The risk factors that appear below could materially affect our business, financial condition and operating results. The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only risks and uncertainties facing us. Our business is also subject to general risks and uncertainties that affect many other companies. Specific risk factors related to our status as a controlled subsidiary of Dell Technologies Inc. (“Dell”) following Dell’s acquisition of our former majority stockholder EMC Corporation (“EMC”) on September 7, 2016 (the “Dell Acquisition”), including, among other things, the uncertainty arising from the anticipated transaction pursuant to which Dell intends to exchange Dell Class V common stock for Dell Class C common stock or cash or both (the “Dell Class V Transaction”), overlapping business opportunities, Dell’s ability to control certain transactions and resource allocations and related persons transactions with Dell and its other affiliated companies are set forth below under the heading “Risks Related to Our Relationship with Dell.”
Risks Related to Our Business
Our success depends increasingly on customer acceptance of our newer products and services.
Our products and services are primarily based on server virtualization and related compute technologies used for virtualizing on-premises data center servers, which form the foundation for private cloud computing. As the market for server virtualization continues to mature, the rate of growth in license sales of VMware vSphere (“vSphere”) has declined. We are increasingly directing our product development and marketing efforts toward products and services that enable businesses to utilize virtualization as the foundation for private, public and hybrid cloud-based computing and mobile computing, including our vSphere-based software-defined data center (“SDDC”) products such as our vRealize management and automation offerings, VMware vSAN (“vSAN”) storage virtualization offerings, and network virtualization (“NSX”) offerings, as well as our Horizon client virtualization offerings, VMware AirWatch (“AirWatch”) mobile device management offerings and our VMware Cloud on AWS offering, which became available in certain geographies in fiscal 2018. We have also been introducing software-as-a-service (“SaaS”) versions of our on-premises products, including VMware Horizon Suite and certain AirWatch offerings, and are working to extend our SDDC and NSX offerings and management software into the public cloud and to introduce cloud products and services by investing in cloud and SaaS initiatives and partnering with public cloud providers such as Amazon Web Services (“AWS”) and IBM. These initiatives present new and difficult technological and compliance challenges, and significant investments will be required to develop or acquire solutions to address those challenges. Our success depends on our current and future customers perceiving technological and operational benefits and cost savings associated with adopting our private and hybrid cloud solutions and our client virtualization and mobile device management solutions. As the market for our server virtualization products continues to mature, and the scale of our business has increased, our rate of revenue growth increasingly depends upon the success of our newer product and service offerings. To the extent that our newer products and services are adopted more slowly than revenue growth in our established server virtualization offerings declines, our revenue growth rates may slow materially or our revenue may decline substantially, we may fail to realize returns on our investments in new initiatives and our operating results could be materially adversely affected.
A significant decrease in demand for our server virtualization products would adversely affect our operating results.
A significant portion of our revenue is derived, and will for the foreseeable future continue to be derived, from our server virtualization products. As more businesses achieve high levels of virtualization in their data centers, the market for our vSphere product continues to mature. Additionally, as businesses increasingly utilize public cloud and SaaS-based offerings, they are building more of their new compute workloads off-premises and are increasingly shifting some of their existing and many of their new workloads to public cloud providers, thereby limiting growth, and potentially reducing, the market for on-premises deployments of vSphere. Although sales of vSphere have declined as a portion of our overall business, and we expect this trend to continue, vSphere remains key to our future growth, as it serves as the foundation for our newer SDDC, network virtualization and our newer cloud and SaaS offerings. Although we have launched, and are continuing to develop products to extend our vSphere-based SDDC offerings to the public cloud, due to our product concentration a significant decrease in demand for our server virtualization products would adversely affect our operating results.
We face intense competition that could adversely affect our operating results.
The virtualization, cloud computing, end-user computing and software-defined data center industries are interrelated and rapidly evolving, and we face intense competition across all the markets for our products and services. Many of our current or potential competitors have longer operating histories, greater name recognition, larger customer bases and significantly greater financial, technical, sales, marketing and other resources than we do. Additionally, the adoption of public cloud, micro-services, containers, and open source technologies has the potential to erode our profitability.
We face competition from, among others:
Providers of public cloud infrastructure and SaaS-based offerings.
As businesses increasingly utilize public cloud and SaaS-based offerings, they are building more of their new compute workloads off-premises and may also shift some of their existing workloads. As a result, the demand for on-premises information technology (“IT”) resources is expected to slow, and our products and services will need to increasingly compete for customers’ IT workloads with off-premises public cloud and SaaS-based offerings. If our private, hybrid and public cloud products and services fail to address evolving customer requirements, the demand for VMware’s virtualization products and services may decline, and we could experience lower growth. Additionally, VMware Cloud Provider Program (“VCPP”) offerings from our partners may compete directly with infrastructure-as-a-service (“IaaS”) offerings from various public cloud providers such as AWS and Microsoft. In fiscal 2018, we made VMware Cloud on AWS, a strategic alliance with AWS to deliver a vSphere-based cloud service running in AWS data centers, available in certain geographies. Our strategic alliance with Amazon may also be seen as competitive with VCPP offerings and adversely affect our relationship with VCPP partners, while some VCPP partners may elect to include VMware Cloud on AWS as part of their managed services provider offerings.
Large, diversified enterprise software and hardware companies
. These competitors supply a wide variety of products and services to, and have well-established relationships with, our current and prospective end users. For example, small- to medium-sized businesses and companies in emerging markets that are evaluating the adoption of virtualization-based technologies and solutions may be inclined to consider Microsoft solutions because of their existing use of Windows and Office products. Some of these competitors have in the past and may in the future take advantage of their existing relationships to engage in business practices that make our products and services less attractive to our end users. Other competitors have limited or denied support for their applications running in VMware virtualization environments. In addition, these competitors could integrate competitive capabilities into their existing products and services and make them available without additional charge. For example, Oracle provides free server virtualization software intended to support Oracle and non-Oracle applications, Microsoft offers its own server, network, and storage virtualization software packaged with its Windows Server product as well as built-in virtualization in the client version of Windows and Cisco includes network virtualization technology in many of their data center networking platforms. As a result, existing and prospective VMware customers may elect to use products that are perceived to be “free” or “very low cost” instead of purchasing VMware products and services for certain applications where they do not believe that more advanced and robust capabilities are required.
Companies offering competing platforms based on open source technologies
. Open source technologies for virtualization, containerization and cloud platforms such as Xen, KVM, Docker, rkt, OpenShift, Mesos, Kubernetes and OpenStack appear to provide pricing competition and enable competing vendors to leverage these open source technologies to compete directly with our SDDC initiative. Enterprises and service providers have shown interest in building their own clouds based on open source projects such as OpenStack, and other companies have indicated their intention to expand offerings of virtual management and cloud computing solutions as well. Additionally, a number of enterprise IT hardware vendors have released solutions based on OpenStack, including IBM and Cisco. VMware is delivering container technologies such as Pivotal Container Services, which we co-developed and market in partnership with Pivotal Software, Inc. (“Pivotal”), and vSphere Integrated Containers that are designed to help customers adopt micro-services architectures. The adoption of distributed micro-service application architectures, and their alignment with container technologies, represents an emerging area of competition.
Other industry alliances
. Many of our competitors have entered into or extended partnerships or other strategic relationships to offer more comprehensive virtualization and cloud computing solutions than they individually had offered. We expect these trends to continue as companies attempt to strengthen or maintain their positions in the evolving virtualization infrastructure and enterprise IT solutions industry. These alliances may result in more compelling product and service offerings than we offer.
Our partners and members of our developer and technology partner ecosystem
. We face competition from our partners. For example, third parties currently selling our products and services could build and market their own competing products and services or market competing products and services of other vendors. Additionally, as formerly distinct sectors of enterprise IT such as software-based virtualization and hardware-based server, networking and storage solutions converge, we also increasingly compete with companies who are members of our developer and technology partner ecosystem. Consequently, we may find it more difficult to continue to work together productively on other projects, and the advantages we derive from our ecosystem could diminish.
This competition could result in increased pricing pressure and sales and marketing expenses, thereby materially reducing our operating margins, and could also prevent our new products and services from gaining market acceptance, thereby harming our ability to increase, or causing us to lose, market share.
The loss of key management personnel could harm our business.
We depend on the continued services of key management personnel. We generally do not have employment or non-compete agreements with our employees, and, therefore, they could terminate their employment with us at any time without penalty and could pursue employment opportunities with any of our competitors. In addition, we do not maintain any key-person life insurance policies. The loss of key management personnel could harm our business.
Competition for our target employees is intense and costly, and we may not be able to attract and retain highly skilled employees.
To execute on our strategy, we must continue to attract and retain highly qualified personnel. Competition for these personnel is intense, especially for senior sales executives and engineers with significant experience designing and developing software and cloud offerings. We may not be successful in attracting and retaining qualified personnel. We have in the past experienced, and we expect to continue to experience in the future, difficulty in hiring and retaining highly skilled employees with appropriate qualifications. Many of the companies with which we compete for experienced personnel have greater resources than we have. Research and development personnel are also aggressively recruited by startup and emerging growth companies, which are especially active in many of the technical areas and geographic regions in which we conduct product and service development. Competition for our key personnel results in increased costs in the form of cash and stock-based compensation and can have a dilutive impact on our stock. Additionally, changes in immigration and work permit laws and regulations or the administration or interpretation of such laws or regulations could impair our ability to attract and retain highly qualified employees. If we fail to attract new personnel or fail to retain and motivate our current personnel, our business and future growth prospects could suffer.
The final impact of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act on our tax liabilities is highly uncertain, may differ substantially from our provisional estimates and may adversely impact our operating results.
The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “2017 Tax Act”), enacted on December 22, 2017, significantly affects United States (“U.S.”) tax law by changing how the U.S. imposes income tax on multinational corporations. The U.S. Department of Treasury has broad authority to issue regulations and interpretative guidance that may significantly impact how we will apply the law and impact our results of operations.
