Our operating results have historically varied from period to period, and we expect that they will continue to do so as a result of a number of factors, many of which are outside of our control andor may be difficult to predict, including:

 

Any one of the factors above or the cumulative effect of some of the factors referred to above may result in significant fluctuations in our quarterly financial and other operating results. This variability and unpredictability could result in our failing to meet our internal operating plan or the expectations of securities analysts or investors for any period. If we fail to meet or exceed such expectations for these or any other reasons, the market price of our shares could fall substantially and we could

Our business depends on the overall demand for information technology and on the economic health of our current and prospective customers. In addition, the purchase of our products is often discretionary and may involve a significant commitment of capital and other resources. Weak global economic conditions and spending environments, weak economic conditions in certain geographies, or a reduction in information technology spending regardless of macro-economic conditions, could adversely impact our business, financial condition and results of operations in a number of ways, including longer sales cycles, lower prices for our products and services, higher default rates among our channel partners, reduced unit sales and slower or declining growth.

Billings, revenue and revenuefree cash flow growth may slow, or we may experience a decrease in billings, revenue and revenue,free cash flow for a number of reasons, including a slowdown in demand for our products or services, a shift in demand from products to services, increased competition, a decrease in the growth of our overall market or softness in demand in certain geographies or industry verticals, such as the service provider industry, or if we failand our failure for any reason to continue to capitalize on growth opportunities.opportunities and due to other risks identified in the risk factors described in this periodic report. Our expenses as a percentage of total revenue may be higher than expected if our revenue is lower than expected and, if our investments in sales and marketing and other functional areas do not result in expected billings and revenue growth, we may experience margin declines and we may not be able to sustain profitability in future periods if we fail to increase billings, revenue or deferred revenue, do not appropriately manage our cost structure and free cash flow or encounter unanticipated liabilities. Any failure by us to maintain profitability, maintain our margins and continue our billings, revenue and revenuefree cash flow growth could cause the price of our common stock to materially decline.

Our FortiGuard security subscription and FortiCare technical support services revenue has historically accounted for a significant percentage of our total revenue. SalesRevenue from the sale of new, or renewalsfrom the renewal of existing, FortiGuard security subscription and FortiCare technical support services contracts may decline and fluctuate as a result of a number of factors, including fluctuations in purchases of FortiGate appliances, changes in the sales mix between products and services, end-customers’ level of satisfaction with our products and services, the prices of our products and services, the prices of products and services offered by our competitors, or reductions in our customers’ spending levels.levels and the timing of revenue recognition with respect to these arrangements. If our sales of new, or renewals of existing FortiGuard security subscription and FortiCare technical support services contracts decline, our revenue and revenue growth may decline and our business willcould suffer. In addition, in the event significant customers require payment terms for FortiGuard security subscription or FortiCare technical support services in arrears or for shorter periods of time than annually, such as monthly or quarterly, this may negatively impact our billings and revenue. Furthermore, we recognize FortiGuard security subscription and FortiCare technical support services revenue monthly over the term of the relevant service period, which is typically from one to three years, butand in some instances has been as long as five years. As a result, much of the FortiGuard security subscription and FortiCare technical support services revenue we report each quarter is the recognition of deferred revenue from FortiGuard security subscription and FortiCare technical support services contracts entered into during previous quarters.quarters or years. Consequently, a decline in new or renewed FortiGuard security subscription or FortiCare technical support services contracts in any one quarter will not be fully reflected in revenue in that quarter but will negatively affect our revenue in future quarters. Accordingly, the effect of significant downturns in sales of new, or renewals of existing, FortiGuard security subscriptionssubscription or FortiCare technical support services is not reflected in full in our statements of operations until future periods. Our FortiGuard security subscription and FortiCare technical support services revenue also makes it difficult for us to rapidly increase our revenue through additional service sales in any period, as revenue from new and renewal support services contracts must be recognized over the applicable service period.

We market and sell our products throughout the world and have established sales offices in many parts of the world. Our international sales have represented a majority of our total revenue in recent periods. Therefore, we are subject to risks associated with having worldwide operations. We are also subject to a number of risks typically associated with international sales and operations, including:

 

Product and service sales and employee and contractor matters may be subject to foreign governmental regulations, which vary substantially from country to country. Further, we may be unable to keep up-to-date with changes in government requirements as they change over time. Failure to comply with these regulations could result in adverse effects to our business. In many foreign countries, it is common for others to engage in business practices that are prohibited by our internal policies and procedures or U.S. regulations applicable to us. Although we implemented policies and procedures designed to ensure compliance with these laws and policies, there can be no assurance that all of our employees, contractors, channel partners and agents will comply with these laws and policies. Violations of laws or key control policies by our employees, contractors, channel partners or agents could result in litigation, regulatory action, costs of investigation, delays in revenue recognition, delays in financial reporting, financial reporting misstatements, fines, penalties, or the prohibition of the importation or

An important part of our growth strategy is to increase sales of our products to large enterprises and medium-sized businesses, service providers and government organizations. While we have experienced some success sellingincreased sales in recent periods to large and medium-sized enterprises and service providers, and enterprises, weour sales volume varies by quarter. We also have experienced less traction selling to certain government organizations and there can be no assurance that we will be successful selling to these customer segments.customers. Sales to enterprises, service providers and governmentthese organizations involve risks that may not be present, (oror that are present to a lesser extent)extent, with sales to small-to-mid-sizedsmaller entities. These risks include:

 

Large enterprises and medium-sized businesses, service providers and government organizations often undertake a significant evaluation process that results in a lengthy sales cycle, in some cases overlonger than 12 months. Although we have a channel sales model, our sales representatives typically engage in direct interaction with end-customers, along with our distributors and resellers, in connection with sales to largerlarge and medium-sized end-customers. Due to the lengthy nature, the size and scope, and stringent requirements of these evaluations, we typically provide evaluation products to these customers. We may spend substantial time, effort and money in our sales efforts without being successful in producing any sales. If we are unsuccessful in converting these evaluations into sales, we may experience an increased inventory of used products and potentially increased write-offs. In addition, product purchases by large enterprises and medium-sized businesses, service providers and government organizations are frequently subject to budget constraints, multiple approvals and unplanned administrative, processing and other delays. Furthermore, service providers represent our largest industry vertical and consolidation or changes in buying behavior by larger customers within this industry could negatively impact our business. Enterprises,Large enterprises and medium-sized businesses, service providers and government organizations typically have longer

