products and depend on oursuch OEM customers to successfully manufacture and distribute products incorporating our human interface solutions and to generate consumer demand through marketing and promotional activities. As a result of this, our success depends almost entirely upon the widespread market acceptance of our OEM customers’ products that incorporate our human interface solutions. Even if our technologies successfully meet our customers’ price and performance goals, our sales would decline or fail to develop if our customers do not achieve commercial success in selling their products that incorporate our human interface solutions.solutions

Competitive advances by OEMs in the mobile product applications or PC product applications markets that do not utilizeWe must maintain our human interface solutions broadly in their product offerings at the expense of our OEM customers could result in lost sales opportunities. Within the mobile product application markets, the mobile smartphone market has become an important factor in our operating results. Any failure to expand our presence in this market, a significant slowdown in the use of our human interface solutions by our customers in this market, the reduced demand for our customers’ products in this market, or a slowdown of growth in this market would adversely affect our revenue.

If we fail to maintain and build relationships with our existing customers, and do not continue to satisfy our customers, we may lose future sales and our revenue may stagnate or decline.

Because our success depends on the widespread market acceptance of our OEM customers’ products, we must continue to maintain our relationshipsparticularly with the leading notebook computer OEMs, and expand our relationships with mobile smartphone and feature phone and tablet OEMs. Our customers do not provide us with firm, long-term volume purchase commitments, opting instead, to issue purchase orders that they can cancel, reduce, or delay at any time. In addition, we must identify areas of significant growth potential in other markets, establish relationships with OEMs in those markets, and assist those OEMs in developing products that use our interface product solutions. Our failure to identify potential growth opportunities, particularly in the mobile smartphone and feature phone market, the tablet market, and the ultrabook portion of the PC product applications market, or establish and maintain relationships with OEMs in those markets, would prevent our business from growing in those markets.

Our abilityorder to meet the expectations of our customers, requires us towe must provide innovative human interface solutions for customers on a timely and cost-effective basis andbasis. This requires us to maintain customer satisfaction with our human interface solutions. We must match our design and production capacity with customer demand, maintain satisfactory delivery schedules, and meet performance goals. If we are unable to achieve these goals for any reason, our customers could reduce their purchases from us and our sales wouldmay decline or fail to develop.develop, which would result in decreasing revenue.

OurIn addition to maintaining and expanding our customer relationships, we must also can be affected by factors affectingidentify areas of significant growth potential in other markets, establish relationships with OEMs in those markets, and assist those OEMs in developing products that incorporate our customers that are unrelatedhuman interface product solutions. Our failure to identify potential growth opportunities, particularly in the smartphone and the tablet market, the PC product applications market, or establish and maintain relationships with OEMs in those markets, would prevent our performance. These factors can include a myriadbusiness from growing in those markets.

A significant portion of situations, including business reversals of customers, determinations by customers to change their product mix or abandon business segments, or mergers, consolidations, or acquisitions involving our customers.

The loss of revenuesales comes from one or more large customers, the loss of which could harm our business, financial condition, and operating results.

Historically, we have relied on a limited number of customers for a substantial portion of our total revenue. If we lost key customers, or if key customers reduced or stopped placing orders for our high-volume products, our financial results could be adversely affected. In fiscal 2014 and 2013, one customer,sales to Samsung Display Co. and its affiliates accounted for approximately 28% and 14%, respectively, of our net revenue. In fiscal 2012, one customer,sales to TPK accounted for approximately 12% of our net revenue. In fiscal 2011, noSignificant reductions in sales to our largest customer, accountedthe loss of other major customers, or a general decrease in demand for more than 10%our products within a short period of time could adversely affect our net revenue. Additionally, receivables from Samsung consisted of 27% of accounts receivable at the end of fiscal 2013revenue, financial condition and receivables from Compal and Wistron consisted of 14% and 12% of accounts receivable, respectively, at the end of fiscal 2012. There were no other customers who represented more than 10% of our accounts receivable at the end of fiscal 2013 or 2012.

Compal, Inventec, Kuroda, Techmosa, Tomen, TPK, and Wistron are some of theWe sell to contract manufacturers that serve our OEM customers. Any material delay, cancellation, or reduction of orders from any one or more of these contract manufacturers or the OEMs they serve could harm our business, financial condition, and operating results. The adverse effect would be more substantial if our other customers do not increase their orders or if we are unsuccessful in generating orders for human interface solutions from new customers. Many of these contract manufacturers sell to the same OEMs, and therefore our concentration with certain OEMs may be higher than with any individual contract manufacturer. Concentration in our customer base may make fluctuations in revenue and earnings more severe and make business planning more difficult.

We rely on others for our production and any interruptions of these arrangements could disrupt our ability to fill our customers’ orders.

We utilize contract manufacturers for all of our production requirements. The majority of our manufacturing is conducted in China, Taiwan, and Thailand by contract manufacturers that also perform services for numerous other companies. We do not have a guaranteed level of production capacity with any of our contract manufacturers. Qualifying new contract manufacturers, and specifically semiconductor foundries, is time consuming and might result in unforeseen manufacturing and operations problems. The loss of our relationships with our contract manufacturers or assemblers or their inability to conduct their manufacturing and assembly services for us as anticipated in terms of capacity, cost, quality, and timeliness could adversely affect our ability to fill customer orders in accordance with required delivery, quality, and performance requirements. If this were to occur, the resulting decline in revenue would harm our business.

We depend on third parties to maintain satisfactory manufacturing yields and delivery schedules, and their inability to do so could increase our costs, disrupt our supply chain, and result in our inability to deliver our products, which would adversely affect our operating results.

We depend on our contract manufacturers and semiconductor fabricators to maintain high levels of productivity and satisfactory delivery schedules at manufacturing and assembly facilities located primarily in China, Taiwan, and Thailand. We provide our contract manufacturers with six-month rolling forecasts of our production requirements. We do not, however, have long-term agreements with any of our contract manufacturers that guarantee production capacity, prices, lead times, or delivery schedules. On occasion, customers require rapid increases in production, which can strain our resources and reduce our margins. Although we have been able to obtain increased production capacity from our third-party contract manufacturers in the past, there is no guarantee that our contract manufacturers will be able to increase production capacity to meet customer demands in the future. Our contract manufacturers also serve other customers, a number of which have greater production requirements than we do. As a result, our contract manufacturers could determine to prioritize production capacity for other customers or reduce or eliminate deliveries to us on short notice. At times, we have experienced lower than anticipatedQualifying new contract manufacturers, and specifically semiconductor foundries, is time consuming and might result in unforeseen manufacturing yields and lengthening of delivery schedules. Lower than expected manufacturing yields could increase our costs or disrupt our supplies.operations problems. We may also encounter lower manufacturing yields and longer delivery schedules in commencing volume production of new products that we introduce. Anyintroduce, which could increase our costs or disrupt our supplies. The loss of these problems could result inrelationships with our contract manufacturers or assemblers, or their inability to deliverconduct their manufacturing and assembly services for us as anticipated in terms of capacity, cost, quality, and timeliness could adversely affect our product solutionsability to fill customer orders in a timely manneraccordance with required delivery, quality, and performance requirements, and adversely affect our operating results.

Shortages of components and materials may delay or reduce our sales and increase our costs, thereby harming our operating results.

The inability to obtain sufficient quantities of components and other materials necessary for the production of our products could result in reduced or delayed sales or lost orders. Any delay in or loss of sales could adversely impact our operating results. Many of the materials used in the production of our products are available only from a limited number of foreign suppliers, particularly suppliers located in Asia. In most cases, neither we nor our contract manufacturers have long-term supply contracts with these suppliers. As a result, we are subject to economic instability in these Asian countries as well as to increased costs, supply interruptions, and difficulties in obtaining materials. Our customers also may encounter difficulties or increased costs in obtaining the materials necessary to produce their products into which our product solutions are incorporated.

From time to time, materials and components used in our product solutions or in other aspects of our customers’ products have been subject to allocation because of shortages of these materials and components. Future shortages of materials and components, including potential supply constraints of silicon, could cause delayed shipments and customer dissatisfaction, andwhich may result in lower revenue.

We are subject to lengthy development periods and product acceptance cycles, which can result in development and engineering costs without any future revenue.