The 2017 Tax Act requires complex computations to be performed that were not previously required in U.S. tax law, significant judgments to be made in interpretation of the provisions of the 2017 Tax Act, significant estimates in calculations, and the preparation and analysis of information not previously relevant or regularly produced. The 2017 Tax Act also imposes additional changes in the taxation of consolidated tax groups, such as the consolidated tax group of which Dell is the parent and of which VMware is a member, which we must then interpret in the context of our tax sharing agreement with Dell to determine our actual tax liability. Furthermore, the Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) has yet to issue guidance on certain issues that could be material to us and may not do so prior to the time when our next tax filings are due.
As such, the application of accounting guidance for significant items under the 2017 Tax Act is highly uncertain. Further, the U.S. Treasury Department and other standard-setting bodies will continue to issue guidance and interpret how provisions of the 2017 Tax Act will be administered and applied to specific situations important to us that are different from our interpretations and expectations.
Based upon the guidance issued thus far, including by U.S. tax and accounting authorities and in the form of proposed Treasury regulations, we have provided a provisional estimate of the effect of the 2017 Tax Act in our consolidated financial statements for fiscal 2018 and for fiscal 2019 through the current period. Our analysis, which will be recorded in the period completed, may differ significantly from our current provisional estimates. Furthermore, additional adjustments may become necessary pursuant to any subsequent authoritative guidance issued after such analysis is complete. Accordingly, our final analysis may show that our tax obligations and our effective tax rate are higher than our provisional estimates, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and our operating results.
Adverse economic conditions may harm our business.
Our business depends on the overall demand for IT and on the economic health of our current and prospective customers. The purchase of our products and services is often discretionary and may involve a significant commitment of capital and other resources. Weak economic conditions or significant uncertainty regarding the stability of financial markets could adversely impact our business, financial condition and operating results in a number of ways, including by lengthening sales cycles, affecting the size of enterprise agreements (“EAs”) that customers will commit to, reducing the level of our non-EA transactional sales, lowering prices for our products and services, reducing unit sales and reducing the rate of adoption of our
products and services by new customers and the willingness of current customers to purchase upgrades to our existing products and services. For example, a recurrence of the sovereign debt crisis in Europe, repercussions from the United Kingdom’s planned exit from the European Union (“EU”) or that region’s failure to sustain its recovery from recession would threaten to suppress demand and our customers’ access to credit in that region which is an important market for our products and services. In response to sustained economic uncertainty, many national and local governments that are current or prospective customers for our products and services, including the U.S. federal government, have made, or threatened to make, significant spending cutbacks which could reduce the amount of government spending on IT and the potential demand for our products and services from the government sector.
Regional economic uncertainty can also result in general and ongoing tightening in the credit markets, lower levels of liquidity, increases in the rates of default and bankruptcy and significant volatility in the credit, equity and fixed income markets. Changes in governmental fiscal, monetary and tax policies may also impact interest rates on credit and debt, which have been at relatively low levels for several years. As a result, current or potential customers may be unable to fund software purchases, which could cause them to delay, decrease or cancel purchases of our products and services. Increases in our cost of borrowing could also impact our ability to access capital markets should we wish to raise additional funding for business investments, which could adversely affect our ability to repay or refinance our outstanding indebtedness, fund future product development and acquisitions or conduct stock buybacks.
We may not be able to respond to rapid technological changes with new solutions and services offerings.
The virtualization, cloud computing, end-user computing and SDDC industries are characterized by rapid technological change, changing customer needs, frequent new software product introductions and evolving industry standards. The introduction of third-party solutions embodying new technologies and the emergence of new industry standards could make our existing and future software solutions obsolete and unmarketable. Cloud computing has proven to be a disruptive technology that is altering the way that businesses consume, manage and provide physical IT resources, applications, data and IT services. We may not be able to establish or sustain our thought leadership in the cloud computing and enterprise software fields, and our customers may not view our products and services as cost effective, innovative and best-of-breed, which could result in a reduction in market share and our inability to command a pricing premium over competitor products and services. We may not be able to develop updated products and services that keep pace with technological developments and emerging industry standards, that address the increasingly sophisticated needs of our customers or that interoperate with new or updated operating systems and hardware devices. We may also fail to adequately anticipate and prepare for the commercialization of emerging technologies such as blockchain and the development of new markets and applications for our technology such as the Internet of Things and “edge” computing and thereby fail to take advantage of new market opportunities or fall behind early movers in those markets.
Our ability to react quickly to new technology trends and customer requirements is negatively impacted by the length of our development cycle for new products and services and product and service enhancements, which has frequently been longer than we originally anticipated. This is due in part to the increasing complexity of our product offerings as we increase their interoperability, and enable and maintain their compatibility with multiple IT resources such as public clouds utilized by our customers, which can significantly increase the development time and effort necessary to achieve the interoperability of our offerings while maintaining product quality. When we release significant new versions of our existing offerings, the complexity of our products may require existing customers to remove and replace prior versions in order to take full advantage of substantial new features and capabilities, which may subdue initial demand for the new versions or, conversely, depress demand for existing versions until the customer is ready to purchase and install the newest release. If we are unable to evolve our solutions and offerings in time to respond to and remain ahead of new technological developments, our ability to retain or increase market share and revenue in the virtualization, cloud computing, end-user computing and SDDC industries could be materially adversely affected. With respect to our SDDC products, if we fail to introduce compelling new features in future upgrades to our vSphere product line, manage the transition to hybrid cloud platforms, develop new or tightly integrate existing applications for our virtualization technology that address customer requirements for integration, automation and management of their IT systems with public cloud resources, overall demand for products and services based on vSphere may decline. Additionally, if we fail to realize returns on investments in our newer SaaS and cloud initiatives, our operating margins and results of operations will be adversely impacted.
Breaches of our cybersecurity systems or the systems of our vendors, partners and suppliers could seriously harm our business.
We increasingly depend upon our IT systems and the IT systems of key SaaS providers to conduct virtually all of our business operations, ranging from our internal operations and product development activities to our marketing and sales efforts and communications with our customers and business partners. Unauthorized parties (which may have included nation states and individuals sponsored by them) have penetrated our network security and our website in the past and such unauthorized parties may do so in the future. Employees or contractors have introduced vulnerabilities in, and enabled the exploitation of, our IT environments in the past and may do so in the future. These cyber-attacks threaten to misappropriate our proprietary
information, cause interruptions of our IT services and commit fraud. Because the techniques used by unauthorized persons to access or sabotage networks change frequently and may not be recognized until launched against a target, we may be unable to anticipate these tactics. Further, if unauthorized access or sabotage remains undetected for an extended period of time, the effects of such breach could be exacerbated. In addition, sophisticated hardware and operating system software and applications that we produce or procure from third parties may contain defects in design or manufacture, including “bugs” and other problems that could unexpectedly interfere with the operation of our systems and processes. Our exposure to cybersecurity threats and negative consequences of cybersecurity breaches will likely increase as our customers conduct more purchase and service transactions online, and as we store increasing amounts of customer data and host or manage parts of customers’ businesses in cloud-based IT environments. Additionally, as we increasingly market the security features in our products, our products may be targeted by computer hackers seeking to compromise product security.
We have also outsourced a number of our business functions to third parties, and we rely upon distributors, resellers, system vendors and systems integrators to sell our products and services. Accordingly, if our cybersecurity systems and those of our contractors, partners and vendors fail to protect against breaches, our ability to conduct our business could be damaged in a number of ways, including:
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sensitive data regarding our business, including intellectual property and other proprietary data, could be stolen;
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our electronic communications systems, including email and other methods, could be disrupted, and our ability to conduct our business operations could be seriously damaged until such systems can be restored and secured;
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our ability to process customer orders and electronically deliver products and services could be degraded, and our distribution channels could be disrupted, resulting in delays in revenue recognition;
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defects and security vulnerabilities could be exploited or introduced into our software products or our hybrid cloud and SaaS offerings and impair or disrupt their availability, thereby damaging the reputation and perceived reliability and security of our products and services and potentially making the data systems of our customers vulnerable to further data loss and cyber incidents; and
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personally identifiable or confidential data of our customers, employees and business partners could be stolen or lost.
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Should any of the above events occur, or are perceived to have occurred, we could be subject to significant claims for liability from our customers, we could face regulatory actions and sanctions from governmental agencies, our ability to protect our intellectual property rights could be compromised, our reputation and competitive position could be materially harmed and we could incur significant costs in order to upgrade our cybersecurity systems and remediate damages. Consequently, our business, financial condition and operating results could be materially adversely affected.
Our operating results may fluctuate significantly.
Our operating results may fluctuate due to a variety of factors, many of which are outside of our control. As a result, comparing our operating results on a period-to-period basis may not be meaningful, and our past results should not be relied upon as an indication of our future performance. In addition, a significant portion of our quarterly sales typically occurs during the last two weeks of the quarter, which generally reflects customer buying patterns for enterprise technology. As a result, our quarterly operating results are difficult to predict even in the near term. If our revenue or operating results fall below the expectations of investors or securities analysts or below any guidance we may provide to the market, the price of our Class A common stock would likely decline substantially.
Factors that may cause fluctuations in our operating results include, among others, the factors described elsewhere in this risk factors section and the following:
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fluctuations in demand, adoption rates, sales cycles and pricing levels for our products and services;
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changes in customers’ budgets for information technology purchases and in the timing of their purchasing decisions;
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the timing of announcements or releases of new or upgraded products and services by us or by our competitors;
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the timing and size of business realignment plans and restructuring charges;
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our ability to maintain scalable internal systems for reporting, order processing, license fulfillment, product delivery, purchasing, billing and general accounting, among other functions;
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our ability to control costs, including our operating expenses;
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credit risks of our distributors, who account for a significant portion of product revenue and accounts receivable;
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the timing of when sales orders are processed, which can cause fluctuations in our backlog and impact our bookings and timing of revenue recognition;
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seasonal factors such as the end of fiscal period budget expenditures by our customers and the timing of holiday and vacation periods;
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renewal rates and the amounts of the renewals for EAs as original EA terms expire;
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the timing and amount of internally developed software development costs that may be capitalized;
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unplanned events that could affect market perception of the quality or cost-effectiveness of our products and solutions;
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fluctuations in the fair value of our investment in Pivotal, which are primarily based on Pivotal’s closing stock price on the last trading day of each fiscal quarter;
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the impact of new accounting pronouncements, for example, the adoption of Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2016-16, which could result in increased volatility in the provision for income taxes in periods in which transfers of intellectual property between our legal entities occur; and
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our ability to accurately predict the degree to which customers will elect to purchase our subscription-based offerings in place of licenses to our on-premises offerings.