Managing our inventory is complex. Our channel partners may increase orders during periods of product shortages, cancel orders or not place orders commensurate with our expectations if their inventory is too high, return products or take advantage of price protection (if any is available to the particular partner), or delay orders in anticipation of new products. Theyproducts, and accurately forecasting inventory requirements and demand can be challenging. Our channel partners also may adjust their

 

In addition, for those channel partners that have rights of return, inventory held by such channel partners affects our results of operations. Our inventory management systems and related supply chain visibility tools may be inadequate to enable us to effectively manage inventory. Inventory management remains an area of focus as we balance the need to maintain inventory levels that are sufficient to ensure competitive lead times against the risk of inventory obsolescence because of rapidly changing technology and customer requirements.requirements, or excess inventory levels. If we ultimately determine that we have excess inventory, we may have to reduce our prices and write-down inventory, which in turn could result in lower gross margins. Alternatively, insufficient inventory levels may lead to shortages that result in delayed revenue or loss of sales opportunities altogether as potential end-customers turn to competitors’ products that are readily available. For example, we have in the past experienced inventory shortages and excesses due to morethe variance in demand for certain products than we had forecasted.from forecasted amounts. If we are unable to effectively manage our inventory and that of our channel partners, our results of operations could be adversely affected.

Our future performance depends on the continued services and continuing contributions of our senior management to execute on our business plan, and to identify and pursue new opportunities and product innovations. The loss of services of members of senior management, particularly Ken Xie, our Co-founderCo-Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and Michael Xie, our Co-founder,Co-Founder, President and Chief Technology Officer, and any of our senior sales leaders or functional area leaders, could significantly delay or prevent the achievement of our development and strategic objectives. The loss of the services, or distraction, of our senior management for any reason could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our future success depends, in part, on our ability to continue to attract and retain highly skilled personnel. The loss of the services of any of our key personnel, the inability to attract or retain qualified personnel, or delays in hiring required personnel, particularly in engineering, sales and sales,marketing, may seriously harm our business, financial condition and results of operations. From time to time, we experience turnover in our management-level personnel. None of our key employees has an employment agreement for a specific term, and any of our employees may terminate their employment at any time. Our ability to continue to attract and retain highly skilled personnel will be critical to our future success. Competition for highly-skilled personnel is frequently intense, especially for qualified employees in network security and especially in the locations where we have a substantial presence and need for highly-skilled personnel, such as the San Francisco Bay Area and Vancouver, Canada. We may not be successful in attracting, assimilating or retaining qualified personnel to fulfill our current or future needs. Also, to the extent we hire personnel from competitors, we may be subject to allegations that they have been improperly solicited or divulged proprietary or other confidential information. Changes in immigration laws, including changes to the rules regarding H1-B visas, may also harm our ability to attract personnel from other countries.

The average sales prices for our products and services may decline for a variety of reasons, including competitive pricing pressures, discounts or promotional programs we offer, a change in our mix of products and services and anticipation of the introduction of new products or promotional programs.and services. Competition continues to increase in the market segments in which we participate, and we expect competition to further increase in the future, thereby leading to increased pricing pressures. Larger competitors with more diverse product offerings

Increased market awareness of our capabilities and products and increased lead generation are essential to our continued growth and our success in all of our markets, particularly for the large enterprise, service provider and government organization market. We have historically had relatively low spending on certain marketing activities. While we have recently been increasingincreased our investments in sales and marketing, it is not clear that these investments will continue to result in increased revenues.revenue. If our investments in additional sales personnel or if our marketing programs are not successful in continuing to create market awareness of our company and products and increased lead generation, or if we experience turnover and disruption in our sales and marketing teams, we will not be able to achieve sustained growth, and our business, financial condition and results of operations will be adversely affected, and we will not be able to achieve sustained growth.affected.

SubstantiallyA significant portion of our sales is generated through a limited number of distributors, and substantially all of our revenue is generated through sales by our channel partners, which includeincluding distributors and resellers. We depend upon our channel partners to generate a significant portion of our sales opportunities and manage the sales process. To the extent our channel partners are unsuccessful in selling our products, or we are unable to enter into arrangements with and retain a sufficient number of high qualityhigh-quality channel partners in each of the regions in which we sell products, and if we are unable to keep them motivated to sell our products, our ability to sell our products and operating results will be harmed. The termination of our relationship with any significant channel partner may adversely impact our sales and operating results.

We provide sales channel partners with specific programs to assist them in selling our products and incentivize them to sell our products, but there can be no assurance that these programs will be effective. In addition, our channel partners may be unsuccessful in marketing, selling and supporting our products and services and may purchase more inventory than they can sell. Our channel partners generally do not have minimum purchase requirements. Some of our channel partners may have insufficient financial resources to withstand changes and challenges in business conditions. In addition, if our channel partners’ financial condition or operations weaken it could negatively impact their ability to sell our product and services. TheyOur channel partners may also market, sell and support products and services that are competitive with ours, and may devote more resources to the marketing, sales and support of such products. They may also have incentives to promote our competitors’ products to the detriment of our own. Theyown, or they may cease selling our products altogether. We cannot assure youensure that we will retain these channel partners or that we will be able to secure additional or replacement partners or that existing channel partners will continue to perform. The loss of one or more of our significant channel partners or the failure to obtain and ship a number of large orders each quarter through them could harm our operating results. During fiscal 2014, fiscal 2013,2015 and fiscal 2012,2016, Exclusive, Networks Group, which distributed our solutions to a large group of resellers and end-customers, accounted for 15%, 12%,18% and 11%20% of our total revenue, respectively. In addition, any new sales channel partner will require extensive training and may take several months or more to achieve productivity. Our channel partner sales structure could subject us to lawsuits, potential liability and