We provide human interface solutions that are incorporated by OEMs into the products they sell. OEMs make the determination during their product development programs whether to incorporate our human interface solutions or pursue other alternatives. This process requires us to make significant investments of time and resources in the design of human interface solutions well before our customers introduce their products incorporating these interfaces, and before we can be sure that we will generate any significant sales to our customers or even recover our investment. During a customer’s entire product development process, we face the risk that our interfaces will fail to meet our customer’s technical, performance, or cost requirements, or that our products will be replaced by competitive products or alternative technological solutions. Even if we complete our design process in a manner satisfactory to our customer, the customer may delay or terminate its product development efforts. The occurrence of any of these events could cause sales to not materialize, to be deferred, or to be cancelled, which would adversely affect our operating results.

We do not have long-term purchase commitments from our customers, and their ability to cancel, reduce, or delay orders could reduce our revenue and increase our costs.

Our customers do not provide us with firm, long-term volume purchase commitments, but instead issue purchase orders. As a result, customers can cancel purchase orders or reduce or delay orders at any time. The cancellation, delay, or reduction of customer purchase orders could result in reduced revenue, excess inventory, and unabsorbed overhead. We have an established presence in the notebook computer market and have only recently established a presence in the mobile product applications markets. Our success in the mobile product application markets, including those for mobile smartphones and feature phones, the tablet market, the PC product application market, particularly the ultrabook portion of the PC product applications market, require us to establish the value added by our products to OEMs, including those that have traditionally used other solutions. All of the markets we serve are subject to severe competitive pressures, rapid technological change, and product obsolescence, which increase our inventory and overhead risks, resulting in increased costs.

We face intense competition that could result in our losing or failing to gain market share and suffering reduced revenue.

We serve intensely competitive markets that are characterized by price erosion, rapid technological change, and competition from major domestic and international companies. This intense competition could result in pricing pressures, lower sales, reduced margins, and lower market share. Depressed economic conditions, a slowdown in the PC product applications market, the emergence of new products such as tablet or slate devices and ultrabooks not including our product solutions, rapid changes in the mobile smartphone and feature phone market and competitive pressures may result in lower demand for our product solutions, pricing pressures, and reduced unit margins.

Any movement away from high-quality, custom designed, feature-rich human interface solutions to lower priced alternatives would adversely affect our business. Some of our competitors, particularly in the markets for mobile product applications and other electronic devices, have greater market recognition, larger customer bases, and substantially greater financial, technical, marketing, distribution, and other resources than we possess and that afford them greater competitive advantages. As a result, they may be able to devote greater resources to the promotion and sale of products, to negotiate lower prices for raw materials and components, to deliver competitive products at lower prices, and to introduce new product solutions and respond to customer requirements more quickly than we can. Our competitive position could suffer if one or more of our customers determine not to utilize our custom engineered, total solutions approach and instead, decide to design and manufacture their own interfaces, to contract with our competitors, or to use alternative technologies.

Our ability to compete successfully depends on a number of factors, both within and outside our control. These factors include the following:

If we do not keep pace with technological innovations, our products may not beremain competitive and our revenue and operating results may suffer.

We operate in rapidly changing highly competitive markets. Technological advances, the introduction of new products and new design techniques could adversely affect our business unless we are able to adapt to the changing conditions. Technological advances could render our solutions less competitive or obsolete, and we may not be able to respond effectively to the technological requirements of evolving markets. As a result,Therefore, we will be required to expend substantial funds for and commit significant resources to:

Our business could be harmed if we are unable to develop and utilize new technologies that address the needs of our customers, or our competitors or customers do so more effectively than we do.

Our efforts to develop new technologies may not result in commercial success, which could cause a decline in our revenue and could harm our business.solutions.

Our research and development efforts with respect to new technologies may not result in customer or market acceptance. Some or all of those technologies may not successfully make the transition from the research and development stage to cost-effective production as a result of technology problems, competitive cost issues, yield problems, and other factors. Even whenif we successfully complete a research and development effort with respect to a particular technology, our customers may decide not to introduce or may terminate products utilizing the technology for a variety of reasons, including the following:

The nature of our

Our business requires uscould be harmed if we are unable to make continuing investments for new technologies. Significant expenses relating to one or moredevelop and utilize new technologies that ultimately proveaddress the needs of our customers, or our competitors or customers develop and utilize new technologies more effectively or more quickly than we can. Any investments made to be unsuccessful for any reasonenhance or develop new technologies that are not successful could have a materialan adverse effect on us. In addition, any investments or acquisitions made to enhance our technologies may prove to be unsuccessful. If our efforts are unsuccessful, our business could be harmed.

We may not be able to enhance our existing product solutions and develop new product solutions in a timely manner.

Our future operating results will depend to a significant extent on our ability to continue to provide new human interface solutions that compare favorably with alternative solutions on the basis of time to introduction, cost, performance, and end user preferences. Our success in maintaining existing and attracting new customers, and developing new business depends on various factors, including the following:

Our inability to enhance our existing product solutions and develop new product solutions on a timely basis could harm our operating results and impede our growth.

A technologically new human interface solution that achieves significant market share could harmAdditionally, our business.

Our human interface solutions are designed to integrate touch, handwriting, and vision capabilities. New computing and communications devices could be developed that call for a different interface solution. Existing devices could also could be modified to allow for a different interface solution. Our business could be harmed if our products become noncompetitive as a result of a technological breakthrough that allows a new interface solution to displace our solutions and achieve significant market acceptance.

International sales and manufacturing risks could adversely affect our operating results.

Our manufacturing and assembly operations are primarily conducted in China, Taiwan, and Thailand by contract manufacturers and semiconductor fabricators. We have sales and logistics operations in Hong Kong, and sales and engineering design support operations in China, Japan, Korea, Switzerland, and Taiwan. These international operations expose us to various economic, political, and other risks that could adversely affect our operations and operating results, including the following:

TheIf any of these risks associated with international operations materialize, our operations could be disrupted, which would negatively affect our operating results.

Our business may suffer if international trade is hindered, disrupted, or economically disadvantaged.

Political and economic conditions abroad may adversely affect the foreign production and sale of our products. Protectionist trade legislation in either the United States or foreign countries, such as a change in the current tariff structures, export or import compliance laws, or other trade policies, could adversely affect our ability to sell human interface solutions in foreign markets and to obtain materials or equipment from foreign suppliers.

Changes in policies by the U.S. or foreign governments resulting in, among other things, higher taxation, currency conversion limitations, restrictions on the transfer of funds, or the expropriation of private enterprises also could have a material adverse effect on us. Any actions by countries in which we conduct business to reverse policies that encourage foreign investment or foreign trade also could adversely affect our operating results. In addition, U.S. trade policies, such as “most favored nation” status and trade preferences for certain Asian nations, could affect the attractiveness of our services to our U.S. customers and adversely impact our operating results.

Our operating results could be adversely affected by fluctuations in the value of the U.S. dollar against foreign currencies.

We transact business predominantly in U.S. dollars, and billwe invoice and collect our sales in U.S. dollars. A weakening of the U.S. dollar could cause our overseas vendors to require renegotiation of either the prices or currency we pay for their goods and services. In the future, customers may negotiate pricing and make payments in non-U.S. currencies. For fiscal 2013,2014, approximately 8% of our costs were denominated in non-U.S. currencies, including Canadian dollars, Hong Kong dollars, British pounds, Taiwan dollars, Japanese yen, Korean won, Chinese yuan, and Swiss francs.

If our overseas vendors or customers require us to transact business in non-U.S. currencies, fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates could affect our cost of goods, operating expenses, and operating margins and could result in exchange losses. In addition, currency devaluation cancould result in a loss to us if we hold deposits of that currency. Hedging foreign currencies can be difficult, especially if the currency is not freely traded. We cannot predict the impact of future exchange rate fluctuations on our operating results. We currently do not hedge any foreign currencies.

A majority of our semiconductor fabricators and contract manufacturers are located in China, Taiwan, and Thailand, and most of our customers are located in Asia, increasing the risk that a natural disaster, labor strike, war, or political unrest in those countries or that region would disrupt our operations.

A majority of our semiconductor fabricators and contract manufacturers and are located in China, Taiwan, and Thailand, and most of our customers are located in Asia. Events outside of our control, such as earthquakes, fires, floods, or other natural disasters, or political unrest, war, labor strikes, or work stoppages in these countries, would disrupt our operations, which would impact our business. The risk of earthquakes and tsunamis in the Pacific Rim, including Japan (such as the March 2011 earthquake and tsunamis) and Taiwan is significant because of the proximity to major earthquake fault lines. An earthquake or tsunami could cause significant delays in shipments of our product solutions until we are able to shift our outsourced operations. Further, a variety of political factors, such as political unrest in Thailand or political tension between North Korea and South Korea, could disrupt our operations and our ability to meet our customers’ production schedules. If any of these events occur, we may not be able to obtain alternative capacity. Failure to secure alternative capacity could cause a delay in the shipment of our product solutions, which would cause our revenue to fluctuate or decline.