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We are exposed to foreign exchange risks.
Because we conduct business in currencies other than the U.S. dollar but report our operating results in U.S. dollars, we face exposure to fluctuations in currency exchange rates. During the
six months ended
August 3, 2018
, approximately 30% of our sales were invoiced and collected in non-U.S. dollar denominated currencies. The realized gain or loss on foreign currency transactions is dependent upon the types of foreign currency transactions that we enter into, the exchange rates associated with these transactions and changes in those rates, the net realized gain or loss on our foreign currency forward contracts, and other factors. Although we hedge a portion of our foreign currency exposure, a significant fluctuation in exchange rates between the U.S. dollar and foreign currencies may adversely affect our operating results. For example, we experienced a measurable negative impact to our revenue in 2015 due to exchange rate fluctuations. Any future weakening of foreign currency exchange rates against the U.S. dollar would likely result in additional adverse impact on our revenue.
Our $11 billion conditional special dividend could limit our ability to fund significant future stock repurchases and strategic investments.
On July 1, 2018, our Board of Directors declared a conditional special dividend of $11 billion (the “Special Dividend”). If conditions for payment of the Special Dividend are met, our cash, cash equivalent and short-term investment balances will decline significantly. While we believe our remaining cash balances and cash generated by our business operations will be sufficient to fund our operations and pursue our existing stock repurchase program and strategic plans, if our business operations do not generate the cash flows we expect, then our ability to fund future stock repurchases, invest in our business and pursue strategic alternatives, including business acquisitions, will be reduced, which could reduce our ability to manage dilution of our stock and limit our future growth.
We operate a global business that exposes us to additional risks.
Our international activities account for a substantial portion of our revenue and profits, and we plan to further expand internationally. In addition, our investment portfolio includes investments in non-U.S. financial instruments and holdings in non-U.S. financial institutions, including European institutions. In addition to the risks described elsewhere in these risk factors, our international operations subject us to a variety of risks, including:
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difficulties in enforcing contracts and collecting accounts receivable and longer payment cycles, especially in emerging markets;
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difficulties in delivering support, training and documentation in certain foreign markets;
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tariffs and trade barriers, which could increase due to the current geopolitical climate, and other regulatory or contractual limitations on our ability to sell or develop our products and services in certain foreign markets;
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changes and instability in government policies and international trade arrangements that could adversely affect the ability of U.S.-based companies to conduct business in non-U.S. markets;
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economic or political instability and security concerns in countries that are important to our international sales and operations;
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difficulties in transferring funds from certain countries;
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increased compliance risks, particularly in emerging markets; and
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difficulties in maintaining appropriate controls relating to revenue recognition practices.
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An example is the ongoing efforts of the Chinese government to more closely regulate network security. In that respect, the Chinese government enacted a new Cyber Security Law in November 2016 that came into effect on June 1, 2017. The new Cyber Security Law promotes utilization of “secure and reliable” network products and services, requires the sale of certain key network equipment and network security products to be subject to security certification, and imposes data localization measures and various network security measures relevant to a vaguely defined scope of “critical information infrastructure.” Among those network security measures is a requirement that certain network products and services procured by operators of “critical information infrastructure” undergo a formal security assessment in order to evaluate their “security” and “controllability.” The specific technical requirements of the security assessment have still not been fully defined.
Also, in December 2015, China enacted an Anti-Terrorism Law that gives local public security and state security authorities the broad discretionary authority to require companies to provide access to their equipment and decryption support in particular cases. Failure to comply with such requests can result in fines and imprisonment. In addition, a broad range of businesses will be required to verify the identities of customers and are prohibited from providing services to customers whose identities are unclear or who refuse to cooperate in the verification process. If we are not able to, or choose not to, comply with these and other information and network security standards that the Chinese government might implement in the future, our business in China may suffer.
Furthermore, if we fail to comply with legal and regulatory requirements covering the foreign activities of U.S. corporations, such as export control requirements and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, as well as with local regulatory requirements in non-U.S. jurisdictions, we may be exposed to significant fines and penalties and reputational harm. These risks will increase as we expand our operations in locations with a higher incidence of corruption and fraudulent business practices.
In addition, potential fallout from past disclosures related to the U.S. Internet and communications surveillance and possible efforts to enable increased surveillance could make foreign customers reluctant to purchase products and services from U.S.-based technology companies and impair our growth rate in foreign markets.
Our failure to manage any of these risks successfully could negatively affect our reputation and adversely affect our operating results.
We have outstanding indebtedness in the form of unsecured notes and may incur other debt in the future, which may adversely affect our financial condition and future financial results.
During fiscal 2018, we issued
$4,000 million
in unsecured notes through a debt offering and repaid
$1,230 million
of the notes payable to Dell, utilizing a portion of the proceeds from the offering. An additional unsecured promissory note with an outstanding principal amount of
$270 million
owed to Dell remains outstanding. We also entered into a $1,000 million unsecured credit agreement establishing a revolving credit facility (“Credit Facility”) that is currently undrawn. Our current and any future debt may adversely affect our financial condition and future financial results by, among other things:
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requiring the dedication of a portion of our expected cash flow from operations to service our indebtedness, thereby reducing the amount of expected cash flow available for other purposes, including capital expenditures and acquisitions; and
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limiting our flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, changes in our business and our industry.
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The terms of our unsecured notes and Credit Facility impose restrictions on us and require us to maintain compliance with specified and customary covenants. Our ability to comply with these covenants may be affected by events beyond our control, including prevailing economic, financial, and industry conditions. If we breach any of the covenants and do not obtain a waiver from the lenders or note holders, then, subject to applicable cure periods, any outstanding indebtedness may be declared immediately due and payable.
In addition, any actual or anticipated changes to our credit ratings, including any announcement that our credit ratings are under review, by any rating agency may negatively impact the value and liquidity of both our debt and equity securities. Under certain circumstances, if our credit ratings are downgraded or other negative action is taken, the interest rate payable by us and the cost of borrowing under our Credit Facility could increase. Downgrades in our credit ratings could also affect the terms of and restrict our ability to obtain additional financing in the future. In addition, upon the occurrence of certain downgrades of the ratings of our unsecured notes, we may be required to repurchase our unsecured notes at a repurchase price equal to 101% of the aggregate principal plus any accrued and unpaid interest on the date of purchase.
Additionally, our parent company, Dell, currently has a significant level of debt financing. Accordingly, negative changes to Dell’s credit rating could also negatively impact our credit rating and the value and liquidity of any future debt we might raise. Refer to “Liquidity and Capital Resources” in “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in Part I, Item 2 of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for more information on our outstanding indebtedness.
Our current research and development efforts may not produce significant revenue for several years, if at all.
Developing our products and services is expensive. In particular, developing and launching disruptive technologies in new areas, as we are continuing to do with our NSX virtual networking, vSAN virtual storage, cloud and SaaS initiatives, requires significant investments of resources and often entails greater risk than incremental investments in existing products and services. Our investment in research and development may not result in marketable products or services or may result in products and services that generate less revenue than we anticipate. Our research and development expenses were approximately
22%
of our total revenue during the
six months ended
August 3, 2018
. Our future plans include significant investments in software research and development and related product opportunities. We believe that we must continue to dedicate a significant amount of resources to our research and development efforts to maintain our competitive position. However, we may not receive significant revenue from these investments for several years, if at all.
We are involved in litigation, investigations and regulatory inquiries and proceedings that could negatively affect us.
From time to time, we are involved in various legal, administrative and regulatory proceedings, claims, demands and investigations relating to our business, which may include claims with respect to commercial, product liability, intellectual property, cybersecurity, breach of contract, employment, class action, whistleblower and other matters. In the ordinary course of business, we also receive inquiries from and have discussions with government entities regarding the compliance of our contracting and sales practices with laws and regulations.
We have been, and expect to continue to be, subject to intellectual property infringement claims, including claims by entities that do not have operating businesses of their own and therefore may limit our ability to seek counterclaims for damages and injunctive relief. In addition to monetary judgments, a judgment could also include an injunction or other court order that could prevent us from offering our products. In addition, we might be required to seek a license for the use of such intellectual property, which may not be available on commercially reasonable terms or at all. Alternatively, we may be required to develop non-infringing technology, which could require significant effort and expense and may ultimately not be successful. Third parties may also assert infringement claims against our customers and channel partners, which could require us to initiate or defend potentially protracted and costly litigation on their behalf, regardless of the merits of these claims, because we generally indemnify our customers and channel partners from claims of infringement of proprietary rights of third parties in connection with the use of our products. These matters can be time-consuming, divert management’s attention and resources and cause us to incur significant expenses. Allegations made in the course of regulatory or legal proceedings may also harm our reputation, regardless of whether there is merit to such claims. Furthermore, because litigation and the outcome of regulatory proceedings are inherently unpredictable, our business, financial condition or operating results could be materially affected by an unfavorable resolution of one or more of these proceedings, claims, demands or investigations.
Refer to Note K to the condensed consolidated financial statements in Part I, Item 1 of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for a description of certain claims and litigation.
We may not be able to adequately protect our intellectual property rights.
We depend on our ability to protect our proprietary technology. We rely on trade secret, patent, copyright and trademark laws and confidentiality agreements with employees and third parties, all of which offer only limited protection. As such, despite our efforts, the steps we have taken to protect our proprietary rights may not be adequate to prevent misappropriation of our proprietary information or infringement of our intellectual property rights, and our ability to police such misappropriation or infringement is uncertain, particularly in countries outside of the U.S. In addition, we rely on confidentiality or license agreements with third parties in connection with their use of our products and technology. There is no guarantee that such parties will abide by the terms of such agreements or that we will be able to adequately enforce our rights, in part because we rely on “click-wrap” and “shrink-wrap” licenses in some instances.