Because our products and services are complex, they have contained and may contain defects or errors that are not detected until after their commercial release and deployment by our customers. Defects or vulnerabilities may impede or block network traffic, or cause our products or services to be vulnerable to electronic break-ins or cause them to fail to help secure networks. Different customers deploy and use our products in different ways, and certain deployments and usages may subject our products to adverse conditions that may negatively impact the effectiveness and useful lifetime of our products. We cannot ensure that our products will prevent all security threats. Because the techniques used by computer hackers to access or sabotage networks change frequently and generally are not recognized until launched against a target, we may be unable to anticipate these techniques. In addition, defects or errors in our FortiGuard security subscription updates or our FortiGate appliances could result in a failure of our FortiGuard security subscription services to effectively update end-customers’ FortiGate appliances and thereby leave customers vulnerable to attacks. Furthermore, our solutions may also fail to detect or prevent viruses, worms or similar threats due to a number of reasons such as the evolving nature of such threats and the continual emergence of new threats that we may fail to add to our FortiGuard databases in time to protect our end-customers’ networks. Our FortiGuard or FortiCare data centers and networks may also experience technical failures and downtime, and may fail to distribute appropriate updates, or fail to meet the increased requirements of our customer base. Any such technical failure, downtime or failures in general may temporarily or permanently expose our end-customers’ networks, leaving their networks unprotected against the latest security threats.

 

An actual, possible or perceived security breach or infection of the network of one of our end-customers, regardless of whether the breach is attributable to the failure of our products or services to prevent the security breach, could adversely affect the market’s perception of our security products and services and, in some instances, subject us to potential liability that is not contractually limited. We may not be able to correct any security flaws or vulnerabilities promptly, or at all. Our products may also be misused by end-customers or third parties who obtain access to our products. For example, our products could be used to censor private access to certain information on the Internet. Such use of our products for censorship could result in negative press coverage and negatively affect our reputation, even if we take reasonable measures to prevent any improper shipment of our products or if our products are provided by an unauthorized third-party. Any actual, possible or perceived defects, errors or vulnerabilities in our products, or misuse of our products, could result in:

 

To manage any future growth effectively, we must continue to improve and expand our information technology and financial, infrastructure, operating and administrative systems and controls, and continue to manage headcount, capital and processes in an efficient manner. We may not be able to successfully implement requisite improvements to these systems, controls and processes, such as system capacity, access and change management controls, in a timely or efficient manner. We purchased a new enterprise resource planning system during the second quarter of fiscal 2014. We are in the early stages of implementing the new system and, as a result, we have incurred and will continue to incur additional costs in connection with implementing the system. In addition, we may experience some disruption during the system implementation process. Our failure to improve our systems and processes, or their failure to operate in the intended manner, whether as a result of the significant growth of our business or otherwise, may result in our inability to manage the growth of our business and to accurately forecast our revenue, expenses and earnings, or to prevent certain losses. Moreover, the failure of our systems and processes could undermine our ability to provide accurate, timely and reliable reports on our financial and operating results and could impact the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. In addition, our systems and processes may not prevent or detect all errors, omissions or fraud. Our productivity and the quality of our products and services may also be adversely affected if we do not integrate and train our new employees quickly and effectively. Any future growth would add complexity to our organization and require effective coordination throughout our organization. Failure to manage any future growth effectively could result in increased costs and harm our results of operations.

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes. We base our estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances, as provided in “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Our operating results may be adversely affected if our assumptions change or if actual circumstances differ from those in our assumptions, which could cause our operating results to fall below the expectations of securities analysts and investors, resulting in a decline in our stock price. Significant assumptions and estimates used in preparing our consolidated financial statements include those related to revenue recognition and sales return reserves, stock-based compensation expense, valuation of inventory, warranty liabilities,investments, accounting for business combination, goodwill and other long-lived assets, investments,restructuring, accounting for income taxes, and litigation and settlement costs and other loss contingencies, sales returns and allowances, reserve for bad debt, and the accounting for business combinations.costs.

We provide certain of our major distributors with price protection rights for inventories of our products held by them. If we reduce the list price of our products, certain distributors receive refunds or credits from us that reduce the price of such products held in their inventory based upon the new list price. Future credits for price protection will depend on the percentage of our price reductions for the products in inventory and our ability to manage the levels of our major distributors’ inventories. If future price protection adjustments are higher than expected, our future results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

We outsource the manufacturing of our security appliance products to a variety of contract manufacturing partners and original design manufacturing partners.

 

These manufacturers fulfill our supply requirements on the basis of individual purchase orders. We have no long-term contracts or arrangements with certain of our third-party manufacturers that guarantee capacity, the continuation of particular payment terms or the extension of credit limits. Accordingly, they are not obligated to continue to fulfill our supply requirements, and the prices we are charged for manufacturing services could be increased on short notice. If we are required to change third-party manufacturers, our ability to meet our scheduled product deliveries to our customers would be adversely affected, which could cause the loss of sales and existing or potential customers, delayed revenue or an increase in our costs, which could adversely affect our gross margins. Our individual product lines are generally manufactured by only one manufacturing partner. Any production or shipping interruptions for any reason, such as a natural disaster, epidemic, capacity shortages, quality problems, or strike or other labor disruption at one of our manufacturing partners or locations or at shipping ports or locations, would severely affect sales of our product lines manufactured by that manufacturing partner. Furthermore, manufacturing cost increases for any reason could result in lower gross margins.

Our proprietary FortiASIC,SPU, which is the key to the performance of our appliances, is fabricated by contract manufacturers in foundries operated by UMC and TSMC. Faraday (using UMC’s foundry), K-Micro (using TSMC’s foundry) and Renesas (using UMC’s foundry) manufacture our ASICsTSMC on a purchase order basis, and UMC and TSMC do not guarantee any capacity and

In addition, our reliance on third-party manufacturers and foundries limits our control over environmental regulatory requirements such as the hazardous substance content of our products and therefore our ability to ensure compliance with the European Union’s (“EU”) Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive (“RoHS”) adopted in the European Union (the “EU”) and other similar laws. It also exposes us to the risk that certain minerals and metals, known as “conflict minerals,” that are contained in our products have originated in the Democratic Republic of the Congo or an adjoining country. As a result of the passage of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (“Dodd-Frank”), the SEC adopted new disclosure requirements for public companies whose products contain conflict minerals that are necessary to the functionality or production of such products. Under these rules, we are required to obtain sourcing data from suppliers, perform supply chain due diligence, and file annually with the SEC a specialized disclosure report on Form SD covering the prior calendar year. We have incurred and expect to incur additional costs to comply with the rules, including costs related to the determination of the origin, source and chain of custody of the conflict minerals used in our products and the adoption of conflict minerals-related governance policies, processes and controls.  Moreover, the implementation of these compliance measures could adversely affect the sourcing, availability and pricing of materials used in the manufacture of our products to the extent that there may be only a limited number of suppliers that are able to meet our sourcing requirements. There can be no assurance that we will be able to obtain such materials in sufficient quantities or at competitive prices. We may also encounter customers who require that all of the components of our products be certified as conflict free.conflict-free. If we are not able to meet customer requirements, such customers may choose to not purchase our products, which could impact our sales and the value of portions of our inventory.