Variability of customer requirements resulting in cancellations, reductions, or delays may adversely affect our operating results.

We must provide increasingly rapid product turnaround and respond to ever-shorter lead times. A variety of conditions, both specific to individual customers and generally affecting the demand for OEMs’ products, may cause customers to cancel, reduce, or delay orders. Cancellations, reductions, or delays by a significant customer or by a group of customers may adversely affect our revenue and could require us to repurchase inventory from our contract manufacturers, which could adversely affect our costs. On occasion, customers require rapid increases in production, which can strain our resources and reduce our margins. Although we have been able to obtain increased production capacity from our third-party manufacturers, we may be unable to do so at any given time to meet our customers’ demands if their demands exceed anticipated levels.

Our operating results may experience significant fluctuations that could result in a decline in the price of our stock.

In addition to the variability resulting from the short-term nature of our customers’ commitments, other factors contribute to significant periodic and seasonal quarterly fluctuations in our operating results. These factors include the following:

Accordingly, period-to-period comparisons are not an indicator of our future performance. Negative or unanticipated fluctuations in our operating results may result in a decline in the price of our stock.

If we fail to manage our growth effectively, our infrastructure, management, and resources could be strained, our ability to effectively manage our business could be diminished, and our operating results could suffer.

The failure to manage our planned growth effectively could strain our resources, which would impede our ability to increase revenue. We have increased the number of our human interface solutions and plan to further expand further the number and diversity of our solutions and their use in the future. Our ability to manage our planned diversification and growth effectively will require us to:

In connection with the expansion and diversification of our product and customer base, we are increasing our personnel and making other expenditures to meet demand for our expanding product offerings, including offerings in the mobile product applications market and the notebook computer market. Increases in the demand for our products will require further expansion of our traditional notebook computer business as well as an increasing presence in the mobile product applications markets, including mobile smartphones and feature phones, the tablet market, and the ultrabook portion of the PC product applications market. To date, our sales of human interface solutions for mobile smartphones and feature phones have varied significantly from quarter to quarter. Risks are further increased because customers do not commit to firm production schedules for more than a short time in advance. Any increase in expenses or investments in infrastructure and facilities in anticipation of future orders that do not materialize would adversely affect our profitability. Our customers also may require rapid increases in design and production services that place an excessive short-term burden on our resources and the resources of our contract manufacturers. An inability to quickly expand our development, design or production capacity or an inability of our third-party manufacturers.manufacturers to quickly expand development, design or production capacity to meet this customer demand could result in a decrease to our revenue or operating results. If we cannot manage our growth effectively, our business and operating results could suffer.

We depend on key personnel who would be difficult to replace, and our business will likely be harmed if we lose their services or cannot hire additional qualified personnel.

Our success depends substantially on the efforts and abilities of our senior management and other key personnel. The competition for qualified management and key personnel, especially engineers, is intense. Although we maintain noncompetition and nondisclosure covenants with most of our key personnel, and our key executives have change of control severance agreements, we do not have employment agreements with any of them. The loss of services of one or more of our key employees or the inability to hire, train, and retain key personnel, especially engineers and technical support personnel, and capable sales and customer-support employees outside the United States, could delay the development and sale of our products, disrupt our business, and interfere with our ability to execute our business plan.

In the future, if we are unable to obtain stockholder approval of additional shares for our share-based compensation award programs we could be at a competitive disadvantage in the marketplace for qualified personnel or may be required to increase the cash element of our compensation program.

Our compensation program, which includes cash and share-based compensation award components, has been instrumental in attracting, hiring, motivating, and retaining qualified personnel. As a Northern California-based high-growth technology company, competitionCompetition for qualified personnel in our industry is extremely intense, particularly for engineering and other technical personnel. Our success depends on our continued ability to attract, hire, motivate, and retain qualified personnel and our share-based compensation award programs provide us with a competitive compensatory tool for this purpose. The continued use of our share-based compensation program is necessary for us to compete for engineering and other technical personnel and professional talent without significantly increasing cash compensation costs. In the future, if we are unable to obtain stockholder approval of additional shares for our share-based compensation award programs we could be at a competitive disadvantage in the marketplace for qualified personnel or may be required to increase the cash elements of our compensation program.

Our inabilityprogram to protect our intellectual property could impair our competitive advantage, reduce our revenue, and increase our costs.account for this disadvantage.

Our success and ability to compete depend in partsuccessfully and continue growing as a company depends on our ability to maintainadequately protect our proprietary technology and confidential information.

We protect our proprietary technology and confidential information through the proprietary aspectsuse of our technologies and products. We rely on a combination of patents, copyrights, trade secrets, trademarks, confidentiality agreements and other contractual provisions to protect our intellectual property, but these measures may provide only limited protection. We license from third parties certain technology used inprovisions. The process of seeking patent protection is lengthy and for our products. These third-party licenses are granted with restrictions, andexpensive. Further, there can be no assurancesassurance that such third-party technologyeven if a patent is issued, that it will remain available to us on terms beneficial to us. Failure to enforce and protect our intellectual property rights or obtain from third parties the right to use necessary technology could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and operating results. In addition, the laws of some foreign countries do not protect proprietary rights as fully as do the laws of the United States.

Patents may not issue from the patent applications that we have filed or may file in the future. Our issued patents may be challenged, invalidated or circumvented, and claims of ouror that the rights granted under the patents may not be of sufficient scope or strength, or issued in the proper geographic regions, towill provide us with meaningful protection or any commercial advantage. In addition, certain of our patents will expire within several years.

We have not applied for, and do not have, any copyright registration on our technologies or products. We have applied to register certain of our trademarks in the United States and other countries. There can be no assurance that we will obtain registrations of principleprincipal or other trademarks in key markets. Failure to obtain registrations could compromise our ability to fully protect fully our trademarks and brands, and could increase the risk of challenge from third parties to our use of our trademarks and brands. Effective intellectual property protection may be unavailable or limited in some foreign countries in which we operate. In particular, the validity, enforceability and scope of protection of intellectual property in China, where we derive a significant portion of our net sales, and certain other countries where we derive net sales, are still evolving and historically, have not protected and may not protect in the future, intellectual property rights to the same extent as laws developed in the United States.

We do not consistently rely on written agreements with our customers, suppliers, manufacturers, and other recipients of our technologies and products, and therefore some trade secret protection may be lost and our ability to enforce our intellectual property rights may be limited. Confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements which are in place may not be adequate to protect our proprietary technologies or may be breached by other parties. Additionally, our customers, suppliers, manufacturers, and other recipients of our technologies and products may seek to use our technologies and products without appropriate limitations. In the past, we did not consistently require our employees and consultants to enter into confidentiality, employment, or proprietary information and invention assignment agreements. Therefore, our former employees and consultants may try to claim some ownership interest in our technologies and products, and may use our technologies and products competitively and without appropriate limitations.

We may be required to incur substantial expenses and divert management attention and resources in defending intellectual property litigation against us.

We may receive notices from third parties that claim our products infringe their rights. From time to time, we receive notice from third parties of the intellectual property rights such parties have obtained. We cannot be certain that our technologies and products do not and will not infringe issued patents or other proprietary rights of others. Any future claims, with or without merit, could result in significant litigation costs and diversion of resources, including the attention of management, and could require us to enter into royalty and licensing agreements, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business. There can be no assurance that such licenses could be obtained on commercially reasonable terms, if at all, or that the terms of any offered licenses would be acceptable to us. If forced to cease using such technology, there can be no assurance that we would be able to develop or obtain alternate technology. Accordingly, an adverse determination in a judicial or administrative proceeding or failure to obtain necessary licenses could prevent us from manufacturing, using, or selling certain of our products, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and operating results.

Furthermore, parties making such claims could secure a judgment awarding substantial damages, as well as injunctive or other equitable relief that could effectively block our ability to make, use, or sell our products in the United States or abroad. Such a judgment could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and operating results. In addition, we are obligated under certain agreements to indemnify the other party in connection with infringement by us of the proprietary rights of third parties. In the event we are required to indemnify parties under these agreements, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and operating results.

We may incur substantial expenses and divert management resources in prosecuting others for their unauthorized use of our intellectual property rights.