Detecting and protecting against the unauthorized use of our products, technology proprietary rights and intellectual property rights is expensive, difficult and, in some cases, impossible. Litigation is necessary from time to time to enforce or defend our intellectual property rights, to protect our trade secrets or to determine the validity and scope of the proprietary rights of others. Despite our efforts, we may not be able to prevent third parties from infringing upon or misappropriating our intellectual property, which could result in a substantial loss of our market share.
Our use of “open source” software in our products could negatively affect our ability to sell our products and subject us to litigation.
Many of our products and services incorporate so-called “open source” software, and we may incorporate open source software into other products and services in the future. Open source software is generally licensed by its authors or other third parties under open source licenses. Open source licensors generally do not provide warranties or assurance of title or controls on origin of the software, which exposes us to potential liability if the software fails to work or infringes the intellectual property of a third party.
We monitor our use of open source software in an effort to avoid subjecting our products to conditions we do not intend and avoid exposing us to unacceptable financial risk. However, the processes we follow to monitor our use of open source software could fail to achieve their intended result. In addition, although we believe that we have complied with our obligations under the various applicable licenses for open source software that we use, there is little or no legal precedent governing the interpretation of terms in most of these licenses, which increases the risk that a court could interpret the license differently than we do.
From time to time, we receive inquiries or claims from authors or distributors of open source software included in our products regarding our compliance with the conditions of one or more open source licenses. An adverse outcome to a claim could require us to:
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pay significant damages;
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stop distributing our products that contain the open source software;
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revise or modify our product code to remove alleged infringing code;
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release the source code of our proprietary software; or
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take other steps to avoid or remedy an alleged infringement.
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In March 2015, a software developer who alleges that software code he wrote is used in a component of our vSphere product filed a lawsuit against us in Germany alleging copyright infringement for failing to comply with the terms of the open source General Public License v.2 (“GPL v.2”) and seeking an order requiring us to comply with the GPL v.2 or cease distribution of any affected code within Germany. On July 8, 2016, the German court issued a written decision dismissing the lawsuit. On August 9, 2016, a Notice of Appeal was filed. We have filed our responsive appellate brief, and the appellate court has scheduled a hearing for November 28, 2018. An adverse outcome to this claim on appeal or to other claims could have a material adverse impact on our intellectual property rights, our operating results and financial condition.
The evolution of our business requires more complex go-to-market strategies, which involve significant risk.
Our increasing focus on developing and marketing IT management and automation and IaaS (including software-defined networking, VCPP-integrated virtual desktop and mobile device, cloud and SaaS) offerings that enable customers to transform their IT systems requires a greater focus on marketing and selling product suites and more holistic solutions, rather than selling on a product-by-product basis. Consequently, we have developed, and must continue to develop, new strategies for marketing and selling our offerings. In addition, marketing and selling new technologies to enterprises requires significant investment of time and resources in order to educate customers on the benefits of our new product offerings. These investments can be costly and the additional effort required to educate both customers and our own sales force can distract from their efforts to sell existing products and services.
Our success depends upon our ability to develop appropriate business and pricing models.
If we cannot adapt our business models to keep pace with industry trends, including the industry-wide transition to cloud-based computing, our revenue could be negatively impacted. Certain of our product initiatives, such as our VCPP and SaaS offerings, have a subscription model. As we increase our adoption of subscription-based pricing models for our products, we may fail to set pricing at levels appropriate to maintain our revenue streams or our customers may choose to deploy products from our competitors that they believe are priced more favorably. In addition, we may fail to accurately predict subscription renewal rates or their impact on operating results, and because revenue from subscriptions is recognized for our services over the term of the subscription, downturns or upturns in sales may not be immediately reflected in our results. Additionally, as customers transition to our hybrid cloud and SaaS products and services, our revenue growth rate may be adversely impacted during the period of transition as we will recognize less revenue up front than we would otherwise recognize as part of the multi-year license contracts through which we typically sell our established offerings. Finally, as we offer more services that depend on converting users of free services to users of premium services and converting purchasers of our on-premises products to our SaaS offerings, and as such services grow in size, our ability to maintain or improve and to predict conversion rates will become more important.
Our products and services are highly technical and may contain or be subject to other suppliers’ errors, defects or security vulnerabilities.
Our products and services are highly technical and complex and, when deployed, have contained and may contain errors, defects or security vulnerabilities. Some errors in our products or services may only be discovered after a product or service has been installed and used by customers. Undiscovered vulnerabilities in our products or services could expose our customers to hackers or other unscrupulous third parties who develop and deploy viruses, worms and other malicious software programs that could attack our products or services. In the past, VMware has been made aware of public postings by hackers of portions of our source code. It is possible that the released source code could expose unknown security vulnerabilities in our products and
services that could be exploited by hackers or others. VMware products and services are also subject to known and unknown security vulnerabilities resulting from integration with products or services of other companies (such as applications, operating systems or semi-conductors). For example, vulnerabilities in certain microprocessors were recently publicly announced under the names Spectre, Meltdown and Foreshadow. Actual or perceived errors, defects or security vulnerabilities in our products or services could harm our reputation and lead some customers to return products or services, reduce or delay future purchases or use competitive products or services, all of which could negatively impact our business, operating results and stock price.
Failure to effectively manage our product and service lifecycles could harm our business.
As part of the natural lifecycle of our products and services, we periodically inform customers that products or services will be reaching their end of life or end of availability and will no longer be supported or receive updates and security patches. To the extent these products or services remain subject to a service contract with the customer, we offer to transition the customer to alternative products or services. Failure to effectively manage our product and service lifecycles could lead to customer dissatisfaction and contractual liabilities, which could adversely affect our business and operating results.
Our success depends on the interoperability of our products and services with those of other companies.
The success of our products depends upon the cooperation of hardware and software vendors to ensure interoperability with our products and offer compatible products and services to end users. In addition, we have begun to extend the functionality of various products to work with native public cloud applications, which may require the cooperation of public cloud vendors. To the extent that hardware, software and public cloud vendors perceive that their products and services compete with ours or those of our controlling stockholder, Dell, they may have an incentive to withhold their cooperation, decline to share access or sell to us their proprietary APIs, protocols or formats, or engage in practices to actively limit the functionality, compatibility and certification of our products. In addition, vendors may fail to certify or support or continue to certify or support our products for their systems. If any of the foregoing occurs, our product development efforts may be delayed or foreclosed and it may be difficult and more costly for us to achieve functionality and service levels that would make our services attractive to end users, any of which could negatively impact our business and operating results.
Disruptions to our distribution channels could harm our business.
Our future success is highly dependent on our relationships with distributors, resellers, system vendors and systems integrators, which account for a significant portion of our revenue. Recruiting and retaining qualified channel partners and training them in the use of our technology and product offerings requires significant time and resources. Our failure to maintain good relationships with channel partners would likely lead to a loss of end users of our products and services, which would adversely affect our revenue. We generally do not have long-term contracts or minimum purchase commitments with our distributors, resellers, system vendors and systems integrators, and our contracts with these channel partners do not prohibit them from offering products or services that compete with ours.
Two of our distributors each accounted for 10% or more of our consolidated revenue during the
six months ended
August 3, 2018
. Although we believe that we have in place, or would have in place by the date of any such termination, agreements with replacement distributors sufficient to maintain our revenue from distribution, if we were to lose the distribution services of a significant distributor, such loss could have a negative impact on our operating results until such time as we arrange to replace these distribution services with the services of existing or new distributors.
Our SaaS offerings rely on third-party providers for data center space and colocation services.
Our SaaS offerings rely upon third-party providers to supply data center space, equipment maintenance and other colocation services. Although we have entered into various agreements for the lease of data center space, equipment maintenance and other services, third parties could fail to live up to the contractual obligations under those agreements. The failure of a third-party provider to prevent service disruptions, data losses or security breaches may require us to issue credits or refunds or indemnify or otherwise be liable to customers or third parties for damages that may occur. Additionally, if these third-party providers fail to deliver on their obligations, our reputation could be damaged, our customers could lose confidence in us and our ability to maintain and expand our SaaS offerings would be impaired.
Joint ventures may not yield expected benefits and outcomes.
As we expand our offerings into new technologies such as the public cloud and seek more efficient methods of marketing our products and services in regions where local partners can operate more easily, we sometimes rely upon joint ventures with established providers of IT products and services in particular regions, for example as go-to-market and channel partners. Joint ventures are inherently risky and the requirements for close ongoing cooperation and commitments from the joint venture partners to devote adequate resources often present significant challenges. Joint ventures can also be difficult to manage, given the potentially different interests of joint venture partners. Accordingly, there can be no guarantee that our joint ventures will achieve their intended objectives. If we are unable to continue our strategic alignment with joint venture partners or obtain the
cooperation and commitments we are relying upon, our ability to successfully expand our offerings globally and in certain regions may diminish.
SaaS offerings, which involve various risks, constitute an important part of our business.
As we continue to develop and offer SaaS versions of our products, we will need to continue to evolve our processes to meet a number of regulatory, intellectual property, contractual and service compliance challenges. These challenges include compliance with licenses for open source and third-party software embedded in our SaaS offerings, maintaining compliance with export control and privacy regulations, including HIPAA, protecting our services from external threats, maintaining the continuous service levels and data security expected by our customers, preventing the inappropriate use of our services and adapting our go-to-market efforts. The expansion of our SaaS and related cloud offerings also requires significant investments, and our operating margins, results of operations and operating cash flows may be adversely affected if our new offerings are not widely adopted by customers.
Improper disclosure and use of personal data could result in liability and impact our business.
Our business is subject to a wide variety of laws and regulations regarding privacy and protection of personal data. Federal, state and foreign governments and agencies have adopted or are considering adopting laws and regulations regarding the collection, storage, use, processing and disclosure of this information. We collect contact and other personal or identifying information from our customers, and our customers increasingly use our services to store and process personal information and other regulated data, including protected health information subject to stringent data privacy laws. As an employer, we also maintain personal data of our employees and share that information with third-party service providers, such as payroll and benefits providers. Our cloud computing service offerings, pursuant to which we offer cloud services and enable third-party service providers to offer cloud services built on our technology, expose us to particularly significant risks. We rely on the contractual representations of these third parties that they do not violate any applicable privacy laws and regulations or their own privacy policies and in some cases covenants requiring them to maintain certain security measures and protections.