We and our contract manufacturers currently purchase several key parts and components used in the manufacture of our products from limited sources of supply. We are therefore subject to the risk of shortages and long lead times in the supply of these components and the risk that component suppliers discontinue or modify components used in our products. We have in the past experienced, and are currently experiencing, shortages and long lead times for certain components. Certain of our limited source components for particular appliances and suppliers of those components include: specific types of central processing unitsCPUs from Intel, Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., and RMI/Netlogic Corporation, network chips from Broadcom, Corporation, Marvell Technology Group Ltd. and Intel, and hard drivesmemory devices from Intel, ADATA, OCZ, Samsung and Western Digital Technologies, Inc.Digital. The introduction by component suppliers of new versions of their products, particularly if not anticipated by us or our contract manufacturers, could require us to expend significant resources to incorporate these new components into our products. In addition, if these suppliers were to discontinue production of a necessary part or component, we would be required to expend significant resources and time in locating and integrating replacement parts or components from another vendor. Qualifying additional suppliers for limited source parts or components can be time-consuming and expensive.

 

The occurrence of any of these events would be disruptive to us and could seriously harm our business. Any interruption or delay in the supply of any of these parts or components, or the inability to obtain these parts or components from alternate sources at acceptable prices and within a reasonable amount of time, would harm our ability to meet our scheduled product deliveries to our distributors, resellers and end-customers. This could harm our relationships with our channel partners and end-customers and could cause delays in shipment of our products and adversely affect our results of operations. In addition, increased component costs could result in lower gross margins.

A majoritysignificant portion of our operating expenses are incurred outside the United States.U.S. These expenses are denominated in foreign currencies and are subject to fluctuations due to changes in foreign currency exchange rates, particularly changes in the Euro and Canadian dollar. Althoughdollar and, to a lesser extent, the British Pound. Additionally, fluctuations in the exchange rate of the Canadian dollar may negatively impact our real estate purchase and development plans in Vancouver and Ottawa. While we are not currently engaged in material hedging activities, we have been hedging currency exposures relating to certain balance sheet accounts ifthrough the use of forward exchange contracts. If we stop hedging against any of these risks or if our attempts to hedge against these currency exposures are not successful, our financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected. In addition, our sales contracts are primarily denominated in U.S. dollars and therefore, while substantially all of our revenue is not subject to foreign currency risk, it does not serve as a hedge to our foreign currency-denominated operating expenses. In addition, a strengthening of the U.S. dollar couldmay increase the real cost of our products to our customers outside of the United States,U.S., which couldmay also adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations. 

Because we incorporate encryption technology into our products, certain of our products are subject to U.S. export controls and may be exported outside the United StatesU.S. only with the required export license or through an export license exception.exception, and may be prohibited altogether from export to certain countries. If we were to fail to comply with U.S. export licensing,laws, U.S. Customs regulations and import regulations, U.S. economic sanctions and other countries’ import and export laws, we could be subject to substantial civil and criminal penalties, including fines for the company and incarceration for responsible employees and managers, and the possible loss of export or import privileges. In addition, if our channel partners fail to obtain appropriate import, export or re-export licenses or permits (for example, for stocking orders placed by partners as stocking orders for example,our partners), we may also be adversely affected through reputational harm and penalties and we may not be able to provide support related to appliances shipped pursuant to such orders. Obtaining the necessary export license for a particular sale may be time-consuming and may result in the delay or loss of sales opportunities.

Furthermore, U.S. export control laws and economic sanctions prohibit the shipment of certain products to U.S. embargoed or sanctioned countries, governments and persons. Even though we take precautions to prevent our product from being shipped to U.S. sanctions targets, our products could be shipped to those targets by our channel partners, despite such precautions. Any such shipment could have negative consequences including government investigations and penalties and reputational harm. In addition, various countries regulate the import of certain encryption technology, including import permitting/permitting and licensing requirements, and have enacted laws that could limit our ability to distribute our products or could limit our customers’ ability to implement our products in those countries. Changes in our products or changes in export and import regulations may create delays in the introduction of our products in international markets, prevent our customers with

 

The EU RoHS and the similar laws of other jurisdictions ban the use of certain hazardous materials such as lead, mercury and cadmium in the manufacture of electrical equipment, including our products. We have incurred costs to comply with these laws, including research and development costs, costs associated with assuring the supply of compliant components and costs associated with writing off noncompliant inventory. We expect to continue to incur costs related to environmental laws and regulations in the future. With respect to the EU RoHS, we and our competitors rely on an exemption for lead in network infrastructure equipment. It is possible this exemption will be revoked in the near future. If this exemption is revoked, if there are other changes to these laws (or their interpretation) or if new similar laws are passed in other jurisdictions, we may be required to reengineer our products to use components compatible with these regulations. This reengineering and component substitution could result in additional costs to us or disrupt our operations or logistics.

 

The EU has also adopted the WEEE Directive, which requires electronic goods producers to be responsible for the collection, recycling and treatment of such products. Although currently our EU international channel partners are responsible for the requirements of this directive as the importer of record in most of the European countries in which we sell our products, changes in interpretation of the regulations may cause us to incur costs or have additional regulatory requirements in the future to meet in order to comply with this directive, or with any similar laws adopted in other jurisdictions.

 

Our failure to comply with these and future environmental rules and regulations could result in reduced sales of our products, increased costs, substantial product inventory write-offs, reputational damage, penalties and other sanctions.