The markets in which we compete are characterized by frequent litigation regarding patents and other intellectual property rights. Other companies, including our competitors, may develop technologies that are similar or superior to our technologies, duplicate our technologies, or design around our patents and may have or obtain patents or other proprietary rights that would prevent, limit, or interfere with our ability to make, use, or sell our products. Effective intellectual property protection may be unavailable or limited in some foreign countries in which we operate, such as China and Taiwan. Unauthorized parties may attempt to copy or otherwise use aspects of our technologies and products that we regard as proprietary. There can be no assurance thatOther companies, including our means of protecting our proprietary rights in the United States or abroad will be adequate or that competitors, will notmay independently develop technologies that are similar technologies.or superior to our technologies, duplicate our technologies, or design around our patents. If our intellectual property protection is insufficient to protect our intellectual property rights, we could face increased competition in the markets for our technologies and products.

Should any of our competitors file patent applications or obtain patents that claim inventions also claimed by us, we may choose to participate in an interference proceeding to determine the right to a patent for these inventions because our business would be harmed if we fail to enforce and protect our intellectual property rights. Even if the outcome is favorable, this proceeding could result in substantial cost to us and disrupt our business.

In the future, we also may need to file lawsuits to enforce our intellectual property rights, to protect our trade secrets, or to determine the validity and scope of the proprietary rights of others. This litigation, whether successful or unsuccessful, could result in substantial costs and diversion of resources, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and operating results.

Any claims that our technologies infringe the intellectual property rights of third parties could result in significant costs and have a material adverse effect on our business.

We cannot be certain that our technologies and products do not and will not infringe issued patents or other third party proprietary rights. Any claims, with or without merit, could result in significant litigation costs and diversion of resources, including the attention of management, and could require us to enter into royalty or licensing agreements, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business. There can be no assurance that such licenses could be obtained on commercially reasonable terms, if at all, or that the terms of any offered licenses would be acceptable to us. We may also have to pay substantial damages to third parties, or indemnify customers or licensees for damages they suffer if the products they purchase from us or the technology they license from us violates any third party intellectual property rights. An adverse determination in a judicial or administrative proceeding, or a failure to obtain necessary licenses to use such third-party technology could prevent us from manufacturing, using, or selling certain of our products, and there is no guarantee that we will able to develop or acquire alternate non-infringing technology.

In addition, we license certain technology used in and for our products from third parties. These third-party licenses are granted with restrictions, and there can be no assurances that such third-party technology will remain available to us on commercially acceptable terms.

If third-party technology currently utilized in our products is no longer available to us on commercially acceptable terms, or if any third party initiates litigation against us for alleged infringement of their proprietary rights, we may not be able to sell certain of our products and we could incur significant costs in defending against litigation or attempting to develop or acquire alternate non-infringing products, which would have an adverse effect on our operating results.

If we become subject to product returns and product liabilityor claims resulting from defects in our products, we may fail to achieve market acceptance of our products and our business could be harmed.incur significant costs resulting in a decrease in revenue.

We develop complex products in an evolving marketplace and generally warrant our products for a period of 12 months from the date of sale. Despite testing by us and our customers, defects may be found in existing or new products. Manufacturing errors or product defects could result in a delay in recognition or loss of revenue, loss of market share, or failure to achieve market acceptance. Additionally, defects could result in financial or other damages to our customers; causecustomers, causing us to incur significant warranty, support, and repair costs;costs, and divertdiverting the attention of our engineering personnel from key product development efforts. In such circumstances, our customers could also seek and obtain damages from us for their losses. A product liability claim brought against us, even if unsuccessful, would likely be time-consuming and costly to defend. The occurrence of such problems would likely harm our business.

Potential strategic alliances may not achieve their objectives, and the failure to do so could impede our growth.

We have entered, and we anticipate that we will continue to enter, into strategic alliances. Among other matters, weWe continually explore strategic alliances designed to enhance or complement our technology or to work in conjunction with our technology; to provide necessary know-how, components, or supplies; and to develop, introduce, and distribute products utilizing our technology. AnyCertain strategic alliances may not achieve their intended objectives, and parties to our strategic alliances may not perform as contemplated. The failure of these alliances to achieve their objectives may impede our ability to introduce new products and enter new markets.

Any acquisitions that we undertake could be difficult to integrate, disrupt our business, dilute stockholder value, and harm our operating results.

We expect to pursue opportunities to acquire other businesses and technologies in order to complement our current human interface solutions, expand the breadth of our markets, enhance our technical capabilities, or otherwise offercreate growth opportunities. In fiscal year 2014, we acquired Validity and entered into an agreement to acquire RSP. We cannot accurately predict the timing, size, and success of any future acquisitions. We may be unable to identify suitable acquisition candidates or to complete the acquisitions of candidates that we identify. Increased competition for acquisition candidates or increased asking prices by acquisition candidates may increase purchase prices for acquisitions to levels beyond our financial capability or to levels that would not result in the returns required by our acquisition criteria. Acquisitions may also may become more difficult in the future as we or others acquire the most attractive candidates. Unforeseen expenses, difficulties, and delays frequently encountered in connection with rapid expansion through acquisitions could inhibit our growth and negatively impact our operating results. If we make any future acquisitions, we could issue stock that would dilute existing stockholders’ percentage ownership, incur substantial debt, assume contingent liabilities, or experience higher operating expenses.

As a part of any potential acquisition, weWe may engage in discussions with various companies. In connection with these discussions, we and each potential acquisition candidate exchange confidential operational and financial information, conduct due diligence inquiries, and consider the structure, terms, and conditionsbe unable to effectively complete an integration of the potential acquisition. In certain cases,management, operations, facilities, and accounting and information systems of acquired businesses with our own; efficiently manage the prospective acquisition candidate agrees not to discuss a potential acquisition with any other party for a specific period of time and agrees to take other actions designed to enhance the possibilitycombined operations of the acquisition, suchacquired businesses with our operations; achieve our operating, growth, and performance goals for acquired businesses; achieve additional revenue as preparing audited financial information. Potential acquisition discussions frequently take place over a long period of time and involve difficult business integration and other issues. As a result of theseour expanded operations; or achieve operating efficiencies or otherwise realize cost savings as a result of anticipated acquisition synergies. The integration of acquired businesses involves numerous risks, including the following:

We cannot assure you that we would be successful in overcoming problems encountered in connection with any acquisitions, and our inability to do so could disrupt our operations, result in goodwill or intangible asset impairment charges, and adversely affect our business. Our experience in acquiring other businesses and technologies is limited.

Any acquisitions that we undertake in the future could be difficult to integrate, disrupt our business, and harm our operations.

In order to pursue a successful acquisition strategy, we may need to integrate the operations of acquired businesses into our operations, including centralizing certain functions to achieve cost savings and pursuing programs and processes that leverage our revenue and growth opportunities. The integration of the management, operations, and facilities of acquired businesses with our own could involve difficulties, which could adversely affect our growth rate and operating results.

We may be unable to complete effectively an integration of the management, operations, facilities, and accounting and information systems of acquired businesses with our own; to manage efficiently the combined operations of the acquired businesses with our operations; to achieve our operating, growth, and performance goals for acquired businesses; to achieve additional revenue as a result of our expanded operations; or to achieve operating efficiencies or otherwise realize cost savings as a result of anticipated acquisition synergies. The integration of acquired businesses involves numerous risks, including the following:

Repatriation of our foreign earnings to the United States or changes in tax laws may adversely affect our future reported tax rates and financial results or the way we conduct our business.

Changes in tax laws may adversely affect our future reported tax rates and financial results or the way we conduct our business. We consider the undistributed operating earnings of certain foreign subsidiaries of approximately $384.6$548.8 million as of the end of fiscal 2013,2014, to be indefinitely invested outside the United States and have not provided for U.S. federal and state income taxes that may result from future remittances of those undistributed operating earnings. Proposals to reform U.S. tax laws, including proposals that could reduce or eliminate the deferral of U.S. income tax on our foreign subsidiaries’ undistributed earnings, could require those earnings to be taxed at the U.S. federal income tax rate. If we do need to access our foreign subsidiaries’ undistributed earnings for our domestic operations, we would be required to accrue and pay U.S. taxes to repatriate these funds, which would adversely impact our financial position and results of operations.

Currently our investments in auction rate securities, or ARS investments, are not liquid, and we may lose some or all of our principal invested, or may be required to further reduce the carrying value if the issuers are not able to meet their payment obligations or if we sell our ARS investments before they recover.

We ended fiscal 20132014 with $24.0 million invested in ARS investments for which the auctions have failed and our investments are not liquid. The carrying value of these investments was $17.0$19.8 million, reflecting $13.8$12.8 million of other-than-temporary impairment, partially offset by $6.8$8.6 million of unrealized recovery. If the issuers are not able to meet their payment obligations or if we sell our ARS investments before they recover, we may lose some or all of the principal invested or may be required to further reduce the carrying value. This would adversely affect our financial position, operating results, and cash flows.