Any failure or perceived failure by us or our business partners to comply with posted privacy policies, other federal, state or international privacy-related or data protection laws and regulations, or the privacy commitments contained in contracts could result in proceedings against us by governmental entities or others and significant fines, which could have a material adverse effect on our business and operating results and harm our reputation. Further, any systems failure, unauthorized access or other compromise of our security that results in the release of our customers’ or employees’ data could (i) subject us to substantial damage claims, (ii) expose us to significant fines and costly regulatory remediation, (iii) harm our reputation and brand, and (iv) disrupt our business activities. The application of U.S. and international data privacy laws and regulations to cloud computing vendors is evolving and uncertain, and our existing contractual provisions may prove to be inadequate to protect us from claims for data loss or regulatory noncompliance made against cloud computing providers with whom we may partner. Additionally, privacy laws and regulations could negatively affect demand for our services, thereby reducing our revenue.
Our ability to collect and use data could be restricted by laws and regulations as well as by consumers’ rights to opt out. Restrictions on our ability to collect data or the ability of our customers to collect data utilizing our products and services could negatively impact our business.
The EU data protection law, the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”), which became effective in May 2018, is wide-ranging in scope. In order to adapt to these new requirements, we have enhanced our policies and controls across our business units and services relating to how we collect and use personal data relating to customers, employees and vendors, and we will continue to invest resources necessary to maintain compliance with GDPR. Additionally, we expect that the international transfer of personal data will present ongoing compliance challenges and complicate our business transactions as we negotiate and implement suitable arrangements with international customers and international and domestic vendors. As a result, our data transfers could require us to implement additional costly measures and require similar adjustments by our customers in order to continue utilizing our products and services. Failure to comply may lead to fines of up to €20 million or up to 4% of the annual global revenues of the infringer, whichever is greater. EU data protection laws and their interpretations continue to develop, and may be inconsistent from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, which may further impact our information processing activities.
Further, laws such as the EU’s proposed e-Privacy Regulation are increasingly aimed at the use of personal information for marketing purposes, and the tracking of individuals’ online activities. The currently proposed e-Privacy Regulation may change significantly before it is adopted, making its future scope and impact uncertain, and therefore require us to alter our current policies and controls enhancements for the GDPR. Once finalized, revised e-Privacy Regulation may impact our use of cookies and tracking technologies inside products and online, which could hamper our ability to collect and use data to monitor and improve the performance of our products and services. The final regulation may also change the rules around e-marketing and online tracking which could harm our ability to run promotions and effectively market our offerings. In addition, countries outside the EU are considering or have passed legislation that requires local storage and processing of data, which could
increase the cost and complexity of delivering our services. Our current arrangements for the transfer of personal data will need to continue to adapt to future judicial decisions and regulatory activity as laws on privacy and the protection of personal data continue to evolve in the countries in which we do business.
If we fail to comply with our customer contracts or government contracting regulations, our business could be adversely affected.
Contracts with many of our customers include unique and specialized performance requirements. In particular, our contracts with federal, state, local and non-U.S. governmental customers and our arrangements with distributors and resellers who may sell directly to governmental customers are subject to various procurement regulations, contract provisions and other requirements relating to their formation, administration and performance. Any failure by us to comply with provisions in our customer contracts or any violation of government contracting regulations could result in the imposition of various civil and criminal penalties, which may include termination of contracts, forfeiture of profits, suspension of payments and, in the case of our government contracts, fines and suspension from future government contracting. Further, any negative publicity related to our customer contracts or any proceedings surrounding them, regardless of its accuracy, may damage our business and affect our ability to compete for new contracts. In the ordinary course of business, we also receive inquiries from and have ongoing discussions with government entities regarding the compliance of our contracting and sales practices with laws and regulations. A failure in the future to comply with federal and state governmental contracting requirements could result in the termination of customer contracts, our suspension from government work, the imposition of fines or other government sanctions or an inability to compete for new contracts, any of which could adversely affect our business, operating results or financial condition.
Acquisitions and divestitures could harm our business and operating results.
We have acquired in the past, and plan to acquire in the future, other businesses, products or technologies. We also from time to time sell or divest businesses, products and technologies. For instance, in May 2017, we sold the VMware vCloud Air business (“vCloud Air”) to OVH US LLC. Acquisitions and divestitures involve significant risks and uncertainties, which include:
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disrupting our ongoing operations, diverting management from day-to-day responsibilities, increasing our expenses, and adversely impacting our business, financial condition and operating results;
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failure of an acquired business to further our business strategy;
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uncertainties in achieving the expected benefits of an acquisition or disposition, including enhanced revenue, technology, human resources, cost savings, operating efficiencies and other synergies;
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reducing cash available for operations, stock repurchase programs and other uses and resulting in potentially dilutive issuances of equity securities or the incurrence of debt;
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incurring amortization expense related to identifiable intangible assets acquired that could impact our operating results;
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difficulty integrating the operations, systems, technologies, products and personnel of acquired businesses effectively;
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the need to provide transition services in connection with a disposition, such as the sale of vCloud Air, which may result in the diversion of resources and focus;
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difficulty achieving expected business results due to a lack of experience in new markets, products or technologies or the initial dependence on unfamiliar distribution partners or vendors;
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retaining and motivating key personnel from acquired companies;
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declining employee morale and retention issues affecting employees of businesses that we acquire or dispose of, which may result from changes in compensation, or changes in management, reporting relationships, future prospects or the direction of the acquired or disposed business;
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assuming the liabilities of an acquired business, including acquired litigation-related liabilities and regulatory compliance issues, and potential litigation or regulatory action arising from a proposed or completed acquisition;
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lawsuits resulting from an acquisition or disposition;
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maintaining good relationships with customers or business partners of an acquired business or our own customers as a result of any integration of operations or the divestiture of a business upon which our customers rely, such as our recent divestiture of our vCloud Air business;
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unidentified issues not discovered during the diligence process, including issues with the acquired or divested business’s intellectual property, product quality, security, privacy practices, accounting practices, regulatory compliance or legal contingencies;
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maintaining or establishing acceptable standards, controls, procedures or policies with respect to an acquired business;
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risks relating to the challenges and costs of closing a transaction; and
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the need to later divest acquired assets at a loss if an acquisition does not meet our expectations.
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If our goodwill or amortizable intangible assets become impaired, we may be required to record a significant charge to earnings.
We may not realize all the economic benefit from our business acquisitions, which could result in an impairment of goodwill or intangibles. As of
August 3, 2018
, goodwill and amortizable intangible assets were
$4,596 million
and
$496 million
, respectively. We review our goodwill and amortizable intangible assets for impairment when events or changes in circumstances indicate the carrying value may not be recoverable. We test goodwill for impairment at least annually. Factors that may lead to impairment include a substantial decline in stock price and market capitalization or cash flows, reduced future cash flow estimates related to the assets and slower growth rates in our industry. We may be required to record a significant charge in our financial statements during the period in which any impairment of our goodwill or amortizable intangible assets is determined, which would negatively impact our operating results.
Problems with our information systems could interfere with our business and could adversely impact our operations.
We rely on our information systems and those of third parties for processing customer orders, delivering products, providing services and support to our customers, billing and tracking our customer orders, fulfilling contractual obligations, performing accounting operations and otherwise running our business. If our systems fail, our disaster and data recovery planning and capacity may prove insufficient to enable timely recovery of important functions and business records. Any disruption in our information systems and those of the third parties upon whom we rely could have a significant impact on our business.
In addition, we continuously work to enhance our information systems, such as our enterprise resource planning software. The implementation of these types of enhancements is frequently disruptive to the underlying business of an enterprise, which may especially be the case for us due to the size and complexity of our business. Implementation may disrupt internal controls and business processes and could introduce unintended vulnerability to error.
Additionally, our information systems may not support new business models and initiatives and significant investments could be required in order to upgrade them. For example, in February 2017 we implemented a change in our fiscal calendar, which required us to make adjustments to our critical business processes and data systems, and in February 2018 we implemented new revenue accounting software.
We may have exposure to additional tax liabilities, and our operating results may be adversely impacted by higher than expected tax rates.
As a multinational corporation, we are subject to income taxes as well as non-income based taxes, such as payroll, sales, use, value-added, net worth, property and goods and services taxes, in both the U.S. and various foreign jurisdictions. Our domestic and international tax liabilities are subject to the allocation of revenue and expenses in different jurisdictions and the timing of recognizing revenue and expenses. Significant judgment is required in determining our worldwide provision for income taxes and other tax liabilities. We are subject to income and indirect tax examinations. The Dell-owned EMC consolidated group is routinely under audit by the IRS. All U.S. federal income tax matters have been concluded for years through 2011, except for any matters under appeal. In addition, we are under corporate income tax audits in various states and non-U.S. jurisdictions. While we believe we have complied with all applicable income tax laws, a governing tax authority could have a different interpretation of the law and assess us with additional taxes. Any assessment of additional taxes could materially affect our financial condition and operating results.
Our future effective tax rate may be affected by such factors as changes in tax laws, changes in our business or statutory rates, changing interpretation of existing laws or regulations, the impact of accounting for stock-based compensation and the recognition of excess tax benefits and tax deficiencies within the income tax provision in the period in which they occur, the impact of accounting for business combinations, shifts in the amount of earnings in the U.S. compared with other regions in the world and overall levels of income before tax, changes in our international organization, as well as the expiration of statute of limitations and settlements of audits.
In addition, in the ordinary course of our global business, there are many intercompany transactions, including the transfer of intellectual property, where the ultimate tax determination is uncertain. Although we believe that our tax estimates are reasonable, the final determination of tax audits or tax disputes may differ from what is reflected in our historical income tax provisions and accruals.
Our effective tax rate in the future will depend upon the proportion of our income before provision for income taxes earned in the U.S. and in jurisdictions with a tax rate lower than the U.S. statutory rate. Our non-U.S. earnings are primarily earned by
our subsidiaries organized in Ireland where the rate of taxation is lower than our U.S. tax rate, and as such, our annual effective tax rate can be significantly affected by the composition of our earnings in the U.S. and non-U.S. jurisdictions. During October 2014, Ireland announced revisions to its tax regulations that will require foreign earnings of our subsidiaries organized in Ireland to be taxed at higher rates. We will be impacted by the changes in tax laws in Ireland beginning in 2021. Prior to this date, we may proactively make structural changes in Ireland that may reduce the impact to our future tax rates. Currently, there are certain structural changes in Ireland that may be available to multi-national companies. However, due to the Dell Acquisition, we could be subject to higher tax obligations in the event we executed similar structural changes.