Sales to U.S. and foreign federal, state and local governmental agency end-customers have accounted for a portion of our revenue in past periods, and we may in the future increase sales to government organizations. Sales to government organizations are subject to a number of risks. Selling to government organizations can be highly competitive, expensive and time consuming, often requiring significant upfront time and expense, with long sales cycles and without any assurance that we will winof winning a sale.

Government demand, sales and payment for our products and services may be negatively impacted by numerous factors and requirements unique to selling to government agencies, such as:

The rules and regulations applicable to sales to government organizations may also negatively impact sales to other organizations. To date, we have had limited traction in sales to U.S. federal government agencies, and any future sales to government organizations is uncertain. All of our sales to government organizations have been made indirectly through our distribution channel. Government organizations may have contractual or other legal rights to terminate contracts with our distributors and resellers for convenience or due to a default, and any such termination may adversely impact our future results of operations. For example, if the distributor receives a significant portion of its revenue from sales to such government organization, the financial health of the distributor could be substantially harmed, which could negatively affect our future sales to such distributor. Governments routinely investigate and audit government contractors’ administrative processes, and any unfavorable audit could result in the government refusing to continue buying our products and services, a reduction of revenue or fines or civil or criminal liability if the audit uncovers improper or illegal activities. Any such penalties could adversely impact our results of operations in a material way. Finally, purchases by the U.S. government may require certain products to be manufactured in the United StatesU.S. and other high cost manufacturing locations, and we may not manufacture all products in locations that meet the requirements of the U.S. government.

 

Our antivirus and our intrusion prevention services may falsely detect viruses or other threats that do not actually exist. This risk is heightened by the inclusion of a “heuristics” feature in our products, which attempts to identify viruses and

We will not succeed unlessOur success depends on the marketplace is confident that wemarket’s confidence in our ability to provide effective network security protection. BecauseDespite our efforts and processes to prevent breaches of our internal network system and website, we are still vulnerable to computer viruses, break-ins, phishing attacks, attempts to overload our servers with denial-of-service and other cyber-attacks and similar disruptions from unauthorized access to our internal network system or our website. Our security measures may also be breached due to employee error, malfeasance or otherwise, and third parties may attempt to fraudulently induce our employees to transfer funds or disclose information in order to gain access to our network and confidential information. We cannot guarantee that the measures we have taken to protect our network and website will provide absolute security. Moreover, because we provide network security products, we may be a more attractive target for attacks by computer hackers. Although we have not yet experienced significant damages from unauthorized access by a third party of our internal network ifor website, an actual or perceived breach of network security occurs in our internal systems itor website could adversely affect the market perception of our products and services. In addition, such a securityservices and investor confidence in our company. Any breach of our network system or website could impair our ability to operate our business, including our ability to provide FortiGuard security subscription and FortiCare technical support services to our end-customers. If this happens, our revenueend-customers, lead to interruptions or system slowdowns, cause loss of critical data, or lead to the unauthorized disclosure or use of confidential, proprietary or sensitive information. We could declinealso be subject to liability and litigation and reputational harm and our channel partners and end-customers may be harmed, lose confidence in us and decrease or cease using our products and services. Any breach of our internal network system or our website could have an adverse effect on our business, could suffer.operating results and stock price.

Once our products are deployed within our end-customers’ networks, our end-customers depend on our technical support services, as well as the support of our channel partners and other third parties, to resolve any issues relating to our products. If we, or our channel partners or other third parties do not effectively assist our customers in deploying our products, succeed in helping our customers quickly resolve post-deployment issues and provide effective ongoing support, our ability to sell additional products and services to existing customers would be adversely affected and our reputation with potential customers could be damaged. Many large end-customers, service provider and government organization end-customers require higher levels of support than smaller end-customers because of their more complex deployments. If we, our channel partners or other third parties fail to meet the requirements of our larger end-customers, it may be more difficult to execute on our strategy to increase our penetration with large enterprises, service providers and government organizations. As a result, our failure to maintain high quality support services would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

 

Significant judgment is required to determine the recognition and measurement attribute prescribed in the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) standard. In addition, the standard applies to all income tax positions, including the potential recovery of previously paid taxes, which, if settled unfavorably, could adversely impact our provision for income taxes or additional paid-in capital. Further, as a result of certain of our ongoing employment and capital investment actions and commitments, our income in certain foreign countries is subject to reduced tax rates and, in some cases, is wholly exempt from tax. Our failure to meet these commitments could adversely impact our provision for income taxes. In addition, we are subject to the examination of our income tax returns by the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) and other tax authorities. Tax authorities in France are currently examining the inter-company relationship between Fortinet, Inc., Fortinet France and Fortinet Singapore. We are in the early stages of this inquiry and as of yet no official audit has been opened. We regularly assess the likelihood of adverse outcomes resulting from such examinations to determine the adequacy of our provision for income taxes.

Although we currently do not have a valuation allowance, we may in the future be required to establish one. We will continue to assess the need for a valuation allowance on the deferred tax asset by evaluating both positive and negative evidence that may exist.

Forecasts of our income tax position and effective tax rate are complex, subject to uncertainty and periodic updates because our income tax position for each year combines the effects of a mix of profits earned and losses incurred by us in various tax jurisdictions with a broad range of income tax rates, as well as changes in the valuation of deferred tax assets and liabilities, the impact of various accounting rules and changes to these rules and tax laws, the results of examinations by various tax authorities, and the impact of any acquisition, business combination or other reorganization or financing transaction. To forecast our global tax rate, we estimate our pre-tax profits and losses by jurisdiction and forecast our tax expense by

 

As a multinational corporation, we conduct our business in many countries and are subject to taxation in many jurisdictions. The taxation of our business is subject to the application of multiple and sometimes conflicting tax laws and regulations, as well as multinational tax conventions. Our effective tax rate is highly dependent upon the geographic distribution of our worldwide earnings or losses, the tax regulations and tax holidays in each geographic region, the availability of tax credits and carryforwards, and the effectiveness of our tax planning strategies. The application of tax laws and regulations is subject to legal and factual interpretation, judgment and uncertainty. Tax laws themselves are subject to change as a result of changes in fiscal policy, changes in legislation, and the evolution of regulations and court rulings. Consequently, taxing authorities may impose tax assessments or judgments against us that could materially impact our tax liability and/or our effective income tax rate.