Legislation affecting the markets in which we participate could adversely affect our ability to implement our growth strategies.

Our ability to expand our business may be adversely impacted by future laws or regulations. Our customers’ products may be subject to laws relating to environmental regulations, communications, encryption technology, electronic commerce, e-signatures, governmental control over content, and privacy. Any of these laws could be expensive to comply with, and the marketability of our products could be adversely affected.

We face risks associated with security breaches or cyber attacks.

We face risks associated with security breaches or cyber attacks of our computer systems or those of our third-party representatives, vendors, and service providers. Although we have implemented security procedures and controls to address these threats, our systems may still be vulnerable to data theft, computer viruses, programming errors, attacks by third parties, or similar disruptive problems. If our systems, or systems owned by third parties affiliated with our company, were breached or attacked, the proprietary and confidential information of our company and our customers could be disclosed and we were to experience a security breach or cyber attack, we couldmay be required to incur substantial costs and liabilities, including the following: expenses to rectify the consequences of the security breach or cyber attack,attack; liability for stolen assets or information,information; costs of repairing damage to our systems,systems; lost revenue and income resulting from any system downtime caused by such breach or attack,attack; loss of competitive advantage if our proprietary information is obtained by competitors as a result of such breach or attack; increased costs of cyber security protection,protection; costs of incentives we may be required to offer to our customers or business partners to retain their business,business; and damage to our reputation. In addition, any compromise of security or a cyber attack could deter customers or business partners from entering into transactions that involve providing confidential information to us. Furthermore, if confidential customer information or information belonging to our business partners is misappropriated from our systems, we could be sued by those who assert we did not take adequate precautions to safeguard our systems and confidential data belonging to our customers or business partners, which could subject us to liability and result in significant legal expenses of defending these claims. As a result, any compromise of security of our systems or cyber attack could have a material adverse effect on our business, reputation, financial condition, and operating results.

We must finance the growth of our business and the development of new products, which could have an adverse effect on our operating results.

To remain competitive, we must continue to make significant investments in research and development, marketing, and business development. Our failure to increase sufficiently our net revenue to offset these increased costs would adversely affect our operating results.

From time to time, we may seek additional equity or debt financing to provide for funds required to expand our business, including through acquisitions. We cannot predict the timing or amount of any such requirements at this time. If such financing is not available on satisfactory terms, we may be unable to expand our business or to develop new business at the rate desired and our operating results may suffer. DebtIf obtained, the financing itself carries risks including the following: debt financing increases expenses and must be repaid regardless of operating results. Equity financing, including issuance of additional shares in connection with acquisitions, could result in additional dilution to existing stockholders.

We consider the undistributed operating earnings of certain foreign subsidiaries to be indefinitely invested outside the United States. If we were to distribute a portion of those earnings to our U.S. parent company to finance our future growth, we would be required to pay U.S. federalstockholders and state taxes on the distribution and further may be required to accrue U.S. and state taxes on the remaining undistributed operating earnings, which wouldcould adversely affect our tax rate and financial results.

Our target markets are cyclical and may result in fluctuations in our operating results.

The PC and electronics industries have experienced significant economic downturns at various times. These downturns are characterized by diminished product demand, accelerated erosion of average selling prices, and production overcapacity. In addition, the PC and electronics industries are cyclical in nature. We seek to reduce our exposure to industry downturns and cyclicality by providing design and production services for leading companies in rapidly expanding industry segments. We may, however, experience substantial period-to-period fluctuations in future operating results because of general industry conditions or events occurring in the general economy.

Continuing uncertainty of the U.S. and global economy may have serious implications for the growth and stabilityprice of our business and may negatively affect our stock price.common stock.

The revenue growth and profitability of our business depends significantly on the overall demand in the markets for mobile product applications and other electronic devices, including mobile smartphones and feature phones, and tablets as well as in the notebook computer market, including ultrabooks. Softening demand in these markets caused by ongoing economic uncertainty may result in decreased revenue or earnings levels or growth rates. The U.S. and global economy has been historically cyclical, and market conditions continue to be challenging, which has resulted in individuals and companies delaying or reducing expenditures. Further delays or reductions in spending could have a material adverse effect on demand for our products, and consequently on our business, financial condition, operating results, prospects, and stock price.

We expect to incur additional expenses in complying with corporate governance and public disclosure requirements.

Changing laws, regulations, and standards relating to corporate governance and public disclosure, including SEC regulations and Nasdaq Global Select Market rules, create uncertainty and increased expenses for companies such as ours. New or changed laws, regulations, and standards are subject to varying interpretations in many cases due to their lack of specificity and, as a result, their application in practice may evolve over time as new guidance is provided by regulatory and governing bodies, which could result in continuing uncertainty regarding compliance matters and higher costs necessitated by ongoing revisions to disclosure and governance practices. We are committed to maintaining high standards of corporate governance and public disclosure. As a result, our efforts to comply with evolving laws, regulations, and standards have resulted in, and are likely to continue to result in, increased general and administrative expenses and a diversion of management time and attention from revenue-generating activities to compliance activities. We expect these efforts to require the continued commitment of significant resources. In addition, it may become more difficult and more expensive for us to obtain director and officer liability insurance. As a result, we may have difficulty attracting and retaining qualified board members, which could harm our business. If our efforts to comply with new or changed laws, regulations, and standards differ from

During the activities intended by regulatory or governing bodies due to ambiguities related to practice, our reputation may be harmed.

Thethird quarter of calendar year 2012, the SEC adopted rules implementing the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, requiredor Dodd-Frank. These rules impose diligence and disclosure requirements regarding the SEC to establish new disclosure and reporting requirements for those companies who use “conflict” mineralsof “conflict minerals” mined from the Democratic Republic of Congo and adjoining countriescountries. Compliance with these rules is likely to result in their products, whether or not these products are manufactured by third parties. When these new requirements are implemented, they could adversely affect the sourcingadditional costs and availability of minerals used in the manufacture of our products. There will also be costs associated with complying with the disclosure requirements,expenses, including cost and expenses incurred for due diligence, in regard to determine and verify the sources of any conflict minerals used in our products, in addition to the cost ofand remediation and other changes to products, processes, or sources of supply as a consequence of such verification activities.

The accounting requirements for income taxes on certain of our share-based compensation awards will subject our future quarterly and annual effective tax rates to greater volatility and, consequently, our ability to reasonably estimate reasonably our future quarterly and annual effective tax rates iswill be greatly diminished.

We recognize a tax benefit upon expensing nonqualified stock options and deferred stock units, or DSUs, issued under our share-based compensation plans. However, under current accounting standards, we cannot recognize that tax benefit concurrent with expensing incentive stock options and employee stock purchase plan shares (qualified stock options) issued under our share-based compensation plans. For qualified stock options that vested after our adoption of the applicable accounting standards, we recognize the tax benefit only in the period when disqualifying dispositions of the underlying stock occur and, for qualified stock options that vested prior to our adoption of the applicable accounting standards, the tax benefit is recorded directly to additional paid-in capital. Accordingly, because we cannot recognize the tax benefit for share-based compensation expense associated with qualified stock options until the occurrence of future disqualifying dispositions of the underlying stock, and such disqualified dispositions may happen in periods when our stock price substantially increases, and because a portion of that tax benefit may be directly recorded to additional paid-in capital, our future quarterly and annual effective tax rates will be subject to greater volatility and, consequently, our ability to estimate reasonably our future quarterly and annual effective tax rates is greatly diminished.

Future changes in financial accounting standards or practices may cause adverse unexpected fluctuations and affect our reported operating results.

A change in accounting standards or practices could have a significant effect on our reported operating results. New accounting pronouncements and varying interpretations of accounting pronouncements have occurred in the past and may occur in the future. Changes to existing rules or the questioning of current practices may adversely affect our reported financial results or the way we conduct our business.

Further, the U.S.-based Financial Accounting Standards Board, or FASB, is currently working together with the International Accounting Standards Board, or IASB, on several projects to further align accounting principles and facilitate more comparable financial reporting between companies who are required to follow U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, or GAAP, under SEC regulations and those who are required to follow International Financial Reporting Standards, or IFRS, outside of the United States. These efforts by the FASB and IASB may result in different accounting principles under GAAP that may result in materially different financial results for us in areas including, but not limited to, principles for recognizing revenue and lease accounting.