Any other significant changes to U.S. or international tax laws could have a material impact on our effective tax rate, financial condition, operating results and timing and amount of tax payments.
In addition, numerous other countries have recently enacted or are considering enacting changes to tax laws, administrative interpretations, decisions, policies and positions. These changes could adversely affect our effective tax rate or result in higher cash tax liabilities.
Catastrophic events or geo-political conditions could disrupt our business.
Our corporate headquarters are located in the San Francisco Bay Area, a region known for seismic activity. A significant natural disaster, such as an earthquake, fire, flood or other act of God, could have a material adverse impact on our business and operating results. Abrupt political change, terrorist activity and armed conflict pose a risk of general economic disruption in affected countries, and disease pandemics could temporarily sideline a substantial part of our or our customers’ workforce at any particular time, any of which could disrupt our business. Furthermore, some of our new product initiatives and business functions are hosted and carried out by third parties that may be vulnerable to disruptions of these sorts, many of which may be beyond our control. Unanticipated disruptions in services provided through localized physical infrastructure, such as utility or telecommunication outages, can curtail the functioning of local offices as well as critical components of our information systems, and adversely affect our ability to process orders, provide services, respond to customer requests and maintain local and global business continuity. To the extent that such disruptions result in delays or cancellations of customer orders, or the deployment or availability of our products and services, our revenue would be adversely affected. Additionally, any such catastrophic event could cause us to incur significant costs to repair damages to our facilities, equipment and infrastructure.
Changes in accounting principles and guidance could result in unfavorable accounting charges or effects.
We prepare our condensed consolidated financial statements in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the U.S. These principles are subject to interpretation by the Securities and Exchange Commission and various bodies formed to create and interpret appropriate accounting principles and guidance. A change in these principles or guidance, or in their interpretations, may have a material effect on our reported results, as well as our processes and related controls, and may retroactively affect previously reported results. For example, during February 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued ASU 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842). The updated standard requires the recognition of a liability for lease obligations and a corresponding right-of-use asset on the balance sheet, and disclosures of key information regarding leasing arrangements. The standard may be early adopted and is effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2018 and requires a modified retrospective adoption with the option of applying the requirements of the standard either (1) retrospectively to each prior comparative reporting period presented, or (2) retrospectively at the beginning of the period of adoption. We will adopt this standard beginning with our first quarter of fiscal 2020 and will apply it retrospectively at the beginning of the period of adoption through a cumulative-effect adjustment to retained earnings. We are currently evaluating the effect that the updated standard will have on our consolidated financial statements and related disclosures but expect that upon adoption most of our lease commitments will be recognized as lease liabilities and right-of-use assets.
Risks Related to Our Relationship with Dell
Our stock price has fluctuated significantly following the announcement of the Dell Acquisition, and our relationship with Dell may adversely impact our business and stock price in the future.
Our stock price has fluctuated significantly following the announcement of Dell’s acquisition of EMC, our parent company, which was completed in September 2016. Our stock price has been particularly volatile following press reports, subsequently confirmed by Dell in a Schedule 13D/A filing on February 2, 2018 that Dell was evaluating potential business opportunities, including a public offering of Dell, a potential business combination between Dell and VMware, or maintaining the status quo and that Dell was considering an exchange of its Class V common stock, that is intended to reflect our economic performance, for shares of its Class C common stock which Dell was considering offering to the public. On July 2, 2018, Dell announced that it would proceed with the share exchange utilizing Dell’s proceeds from our Special Dividend to fund the Dell Class V Transaction, and that Dell had concluded its review of potential business opportunities and decided not to pursue a business combination with us. The Dell Class V Transaction must be approved by Dell’s stockholders, including by a majority of Dell’s Class V common stockholders, and payment of our Special Dividend is contingent upon Dell’s ability to consummate the Dell Class V Transaction. Speculation regarding the outcome of Dell’s stockholder vote, its impact upon Dell’s future plans and our
payment of the Special Dividend, and how our relationship with Dell might be affected when Dell becomes a publicly traded company, creates uncertainty for our stockholders, customers, partners and employees, which could negatively impact sales, make it difficult to attract and retain employees and distract management’s focus from executing on other strategic initiatives.
A number of other factors relating to our future relationship with Dell could adversely affect our business or our stock price in the future, including:
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Dell is able to control matters requiring our stockholders’ approval, including the election of a majority of our directors and the other matters over which EMC formerly had control, as described in the risk factors below.
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Dell could implement changes to our business, including changing our commercial relationship with Dell or taking other corporate actions that our other stockholders may not view as beneficial.
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We have arrangements with a number of companies that compete with Dell, and our relationship with Dell could adversely affect our relationships with these companies or other customers, suppliers and partners.
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Dell has a right to approve certain matters under our certificate of incorporation, including acquisitions or investments in excess of $100 million, and Dell may choose not to consent to matters that our board of directors believes are in the best interests of VMware.
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We anticipate certain synergies and benefits from the Dell Acquisition that may not be realized.
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In connection with the Dell Acquisition, Dell issued a tracking stock to EMC shareholders, the Class V common stock, that is intended to reflect our economic performance as partial consideration to the EMC shareholders. The Class V common stock tracks the performance of an approximately 50% economic interest in our business. The Class V common stock, while not a VMware issued security, increases the supply of publicly traded securities that track VMware’s economic performance and may create the perception that the Class V common stock dilutes the holdings of our public stockholders, both of which may put downward pressure on our stock price. If the Dell Class V Transaction is approved by Dell stockholders and consummated, Dell will eliminate shares of Dell Class V common stock and exchange them for shares of Dell Class C common stock or cash. Such elimination of the Class V common stock could also increase the volatility in the price of VMware Class A common stock due to our relatively small public float.
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Dell is highly leveraged and commits a substantial portion of its cash flows to servicing its indebtedness. Dell’s significant debt could create the perception that Dell may exercise its control over us to limit our growth in favor of its other businesses or cause us to transfer cash to Dell. In addition, if Dell defaults, or appears in danger of defaulting, on its indebtedness, the trading price of the Class V common stock issued by Dell would be adversely affected, which could negatively impact the price of our Class A common stock, and uncertainty as to the impact of such a default on VMware could disrupt our business.
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Investor perceptions of Dell’s performance, future plans and prospects could contribute to volatility in the price of our Class A common stock.
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Some of our products compete directly with products sold or distributed by Dell, which could result in reduced sales.
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Holders of our Class
A common stock have limited ability to influence matters requiring stockholder approval.
As of
August 3, 2018
, Dell controlled
30,679,000
shares of our Class A common stock and all
300,000,000
shares of our Class B common stock, representing
81.1%
of the total outstanding shares of common stock or
97.5%
of the voting power of outstanding common stock held by EMC. Through its control of the Class B common stock, which is generally entitled to 10 votes per share, Dell controls the vote to elect all of our directors and to approve or disapprove all other matters submitted to a stockholder vote.
Prior to a distribution by Dell to its stockholders under Section 355 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (a “355 Distribution”), shares of Class B common stock transferred to any party other than a successor-in-interest or a subsidiary of EMC automatically convert into Class A common stock. Dell’s voting control over VMware will continue so long as the shares of Class B common stock it controls continue to represent at least 20% of our outstanding stock. If its ownership falls below 20% of the outstanding shares of our common stock, all outstanding shares of Class B common stock will automatically convert to Class A common stock. If Dell effects a 355 Distribution at a time when it holds shares of Class B common stock, its stockholders will receive Class B common stock. These shares will remain entitled to 10 votes per share, holders of these shares will remain entitled to elect 80% of the total number of directors on our board of directors and the holders of our Class A common stock will continue to have limited ability to influence matters requiring stockholder approval and have limited ability to elect members of our board of directors. Following a 355 Distribution, shares of Class B common stock may convert to Class A common stock if such conversion is approved by VMware stockholders after the 355 Distribution and we have obtained
a private letter ruling from the Internal Revenue Service. In January 2014, the IRS announced in Revenue Procedure 2014-3 that, generally, it would no longer issue private letter rulings on 355 Distributions.
Dell has the ability to prevent us from taking actions that might be in our best interest.
Under our certificate of incorporation and the master transaction agreement we entered into with EMC, we must (subject to certain exceptions) obtain the consent of EMC (which is controlled by Dell) or its successor-in-interest, as the holder of our Class B common stock, prior to taking specified actions, such as acquiring other companies for consideration in excess of $100 million, issuing stock or other VMware securities, except pursuant to employee benefit plans (provided that we obtain Class B common stockholder approval of the aggregate annual number of shares to be granted under such plans), paying dividends, entering into any exclusive or exclusionary arrangement with a third party involving, in whole or in part, products or services that are similar to EMC’s or amending certain provisions of our charter documents. In addition, we have agreed that for so long as EMC or its successor-in-interest continues to own greater than 50% of the voting control of our outstanding common stock, we will not knowingly take or fail to take any action that could reasonably be expected to preclude the ability of EMC or its successor-in-interest (including Dell) to undertake a tax-free spin-off. Dell is entitled to exercise the voting control and contractual rights of EMC, and may do so in a manner that could vary significantly from EMC’s historic practice. If Dell does not provide any requisite consent allowing us to conduct such activities when requested, we will not be able to conduct such activities. As a result, we may have to forgo capital raising or acquisition opportunities that would otherwise be available to us, and we may be precluded from pursuing certain growth initiatives.
By becoming a stockholder in our company, holders of our Class A common stock are deemed to have notice of and have consented to the provisions of our certificate of incorporation and the master transaction agreement with respect to the limitations that are described above.
Dell has the ability to prevent a change-in-control transaction and may sell control of VMware without benefiting other stockholders.