 

In addition, we may beare subject to examination of our income tax returns by the IRS and other tax authorities. If tax authorities challenge the relative mix of U.S. and international income, our future effective income tax rates could be adversely affected. While we regularly assess the likelihood of adverse outcomes from such examinations and the adequacy of our provision for income taxes, there can be no assurance that such provision is sufficient and that a determination by a tax authority will not have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

In order to remain competitive, we may seek to acquire additional businesses, products, or technologies and intellectual property, such as patents. IfFor example, we identify an appropriateclosed our acquisitions of Meru and AccelOps in the third quarter of 2015 and the second quarter of 2016, respectively. For any past acquisition candidate,or possible future acquisition, we may not be successful in negotiating the terms of the acquisition, financing the acquisition, or effectively integrating the acquired business, product, technology or intellectual property and sales force into our existing business and operations. We may have difficulty incorporating acquired technologies, intellectual property or products with our existing product lines, integrating reporting systems and procedures, and maintaining uniform standards, controls, procedures and policies. For example, we may experience difficulties integrating an acquired company’s ERP system, sales and support processes and systems, and other processes and systems with our current systems and processes. Our due diligence may fail to identify all of the problems, liabilities or other shortcomings or challenges of an acquired business, product or technology, including issues with intellectual property, product quality or product architecture, regulatory compliance practices, revenue recognition or other accounting practices or employee or customer issues, and we may not accurately forecast the financial impact of an acquisition. In addition, any acquisitions we are able to complete may be dilutive to revenue growth and earnings and may not result in any synergies or other benefits we had expected to achieve, which could result in impairment charges that could be substantial. For example,We may have to pay cash, incur debt, or issue equity securities to pay for any acquisition, each of which could affect our financial condition or the value of our capital stock and could result in the second quarter of 2014, we recognized an impairment charge of $2.4 million for intangible assets fromdilution to our acquisition of Coyote Point Systems, Inc.stockholders. Acquisitions during a quarter may result in increased operating expenses and adversely affect our results of operations for that period or future periods compared to the results that we have previously forecasted or achieved. Further, completing a potential acquisition and integrating acquired businesses, products, technologies or intellectual property could significantly divert management time and resources.

Our products are very complex and, despite testing prior to their release, have contained and may contain undetected defects or errors, especially when first introduced or when new versions are released. Product errors have affected the performance of our products and could delay the development or release of new products or new versions of products, adversely affect our reputation and our end-customers’ willingness to buy products from us, and adversely affect market acceptance or perception of our products. Any such errors or delays in releasing new products or new versions of products or allegations of unsatisfactory performance could cause us to lose revenue or market share, increase our service costs, cause us to incur substantial costs in redesigning the products, cause us to lose significant end-customers, subject us to liability for damages and divert our resources from other tasks, any one of which could materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition. Our products must successfully interoperate with products from other vendors. As a result, when problems occur in a network, it may be difficult to identify the sources of these problems. The occurrence of hardware and software errors, whether or not caused by our products, could delay or reduce market acceptance of our products,

 

Although we generally have limitation of liability provisions in our standard terms and conditions of sale, they may not fully or effectively protect us from claims as a result of federal, state or local laws or ordinances or unfavorable judicial decisions in the

A significant natural disaster, such as an earthquake, fire, power outages, floods,outage, flood, or other catastrophic eventsevent could have a material adverse impact on our business, operating results and financial condition. Our corporate headquarters are located in the San Francisco Bay Area, a region known for seismic activity, and our research and development and data office center in Vancouver, Canada is subject to the risk of flooding and is also in a region known for seismic activity. In addition, natural disasters could affect our manufacturing vendors, suppliers or logistics providers’ ability to perform services, such as obtaining product components and manufacturing products, on a timely basis andor assisting with shipments, on a timely basis.basis, as well as our customers’ ability to order from us and our employees’ ability to perform their duties. In the event our or our service providers’ information technology systems or manufacturing or logistics abilities are hindered by any of the events discussed above, shipments could be delayed, resulting in usour missing financial targets, such as revenue and shipment targets, for a particular quarter. In addition, regional instability, civil unrest, labor disruptions, acts of terrorism and other geo-political unrest could cause disruptions in our business or the business of our manufacturers, logistics providers, partners or end-customers, or of the economy as a whole. For example, recently, ports in the west coast of the United States have experienced work slowdowns related to ongoing union labor contract negotiations. Given our typical concentration of sales at the end of each quarter, end, any disruption in the business of our manufacturers, logistics providers, partners or end-customers that impacts sales at the end of our quarter could have a significant adverse impact on our quarterly results. To the extent that any of the above results in delays or cancellations of customer orders, or in the delay inof the manufacture, deployment or shipment of our products, our business, financial condition and results of operations would be adversely affected.

The network security market is expected to continue to evolve rapidly. Moreover, many of our end-customers operate in markets characterized by rapidly changing technologies and business plans, which require them to add numerous network access points and adapt increasingly complex enterprise networks, incorporating a variety of hardware, software applications, operating systems and networking protocols. In addition, computer hackers and others who try to attack networks employ increasingly sophisticated techniques to gain access to and attack systems and networks. The technology in our products is especially complex because it needs to effectively identify and respond to new and increasingly sophisticated methods of attack, while minimizing the impact on network performance. Additionally, some of our new products and enhancements may require us to develop new hardware architectures and ASICs that involve complex, expensive and time consuming research and development processes. Although the market expects rapid introduction of new products or product enhancements to respond to new threats, the development of these products is difficult and the timetable for commercial release and availability is uncertain and there can be long time periods between releases and availability of new products. We have in the past and may in the future experience unanticipated delays in the availability of new products and services and fail to meet previously announced timetables for such availability. If we do not quickly respond to the rapidly changing and rigorous needs of our end-customers by developing and releasing and making available on a timely basis new products and services or enhancements that can respond adequately to new security threats, our competitive position and business prospects will be harmed.