It is not clear if or when these potential changes in accounting principles may become effective, whether we have the proper systems and controls in place to accommodate such changes, and the impact that any such changes may have on our consolidated financial position, operating results, and cash flows. In addition, as we evolve and change our business and sales models, we are currently unable to take into account how these potential changes may impact our new models, particularly in the area of revenue recognition.

Our charter documents and Delaware law could make it more difficult for a third party to acquire us, and discourage a takeover.

Our certificate of incorporation and the Delaware General Corporation Law contain provisions that may have the effect of making more difficult or delaying attempts by others to obtain control of our company, even when these attempts may be in the best interests of our stockholders. Our certificate of incorporation also authorizes our Board of Directors, without stockholder approval, to issue one or more series of preferred stock, which could have voting and conversion rights that adversely affect or dilute the voting power of the holders of common stock. Delaware law also imposes conditions on certain business combination transactions with “interested stockholders.” Our certificate of incorporation divides our Board of Directors into three classes, with one class to stand for election each year for a three-year term after the election. The classification of directors tends to discourage a third party from initiating a proxy solicitation or otherwise attempting to obtain control of our company and may maintain the incumbency of our Board of Directors, as this structure generally increases the difficulty of, or may delay, replacing a majority of directors. Our certificate of incorporation authorizes our Board of Directors to fill vacancies or newly created directorships. A majority of the directors then in office may elect a successor to fill any vacancies or newly created directorships.

Sales of large numbers of shares could adversely affect the price of our common stock.

As of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, all of the outstanding shares of our common stock were eligible for resale in the public markets. Of these shares, approximately one-third were held by affiliates and were eligible for resale in the public markets subject to compliance with the volume and manner of sale rules of Rules 144 or 701 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act, and the balance of the shares were eligible for resale in the public markets as unrestricted shares. In general, under Rule 144 as currently in effect, any person (or persons whose shares are aggregated for purposes of Rule 144) who is deemed an affiliate of our company and beneficially owns restricted securities with respect to which at least six months has elapsed since the later of the date the shares were acquired from us, or from an affiliate of ours, is entitled to sell within any three-month period a number of shares that does not exceed the greater of 1% of the then outstanding shares of our common stock or the average weekly trading volume in common stock during the four calendar weeks preceding such sale. Sales by affiliates under Rule 144 also are subject to certain manner-of-sale provisions and notice requirements and to the availability of current public information about us.

Rule 701, as currently in effect, permits our employees, officers, directors, and consultants who purchase shares pursuant to a written compensatory plan or contract to resell these shares in reliance upon Rule 144, but without compliance with specific restrictions. Rule 701 provides that affiliates may sell their Rule 701 shares under Rule 144 without complying with the holding period requirement and non-affiliates may sell their shares in reliance on Rule 144 without complying with the holding period, public information, volume limitation, or notice provisions of Rule 144. A person who is not an affiliate, who has not been an affiliate within three months prior to sale, and who beneficially owns restricted securities with respect to which at least one year has elapsed since the later of the date the shares were acquired from us, or from an affiliate of ours, is entitled to sell such shares under Rule 144 without regard to any of the volume limitations or other requirements described above. Sales of substantial amounts of common stock in the public market could adversely affect prevailing market prices.

We have registered an aggregate of $100.0 million of common stock and preferred stock for issuance in connection with acquisitions, which shares generally will be freely tradeable after their issuance under Rule 145 of the Securities Act, unless held by an affiliate of the acquired company, in which case such shares will be subject to the volume and manner of sale restrictions of Rule 144 discussed above. The issuance or subsequent sale of these shares in the public market could adversely affect prevailing market prices.

We have registered for offer and sale the shares of common stock that are reserved for issuance pursuant to our outstanding share-based compensation plans. Shares issued in connection with our share-based compensation plans generally will be eligible for sale in the public market, except that affiliates will continue to be subject to volume limitations and other requirements of Rule 144. The issuance or subsequent sale of such shares could depress the market price of our common stock.

The market price of our common stock has been and may continue to be volatile.

The trading price of our common stock has been and may continue to be subject to wide fluctuations in response to various factors, including the following:

In addition, stocks of technology companies have experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations that often have been unrelated or disproportionate to these companies’ operating performance. Public announcements by technology companies concerning, among other things, their performance, accounting practices, or legal problems could cause the market price of our common stock to decline regardless of our actual operating performance.

Not applicable.

Our principal executive offices, as well as our principal research and development, sales, marketing, and administrative functions, are currently located in ourSan Jose, California, where we own approximately 161,000 square foot facilitiesfeet of facilities. During our fiscal year 2014, we purchased a 5.35-acre site adjacent to our principal executive offices with two buildings totaling approximately 80,000 square feet. We plan to retrofit one of the buildings to support the expansion of our San Jose-based employee population. We also have research and development functions in San Jose. We lease approximately 34,000 square feetleased offices in New York, used for researchArizona, Texas, Idaho, and development; approximately 7,000 square feet in Texas for sales and research and development; and approximately 4,000 square feet in each of Georgia and Idaho for research and development.Georgia. Our Asia/Pacific headquartersprincipal offices are located in a leased office in Hong Kong, where we lease approximately 15,000 square feet of space.have sales, operations, and research and development functions. We also maintain approximately 43,000 square feet of office spacehave sales and research and development functions in leased offices in Taiwan, approximately 19,000 square feet of office spaceJapan, India and South Korea, and we have sales functions in leased offices in China, approximately 6,000 square feet of office space in Japan, approximately 10,000 square feet of office space in Korea,Switzerland, and approximately 1,100 square feet of office space in Switzerland. We have satellite sales support offices in Finland.

None.

Not applicable.

PART II

Market Information on Common Stock

Our common stock has been listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market (formerly on the Nasdaq National Market) under the symbol “SYNA” since January 29, 2002. Prior to that time, there was no public market for our common stock. The following table sets forth, for the periods indicated, the high and low sales prices of our common stock as quoted on the Nasdaq Global Select Market.

Stockholders

As of August 5, 2013,15, 2014, there were approximately 140178 holders of record of our common stock. The closing price of our common stock as quoted on the Nasdaq Global Select Market as of August 5, 201315, 2014 was $39.80.$80.35.

Dividends

We have never declared or paid cash dividends on our common stock. We currently plan to retain anyall earnings to finance the growth of our business or purchase shares under our common stock repurchase program rather than to pay cash dividends.program. Payments of any cash dividends in the future will depend on our financial condition, operating results, and capital requirements, as well as other factors deemed relevant by our board of directors.

Our revolving line of credit also places restrictions on the payment of any dividends.

Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

From April 2005 through June 2013,July 2014, our Board of Directors has cumulatively authorized $520.0$730.0 million for our common stock repurchase program, which expires in October 2013. TheJuly 2016. As of July 2014, the remaining amount authorized for the repurchase of our common stock is $59.8$199.6 million. RepurchasesThere were no repurchases under the stock repurchase program during the three-month period ended June 29, 2013 were as follows:28, 2014.

Performance Graph

The following line graph compares cumulative total stockholder returns for the five years ended June 30, 20132014 for (i) our common stock, (ii) the Nasdaq Composite Index and (iii) the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, and (iv) the Nasdaq Computer Index. The graph assumes an investment of $100 on June 30, 2008.2009. The calculations of cumulative stockholder return on the Nasdaq Composite Index and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, and the Nasdaq Computer Index include reinvestment of dividends. The calculation of cumulative stockholder return on our common stock does not include reinvestment of dividends because we did not pay any dividends during the measurement period. The historical performance shown is not necessarily indicative of future performance.

The performance graph above shall not be deemed “filed” for purposes of Section 18 of the Exchange Act, or otherwise subject to the liability of that section. The performance graph above will not be deemed incorporated by reference into any filing of our company under the Exchange Act or the Securities Act.

ITEM 6.

SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA

The following table presents selected financial data for each fiscal year in the five-year period ended June 30, 2013.2014. Our fiscal year is the 52- or 53-week period ending on the last Saturday in June. Fiscal 2012 was a 53-week period and the other fiscal years presented were 52-week periods. Our past results of operations are not necessarily indicative of our future results of operations. You should read the selected financial data below in conjunction with Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations and our consolidated financial statements and related notes contained elsewhere in this report.

Our basic net income per share amounts for each period presented have been computed using the weighted average number of shares of common stock outstanding. Our diluted net income per share amounts for each period presented include the weighted average effect of potentially dilutive shares. We used the “treasury stock” method to determine the dilutive effect of our stock options, Deferred Stock Units, or DSUs, Market Stock Units, or MSUs, and convertible notes.

ITEM 7.

MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

Forward-Looking Statements and Factors That May Affect Results

You should read the following discussion and analysis in conjunction with our financial statements and related notes contained elsewhere in this report. This discussion contains forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties, and assumptions. Our actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of a variety of factors, including those set forth under Item 1A. Risk Factors.

Overview

We are a leading worldwide developer and supplier of custom-designed human interface solutions that enable people to interact more easily and intuitively with a wide variety of mobile computing, communications, entertainment, and other electronic devices. We believe our results to date reflect the combination of our customer focus, the strength of our intellectual property and our engineering know-how, which allow us to develop or engineer products that meet the demanding design specifications of OEMs.

We recognize revenue from product sales when there is persuasive evidence that an arrangement exists, delivery has occurred and title has transferred, the price is fixed or determinable, and collection is reasonably assured. Our net revenue increased from $361.1$514.9 million for fiscal 20082010 to $663.6$947.5 million for fiscal 2013,2014, representing a compound annual growth rate of approximately 13%17%. For fiscal 2008,2010, we derived 76%59% of our net revenue from the personal computer market and 24%41% of our net revenue from the mobile product applications market. For fiscal 2013,2014, revenue from the personal computer market accounted for 36%27% of our net revenue and revenue from the mobile product applications market accounted for 64%73% of our net revenue.

Many of our customers have manufacturing operations in China, and many of our OEM customers have established design centers in Asia. With our expandedexpanding global presence, including offices in China, Finland, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan, and the United States, we are well positioned to provide local sales, operational, and engineering support services to our existing customers, as well as potential new customers, on a global basis.

Our manufacturing operations are based on a variable cost model in which we outsource all of our production requirements and generally drop ship our products directly to our customers from our contract manufacturers’ facilities, eliminating the need for significant capital expenditures and allowing us to minimize our investment in inventories. This approach requires us to work closely with our contract manufacturers and semiconductor fabricators to ensure adequate production capacity to meet our forecasted volume requirements. We provide our contract manufacturers with six-month rolling forecasts and issue purchase orders based on our anticipated requirements for the next 90 days. However, we do not have any long-term supply contracts with any of our contract manufacturers. We use threetwo third-party wafer manufacturers to supply wafers and onefour third-party packaging manufacturermanufacturers to package our proprietary ASICs. In certain cases, we rely on a single source or a limited number of suppliers to provide other key components of our products. Our cost of revenue includes all costs associated with the production of our products, including materials, logistics, manufacturing, assembly, and test costs paid to third-party manufacturers, and related overhead costs associated with our indirect manufacturing operations personnel. Additionally, we charge all warranty costs, yield losses, and any inventory provisions or write-downs to cost of revenue.

Our gross margin generally reflects the combination of the added value we bring to our OEM customers’ products in meeting their custom design requirements and the impact of our ongoing cost-improvement programs. These cost-improvement programs include reducing materials and component costs, and implementing design and process improvements. Our newly introduced products may have lower margins than our more mature products, which have realized greater benefits associated with our ongoing cost-improvement programs. As a result, new product introductions may initially negatively impact our gross margin.

Our research and development expenses include costs for supplies and materials related to product development, as well as the engineering costs incurred to design human interface solutions for OEM customers prior to and after their commitment to incorporate those solutions into their products. These expenses have generally increased, reflecting our continuing commitment to the technological and design innovation required to maintain our position in our existing markets, and to adapt our existing technologies or develop new technologies for new markets.

Selling, general, and administrative expenses include expenses related to sales, marketing, and administrative personnel; internal sales and outside sales representatives’ commissions; market and usability research; outside legal, accounting, and consulting costs; and other marketing and sales activities. These expenses have generally increased, primarily reflecting incremental staffing and related support costs associated with our increased business levels, growth in our existing markets, and penetration into new markets.

Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

The preparation of consolidated financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires us to make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenue, expenses, and related disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities. On an ongoing basis, we evaluate our estimates, including those related to revenue recognition, allowance for doubtful accounts, cost of revenue, inventories, product warranty, share-based compensation costs, provision for income taxes, deferred income tax asset valuation allowances, uncertain tax positions, tax contingencies, goodwill, intangible assets, investments, and contingencies. We base our estimates on historical experience, applicable laws and regulations, and various other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying value of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions.

The methods, estimates, interpretations, and judgments we use in applying our most critical accounting policies can have a significant impact on the results that we report in our consolidated financial statements. The SEC considers an entity’s most critical accounting policies to be those policies that are both most important to the portrayal of the entity’s financial condition and results of operations and those that require the entity’s most difficult, subjective, or complex judgments, often as a result of the need to make assumptions and estimates about matters that are inherently uncertain. We believe the following critical accounting policies affect our more significant judgments and estimates used in the preparation of our consolidated financial statements.

Revenue Recognition

We recognize revenue from product sales when there is persuasive evidence that an arrangement exists, delivery has occurred and title has transferred, the price is fixed or determinable, and collection is reasonably assured, which is generally upon shipment of the product. We accrue for estimated sales returns, incentives and other allowances at the time we recognize revenue. Our products contain embedded firmware and software that allows for further differentiation and customer integration, which together with, or consisting of, our ASIC chip delivers the essential functionality of our products and, as such, software revenue recognition guidance is not applicable.

Investments

Accounting standards require us to record available-for-sale securities at fair value, with unrealized gains and losses being reported as a component of other comprehensive income. We follow the accounting standards to assess whether our investments with loss positions are other-than-temporarily impaired. We follow the hierarchal approach established under the accounting standards to determine fair value of our investments.

The accounting standards define fair value as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. Our fair value estimates consider, among other factors, the collateral underlying the security investments, creditworthiness of the counterparty, timing of expected future cash flows, and, in the case of ARS investments, the probability of a successful auction in a future period. We follow the guidance provided to estimate fair value when the volume and level of activity for an asset or liability have significantly decreased in relation to normal market activity for the asset or liability, and to determine circumstances that may indicate that a transaction is not orderly.

Further, we use judgment in evaluating whether a decline in fair value is temporary or other-than-temporary and consider the following indicators: changes in credit ratings or asset quality; changes in the economic environment; length of time and extent to which fair value has been below cost basis; changes in market conditions; and changes in expected cash flows. We do not intend to sell the investments, and it is more likely than not that we will not be required to sell the investments before recovery of their amortized cost basis. Temporary declines in fair value are recorded as charges to accumulated other comprehensive income in the equity section of our balance sheet, while other-than-temporary declines in fair value are bifurcated between credit losses, which are charged to earnings, and noncredit losses which, depending on facts and circumstances may be charged to other comprehensive income or earnings.

Inventory

We state our inventories at the lower of cost or market. We base our assessment of the ultimate realization of inventories on our projections of future demand and market conditions. Sudden declines in demand, rapid product improvements, or technological changes, or any combination of these factors can cause us to have excess or obsolete inventories. On an ongoing basis, we review for estimated obsolete or unmarketable inventories and write down our inventories to their net realizable value based upon our forecasts of future demand and market conditions. If actual market conditions are less favorable than our forecasts, additional inventory write-downs may be required. The following factors influence our estimates: changes to or cancellations of customer orders, unexpected decline in demand, rapid product improvements and technological advances, and termination or changes by our OEM customers of any product offerings incorporating our product solutions.

Periodically, we purchase inventory from our contract manufacturers when a customer delays its delivery schedule or cancels its order. In those circumstances in which our customer has cancelled its order and we purchase inventory from our contract manufacturers, we record a write-down, if necessary, to reduce the carrying value of the inventory purchased to its net realizable value. The effect of these write-downs is to establish a new cost basis in the related inventory, which we do not subsequently write up. We also record a liability and charge to cost of revenue for estimated losses on inventory we are obligated to purchase from our contract manufacturers when such losses become probable from customer delays or order cancellations.

Goodwill

Goodwill represents the excess of the purchase price over the fair value of net tangible and identifiable intangible assets acquired.