Dell’s voting control and its additional rights described above give Dell the ability to prevent transactions that would result in a change of control of VMware, including transactions in which holders of our Class A common stock might otherwise receive a premium for their shares over the then-current market price. In addition, Dell is not prohibited from selling a controlling interest in us to a third party and may do so without the approval of the holders of our Class A common stock and without providing for a purchase of any shares of Class A common stock held by persons other than Dell. Accordingly, shares of Class A common stock may be worth less than they would be if Dell did not maintain voting control over us or if Dell did not have the additional rights described above.
If Dell’s level of ownership significantly increases, Dell could unilaterally effect a merger of VMware into Dell without a vote of VMware stockholders or the VMware Board of Directors at a price per share that might not reflect a premium to then-current market prices.
As of
August 3, 2018
, Dell controlled
81.1%
of VMware’s outstanding common stock, and Dell’s percentage ownership of VMware common stock could increase as a result of repurchases by VMware of its Class A common stock or purchases by Dell. Section 253 of the Delaware General Corporation Law permits a parent company, when it owns 90% or more of each class of a subsidiary’s stock that generally would be entitled to vote on a merger of that subsidiary with the parent, to unilaterally effect a merger of the subsidiary into the parent without a vote of the subsidiary’s board or stockholders. Accordingly, if Dell becomes the holder of at least 90% of VMware’s outstanding stock, neither VMware’s board of directors nor VMware’s stockholders would be entitled to vote on a merger of VMware into Dell (the “short-form merger”). Moreover, a short-form merger is not subject to the stringent “entire fairness” standard and the parent company is not required to negotiate with a special committee of disinterested directors that would serve to approximate arm’s length negotiations designed to ensure that a fair price is paid. Rather, a minority stockholder’s sole remedy in the context of a short-form merger is to exercise appraisal rights under Delaware law. In such a proceeding, petitioning stockholders may be awarded more or less than the merger price or the amount they would have received in a merger negotiated between the parent and a disinterested special committee advised by independent financial and legal advisors. Dell is prohibited through September 7, 2018 under its charter from purchasing or otherwise acquiring any shares of common stock of VMware if such acquisition would cause the common stock of VMware to no longer be publicly traded on a U.S. securities exchange or VMware to no longer be required to file reports under Sections 13 and 15(d) of the Exchange Act, in each case, unless such acquisition of VMware common stock is required in order for VMware to continue to be a member of the affiliated group of corporations filing a consolidated tax return with Dell.
We engage in related persons transactions with Dell that may divert our resources, create opportunity costs and prove to be unsuccessful.
We currently engage in a number of related persons transactions with Dell that include joint product development, go-to-market, branding, sales, customer service activities, real estate and various support services, and we expect to engage in
additional related persons transactions with Dell to leverage the benefits of our strategic alignment. Additionally, in 2013 we contributed technology and transferred employees to Pivotal. We continue to hold a significant ownership interest in Pivotal which was converted from preferred stock to non-trading Class B common stock prior to Pivotal’s initial public offering on April 20, 2018.
We believe that these related persons transactions provide us a unique opportunity to leverage the respective technical expertise, product strengths and market presence of Dell and its subsidiaries for the benefit of our customers and stockholders while enabling us to compete more effectively with competitors who are much larger than us. However, these transactions may prove not to be successful and may divert our resources or the attention of our management from other opportunities. Negotiating and implementing these arrangements can be time consuming and cause delays in the introduction of joint product and service offerings and disruptions to VMware’s business. We cannot predict whether our stockholders and industry or securities analysts who cover us will react positively to announcements of new related persons transactions with Dell, and such announcements could have a negative impact on our stock price. Our participation in these transactions may also cause certain of our other vendors and ecosystem partners who compete with Dell and its subsidiaries to also view us as their competitors. Additionally, following Pivotal’s initial public offering, VMware held a 24% voting interest in Pivotal, which was accounted for using the fair value option. The fair value of VMware’s investment is determined primarily using the quoted market price of Pivotal’s Class A common stock. Any volatility in Pivotal’s publicly traded Class A common stock therefore introduces a degree of variability to our condensed consolidated balance sheets and statements of income, over which we have little control so long as we maintain our ownership interest.
Our business and Dell’s businesses overlap, and Dell may compete with us, which could reduce our market share.
We and Dell are IT infrastructure companies providing products and services that overlap in various areas, including software-based storage, management, hyper-converged infrastructure and cloud computing. Dell competes with us in these areas now and may engage in increased competition with us in the future. In addition, the intellectual property agreement that we have entered into with EMC (which is controlled by Dell) provides EMC the ability to use our source code and intellectual property, which, subject to limitations, it may use to produce certain products that compete with ours. EMC’s rights in this regard extend to its majority-owned subsidiaries, which could include joint ventures where EMC holds a majority position and one or more of our competitors hold minority positions.
Dell could assert control over us in a manner that could impede our growth or our ability to enter new markets or otherwise adversely affect our business. Further, Dell could utilize its control over us to cause us to take or refrain from taking certain actions, including entering into relationships with channel, technology and other marketing partners, enforcing our intellectual property rights or pursuing business combinations, other corporate opportunities (which EMC is expressly permitted to pursue under the circumstances set forth in our certificate of incorporation) or product development initiatives that could adversely affect our competitive position, including our competitive position relative to that of Dell in markets where we compete with Dell. In addition, Dell maintains significant partnerships with certain of our competitors, including Microsoft.
Dell’s competition in certain markets may affect our ability to build and maintain partnerships.
Our existing and potential partner relationships may be negatively affected by our relationship with Dell. We partner with a number of companies that compete with Dell in certain markets in which Dell participates. Dell’s control of EMC’s majority ownership in us may affect our ability to effectively partner with these companies. These companies may favor our competitors because of our relationship with Dell.
Dell competes with certain of our significant channel, technology and other marketing partners, including IBM and Hewlett-Packard. Pursuant to our certificate of incorporation and other agreements that we have with EMC, EMC and Dell may have the ability to impact our relationship with those of our partners that compete with EMC or Dell, which could have a material adverse effect on our operating results and our ability to pursue opportunities which may otherwise be available to us.
We could be held liable for the tax liabilities of other members of Dell’s consolidated tax group, and compared to our historical results as a member of the EMC consolidated tax group, our tax liabilities may increase, fluctuate more widely and be less predictable.
We have historically been included in EMC’s consolidated group for U.S. federal income tax purposes, as well as in certain consolidated, combined or unitary groups that include EMC Corporation or certain of its subsidiaries for state and local income tax purposes, and since the Dell Acquisition, we have been included in Dell’s consolidated tax group. Effective as of the close of the Dell Acquisition, we amended our tax sharing agreement with EMC to include Dell. Although our tax sharing agreement provides that our tax liability is calculated primarily as though VMware were a separate taxpayer, certain tax attributes and transactions are assessed using consolidated tax return rules as applied to the Dell consolidated tax group and are subject to other specialized terms under the tax sharing agreement. Pursuant to our agreement, we and Dell generally will make payments to each other such that, with respect to tax returns for any taxable period in which we or any of our subsidiaries are included in Dell’s consolidated group for U.S. federal income tax purposes or any other consolidated, combined or unitary group of Dell or
its subsidiaries, the amount of taxes to be paid by us will be determined, subject to certain consolidated return adjustments, as if we and each of our subsidiaries included in such consolidated, combined or unitary group filed our own consolidated, combined or unitary tax return. Consequently, compared to our historical results as a member of the EMC consolidated tax group, the amount of our tax sharing payment compared to our separate return basis liability may increase, vary more widely from period to period and be less predictable. Additionally, the impact of the 2017 Tax Act upon consolidated groups is highly complex and uncertain and its impact must be further interpreted in the context of the tax sharing agreement to determine VMware’s tax sharing payment. VMware and Dell are reviewing the tax sharing agreement in connection with the enactment of the 2017 Tax Act.
When we become subject to federal income tax audits as a member of Dell’s consolidated group, the tax sharing agreement provides that Dell has authority to control the audit and represent Dell and our interests to the IRS. Accordingly, if we and Dell or its successor-in-interest differ on appropriate responses and positions to take with respect to tax questions that may arise in the course of an audit, our ability to affect the outcome of such audits may be impaired. In addition, if Dell effects a 355 Distribution or other transaction that is subsequently determined to be taxable, we could be liable for all or a portion of the tax liability, which could have a material adverse effect on our operating results and financial condition.
We have been included in the EMC consolidated group for U.S. federal income tax purposes since our acquisition by EMC in 2004, and will continue to be included in Dell’s consolidated group for periods in which Dell or its successor-in-interest beneficially owns at least 80% of the total voting power and value of our outstanding stock. Each member of a consolidated group during any part of a consolidated return year is jointly and severally liable for tax on the consolidated return of such year and for any subsequently determined deficiency thereon. Similarly, in some jurisdictions, each member of a consolidated, combined or unitary group for state, local or foreign income tax purposes is jointly and severally liable for the state, local or foreign income tax liability of each other member of the consolidated, combined or unitary group. Accordingly, for any period in which we are included in the Dell consolidated group for U.S. federal income tax purposes or any other consolidated, combined or unitary group of Dell and its subsidiaries, we could be liable in the event that any income tax liability was incurred, but not discharged, by any other member of any such group.
Also, under the tax sharing agreement, if it is subsequently determined that the tracking stock issued in connection with the Dell Acquisition constitutes a taxable distribution, we could be liable for all or a portion of the tax liability, which could have a material adverse effect on our operating results and financial condition.
We have limited ability to resolve favorably any disputes that arise between us and Dell.
Disputes may arise between Dell and us in a number of areas relating to our ongoing relationships, including our reseller, technology and other business agreements with Dell, areas of competitive overlap, strategic initiatives, requests for consent to activities specified in our certificate of incorporation and the terms of our intercompany agreements. We may not be able to resolve any potential conflicts with Dell, and even if we do, the resolution may be less favorable than if we were dealing with an unaffiliated party.
While we are controlled by Dell, we may not have the leverage to negotiate renewals or amendments to these agreements, if required, on terms as favorable to us as those we would negotiate with an unaffiliated third party, if at all.
Some of our directors have potential conflicts of interest with Dell.
One of our directors holds shares of Dell Class V common stock received in partial consideration for his EMC common stock when the Dell Acquisition closed. In addition, some of our directors are executive officers or directors of Dell, and Dell, through its control of EMC, which is the sole holder of our Class B common stock, is entitled to elect 7 of our 8 directors and possesses sufficient voting control to elect the remaining director. Ownership of Dell Class V common stock by our directors and the presence of executive officers or directors of Dell on our board of directors could create, or appear to create, conflicts of interest with respect to matters involving both us and Dell that could have different implications for Dell than they do for us. Our Board has approved resolutions that address corporate opportunities that are presented to our directors that are also directors or officers of Dell. These provisions may not adequately address potential conflicts of interest or ensure that potential conflicts of interest will be resolved in our favor. As a result, we may not be able to take advantage of corporate opportunities presented to individuals who are directors of both us and Dell and we may be precluded from pursuing certain growth initiatives.
We are a “controlled company” within the meaning of the New York Stock Exchange rules and, as a result, are relying on exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements that provide protection to stockholders of companies that are not “controlled companies.”
Dell owns more than 50% of the total voting power of our common stock and, as a result, we are a “controlled company” under the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) corporate governance standards. As a controlled company, we are exempt under the NYSE standards from the obligation to comply with certain NYSE corporate governance requirements, including the requirements:
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that a majority of our board of directors consists of independent directors;
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that we have a corporate governance and nominating committee that is composed entirely of independent directors with a written charter addressing the committee’s purpose and responsibilities;
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that we have a compensation committee that is composed entirely of independent directors with a written charter addressing the committee’s purpose and responsibilities; and
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for an annual performance evaluation of the nominating and governance committee and compensation committee.
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While we have voluntarily caused our Compensation and Corporate Governance Committee to currently be composed entirely of independent directors, reflecting the requirements of the NYSE, we are not required to maintain the independent composition of the committee. As a result of our use of the “controlled company” exemptions, holders of our Class A common stock will not have the same protection afforded to stockholders of companies that are subject to all of the NYSE corporate governance requirements.
Dell’s ability to control our board of directors may make it difficult for us to recruit independent directors.
So long as Dell beneficially owns shares of our common stock representing at least a majority of the votes entitled to be cast by the holders of outstanding voting stock, Dell can effectively control and direct our board of directors. Further, the interests of Dell and our other stockholders may diverge. Under these circumstances, it may become difficult for us to recruit independent directors.
Our historical financial information as a majority-owned subsidiary may not be representative of the results of a completely independent public company.
The financial information covering the periods included in this report does not necessarily reflect what our financial condition, operating results or cash flows would have been had we been a completely independent entity during those periods. In certain geographic regions where we do not have an established legal entity, we contract with Dell subsidiaries for support services and Dell personnel who are managed by us. The costs incurred by Dell on our behalf related to these employees are passed on to us and we are charged a mark-up intended to approximate costs that would have been charged had we contracted for such services with an unrelated third party. These costs are included as expenses on our condensed consolidated statements of income. Additionally, we engage with Dell in intercompany transactions, including agreements regarding the use of Dell’s and our intellectual property and real estate, agreements regarding the sale of goods and services to one another and to Pivotal, and agreements for Dell to resell our products and services to third party customers. If Dell were to distribute its shares of our common stock to its stockholders or otherwise divest itself of all or a significant portion of its VMware shares, there would be numerous implications to us, including the fact that we could lose the benefit of these arrangements with Dell. There can be no assurance that we would be able to renegotiate these arrangements with Dell or replace them on the same or similar terms. Additionally, our business could face significant disruption and uncertainty as we transition from these arrangements with Dell. Moreover, our historical financial information is not necessarily indicative of what our financial condition, operating results or cash flows would be in the future if and when we contract at arm’s length with independent third parties for the services we have received and currently receive from Dell. During the
three and six months ended
August 3, 2018
, we recognized revenue of
$536 million
and
$908 million
, respectively, and as of
August 3, 2018
,
$1,567 million
of sales were included in unearned revenue from such transactions with Dell. For additional information, refer to “Our Relationship with Dell” in “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in Part I, Item 2 and Note C to the condensed consolidated financial statements in Part I, Item 1 of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q.
Risks Related to Owning Our Class A Common Stock
The price of our Class
A common stock has fluctuated significantly in recent years and may fluctuate significantly in the future.
The trading price of our Class A common stock has fluctuated significantly in the past and could fluctuate substantially in the future due to the factors discussed in this Risk Factors section and elsewhere in this report. The trading market for Dell Class V common stock that was issued upon the closing of the Dell Acquisition that is expected to track the performance of VMware, as well as continuing volatility in technology company share prices, could also lead to volatility in our stock price.
Dell, which beneficially owned
81.1%
of our outstanding stock as of
August 3, 2018
, is not restricted from selling its shares and is entitled to certain registration rights. If a significant number of shares enters the public trading markets in a short period of time, the market price of our Class A common stock may decline. In addition, if our Class B common stock is distributed to Dell stockholders and remains outstanding, it would trade separately from and potentially at a premium to our Class A common stock, and could thereby contribute additional volatility to the price of our Class A common stock.
Broad market and industry factors may also decrease the market price of our Class A common stock, regardless of our actual operating performance. The stock market in general and technology companies in particular have often experienced
extreme price and volume fluctuations. Our public float is also relatively small due to Dell’s holdings, which can result in greater volatility in our stock compared to that of other companies with a market capitalization similar to ours. It is also uncertain what impact the trading of Dell Class V common stock, which represents approximately 50% of the economic interest in us, will have on the volatility and the liquidity of our Class A common stock and how the Dell Class V common stock will trade in relation to our Class A common stock over time. Conversely, elimination of the trading market for Class V common stock upon completion of the Dell Class V Transaction could increase the volatility in the price of our Class A common stock due to our relatively small public float. In addition, in the past, following periods of volatility in the overall market and the market price of a company’s securities, securities class action litigation has often been instituted, including against us, and, if not resolved swiftly, can result in substantial costs and a diversion of management’s attention and resources.
The Special Dividend and the related Dell Class V Transaction will cause the trading price of our Class A common stock to fluctuate.
Payment of the Special Dividend will impact the trading price of our Class A common stock. The Special Dividend will be paid pro-rata to all holders of our Class A and Class B common stock so the per share dividend amount will depend upon the number of shares of Class A and Class B common stock outstanding on the record date for the Special Dividend. The NYSE has advised us that the ex-dividend date for our publicly traded Class A common stock will be the first trading day following the date that the Special Dividend is paid, and that the closing trading price for our Class A common stock on the trading day preceding the ex-dividend date will be reduced by the per share dividend amount. For example, if the record date for the Special Dividend had been August 31, 2018 when there were
108,733,940
shares of Class A common stock and 300,000,000 shares of Class B common stock outstanding, then the dividend amount per share would have been $26.91 per share, and the closing trading price for our Class A common stock on the trading day preceding the ex-dividend date would have been reduced by that amount.
Additionally, the Dell Class V Transaction must be approved by Dell’s stockholders, including by a majority of Dell’s Class V common stockholders, and payment of our Special Dividend is contingent upon Dell’s ability to consummate the Dell Class V Transaction. Speculation regarding the outcome of Dell’s stockholder vote and its impact upon Dell’s future plans may also cause the trading price of our Class A common stock to fluctuate.
The after-tax net proceeds of the Special Dividend available to stockholders depend upon whether conditions for its payment are met and will vary depending upon its tax treatment.
Payment of the Special Dividend is conditioned upon the satisfaction of certain conditions detailed in our current report on Form 8-K filed on July 2, 2018. If the conditions, which include Dell’s ability to consummate the Dell Class V Transaction and the satisfaction of other legal requirements, are not met by January 31, 2019, the dividend will not be paid.
Also, although we currently expect that most or all of the Special Dividend will be taxable as an ordinary dividend to our stockholders, a portion of the Special Dividend may instead be taxable as a return of capital, and the final tax treatment may not be determined until after VMware completes its fiscal year 2019. Additionally, the net after-tax proceeds of the Special Dividend to stockholders will vary depending upon each stockholder’s individual tax situation.
If securities or industry analysts change their recommendations regarding our stock adversely, our stock price and trading volume could decline.
The trading market for our Class A common stock is influenced by the research and reports that industry or securities analysts publish about us, our business, our market or our competitors. If any of the analysts who cover us or who cover the Dell Class V common stock change their recommendation regarding our stock adversely, or provide more favorable relative recommendations about our competitors, our stock price would likely decline.
Anti-takeover provisions in Delaware law and our charter documents could discourage takeover attempts.
As our controlling stockholder, Dell has the ability to prevent a change in control of VMware. Provisions in our certificate of incorporation and bylaws may also have the effect of delaying or preventing a change of control or changes in our management. These provisions include the following:
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the division of our board of directors into three classes, with each class serving for a staggered three-year term, which prevents stockholders from electing an entirely new board of directors at any annual meeting;
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the right of the board of directors to elect a director to fill a vacancy created by the expansion of the board of directors;
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following a 355 Distribution of Class B common stock by Dell to its stockholders, the restriction that a beneficial owner of 10% or more of our Class B common stock may not vote in any election of directors unless such person or group also owns at least an equivalent percentage of Class A common stock or obtains approval of our board of directors prior to acquiring beneficial ownership of at least 5% of Class B common stock;
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the prohibition of cumulative voting in the election of directors or any other matters, which would otherwise allow less than a majority of stockholders to elect director candidates;
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the requirement for advance notice for nominations for election to the board of directors or for proposing matters that can be acted upon at a stockholders’ meeting;
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the ability of the board of directors to issue, without stockholder approval, up to 100,000,000 shares of preferred stock with terms set by the board of directors, which rights could be senior to those of common stock; and
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in the event that Dell or its successor-in-interest no longer owns shares of our common stock representing at least a majority of the votes entitled to be cast in the election of directors, stockholders may not act by written consent and may not call special meetings of the stockholders.
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In addition, we have elected to apply the provisions of Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law. These provisions may prohibit large stockholders, in particular those owning 15% or more of our outstanding voting stock, from merging or combining with us. These provisions in our certificate of incorporation and bylaws and under Delaware law could discourage potential takeover attempts and could reduce the price that investors might be willing to pay for shares of our common stock.