 

The success of our web filtering service depends on the breadth and accuracy of our URL database. Although our URL database currently catalogs millions of unique URLs, it contains only a portion of the URLs for all of the websites that are available on the Internet. In addition, the total number of URLs and software applications is growing rapidly, and we expect this rapid growth to continue in the future. Accordingly, we must identify and categorize content for our security risk categories at an extremely rapid rate. Our database and technologies may not be able to keep pace with the growth in the number of websites, especially the growing amount of content utilizing foreign languages and the increasing sophistication of malicious code and the delivery mechanisms associated with spyware, phishing and other hazards associated with the Internet. Further,

 

In addition, our web filtering service may not be successful in accurately categorizing Internet and application content to meet our end-customers’ expectations. We rely upon a combination of automated filtering technology and human review to categorize websites and software applications in our proprietary databases. Our end-customers may not agree with our determinations that particular URLs should be included or not included in specific categories of our databases. In addition, it is possible that our filtering processes may place material that is objectionable or that presents a security risk in categories that are generally unrestricted by our customers’ Internet and computer access policies, which could result in such material not being blocked from the network. Conversely, we may miscategorize websites such that access is denied to websites containing information that is important or valuable to our customers. Any miscategorization could result in customer dissatisfaction and harm our reputation. Any failure to effectively categorize and filter websites according to our end-customers’ and channel partners’ expectations could impair the growth of our business.

We spend substantial amounts of time and money to research and develop new products and enhanced versions of our existing products in order to incorporate additional features, improved functionality or other enhancements in order to meet our customers’ rapidly evolving demands for network security in our highly competitive industry. When we develop a new product or an enhanced version of an existing product, we typically incur expenses and expend resources upfront to market, promote and sell the new offering. Therefore, when we develop and introduce new or enhanced products, they must achieve high levels of market acceptance in order to justify the amount of our investment in developing and bringing them to market.

 

Our new products or product enhancements could fail to attain sufficient market acceptance for many reasons, including:

 

If our new products or enhancements do not achieve adequate acceptance in the market, our competitive position will be impaired, our revenue will be diminished and the effect on our operating results may be particularly acute because of the significant research, development, marketing, sales and other expenses we incurred in connection with the new product or enhancement.

Sales of mostmany of our products depend on increased demand for incorporating broad security functionality in one appliance. If the market for these products fails to grow as we anticipate, our business will be seriously harmed. Target customers may view “all-in-one” network security solutions as inferior to security solutions from multiple vendors because of, among other things, their perception that such products of ours provide security functions from only a single vendor and do not allow users to choose “best-of-breed” defenses from among the wide range of dedicated security applications available. Target customers might also perceive that, by combining multiple security functions into a single platform, our solutions create a “single point of failure” in their networks, which means that an error, vulnerability or failure of our product may place the entire network at risk. In addition, the market perception that “all-in-one” solutions may be suitable only for smallsmall- and medium sizedmedium-sized businesses because such solution lacks the performance capabilities and functionality of other solutions may harm our sales to large enterprise, service provider and government organization end-customers. If the foregoing concerns and perceptions become prevalent, even if there is no factual basis for these concerns and perceptions, or if other issues arise with our market in general, demand for multi-security functionality products could be severely limited, which would limit our growth and harm our business, financial condition and results of operations. Further, a successful and publicized targeted attack against us, exposing a “single point of failure”failure,” could significantly increase these concerns and perceptions and may harm our business and results of operations.

The market for network security products is intensely competitive, and we expect competition to intensify in the future. Our competitors include companies such as Blue Coat, Check Point, Cisco, Dell/SonicWall, F5 Networks, FireEye, Intel/McAfee,Intel, Juniper, Palo Alto Networks, SonicWALL, Sophos and others.Symantec.

 

Many of our existing and potential competitors enjoy substantial competitive advantages such as:

 

In addition, some of our larger competitors have substantially broader product offerings, and leverage their relationships based on other products or incorporate functionality into existing products in a manner that discourages userscustomers from purchasing our products. These larger competitors often have broader product lines and market focus, and are in a better position to withstand any significant reduction in capital spending by end-customers in these markets. Therefore, these competitors will not be as susceptible to downturns in a particular market. Also, many of our smaller competitors that specialize in providing protection from a single type of network security threat are often able to deliver these specialized network security products to the market more quickly than we can. Some of our smaller competitors are using third-party chips designed to accelerate performance. Conditions in our markets could change rapidly and significantly as a result of technological advancements or continuing market consolidation. Our competitors and potential competitors may also be able to develop products or services that are equal or superior to ours, achieve greater market acceptance of their products and services, and increase sales by utilizing different distribution channels than we do. Our current and potential competitors may also establish cooperative relationships among themselves or with third parties that may further enhance their resources. In addition, current or potential competitors may be acquired by third parties with greater available resources, (such as Juniper’s acquisition of NetScreen Technologies Inc., Intel’s acquisition of McAfee, McAfee’s acquisition of Stonesoft, Check Point’s acquisition of Nokia Corporations’ security appliance business and Dell’s acquisition of SonicWALL), and new competitors may arise pursuant to acquisitions of network security companies or divisions. As a result of such acquisitions, competition in our market may

 

 

We rely primarily on patent, trademark, copyright and trade secrets laws and confidentiality procedures and contractual provisions to protect our technology. Valid patents may not issue from our pending applications, and the claims eventually allowed on any patents may not be sufficiently broad to protect our technology or products. Any issued patents may be challenged, invalidated or circumvented, and any rights granted under these patents may not actually provide adequate defensive protection or competitive advantages to us. Patent applications in the United StatesU.S. are typically not published until at least 18 months after filing, or, in some cases, not at all, and publications of discoveries in industry-related literature lag behind actual discoveries. We cannot be certain that we were the first to make the inventions claimed in our pending patent applications or that we were the first to file for patent protection. Additionally, the process of obtaining patent protection is expensive and time-consuming, and we may not be able to prosecute all necessary or desirable patent applications at a reasonable cost or in a

 

Despite our efforts to protect our proprietary rights, unauthorized parties may attempt to copy aspects of our products or obtain and use information that we regard as proprietary. We generally enter into confidentiality or license agreements with our employees, consultants, vendors and customers, and generally limit access to and distribution of our proprietary information. However, we cannot assure youguarantee that the steps taken by us will prevent misappropriation of our technology. Policing unauthorized use of our technology or products is difficult. In addition, the laws of some foreign countries do not protect our proprietary rights to as great an extent as the laws of the United States,U.S., and many foreign countries do not enforce these laws as diligently as government agencies and private parties in the United States.U.S. From time to time, legal action by us may be necessary to enforce our patents and other intellectual property rights, to protect our trade secrets, to determine the validity and scope of the proprietary rights of others or to defend against claims of infringement or invalidity. Such litigation could result in substantial costs and diversion of resources and could negatively affect our business, operating results and financial condition. If we are unable to protect our proprietary rights (including aspects of our software and products protected

Our products contain software modules licensed to us by third-party authors under “open source” licenses, including the GNU Public License, the GNU Lesser Public License, (LGPL), the BSD License, the Apache License the MIT X License and others.the Mozilla Public License. From time to time, there have been claims against companies that distribute or use open source software in their products and services, asserting that open source software infringes the claimants’ intellectual property rights. We could be subject to suits by parties claiming infringement of intellectual property rights in what we believe to be licensed open source software. Use and distribution of open source software may entail greater risks than use of third-party commercial software, as open source licensors generally do not provide warranties or other contractual protections regarding infringement claims or the quality of the code. Some open source licenses contain requirements that we make available source code for modifications or derivative works we create based upon the type of open source software we use. If we combine our proprietary software with open source software in a certain manner, we could, under certain open source licenses, be required to release the source code of our proprietary software to the public. This would allow our competitors to create similar products with lower development effort and time and ultimately could result in a loss of product sales for us.

 

Although we monitor our use of open source software to avoid subjecting our products to conditions we do not intend, the terms of many open source licenses have not been interpreted by United StatesU.S. courts, and there is a risk that these licenses could be construed in a way that could impose unanticipated conditions or restrictions on our ability to commercialize our products. In this event, we could be required to seek licenses from third parties to continue offering our products, to make our proprietary code generally available in source code form, our proprietary code, to re-engineer our products or to discontinue the sale of our products if re-engineering could not be accomplished on a timely basis, any of which requirements could adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition.

Patent and other intellectual property disputes are common in the network security industry. Third parties are currently asserting, have asserted and may in the future assert claims of infringement of intellectual property rights against us. They mayhave also assertasserted such claims against our end-customers or channel partners whom we typicallymay indemnify against claims that our products infringe the intellectual property rights of third parties. As the number of products and competitors in our market increases and overlaps occur, infringement claims may increase. Any claim of infringement by a third-party, even those without merit, could cause us to incur substantial costs defending against the claim and could distract our management from our business. In addition, litigation may involve patent holding companies, non-practicing entities or other adverse patent owners who have no relevant product revenue and against whom our own patents may therefore provide little or no deterrence or protection.

 

Although third parties may offer a license to their technology, the terms of any offered license may not be acceptable, and the failure to obtain a license or the costs associated with any license could cause our business, financial condition and results of operations to be materially and adversely affected. In addition, some licenses may be non-exclusive and, therefore, our competitors may have access to the same technology licensed to us.

 

Alternatively, we may be required to develop non-infringing technology, which could require significant time, effort and expense, and may ultimately not be successful. Furthermore, a successful claimant could secure a judgment or we may agree to a settlement that prevents us from distributing certain products or performing certain services or that requires us to pay substantial damages (including treble damages if we are found to have willfully infringed such claimant’s patents or copyrights), royalties or other fees. Any of these events could seriously harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.

From time to time we are subject to lawsuits claiming patent infringement. We are also subject to other litigation in addition to patent infringement claims, such as employment-related litigation and disputes, as well as general commercial litigation, and could become subject to other forms of litigation and disputes, including stockholder litigation. If we are unsuccessful in defending any such claims, our operating results and financial condition and results may be materially and adversely affected. For example, we may be required to pay substantial damages and could be prevented from selling certain of our products. Litigation, with or without merit, could negatively impact our business, reputation and sales in a material fashion.

We have several on-goingongoing patent lawsuits, and, several non-practicing entity patent holding companies have sent us

Many of our products include software or other intellectual property licensed from third parties. It may be necessary in the future to renew licenses relating to various aspects of these products or to seek new licenses for existing or new products. There can be no assurance that the necessary licenses would be available on acceptable terms, if at all. The inability to obtain certain licenses or other rights or to obtain such licenses or rights on favorable terms, or the need to engage in litigation regarding these matters, could result in delays in product releases until equivalent technology can be identified, licensed or developed, if at all, and integrated into our products and may have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results, and financial condition. Moreover, the inclusion in our products of software or other intellectual property licensed from third parties on a nonexclusive basis could limit our ability to differentiate our products from those of our competitors.

The trading market for our common stock will depend in part on the research and reports that securities or industry analysts publish about us or our business. If we do not maintain adequate research coverage or if one or more of the analysts who coverscover us downgrades our stock or publishes inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, our stock price would likelycould decline. If one or more of these analysts ceases coverage of our company or fails to publish reports on us regularly, demand for our stock could decrease, which could cause our stock price and trading volume to decline.

The market price of our common stock ismay be subject to wide fluctuations in response to, among other things, the risk factors described in this periodic report, news about us and our financial results, news about our competitors and their results, and other factors such as rumors or fluctuations in the valuation of companies perceived by investors to be comparable to us, or announcements regarding our shareany stock repurchase programprograms and the timing and amount of shares we purchase under the program.such programs. For example, in fiscal 2014,during 2016, the closing price of our common stock ranged from $19.02$23.83 to $31.31.$37.17 per share.

In the past, many companies that have experienced volatility in the market price of their stock have been subject to securities class action litigation. We may be the target of this type of litigation in the future. Securities litigation against us could result in substantial costs and divert our management’s attention from other business concerns, which could seriously harm our business.

Our certificate of incorporation, bylaws and Delaware law contain provisions that could have the effect of rendering more difficult, delaying or preventing an acquisition deemed undesirable by our board of directors. Our corporate governance documents include provisions:

 

These provisions, alone or together, could delay or prevent hostile takeovers and changes in control or changes in our management.

 

As a Delaware corporation, we are also subject to provisions of Delaware law, including Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation law, which prevents some stockholders holding more than 15% of our outstanding common stock from engaging in certain business combinations without approval of the holders of a substantial majority of all of our outstanding common stock.

 

For information regarding the geographical disbursementlocation of our property and equipment, see Note 14 to our consolidated financial statements in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.