Goodwill is measured and tested for impairment annually during the last quarter of our fiscal year, or more frequently if we believe indicators of impairment exist. Events that could trigger a more frequent impairment review may include adverse industry or economic trends, restructuring actions, lower projections of profitability, or a sustained decline in our market capitalization. TheDuring our annual assessment of goodwill impairment, we have the option to first assess qualitative factors to determine whether the existence of events or circumstances leads to a determination that it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying value before performing the two step quantitative impairment test. If, after assessing the totality of events or circumstances, we determine it is not more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying amount, then performing the two step impairment test involves a two-step process where theis not necessary. The first step requires comparing the fair value of our one reporting unit to its net book value, including goodwill. We have allocated our goodwill to a single company-wide reporting unit. DeterminingIf we subsequently determine that our goodwill should be allocated to a separate reportable unit within our company then determining the fair value of a reporting unit iswill be judgmental in nature and involves the use of significant estimates and assumptions. These estimates and assumptions include revenue growth rates and forecasted operating margins used to calculate projected future cash flows, risk-adjusted discount rates, future economic and market conditions and determination of appropriate market comparables. We base our fair value estimates on assumptions we believe to be reasonable. Actual future results may differ from those estimates. Future competitive, market and economic conditions could negatively impact key assumptions including our market capitalization or the carrying value of our net assets, which could require us to realize an impairment of our goodwill and intangible assets.

A potential impairment exists if the fair value of the reporting unit is less than its net book value. The second step of the process is only performed if a potential impairment exists, and it involves determining the difference between the fair value of the reporting unit’s net assets, other than goodwill, to the fair value of the reporting unit and ifunit. If the difference is less than the net book value of goodwill, an impairment exists and is recorded. No goodwill impairment was recognized in fiscal 2014, 2013, 2012 and 2011.2012.

PurchasedAcquired Intangibles

We review purchasedacquired intangible assets with finite lives for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate the carrying value of an asset may not be recoverable. Recoverability of these intangible assets is assessed based on the estimated undiscounted future cash flows expected to result from the use of the asset. If the undiscounted future cash flows are less than the carrying amount, the purchasedacquired intangible assets with finite lives are considered to be impaired. The amount of the impairment is measured as the difference between the carrying amount of these assets and the fair value.

Our business combinations have included the purchase of in-process research and development assets that are not amortizable until the underlying project is complete. We assess that our in-process research and development project is complete when all material research and development costs have been incurred and no significant risks remain. We review the carrying value of indefinite-lived intangible assets for impairment at least annually during the last quarter of our fiscal year, or more frequently if we believe indicators of impairment exist.

Business Combinations

We have applied significant estimates and judgments in order to determine the fair value of the identified assets acquired, liabilities assumed, goodwill recognized, and contingent consideration recorded in connection with our business combinations to ensure the value of the assets and liabilities acquired are recognized at fair value as of the acquisition date. In measuring the fair value, we utilize valuation techniques consistent with the market approach, income approach, or cost approach.

The valuation of the identifiable assets and liabilities includes assumptions made in performing the valuation, such as projected revenue, weighted average cost of capital, discount rates, estimated useful lives, estimated probabilities of achieving contingent payment milestones, and other relevant assessments. These assessments can be significantly affected by our estimates, judgments, and assumptions.

We do not believe that there is a reasonable likelihood that there will be material changes to our estimates, judgments, or assumptions. However, if If actual results are not consistent with our estimates, judgments, or assumptions, or if additional or new information arises in the future that affects our fair value estimates, then adjustments to our initial fair value estimates may have a material impact to our purchase accounting or our results of operations.

Share-Based Compensation Costs

We account for employee share-based compensation costs in accordance with relevant accounting standards. We utilize the Black-Scholes option pricing model to estimate the grant date fair value of certain employee share-based compensatory awards, which requires the input of highly subjective assumptions, including expected volatility and expected life. Historical and implied volatilities were used in estimating the fair value of our share-based awards. The expected life for our options was previously estimated based on historical trends since our initial public offering. In fiscal 2011, we began to grant options with a contractual life of seven years rather than ten years, and we began using the simplified method of establishing the expected life as we diddo not have any history of options with seven-year lives. In fiscal 2013, we began to grant options that vest over a three-year period rather than a four-year period, and we continue to use the simplified method of establishing the expected life as we do not have any history of options that vest over a three-year period. Changes in these inputs and assumptions can materially affect the measure of estimated fair value of our share-based compensation. Estimated forfeitures for share-based awards that are not expected to vest are estimated based on historical trends since our initial public offering. We charge the estimated fair value less estimated forfeitures to earnings on a straight-line basis over the vesting period of the underlying awards, which is now generally three years for our stock options, and DSUs, MSUs and up to two years for our employee stock purchase plan.

The Black-Scholes option pricing model was developed for use in estimating the fair value of traded options that have no vesting restrictions and are fully transferable. As our stock option and our employee stock purchase plan awards have characteristics that differ significantly from traded options, and as changes in the subjective assumptions can materially affect the estimated value, our estimate of fair value may not accurately represent the value assigned by a third party in an arms-length transaction. There currently is no market-based mechanism to verify the reliability and accuracy of the estimates derived from the Black-Scholes option pricing model or other allowable valuation models, nor is there a means to compare and adjust the estimates to actual values. While our estimate of fair value and the associated charge to earnings materially affects our results of operations, it has no impact on our cash position.

We estimate the fair value of market-based MSUs at the date of grant using a Monte Carlo simulation model and amortize those fair values over the requisite service period, generally three years, adjusted for estimated forfeitures for each separately vesting tranche of the award. The Monte Carlo simulation model that we use to estimate the fair value of market-based MSUs at the date of grant incorporates into the valuation the possibility that the market condition may not be satisfied. Provided that the requisite service is rendered, the total fair value of the market-based MSUs at the date of grant must be recognized as compensation expense even if the market condition is not achieved. However, the number of shares that ultimately vest can vary significantly with the performance of the specified market criteria.

There are significant variations among allowable valuation models, and there is a possibility that we may adopt a different valuation model or refine the inputs and assumptions under our current valuation models in the future, resulting in a lack of consistency in future periods. Our current or future valuation model and the inputs and assumptions we make may also lack comparability to other companies that use different models, inputs, or assumptions, and the resulting differences in comparability could be material.

Income Taxes

We recognize federal, foreign, and state current tax liabilities or assets based on our estimate of taxes payable or refundable in the then current fiscal year for each tax jurisdiction. We also recognize federal, foreign, and state deferred tax liabilities or assets for our estimate of future tax effects attributable to temporary differences and carryforwards and record a valuation allowance to reduce any deferred tax assets by the amount of any tax benefits that, based on available evidence and our judgment, are not expected to be realized. If our assumptions, and consequently our estimates, change in the future, the valuation allowance we have established for our deferred tax assets may be changed,change, which could impact income tax expense.

We use a two-step approach to recognizing and measuring uncertain tax positions. The first step is to determine whether it is more-likely-than-not that a tax position will be sustained upon examination, including resolution of any related appeals or litigation processes. The second step is to measure the tax benefit as the largest amount that is more than 50% likely of being realized upon ultimate settlement with a taxing authority. The calculation of tax liabilities involves significant judgment in estimating the impact of uncertainties in the application of highly complex tax laws. Resolution of these uncertainties in a manner inconsistent with our expectations could have a material impact on our consolidated financial position, result of operations, or cash flows. We believe we have adequately provided for reasonably foreseeable outcomes in connection with the resolution of income tax uncertainties. However, our results have in the past, and could in the future, include favorable and unfavorable adjustments to our estimated tax liabilities in the period a determination of such estimated tax liability is made or resolved, upon the filing of an amended return, upon a change in facts, circumstances, or interpretation, or upon the expiration of a statute of limitation. Accordingly, our effective tax rate could fluctuate materially from period to period.

We consider the operating earnings of our foreign subsidiaries to be indefinitely invested outside the United States. Accordingly, no provision has been made for the U.S. federal, state, or foreign taxes that may result from future remittances of undistributed earnings of our foreign subsidiaries.

We recognize a tax benefit upon expensing certain share-based awards associated with our share-based compensation plans, including nonqualified stock options, DSUs, and MSUs, but we cannot recognize tax benefit concurrent with the recognition of share-based compensation expenses associated with qualified stock options (incentive stock options and employee stock purchase plan shares). For qualified stock options, we recognize a tax benefit only in the period when disqualifying dispositions of the underlying stock occur, which historically has been up to several years after vesting and in a period when our stock price substantially increases. As a result, our future quarterly and annual effective tax rates will be subject to greater volatility and, consequently, our ability to estimate reasonably our future quarterly and annual effective tax rates is greatly diminished.

Changes in contingent consideration can be significant from period to period and a portion of the change in contingent consideration is non-deductible. As a result, changes in contingent consideration can have a material impact on our effective tax rate from period to period.

Results of Operations

The following sets forth certain of our consolidated statements of income data for fiscal 2014, 2013, 2012, and 2011,2012, along with comparative information regarding the absolute and percentage changes in these amounts (in thousands, except percentages):

The following sets forth certain of our consolidated statements of income data as a percentage of net revenues for fiscal 2014, 2013, 2012, and 2011:2012: