ITEM 3:
Key Information
A.
[Reserved]
B.
Capitalization and Indebtedness
Not applicable.
C.
Reasons for Offer and Use of Proceeds
Not applicable.
D.
Risk Factors
Summary of Risk Factors
Our business involves
a high degree of risk. You should consider carefully the risks and uncertainties described below, together with the financial and other
information contained in this annual report and our other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”).
If any of the following risks actually occur, our business, financial condition and results of operations would suffer. In this case,
the trading price of our ordinary shares would likely decline and you might lose all or part of your investment. This report also contains
forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Our results of operations could materially differ from those anticipated
in these forward-looking statements, as a result of certain factors including the risks described below and elsewhere in this report and
our other filings with the SEC. These risks are not the only ones we face. Additional risks that we currently do not know about or that
we currently believe to be immaterial may also impair our business operations.
Below is a high-level
overview of the risks that we and those in our industry face, and is intended to enhance the readability and accessibility of our disclosures.
These risks include, but are not limited to:
• |
general economic and business conditions, including fluctuations of interest and inflation rates, which may affect demand for our
technology and solutions; |
• |
the effects of fluctuations in currency on our results of operation and financial condition; |
• |
our ability to achieve profitability, such as through keeping pace with advances in technology and achieving market acceptance and
increasing the functionality of our products and offering additional features and products; |
• |
the impact of the telco operator’s Go To Market strategy and implementation efforts, on the success of a Revenue Share deal
of our Security-as-a-service (“SECaaS”) Solution; |
• |
the impacts of new market and technology trends on our enterprise market; |
• |
our reliance on our network intelligence solutions for significant revenues; |
• |
impacts to our revenues and operational risk as a result of making sales to large service providers; |
• |
technological risks, including network encryption, live network failures and software or hardware errors; |
• |
our ability to retain and recruit key personnel and maintain satisfactory labor relations; |
• |
supply chain interruption and the ability, and lead time, of our suppliers to provide certain hardware due to the global semiconductor
shortage; |
• |
our dependence on third parties for products that make up a material portion of our business; |
• |
the ability of our suppliers to provide, or refusal of our customers to implement, the single or limited sources from which certain
hardware and software components for our products are made; |
• |
sales disruptions or costs arising from a loss of rights to use the third-party solutions we integrate with our products; |
• |
our ability to increase sales of Allot Secure products; |
• |
our ability to comply with international regulatory regimes wherever we conduct business, including governmental requirements and
initiatives related to the telecommunication industry and data privacy; |
• |
potential misuse of our products by governmental or law enforcement customers; |
• |
risks related to our proprietary rights and information, including our ability to protect the intellectual property embodied in our
technology, to defend against third-party infringement claims, and protect our IT systems from disruptions; |
• |
risks related to our ordinary shares, including volatile share prices and tax consequences for U.S. shareholders; |
• |
our status as a foreign private issuer and related exemptions with respect thereto; |
• |
exposure to unexpected or uncertain tax liabilities or consequences as a result of changes to fiscal and tax policies; |
• |
conditions and requirements as a result of being incorporated in Israel, including economic volatility and obligations to perform
military service; |
• |
costs and business impacts of complying with the requirements of the Israeli government grants received for research and development
expenditures; |
• |
costs and business impacts of litigation and other legal and regulatory proceedings encountered in the course of business;
|
• |
our ability to successfully identify, manage and integrate acquisitions; and |
• |
other factors as described in the section below. |
Economic and External
Risks
Unfavorable
or unstable economic conditions in the markets in which we operate could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition
or operating results.
In recent years, economies worldwide have
demonstrated instability. Negative economic conditions in the global economy or certain regions such as the European Market, from which
we derived 34% of our revenues in 2022, could cause a decrease in spending on the types of products and services that we offer.
Additionally, if the worldwide economy remains
unstable or further deteriorates, enterprises, telecommunication carriers and service providers in affected regions may significantly
reduce or postpone capital investments, which could result in reductions in sales of our products or services, longer sales cycles, slower
adoption of new technologies and increased price competition in such regions. Such circumstances would have a material adverse effect
on our results of operations and cash flows.
Further, because a substantial portion of
our operating expenses consists of salaries, we may not be able to reduce our operating expenses in line with any reduction in revenues
and, therefore, may not be able to continue to generate increased revenues and manage our costs to achieve profitability.
The
global semiconductor chip shortage could delay or disrupt the ability of our suppliers to manufacture and deliver certain hardware that
is necessary to our operations.
The global semiconductor chip supply shortage
has had, and continues to have, wide-ranging effects across our industry. The shortage has been reported since early 2021 and has caused
challenges in the manufacturing industry and impacted our supply chain and production as well. While the semiconductor chip shortage has
begun to improve, we still face uncertainties and our ability to source the components that use semiconductor chips may be adversely
affected in the future. Component delivery lead times are expected to increase, which may cause delays in our production and increase
the cost to obtain components with available semiconductor chips. To the extent this semiconductor chip shortage continues, we may experience
delays, increased costs, and an inability to fulfill engineering design changes or customer demand, each of which could adversely impact
our results of operations.
Our
international operations expose us to the risk of fluctuations in currency exchange rates.
Our revenues are generated primarily in
U.S. dollars and a major portion of our expenses are denominated in U.S. dollars. As a result, we consider the U.S. dollar to be our functional
currency. A significant portion of our revenues are also generated in Euros. Other significant portions of our expenses are denominated
in Israeli shekel (ILS) and, to a lesser extent, in Euros and other currencies. Our ILS-denominated expenses consist principally of salaries
and related personnel expenses. We anticipate that a material portion of our expenses will continue to be denominated in ILS. In the past
years, we have experienced material fluctuations between the ILS and the U.S. dollar and we anticipate that the ILS will continue to fluctuate
against the U.S dollar in the future. In 2022, the ILS depreciated by approximately 11.6% against the U.S. dollar, while in 2021 the ILS
appreciated by approximately 3.4% against the U.S. dollar. In 2022, the Euro depreciated by approximately 5.8% against the U.S. dollar,
and in 2021 the Euro depreciated by approximately 7.7% against the U.S. dollar. As the U.S dollar weakens against the ILS, we are exposed
to negative impact on our results of operations. Moreover, if the U.S. dollar strengthens against the Euro, our results of operations
generated by revenue in the EUR may be negatively impacted.
We translate sales and other results denominated
in foreign currency into U.S. dollars for our financial statements. During periods of a strengthening dollar, our reported international
sales and earnings have been, and could continue to be, reduced because foreign currencies may translate into fewer U.S. dollars.
We use derivative financial instruments,
such as foreign exchange forward contracts, in an effort to mitigate the risk of changes in foreign exchange rates on forecasted cash
flows. We may not purchase derivative instruments adequately to insulate ourselves from foreign currency exchange risks. Volatility in
the foreign currency markets may make hedging our foreign currency exposures challenging. In addition, because a portion of our revenue
is not earned in U.S. dollars, fluctuations in exchange rates between the U.S. dollar and the currencies in which such revenue is earned
may have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition. We could be adversely affected when the U.S.
dollar strengthens relative to the local currency between the time of a sale and the time we receive payment, which would be collected
in the devalued local currency. Accordingly, if there is an adverse movement in one or more exchange rates, we might suffer significant
losses and our results of operations may otherwise be adversely affected. Uncertainty in global market conditions has resulted in and
may continue to cause significant volatility in foreign currency exchange rates which could increase these risks. As our international
operations expand, our exposure to these risks also increases.
The
invasion of Ukraine by Russia, and the related disruptions to the global economy and financial markets, has affected and could continue
to adversely affect our operations in Ukraine and Belarus, as well as our business, financial condition and results of operations as a
whole.
We have engaged with two subcontractors
in Ukraine and Belarus to support our research and development activities. The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and sanctions
on Belarus have had a minimal impact on the operations of our subcontractors thus far. However, we may experience interruptions or delays
in the services they provide to us in the future.
In response to the conflict, the United
States, the European Union, Japan and the United Kingdom, among others, have announced targeted economic sanctions on Russia, the regions
of Donetsk and Luhansk, certain Russian citizens and enterprises, including financial measures such as freezing Russia’s central
bank assets and limiting its ability to access its dollar reserves. The continuation of the conflict may trigger a series of additional
economic and other sanctions enacted by the United States and other countries, as well as counter responses by the governments of Russia
or other jurisdictions, which could adversely affect the global financial markets generally, levels of economic activity, and increase
financial markets volatility. The potential impact of bans, sanction programs and boycotts on our business is uncertain at the current
time due to the fluid nature of the military conflict and international responses to it, but it could result in a material adverse effect
on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. In addition, the potential impacts include supply chain and logistics
disruptions, financial impacts including volatility in commodity prices, foreign exchange rates and interest rates, inflationary pressures
on raw materials and energy, heightened cybersecurity threats and other restrictions.
Risks Related to our
Business and Results of Operations
We
have a history of losses and may not be able to achieve or maintain profitability in the future.
We have a history of net losses in all fiscal
years since our inception, other than in 2006 and 2011. We had a net loss of $32 million in 2022 and $15 million in 2021. In the future,
we intend to continue to invest significantly in research and development and sales and marketing, which we believe will contribute to
our future growth. We can provide no assurance that we will be able to achieve or maintain profitability, and we may incur losses in the
future if we do not generate sufficient revenues.
Our
inability to streamline operations and improve cost efficiencies could result in the contraction of our business and the implementation
of significant cost cutting measures.
We have undertaken, and may continue to
undertake, efforts to streamline operations and improve cost efficiencies. We may not realize, in full or in part, the anticipated benefits,
savings and improvements in our operating results from these efforts due to unforeseen difficulties, delays or unexpected costs. If we
are unable to realize the expected operational efficiencies and cost savings, our operating results and financial condition would be adversely
affected. We also cannot guarantee that we will not have to undertake additional workforce reductions in the future. Furthermore, our
workforce reductions may be disruptive to our operations. For example, our workforce reductions could yield unanticipated consequences,
such as attrition beyond planned staff reductions, increased difficulties in our day-to-day operations and reduced employee morale. In
addition, while positions have been eliminated, certain functions necessary to our reduced operations remain, and we may be unsuccessful
in distributing the duties and obligations of departed employees among our remaining employees. We may also discover that the reductions
in workforce and cost cutting measures will make it difficult for us to pursue new opportunities and initiatives and require us to hire
qualified replacement personnel, which may require us to incur additional and unanticipated costs and expenses. Moreover, there is no
assurance we will be successful in our efforts. Our failure to successfully accomplish any of the above activities and goals may have
a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Our
future growth and prospects depend significantly on our ability to grow revenues from the recurring revenue share Security-as-a-service
offering.
We generated 6% of our revenues in 2022
and 3% of our revenues in 2021 from our SECaaS offering. While we continue to forecast significant future expansion of our SECaas business,
the growth of our SECaaS recurring revenue model has been slower than originally anticipated. We will need to expand the number of recurring
security revenue deals and the end user penetration within existing customers to achieve the goals that we have set for our business.
This will involve a number of steps. Initially, we need to persuade Communication Service Providers (CSPs) as to the benefits that Allot
Secure can offer them in terms of driving additional revenue. Those CSPs, with our support, will then need to persuade their customers,
consumers and small and medium-sized businesses, to subscribe for security services. We expect that we will need to demonstrate the value
that our services offer and add new features to both (i) retain customers in the face of competition and (ii) to capitalize on opportunities
where CSPs currently using our competitors’ products are considering a change. We face significant challenges in growing our security
business and our failure to do so would adversely impact our future growth and prospects.
Our
revenues and business may be adversely affected if we do not effectively compete in the markets in which we operate, or expand into new
markets.
We compete against large companies in a
rapidly evolving and highly competitive sector of the networking technology and security markets, which offer, or may offer in the future,
competing technologies, including partial or alternative solutions to operators’ and enterprises’ challenges, and which, similarly
to us, intensely pursue the largest service providers (referred to as Tier 1 operators) as well as large enterprises. Our ability to effectively
compete in these markets may be limited since our competitors may have greater financial resources, significant market share and established
relationships with operators and distribution channels.
Our Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) technology
enabled offerings face significant competition from router and switch infrastructure companies that integrate functionalities into their
platforms, addressing some of the same types of issues that our products are designed to address.
Our security products are offered to operators
and are deployed in their networks, enabling them to provide security services to their end customers. Such products face significant
competition from companies that directly offer to end customers security applications to be installed on their devices; companies that
approach that directly offer cloud security products to the business enterprise sector through distribution channels; and companies that
offer security products bundled with other products. By offering our security products to operators that provide security services to
both business enterprises and individual end customers, we aim to expand the reach of our products. However, this business model may prove
to be slower to market or less effective than our competitors’ models, in which case our business and growth prospects may be harmed.
Certain of our current direct competitors
are substantially larger than we are and have significantly greater financial, sales and marketing, technical, manufacturing and other
resources. As the intelligent broadband solutions market has grown, including the markets for DPI enabled solutions for mobile networks
and for security products, new competitors have entered and may continue to enter the market. This competition has contributed to a slowing
growth of DPI bids for CSPs. Furthermore, our market is subject to industry consolidation, as companies attempt to maintain or strengthen
their positions in our evolving industry. Some of our current and potential competitors have made acquisitions or have announced new strategic
alliances designed to position them to provide many of the same products and services that we provide to both the service provider and
enterprise markets, such as Procera’s acquisition of Sandvine.
If our competitors announce new products,
services or enhancements that better meet the needs of customers or changing industry requirements, offer alternative methods to achieve
customer objectives or implement faster go to market strategies, if our business model proves less effective than those of our competitors,
if new competitors enter the market, or if industry consolidation results in stronger competitors with wider range of product offerings
and greater financial resources, our ability to effectively compete may be harmed, which could have a material adverse effect on our business,
financial condition or results of operations.
In addition to enhancing our presence in
existing markets, we will need to continue to expand our global reach to enter new markets and build local delivery and support teams
to serve customers in new territories.
Our
revenues and business will be harmed if we do not keep pace with changes in broadband applications, network security threats and with
advances in technology, or if we do not achieve widespread market acceptance, including through significant investments.
We will need to invest heavily in the continued
development of our technology in order to keep pace with rapid changes in applications, increased broadband network speeds, network security
threats and with our competitors’ efforts to advance their technology. Our ability to develop and deliver effective product offerings
depends on many factors, including identifying our customers’ needs, technical implementation of new services and integration of
our products with our customers’ existing network infrastructure. While we plan to continue introducing innovative products, we
cannot provide any assurance that new products we introduce will achieve the level of market acceptance that we target. Designers of broadband
applications and distributors of various network security threats that our products identify, manage or mitigate are using increasingly
sophisticated methods to avoid detection and management and/or mitigation by network operators.
Even if our products successfully identify
a particular application, it is sometimes necessary to distinguish between different types of traffic belonging to a single application.
Accordingly, we face significant challenges in ensuring that we identify new applications and new versions of current applications as
they are introduced, without impacting network performance, especially as networks become faster. This challenge is increased as we seek
to expand sales of our products to new geographic territories because the applications vary from country to country and region to region.
The network equipment market is characterized
by rapid technological progress, frequent new product introductions, changes in customer requirements and evolving industry standards.
To compete, we need to achieve widespread market acceptance. Alternative technologies could achieve widespread market acceptance and displace
the technology on which we have based our product architecture. Our business and revenues will be adversely affected if we fail to develop
enhancements to our products, in order to keep pace with changes in broadband applications, network security threats and advances in technology.
We can give no assurance that our technological approach will achieve broad market acceptance or that other technology or devices will
not supersede our technology and products.
Additionally, as the adoption of 5G continues
to expand, we will need to adapt the functionality of our products to comply with the design and standards prescribed by the 3rd Generation
Partnership Project (the 3GPP Organization), which is responsible for the industry standardization effort and requires significant investment.
Our business may be affected if we are unable to adapt our existing products in a quick and timely manner or successfully develop and
introduce solutions supporting 5G networks. In addition, in 4G/LTE networks, Allot provides a Traffic Detection Function (TDF) element
of the core network. According to the recent network design specifications, published by the 3GPP Organization, in 5G networks this TDF
function will be merged within the User Plane Function (UPF), which is provided by major NEP (Network Equipment Provider) competitors.
This change in network architecture may jeopardize Allot’s ability to sell a standalone TDF function, which may have a material
adverse impact on our business and financial results.
Our
revenues and business from the enterprise market may be adversely affected by new market and technology trends, including public cloud
adoption and the transition to 5G networks.
Our business from the enterprise market
may depend on new market and technology trends. For example, some enterprises are implementing a new network architecture, transitioning
their datacenter infrastructure to public clouds (such as AWS, Azure, and Google), in which most of the data traffic is sent directly
to and from the public cloud. In such designs, Allot’s products deployed at the central location of the enterprise datacenter will
have less traffic capacity to manage and will provide only partial visibility into the enterprise’s traffic. This may erode the
value provided by Allot’s solutions and reduce amount of revenues derived from the enterprise market. Additionally, some enterprises
might decide to outsource their network operation to a public cloud, which would diminish the need for Allot’s products. Due to
these factors, we do not anticipate additional growth in the enterprise market.
Our
revenues and business may be adversely affected due to decline in revenues and profits of CSPs.
A substantial amount of our revenues are
currently generated from CSPs. Many of these CSPs are facing declining revenues and profits due to commoditization of the voice and data
services they provide and limited success in introduction of the new services for the consumers. In addition, many CSPs are seeing a rise
in operational expenses due to the global energy crisis, which may affect their budget allocation for new projects. This might impact
their ability to continue to purchase our products and services for the prices we charge or will be unable to purchase these products
and services entirely. The outcome of such could result in a decline in our revenues and profits and adversely affect our business.
The
growth of aging receivables and a deterioration in the collectability of these accounts could materially and adversely affect our results
of operations.
We provide for doubtful debts principally
based upon the aging of accounts receivable, in addition to collectability of specific customer accounts, our history of doubtful debts,
and the general condition of the industry. As of December 31, 2022, we had past due receivables of $10.1 million related to sales of our
products to resellers in two African countries and one Latin American country. The revenue related to those sales was recognized in 2022
upon signing the agreement with resellers and delivery of the products. We subsequently learned that the cash flows of some of these resellers
were impacted by a failure to receive payments from end customers which in turn affected their ability to meet the payment terms to which
they agreed with us. We have assessed as of the date of this annual report on Form 20-F that these amounts remain collectible; however,
if the resellers fail to pay their debt, we may ultimately be required to recognize some or all of these amounts as bad debts and write
them off. Any such outcome could materially and adversely impact our results of operations and our share price.
We
depend on our network intelligence solutions for the substantial majority of our revenues.
In the past few years, we have increased
sales of our security products. However, sales of our network intelligence solutions, which provide service providers and governmental
customers with visibility and control of their networks, continue to account for a major portion of our revenues, and accounted for 77%
of our total revenue in 2022. If we are unable to increase these sales, or compensate for them by sales of security products, our business
will suffer. In addition, service providers may choose embedded or integrated solutions using routers and switches from larger networking
vendors over a standalone solution that we offer. Any factor adversely affecting our ability to sell, or the pricing of or demand for,
our network intelligence solutions would severely harm our ability to generate revenues and could have a material adverse effect on our
business.
We
depend on one or more significant customers and the loss of any such significant customer or a significant decrease in business from any
such customer could harm our results of operations.
In 2022, we derived 8% of our total revenue
from our largest customer and 7% of our total revenue from our second largest customer. In 2021, we derived 11% of our total revenue from
our largest customer and 9% of our total revenue from our second largest customer. The loss of any significant customer or a significant
decrease in business from any such customer could have a material adverse effect on our revenues, results of operations and financial
condition.
Sales
of our products to large service providers can involve a lengthy sales cycle, which may impact the timing of our revenues and result in
us expending significant resources without making any sales.
We may incur significant expenses without
generating any sales. As of December 31, 2022, only 52% of our SECaaS sales contracts signed by customers have generated revenues. Our
management views realization of revenue from signed contracts as a primary challenge for our current business model and failure to do
so could adversely affect our profitability.
Beginning in late 2022, we shifted our primary
sales strategy to target large, strategic accounts, while implementing minimum revenue thresholds or customer assurances for our small
to medium sized accounts. While we believe this new strategy will generate greater revenue and help us achieve profitability sooner, it
may decrease our market share. Additionally, there is inherent risk in implementing a new business plan successfully. If we are unable
to secure large, strategic accounts, the economic harm to our business will be exacerbated due to this strategic shift.
Our sales cycles to large service providers,
including carriers, mobile operators and cable operators, are generally lengthy because these end-customers consider our products to be
critical equipment and undertake significant testing to assess the performance of our products within their networks. In particular, beginning
in 2022, DPI deals took longer to close than in the past, at least in part due to macroeconomic conditions and tighter expense controls
by CSPs. Furthermore, many of our product and service arrangements with our customers provide that the final acceptance of a product or
service may be specified by the customer. As a result, we often invest significant time from initial contact with a large service provider
until it decides to incorporate our products into its network, and we may not be able to recognize the revenue from a customer until the
acceptance criteria have been satisfied. We have in the past, and may in the future, cancelled certain contracts that we later anticipate
are unlikely to launch projects and generate revenues.
We may also expend significant resources
in attempting to persuade large service providers to incorporate our products into their networks without success. Even after deciding
to purchase our products, the initial network deployment of our products by a large service provider may last up to one year and in certain
exceptional instances up to two years. If a competitor succeeds in convincing a large service provider to adopt that competitor’s
product, it may be difficult for us to displace the competitor because of the cost, time, effort and perceived risk to network stability
involved in changing solutions.
In addition, in our deals based on a revenue
share model (and determined by the number of end subscribers using our solution), the cycle from the upfront investments by our company
and the revenues stream, is very long.
The
complexity and scope of the solutions we provide to larger service providers are increasing, and such larger projects entail greater operational
risk and an increased chance of failure.
The complexity and scope of the solutions
and services we provide to larger service providers are increasing. The larger and more complex such projects are, the greater the operational
risks associated with them. These risks include, but are not limited to, the failure to meet all the requirements of service providers,
the failure to fully integrate our products into the service provider’s network or with third-party products, our dependence on
subcontractors and partners and on effective cooperation with third-party vendors for the successful and timely completion of such projects.
If we encounter any of these risks, we may incur higher costs in order to complete the project and may be subject to contractual penalties
resulting in lower profitability. In addition, the project may demand more of our management’s time than was originally planned,
and our reputation may be adversely impacted.
Continued
salary increases of research and development personnel could adversely affect our ability to recruit such employees and could have an
adverse effect on our business and revenues.
The current ongoing increase in salaries
of research and development personnel could have an adverse effect on our ability to recruit such suitable individuals as well as adversely
affect our ability to meet the ongoing research and development related requirements of the market and our customers.
Risks Related to Our
Technology and Products
Our
technology faces challenges due to increased network encryption.
Our DPI, analytics and security products
rely on the ability to read, understand and analyze the nature of Internet traffic. Due to an increase in network encryption, our ability
to read, understand and analyze the traffic transmitted becomes impaired and may reduce or eliminate our ability to provide our customers
with the classification of the traffic and the necessary tools and capabilities that they might require.
We
need to continue to increase the functionality of our products and offer additional features and products to maintain or increase our
profitability.
The commoditization of DPI technology and
the introduction of competitive features and services may result in a decrease of the average sale prices of our DPI technology enabled
products.
The market in which we operate is highly
competitive and unless we continue to enhance the functionality of our products, add additional features and offer additional products,
our competitiveness may be harmed.
We seek to offset this risk by enhancing
our products by offering higher system speeds, additional features, such as advanced Quality of Experience (QoE) management functionality,
and support for additional applications and enhanced reporting tools. We also continuously endeavor to assure our solutions comply with
contemporary network and software architectures such as, but not limited to, virtualized network services (NFV), containerized deployments
and 5G networks compliance.
Our products offer customers additional
tools to increase the efficiency of their networks or to help them offer additional services to their end customers and derive additional
revenues from their end customers. The industry and market for our products are still developing and are affected, among others, by trends
and changes in internet broadband traffic, including changes in methods used by various content providers and broadband applications and
evolution of network security threats.
We cannot provide any assurance that demand
for our additional features and products will continue or grow, or that we will be able to generate revenues from such sales at the levels
we anticipate or at all. Any inability to sell or maintain our additional features and products may lead to commercial disputes with our
customers and increased spending on technical solutions, any of which may negatively impact our results of operations.
A
failure of our products may adversely affect the operation of our customers’ live networks or the quality and scope of service to
our customers and their end users, including, specifically with regard to security protection which could harm our reputation, brand position,
and financial condition.
Our products are, generally, installed in
line as part of our customers’ networks and provide a wide range of services that our customers may offer to their own customers.
We endeavor to avoid any interruption to the regular operation of our customers’ networks, any reduction of quality of services
or failure to provide the quality and/or scope of services to users, including, by performing certain tasks during predetermined maintenance
windows, and implementing a system bypass, in the event of malfunctions. In addition, we offer security protection services offered by
our customers to their end users at a certain level and terms of performance. However, in certain cases, a failure of our products or
failure of our products to perform in accordance with the performance levels to which we may be committed, may result in our customers
experiencing loss of functionality, denial of service and access, interruption of live traffic on our customers’ networks, loss
of security protection or inability to provide similar services to our customers’ end users. Such failure of our products, may cause
disputes with our customers, adversely affect our reputation, lead to loss of revenues and potential legal exposure.
Our
products are highly technical and any undetected software or hardware errors in our products could have a material adverse effect on our
operating results.
Our products are complex and are incorporated
into broadband networks, which are a major source of revenue for service providers and support critical applications for subscribers and
enterprises. Due to the highly technical nature of our products and variations among customers’ network environments, we may not
detect product defects until our products have been fully deployed in our customers’ networks. Regardless of whether warranty coverage
exists for a product, we may be required to dedicate significant technical resources to repair any defects. If we encounter significant
errors, we could experience, among other things, loss of major customers, cancellation of orders, increased costs, delay in recognizing
revenues and damage to our reputation. We could also face claims for product liability, tort or breach of warranty. Defending a lawsuit,
regardless of its merit, is costly and may divert management’s attention. In addition, if our business liability insurance is inadequate
or future coverage is unavailable on acceptable terms or at all, our financial condition could be harmed.
Demand
for our DPI technology enabled products depends, in part, on the rate of adoption of bandwidth-intensive broadband applications, and the
impact multiple applications may have on network speed.
Our DPI technology enabled products are
used by service providers and enterprises to monitor and manage bandwidth-intensive applications that cause congestion in broadband networks
and impact the quality of experience for users. Demand for our products is driven particularly by growth in applications, which are highly
sensitive to network delays and therefore require efficient network management. If the rapid growth in the adoption of such applications
does not continue, the demand for our products may be adversely impacted.
Demand
for our security products depends, in part, on continued evolution of on-line threats as well as on operators’ interest in providing
security services to their end customers.
Our security products are used by service
providers to offer security services to their end customers, comprising both business enterprises as well as individual end customers.
The demand for these services depends highly on continued evolution and increase of online threats. In the event that such threats decrease,
that end customers are unwilling to incur the costs of security services and/or that ISPs do not continue to pursue security services
to their end customers as a revenue source, demand for our security products may be materially adversely impacted.
Risks Related to Our
Dependence on Third Parties
We
depend on third parties to market, sell, and install our products and to provide initial technical support for our products for a material
portion of our business.
We depend on third-party channel partners,
such as distributors, resellers, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), and system integrators, to market and sell a material portion
of our products to end-customers. In 2022, approximately 58% of our revenues were derived from channel partners. In some cases, our channel
partners are also responsible for installing and providing initial customer support for our products, with our continuous technical assistance.
In the majority of the cases, the partners are responsible for the initial customer support (Tier 1 support), while we act as the escalation
level. As a result, we depend on the ability of our channel partners to successfully market and sell our products to these end-customers.
We can give no assurance that our channel partners will market our products effectively, receive and fulfill customer orders for our products
on a timely basis or continue to devote the resources necessary to provide us with effective sales, marketing and technical support. In
addition, our channel partners may experience disruptions in, or be prevented from, conducting business activities as a result of macroeconomic
factors, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations. Any failure by our channel partners to provide adequate
initial support to end-customers could result in customer dissatisfaction with us or our products, which could result in a loss of customers,
harm our reputation and delay or limit market acceptance of our products. Our products are complex and it takes time for a new channel
partner to gain experience in the operation and installation of these products. Therefore, it may take a long period of time before a
new channel partner can successfully market, sell and support our products if an existing channel partner ceases to sell our products.
Additionally, our agreements with channel partners are generally not exclusive and our channel partners may market and sell products that
compete with our products. Our agreements with our distributors and resellers are usually for an initial one-year term and following the
expiration of this term, can be terminated by either party. We can give no assurance that these agreements will continue to remain in
effect. If we are unable to maintain our relationships with existing channel partners and to develop relationships with new channel partners
in key markets our profitability and results of operations may be materially adversely affected.
We
integrate into or bundle various third-party solutions with our products and may integrate or offer additional third-party solutions in
the future. If we lose the right to use such solutions, our sales could be disrupted and we would have to spend additional capital to
replace such components.
We integrate various third-party solutions
into our products and offer third-party solutions bundled with our products. We may integrate or offer additional third-party solutions
in the future. Sales of our products could be disrupted if such third-party solutions were either no longer available to us or no longer
offered to us on commercially reasonable terms. In either case, we would be required to spend additional capital to either source alternative
third-party solutions, redesign our products to function with alternate third-party solutions or develop substitute components ourselves.
As a result, our sales may be delayed and/or adversely affected and we might be forced to limit the features available in our current
or future product offerings, which could have a material adverse effect on our business.
We
currently depend on a limited number of subcontractors to integrate, assemble, store and service, as well as provide hardware and warranty
support for, our Service Gateway platform. If any one of these subcontractors experiences delays, disruptions, quality control problems
or a loss in capacity, our operating results could be adversely affected.
We currently depend on a limited number
of subcontractors, such as Flex (Israel) Ltd. (previously Flextronics (Israel) Ltd.), Malam Team and Arrow Electronics, to integrate,
assemble, test, store, package and prepare for shipment our various Service Gateway, Network Management and Enterprise platforms. If any
of these subcontractors experience delays, disruptions or quality control problems in manufacturing or integrating our products or if
we fail to effectively manage our relationships with them, product shipments may be delayed and our ability to deliver certain products
to customers could be adversely affected.
Certain
hardware and software components for our products come from single or limited sources and we could lose sales if these sources fail to
satisfy our supply requirements or if our customers refuse to implement components from certain sources.
We obtain certain hardware components used
in our products from single or limited sources.
Although such hardware components are off-the-shelf
items, because our systems have been designed to incorporate these specific hardware components, any change to these components due to
an interruption in supply chains or our inability to obtain such components on a timely basis may require engineering changes to our products
before substitute hardware components could be incorporated. Such changes could be costly and could result in lost sales particularly
to our traffic management systems. The agreements with our suppliers do not contain any minimum supply commitments. If we or our contract
manufacturers fail to obtain components in sufficient quantities when required, our business could be harmed.
We obtain certain software components of
our security products from a few limited sources, depending primarily on our customers’ preferences. In the event that we are no
longer able to source such software components from a particular source, and our customers refuse to implement components from our alternative
sources, we may be required to identify an alternative source from which we do not currently acquire such software or develop such software
ourselves. This may result in disputes with our customers and/or cancellation or delay of orders, which may materially adversely affect
our business.
Our suppliers also sell products to our
competitors and may enter into exclusive arrangements with our competitors, stop selling their products or components to us at commercially
reasonable prices or refuse to sell their products or components to us at any price. Our inability to obtain sufficient quantities of
single-source or limited-sourced components or to develop alternative sources for components or products would harm our ability to maintain
and expand our business.
Legal, Regulatory and
Compliance Risks
We
are subject to certain regulatory regimes that may affect the way that we conduct business internationally, and our failure to comply
with applicable laws and regulations could materially adversely affect our reputation and result in penalties and increased costs.
We are subject to a complex system of laws
and regulations related to international trade, including economic sanctions and export control laws and regulations. We also depend on
our distributors and agents outside of Israel for compliance and adherence to local laws and regulations in the markets in which they
operate. It is our policy not to make direct or indirect prohibited sales of our products, including into countries sanctioned under laws
to which we are subject, and to contractually limit the territories into which our channel partners may sell our products. None of our
contracts with channel partners authorize or contemplate any activities with sanctioned countries, and we do not intend to authorize any
channel partner to engage in activities with those countries in the future. Nevertheless, over ten years ago one of our channel partners
sold certain of our products (designed for the enterprise market) outside of its contractually designated territory, including into a
sanctioned country, and we subsequently determined that our contract management protocol for authorizing channel partner sales was not
adequately followed in that instance. Although we are not aware of any channel partner making indirect sales to entities or individuals
in sanctioned countries in 2022, there is no guarantee that our channel partners will not make such indirect sales in the future, which
could result in material adverse impact on our reputation and lead to penalties and increased costs. Though we have not had a material
impact to date, we can provide no assurance that new or existing measures will not have a material impact in the future.
We are also subject to the U.S. Foreign
Corrupt Practices Act and may be subject to similar worldwide anti-bribery laws that generally prohibit companies and their intermediaries
from making improper payments to government officials for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business. Some of the countries in which
we operate have experienced governmental corruption to some degree and, in certain circumstances, strict compliance with anti-bribery
laws may conflict with local customs and practices. Despite our compliance and training programs, we cannot be certain that our procedures
will be sufficient to ensure consistent compliance with all applicable international trade and anti-corruption laws, or that our employees
or channel partners will strictly follow all policies and requirements to which we subject them. Any alleged or actual violations of these
laws may subject us to government scrutiny, investigation, debarment, and civil and criminal penalties, which may have an adverse effect
on our results of operations, financial condition and reputation.
As
with many DPI products, some of our products may be used by governmental or law enforcement customers in a manner that is, or that is
perceived to be, incompatible with human rights.
We cannot always verify whether our customers
are using our products in a lawful or ethical manner. It is possible that some of our governmental or law enforcement customers have used
our products in a manner that is incompatible with, or that is perceived to be incompatible with, human rights. In some circumstances,
governmental customers may desire to surveil their citizenry and may use our products to achieve those ends. For example, some foreign
governments use internet infrastructure to undermine democratic values through surveillance of and control over online communications
between political activists. Any misuse of our products by our governmental or law enforcement customers, or allegations of misuse, may
damage our reputation, business and results of operations.
Demand
for our products may be impacted by government regulation of the internet and telecommunications industry.
Service providers are subject to government
regulation in a number of jurisdictions in which we sell our products. There are several existing regulations and proposals in the United
States, Europe and elsewhere for regulating service providers’ ability to prioritize applications in their networks. Some advocates
for regulating this industry claim that collecting premium fees from certain “preferred” applications would distort the market
for Internet applications in favor of larger and better-funded content providers. They also claim that this would impact end-users who
already purchased broadband access only to experience response times that differ based on content provider. Some opponents believe that
content providers who support bandwidth-intensive applications should be required to pay service providers a premium in order to support
further network investments.
On December 14, 2017, the United States
Federal Communications Commission (the “FCC”) announced that it voted to repeal the Open Internet Report and Order on Remand,
Declaratory Ruling, and Order (the Open Internet Order). The Open Internet Order was issued by the FCC and went into effect on June 12,
2015. The Open Internet Order set forth rules, grounded, among others, on Title II of the Communications Act of 1934; the Open Internet
Order regulated both fixed and mobile Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and prohibited them, subject to reasonable network management,
from blocking and/or throttling of lawful content, applications, services, or non-harmful devices, and from unreasonably interfering or
disadvantaging of (i) end users’ ability to select, access service of the lawful Internet content, applications, services, or devices
of their choice or (ii) edge providers’ ability to make lawful content, applications, services, or devices available to end users.
The Open Internet Order also prohibited paid prioritization of content. The repeal largely reversed the Open Internet Order, including
the classification of broadband Internet service as a telecommunications service, which is subject to certain common carrier regulations,
and restored the regulatory framework that preceded the Open Internet Order. Because our products allow ISPs to identify network traffic
and facilitate traffic management, the reinstatement of this traditional regulatory framework has not, to date, affected but may in the
future affect ISP’s demand for certain of our products. The repeal of the Open Internet Order was upheld by a federal appeals court
in October 2019, however, the repeal does not preclude state and local governments from enacting their own net neutrality rules and certain
U.S. states have already implemented net neutrality protections which could impact our operations.
On April 30, 2016, Regulation (EU) 2015/2120
of the European Parliament and of the Council came into effect, setting forth the first EU-wide Net Neutrality (“Open Internet”)
rules. Under these rules, blocking, throttling and discrimination of internet traffic by ISPs is prohibited in the EU, with three exceptions:
(i) compliance with legal obligations; (ii) integrity of the network; and (iii) congestion management in exceptional and temporary situations.
Outside these exceptions, there can be no prioritization of traffic within an internet access service. However, equal treatment permits
reasonable day-to-day traffic management according to objectively justified technical requirements, and which must be independent of the
origin or destination of the traffic and of any commercial considerations. These rules also allow internet access providers, as well as
content and applications providers, to offer special services with specific quality requirements (provided the Open Internet is not negatively
affected by the provision of these services). Such specialized services cannot be a substitute to internet access services can only be
provided if there is sufficient network capacity to provide them in addition to any internet access service and must not be to the detriment
of the availability or general quality of internet access services for end-users.
Such regulation of both fixed and mobile
ISPs, in European Economic Area (EEA) Member States, may limit ISPs’ ability to manage, prioritize and monetize their network. Additionally,
these regulations may attract growing public debate and attention of regulators in other jurisdictions we operate in. Demand from service
providers, in affected jurisdictions, for the traffic management and subscriber management features of our products may be adversely affected
by such regulations. To date, we have not experienced any material decrease in demand for these features; however, a decrease in demand
in the future could adversely impact sales of our products and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition
or results of operations.
Our
failure to comply with data privacy laws may expose us to reputational harm and potential regulatory actions and fines.
Strict data privacy laws regulating the
collection, transmission, storage and use of employee data and consumers’ personally-identifying information applicable to ISPs
are evolving in the US, European Union and other jurisdictions in which we sell our products. For example, in the US, legislation has
in recent years been proposed regarding restrictions on the use of geolocation information collected by mobile devices without consumer
consent and California’s California Consumer Privacy Act, which grants expanded rights to access and delete personal information
and opt out of certain personal information sharing, among other things, became effective on January 1, 2020. Similarly, the General Data
Protection Regulation (“GDPR”), enforcement of which began on May 25, 2018, creates a range of new compliance obligations,
increases financial penalties for non-compliance and extends the scope of the EU data protection law to all companies established in the
EEA, and all companies established outside the EEA that either: (a) offer goods or services to individuals in the EEA; or (b) monitor
the behavior of individuals in the EEA. The GDPR imposes a strict data protection compliance regime and includes enhanced rights for individuals.
It applies to the collection, use, retention, security, processing, transfer and deletion of personally identifiable information of individuals,
and creates a range of new compliance obligations. Implementation of, and compliance with, the GDPR has increased, and could continue
to increase, our cost of doing business. In addition, the GDPR may be interpreted or applied in a manner that is unforeseen by, or adverse
to, us. Violations of the GDPR may result in significant fines (up to four percent of worldwide annual turnover or EUR 20.0 million, whichever
is greater) and reputational harm. Such regulations have increased our compliance and administrative burden significantly and require
us to invest resources and management attention in order to update our IT systems to meet the new requirements, including those related
to recordkeeping of personal identifiable information and segregation of duties.
The GDPR and other privacy and data protection
laws may be interpreted and applied differently from country to country and may create inconsistent or conflicting requirements. Such
regulations increase our customers’ compliance and administrative burden significantly and may require us to adapt certain of our
products, as well as our support and maintenance services, if necessary, to different requirements in EEA Member States, as well as in
the US, in order to allow our customers in such jurisdictions, to comply with such regulations. There is also no assurance that we will
be able to adapt our products and/or our support and maintenance services sufficiently in order to allow our customers in various jurisdictions
to comply with such regulatory requirements in each jurisdiction.
As data protection and privacy-related laws
and regulations continue to evolve, these changes may result in increased regulatory and public scrutiny, escalating levels of enforcement
and sanctions and increased costs of compliance. Therefore, we may be required to modify the features and functionalities of certain of
our products, in a manner that is less attractive to customers. Such adjustments of our products, if required, may require extensive financial
investments and may take long periods of time, leading to delay in sales cycles, deployment of our products and recognition of related
revenues. Furthermore, we may be required to adjust the geographical and operational structure of our Customer Success department, if
required, and this may entail extensive financial investments in providing support and maintenance services.
Risks Related to Our
Intellectual Property and Proprietary Information
If
we are unable to successfully protect the intellectual property embodied in our technology, our business could be materially adversely
affected.
Know-how relating to networking protocols,
building carrier-grade systems, identifying applications and developing and maintaining security products is an important aspect of our
intellectual property. It is our practice to have our employees sign appropriate non-compete agreements when permitted under applicable
law. These agreements prohibit our employees who cease working for us from competing directly with us or working for our competitors for
a limited period of time. The enforceability of non-compete clauses in certain jurisdictions in which we operate may be limited. Under
the current laws of some jurisdictions in which we operate, we may be unable to enforce these agreements and it may thereby be difficult
for us to restrict our competitors from gaining the expertise our former employees gained while working for us.
Further, to protect our know-how, we customarily
require our employees, distributors, resellers, software testers and contractors to execute confidentiality agreements or agree to confidentiality
undertakings when their relationship with us begins. Typically, our employment contracts also include clauses regarding assignment of
intellectual property rights for all inventions developed by employees and non-disclosure of all confidential information. We cannot provide
any assurance that the terms of these agreements are being observed and will be observed in the future. Because our product designs and
software are stored electronically and thus are highly portable, we attempt to reduce the portability of our designs and software by physically
protecting our servers through the use of closed networks, which prevent external access to our servers. We cannot be certain, however,
that such protection will adequately deter individuals or groups from wrongfully accessing our technology. Monitoring unauthorized use
of intellectual property is difficult and some foreign laws do not protect proprietary rights to the same extent as the laws of the United
States. We cannot be certain that the steps we have taken to protect our proprietary information will be sufficient. In addition, to protect
our intellectual property, we may become involved in litigation, which could result in substantial expenses, divert the attention of management,
or materially disrupt our business, all of which could adversely affect our revenue, financial condition and results of operations.
We also aim to protect our intellectual
property with patent protection. As of December 31, 2022 we had a patent portfolio consisting of 28 patent families, including 32 issued
U.S. patents, 2 U.S. patents that have recently been allowed but not issued, 3 reissued U.S. patents 2 pending U.S. patent applications,
and 30 patents issued in Canada, Israel and several European jurisdictions. There can be no assurance that:
• |
current or future U.S. or foreign patents applications will be approved; |
• |
our issued patents will protect our intellectual property and not be held invalid or unenforceable if challenged by third-parties;
|
• |
we will succeed in protecting our technology adequately in all key jurisdictions in which we or our competitors operate; |
• |
the patents of others will not have an adverse effect on our ability to do business; or |
• |
others will not independently develop similar or competing products or methods or design around any patents that may be issued to
us. |
Any failure to obtain patents, inability
to obtain patents with claims of a scope necessary to cover our technology or the invalidation of our patents may weaken our competitive
position and may adversely affect our revenues.
We
use certain “open source” software tools that may be subject to intellectual property infringement claims, the assertion of
which could impair our product development plans, interfere with our ability to support our clients or require us to pay licensing fees
Certain of our products contain open source
code, and we may use more open source code in the future. Open source code is the type of code that is covered by a license agreement
that permits the user to copy, modify and distribute the software without cost, provided that users and modifiers abide by certain licensing
requirements. The original developers of the open source code provide no warranties on such code. As a result of our use of open source
software, we could be subject to suits by parties claiming ownership of what we believe to be open source code, and we may incur expenses
in defending claims that we did not abide by the open source code license. If we are not successful in defending against such claims,
we may be subject to monetary damages or be required to remove the open source code from our products. Such events could disrupt our operations
and the sales of our products, which would negatively impact our revenues and cash flow. In addition, under certain conditions, the use
of open source code to create derivative code may obligate us to make the resulting derivative code available to others at no cost. If
we are required to publicly disclose the source code for such derivative products or to license our derivative products that use an open
source license, our previously proprietary software products would be available to others, including our customers and competitors without
charge. While we endeavor to ensure that no open source software is used in a way which may require us to disclose the source code to
our related product, such use could inadvertently occur. If we were required to make our software source code freely available, our business
could be seriously harmed. The use of such open source code may ultimately subject some of our products to unintended conditions so that
we are required to take remedial action that may divert resources away from our development efforts.
Disruption
to our IT systems could adversely affect our reputation and have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.
Risks related to cybersecurity and privacy,
including the activities of criminal hackers, hacktivists, state-sponsored intrusions, industrial espionage, employee malfeasance and
human or technological error, are constantly evolving. Computer hackers and others routinely attempt to breach the security of companies,
governmental agencies, technology products, services and systems.
Our IT systems contain personal, financial
and other information that is entrusted to us by our customers and employees as well as financial, proprietary and other confidential
information related to our business, and we rely on said systems to manage our business, operations and research and development. If these
IT systems are compromised as a result of cyber-attacks or cyber-related incidents, it could result in the loss or misappropriation of
sensitive data or other disruption to our operations. Although we have a cybersecurity program designed to protect and preserve the integrity
of our information technology systems, we have experienced and expect to continue to experience cyber-attacks of our IT systems or networks
(such as limited phishing, ransomware and malware activities identified by us in the past, which were mitigated). Although none of these
cyber-attacks nor breaches that have been of a minor nature, has had a material effect on our operations or financial condition, due to
our security measures and awareness, we cannot guarantee that any such incidents would not materially harm our business in the future.
If our IT systems are compromised as a result
of cyber-attacks or cyber-related incidents, it could result in the loss or misappropriation of sensitive data or other disruption to
our operations. It could also disrupt our electronic communications systems and thus our ability to conduct our business operations, our
ability to process customer orders and electronically deliver products and services and our distribution channels.
Additionally, as a provider of network intelligence
and security solutions for mobile and fixed service providers, an actual or perceived cyber-attack, breach of security or theft of personal
data store by us, regardless of whether the cyber-attack, breach or theft is attributable to the failure of our products, could adversely
affect the market’s perception of the efficacy of our solutions, and current or potential customers may look to our competitors
for alternative solutions. A breach of our systems may also lead defects and security vulnerabilities to be introduced into our software,
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.
Despite our investments in risk prevention
and contingencies, data protection, prevention of intrusions, access control systems and other security measures, we can provide no assurance
that our current IT systems are fully protected against third-party intrusions, viruses, hacker attacks, information or data theft or
other similar threats. Any such security breach, whether actual or alleged, could result in system disruptions or shutdowns and/or destruction,
alteration, theft or unauthorized disclosure of confidential information. Even when an actual or attempted security breach is detected,
the full extent of the breach may not be determined for some time. An increasing number of companies have disclosed security breaches
of their IT systems and networks, some of which have involved sophisticated and highly targeted attacks. We believe such incidents are
likely to continue, and we are unable to predict the direct or indirect impact of these future attacks on our business.
We
may be subject to claims of intellectual property infringement by third parties that, regardless of merit, could result in litigation
and our business, operating results or financial condition could be materially adversely affected.
There can be no assurance that we will not
receive communications from third parties asserting that our products and other intellectual property infringe, or may infringe their
proprietary rights. We are not currently subject to any proceedings for infringement of patents or other intellectual property rights
and are not aware of any parties that intend to pursue such claims against us except for an initial approach from a competitor asserting
a potential infringement which we strongly refute. Any such claim, regardless of merit, could result in litigation, which could result
in substantial expenses, divert the attention of management, cause significant delays and materially disrupt the conduct of our business.
As a consequence of such claims, we could be required to pay substantial damage awards, develop non-infringing technology, enter into
royalty-bearing licensing agreements, stop selling our products or re-brand our products. If it appears necessary, we may seek to license
intellectual property that we are alleged to infringe. Such licensing agreements may not be available on terms acceptable to us or at
all. Litigation is inherently uncertain and any adverse decision could result in a loss of our proprietary rights, subject us to significant
liabilities, require us to seek licenses from others and otherwise negatively affect our business. In the event of a successful claim
of infringement against us and our failure or inability to develop non-infringing technology or license the infringed or similar technology,
our business, operating results or financial condition could be materially adversely affected.
Risks Related to Our
Ordinary Shares
The
share price of our ordinary shares has been and may continue to be volatile.
The market price of our ordinary shares
has been volatile in the past and may continue to be volatile. Our quarterly financial performance is likely to vary in the future, and
may not meet our expectations or the expectations of analysts or investors, which may lead to additional volatility in our share price.
Many factors could cause the market price of ordinary shares to fluctuate substantially, including, but not limited to:
• |
announcements or introductions of technological innovations, new products, product enhancements or pricing policies by us or our
competitors; |
• |
winning or losing contracts with service providers; |
• |
disputes or other developments with respect to our or our competitors’ intellectual property rights; |
• |
announcements of strategic partnerships, joint ventures, acquisitions or other agreements by us or our competitors; |
• |
recruitment or departure of key personnel; |
• |
regulatory developments in the markets in which we sell our products; |
• |
our future repurchases, if any, of our ordinary shares pursuant to our current share repurchase program and/or any other share repurchase
program which may be approved in the future; |
• |
our sale of ordinary shares or other securities; |
• |
changes in the estimation of the future size and growth of our markets; |
• |
market conditions in our industry, the industries of our customers and the economy as a whole; |
• |
a failure to meet publicly announced guidance or other expectations; or |
• |
equity awards to our directors, officers and employees. |
Share price fluctuations may be exaggerated
if the trading volume of our ordinary shares is too low. The lack of a trading market may result in the loss of research coverage by securities
analysts. Moreover, we can provide no assurance that any securities analysts will initiate or maintain research coverage of our company
and our ordinary shares. If our future quarterly operating results are below the expectations of securities analysts or investors, the
price of our ordinary shares would likely decline. Securities class action litigation has often been brought against companies following
periods of volatility.
Our
shareholders do not have the same protections afforded to shareholders of a U.S. company because we have elected to use certain exemptions
available to foreign private issuers from certain corporate governance requirements of the Nasdaq Stock Market (“Nasdaq”).
As a foreign private issuer, we are permitted
under Nasdaq Rule 5615(a)(3) to follow Israeli corporate governance practices instead of Nasdaq requirements that apply to U.S. companies.
As a condition to following Israeli corporate governance practices, we must disclose which requirements we are not following and describe
the equivalent Israeli law requirement. We must also provide Nasdaq with a letter from our Israeli outside counsel, certifying that our
corporate governance practices are not prohibited by Israeli law. As a result of these exemptions, our shareholders do not have the same
protections as are afforded to shareholders of a U.S. company.
We currently follow Israeli home country
practices with regard to the quorum requirement for shareholder meetings and shareholder approval of equity compensation plans requirements.
As permitted under the Israeli Companies Law, 5759-1999, or the Companies Law, our articles of association provide that the quorum for
any meeting of shareholders shall be the presence of at least two shareholders present in person or by proxy who hold at least 25% of
the voting power of our shares instead of 33% of our issued share capital (as prescribed by Nasdaq’s rules). We do not seek shareholder
approval for (i) equity compensation plans in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Law, which does not reflect the requirements
of Rule 5635(c), (ii) the issuance of securities that would result in a change of control, which does not reflect the requirements of
Rule 5635(b), and (iii) certain private issuances of securities representing more than 20% of our outstanding shares or voting power at
below market prices, which does not reflect the requirements of Rule 5635(b).
In the future, we may also choose to follow
Israeli corporate governance practices instead of Nasdaq requirements with regard to, among other things, the composition of our board
of directors, compensation of officers, director nomination procedures and quorum requirements at shareholders’ meetings. In addition,
we may choose to follow Israeli corporate governance practice instead of Nasdaq requirements to obtain shareholder approval for certain
dilutive events. Accordingly, our shareholders may not be afforded the same protection as provided under Nasdaq corporate governance rules.
Following our home country governance practices, as opposed to the requirements that would otherwise apply to a U.S. company listed on
Nasdaq, may provide less protection than is accorded to investors of domestic issuers. See “ITEM 16G: Corporate Governance.”
As
a foreign private issuer, we are not subject to the provisions of Regulation FD or U.S. proxy rules and are exempt from filing certain
Exchange Act reports.
As a foreign private issuer, we are exempt
from the rules and regulations under the Exchange Act related to the furnishing and content of proxy statements, and our officers, directors
and principal shareholders are exempt from the reporting and short-swing profit recovery provisions contained in Section 16 of the Exchange
Act. In addition, we are not required under the Exchange Act to file annual and current reports and financial statements with the SEC
as frequently or as promptly as U.S. domestic companies whose securities are registered under the Exchange Act. We are permitted to disclose
limited compensation information for our executive officers on an individual basis and we are generally exempt from filing quarterly reports
with the SEC under the Exchange Act. Moreover, we are not required to comply with Regulation FD, which restricts the selective disclosure
of material nonpublic information to, among others, broker-dealers and holders of a company’s securities under circumstances in
which it is reasonably foreseeable that the holder will trade in the company’s securities on the basis of the information. These
exemptions and leniencies reduce the frequency and scope of information and protections to which you may otherwise have been eligible
in relation to a U.S. domestic issuer.
We would lose our foreign private issuer
status if (a) a majority of our outstanding voting securities were either directly or indirectly owned of record by residents of the United
States and (b) either (i) a majority of our executive officers or directors were United States citizens or residents, (ii) more than 50%
of our assets were located in the United States or (iii) our business were administered principally in the United States. Our loss of
foreign private issuer status would make U.S. regulatory provisions mandatory. The regulatory and compliance costs to us under U.S. securities
laws as a U.S. domestic issuer may be significantly higher. If we are not a foreign private issuer, we will be required to file periodic
reports and registration statements on U.S. domestic issuer forms with the SEC, which are more detailed and extensive than the forms available
to a foreign private issuer. We would also be required to follow U.S. proxy disclosure requirements, including the requirement to disclose,
under U.S. law, more detailed information about the compensation of our senior executive officers on an individual basis. We may also
be required to modify certain of our policies to comply with accepted governance practices associated with U.S. domestic issuers. Such
conversion and modifications will involve additional costs. In addition, we would lose our ability to rely upon exemptions from certain
Nasdaq corporate governance requirements that are available to foreign private issuers.
Certain
U.S. holders of our ordinary shares may suffer adverse tax consequences if we or any of our non-US subsidiaries are characterized as a
“controlled foreign corporation,” or a CFC, under Section 957(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”).
A non-U.S. corporation is considered a CFC
if more than 50% of (1) the total combined voting power of all classes of stock of such corporation entitled to vote, or (2) the total
value of the stock of such corporation, is owned, or is considered as owned by applying certain constructive ownership rules, including
certain downward attribution rules by United States shareholders who each own stock representing 10% or more of the vote or 10% or more
of the value on any day during the taxable year of such non-U.S. corporation (“10% U.S. Shareholder”). Because our group includes
one or more U.S. subsidiaries, certain of our non-U.S. subsidiaries will be treated as CFCs (regardless of whether or not we are treated
as a CFC). Generally, 10% U.S. Shareholders of a CFC are required to report annually and include currently in its U.S. taxable income
such 10% U.S. Shareholder’s pro rata share of the CFC’s “Subpart F income,” “global intangible low-taxed
income,” and investments in U.S. property by CFCs, regardless of whether we make an actual distribution to such shareholders. “Subpart
F income” includes, among other things, certain passive income (such as income from dividends, interests, royalties, rents and annuities
or gain from the sale of property that produces such types of income) and certain sales and services income arising in connection with
transactions between the CFC and a person related to the CFC.
Any individual that is a 10% U.S. Shareholder
with respect to a CFC generally would not be allowed certain tax deductions or foreign tax credits that would be allowed to a 10% U.S.
Shareholder that is a U.S. corporation. Failure to comply with these reporting obligations may subject a 10% U.S. Shareholder to significant
monetary penalties and may prevent the statute of limitations with respect to such shareholder’s U.S. federal income tax return
for the year for which reporting was due from starting. We cannot provide any assurances that we will assist investors in determining
whether any of our non-U.S. subsidiaries is treated as a CFC or whether any investor is treated as a 10% U.S. Shareholder with respect
to any such CFC or furnish to any 10% United States shareholders information that may be necessary to comply with the aforementioned reporting
and tax payment obligations. A United States investor should consult its tax advisors regarding the potential application of these rules
to an investment in our ordinary shares.
Your
percentage ownership in the Company may be diluted in the future because of equity awards that have been, or may be, granted to our directors,
officers and employees.
We have adopted equity compensation plans
that provide for the grant of equity-based awards, including restricted units and share options to our directors, officers, and other
employees. As of February 20, 2023, we had 2,633,616 options and restricted units outstanding to employees and directors of the Company,
and there were 1,239,744 shares available for future awards under our equity compensation plans. The vesting of restricted units and granting
of share options are generally contingent upon performance and/or service conditions. Vesting of those shares of restricted units and
share would dilute the ownership interest of existing shareholders. Equity awards will continue to be a source of compensation for employees
and directors going forward.
We
may fail to meet our publicly announced guidance or other expectations about our business, which could cause our share price to decline.
We may provide from time to time guidance
regarding our expected financial and business performance. Correctly identifying key factors affecting business conditions and predicting
future events is inherently an uncertain process, and our guidance may not ultimately be accurate and has in the past been inaccurate
in certain respects. Our guidance is based on certain assumptions such as those relating to anticipated production and sales volumes (which
generally are not linear throughout a given period), average sales prices, and supplier and commodity costs. If our guidance varies from
actual results due to our assumptions not being met or the impact on our financial performance that could occur as a result of various
risks and uncertainties, the market value of our ordinary shares could decline significantly.
Risks Relating to our
Indebtedness and Capital Structure
The
issuance of ordinary shares upon conversion of the Note (as defined below) could substantially dilute your investment and could impede
our ability to obtain additional financing.
On February 18, 2022, we issued to Lynrock
Lake Master Fund LP a senior unsecured promissory note in an aggregate principal amount of $40 million (the “Note”). The Note
is convertible into our ordinary shares at an initial conversion rate of 97.0874 ordinary shares per $1,000 of the principal amount being
converted (based on an initial conversion price equal to $10.30 per ordinary share). The conversion price decreases by up to two $1 increments
if we elect to extend the maturity of the Note by up to two successive years following the initial maturity date of February 14, 2025.
Conversion of the Note would result in dilution to the equity interests of our other shareholders. We have no control over whether or
when the holder will exercise its right to convert the Note. We cannot predict the market price of our ordinary shares at any future date,
and therefore cannot predict whether the Note will be converted. The existence and potentially dilutive impact of the conversion of the
Note may prevent us from obtaining additional financing in the future on acceptable terms, or at all.
Our
indebtedness and liabilities could limit the cash flow available for our operations, expose us to risks that could adversely affect our
business, financial condition and results of operations, restrict our ability to incur additional indebtedness and impair our ability
to satisfy our obligations under the Note.
Our indebtedness could have material adverse
consequences for our security holders and our business, results of operations and financial condition by, among other things:
• |
increasing our vulnerability to adverse economic and industry conditions; |
• |
limiting our ability to obtain additional financing; |
• |
limiting our flexibility to plan for, or react to, changes in our business; |
• |
diluting the interests of our existing shareholders as a result of issuing ordinary shares upon conversion of the Note; and
|
• |
placing us at a possible competitive disadvantage with competitors that are less leveraged than us or have better access to capital.
|
The Note includes financially restrictive
covenants that, among other things, limit our ability to incur additional debt. Without the consent of the holders of a majority in aggregate
principal amount of the Note, we may not create, incur, assume or be liable for any indebtedness for borrowed money unless the aggregate
principal amount of such indebtedness does not exceed $5 million.
The Note matures on February 14, 2025, subject
to our right to extend it for two successive years. At maturity, unless converted or redeemed, we will need to repay the principal amount
under the Note. Our business may not generate sufficient funds, and we may otherwise be unable to maintain sufficient cash reserves, to
pay amounts due under our indebtedness, including the Note, and our cash needs may increase in the future.
We
may be unable to raise the funds necessary to repurchase the Note for cash following a change of control, or to pay any cash amounts due
upon redemption or conversion, and our other indebtedness may limit our ability to repurchase the Note or pay cash upon its conversion.
In the event of a change of control, the
holder of the Note has the right to require us to convert all or a portion of the Note to ordinary shares or redeem all (but not less
than all) of the outstanding principal amount of the Note. In the event of such conversion or redemption in connection with a change of
control, we will also be required to pay to the holder an amount in cash equal to 6% per annum of the then-outstanding principal amount
of the Note. We may not have enough available cash or be able to obtain financing at the time we are required to redeem the Note or pay
the cash amounts due upon conversion or redemption. In addition, applicable law, regulatory authorities and the agreements governing any
future indebtedness may restrict our ability to repurchase the Note or pay the cash amounts due upon conversion or redemption. Our failure
to repurchase the Note or to pay the cash amounts due upon conversion or redemption when required will constitute a default under the
Note. A default under the Note could also lead to a default under agreements governing any future indebtedness, which may result in that
other indebtedness becoming immediately payable in full. We may not have sufficient funds to satisfy all amounts due under such other
indebtedness and the Note.
Provisions
in the Note could delay or prevent an otherwise beneficial takeover of us.
Certain provisions in the Note could make
a third-party attempt to acquire us more difficult or expensive. For example, if a takeover constitutes a change of control, then the
noteholder will have the right to convert all or a portion of the Note or redeem all (but not less than all) of the outstanding principal
amount of the Note. In this case, and in other cases, our obligations under the Note could increase the cost of acquiring us or otherwise
discourage a third party from acquiring us, including in a transaction that holders of our ordinary shares may view as favorable.
Risks Relating to our
Location in Israel
Conditions
in Israel could adversely affect our business.
We are incorporated under Israeli law and
our principal offices, research and development division and manufacturing facilities are located in Israel. Accordingly, political, economic
and military conditions in Israel directly affect our business. Since the State of Israel was established in 1948, a number of armed conflicts
have occurred between Israel and its Arab neighbors. Although Israel has entered into various agreements with Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinian
Authority, there has been an increase in unrest and terrorist activity, which began in September 2000 and continued with varying levels
of severity throughout 2022. In recent years, Israel has been engaged in sporadic armed conflicts with Hamas, an Islamist terrorist group
that controls the Gaza Strip, with Hezbollah, an Islamist terrorist group that controls large portions of southern Lebanon, and with Iranian-backed
military forces in Syria. In addition, Iran has threatened to attack Israel and may be developing nuclear weapons. Some of these hostilities
were accompanied by missiles being fired from the Gaza Strip against civilian targets in various parts of Israel, including areas in which
our employees and some of our consultants are located, and negatively affected business conditions in Israel. Any hostilities involving
Israel or the interruption or curtailment of trade between Israel and its trading partners could adversely affect our operations and financial
results.
Our commercial insurance does not cover
losses that may occur as a result of events associated with war and terrorism. Although the Israeli government currently covers the reinstatement
value of direct damages that are caused by terrorist attacks or acts of war, we cannot assure you that this government coverage will be
maintained or that it will sufficiently cover our potential damages. Any losses or damages incurred by us could have a material adverse
effect on our business. Any armed conflicts or political instability in the region would likely negatively affect business conditions
and could harm our results of operations.
In the past, the State of Israel and Israeli
companies have been subjected to economic boycotts. Several countries still restrict business with the State of Israel and with Israeli
companies. These restrictive laws and policies may have an adverse impact on our operating results, financial condition or the expansion
of our business. A campaign of boycotts, divestment and sanctions has been undertaken against Israel, which could also adversely impact
our business.
Furthermore, the Israeli government is currently
pursuing certain changes to Israel’s judicial system. In response, various governmental and non-governmental organizations, both
within and outside of Israel, have voiced concerns that the proposed changes may create actual or perceived political instability, which
could adversely affect the Israeli economy. To the extent such changes have negative consequences on the Israeli economy, our business,
financial condition, results of operations and prospects may be harmed.
Our
operations may be disrupted by the obligations of personnel to perform military service.
As of December 31, 2022, we employed 749
people, of whom 314 were based in Israel. Some of our employees in Israel are obligated to perform annual military reserve duty in the
Israel Defense Forces, depending on their age and position in the army. Additionally, they may be called to active reserve duty at any
time under emergency circumstances for extended periods of time. Our operations could be disrupted by the absence of one or more of our
executive officers or key employees for a significant period due to military service and any significant disruption in our operations
could harm our business. The full impact on our workforce or business if some of our executive officers and employees are called upon
to perform military service, especially in times of national emergency, is difficult to predict.
The
tax benefits that are available to us require us to meet several conditions and may be terminated or reduced in the future, which would
increase our costs and taxes.
Our investment program in equipment at our
facility in Hod-Hasharon, Israel, has been granted Approved Enterprise status and we are therefore eligible for tax benefits under the
Israeli Law for the Encouragement of Capital Investments, 1959, referred to as the Investments Law. We have also been granted benefited
enterprise status in prior years, but beginning in 2021, this status is no longer applicable to us. We expect that the Approved Enterprise
tax benefits will be available to us after we utilize our net operating loss carry forwards As of December 31, 2022, our net operating
loss carry forwards for Israeli tax purposes amounted to approximately $81.5 million. To remain eligible for these tax benefits, we must
continue to meet certain conditions stipulated in the Investments Law and its regulations and the criteria set forth in the specific certificate
of approval. If we do not meet these requirements, the tax benefits would be canceled and we could be required to refund any tax benefits
and investment grants that we received in the past. Further, in the future these tax benefits may be reduced or discontinued. If these
tax benefits are cancelled, our Israeli taxable income would be subject to regular Israeli corporate tax rates. The standard corporate
tax rate in Israel since the 2018 tax year is 23%.
Effective January 1, 2011, the Investments
Law was amended (the “2011 Amendment”) to revise the criteria for receiving tax benefits. Under the transition provisions
of the 2011 Amendment, a company may decide to irrevocably implement the 2011 Amendment while waiving benefits provided under the Investments
Law’s prior benefits programs or to remain subject to the Investments Law’s prior benefits programs. We have opted not to
apply the benefits under the 2011 Amendment, however, in the future, we may not be eligible to receive additional tax benefits as were
made available under the Investments Law prior to the 2011 Amendment. The termination or reduction of these tax benefits would increase
our tax liability, which would reduce our profits. Finally, in the event of a distribution of a dividend from the abovementioned tax-exempt
income, we would also be subject to income tax on the amount distributed in accordance with the effective corporate tax rate which would
have been applied had we not enjoyed the exemption. See “ITEM 10: Additional Information—Taxation—Israeli Tax Considerations
and Government Programs.”
No assurance can be given that we will be
eligible to receive additional tax benefits under the Investments Law in the future. The termination or reduction of these tax benefits
would increase our tax liability in the future, which would reduce our profits or increase our losses. Additionally, if we increase our
activities outside of Israel, for example, by future acquisitions, our increased activities may not be eligible for inclusion in Israeli
tax benefit programs.
The
government grants we have received for research and development expenditures require us to satisfy specified conditions and restrict our
ability to manufacture products and transfer technologies outside of Israel. If we fail to comply with these conditions or such restrictions,
we may be required to refund grants previously received together with interest and penalties and may be subject to criminal charges.
We have received grants from the Israel
Innovation Authority (formerly known as the Office of the Chief Scientist of the Ministry of Economy) for the financing of a portion of
our research and development expenditures in Israel, pursuant to the provisions of The Encouragement of Research, Development and Innovation
in Industry Law, 1984, referred to as the Research and Development Law. In the future we may not receive grants or we may receive significantly
smaller grants from the Israel Innovation Authority, and our failure to receive grants in the future could adversely affect our profitability.
In 2021, we did not recognize any material non-royalty-bearing grants from the Israel Innovation Authority. In 2022, we recognized non-royalty-bearing
grants totaling $0.5 million, representing 1% of our gross research and development expenditures. In each of the years 2022 and 2021,
we qualified to participate in one non-royalty-bearing research and development program, funded by the Israel Innovation Authority to
develop generic technology relevant to the development of our products. Such programs are approved pursuant to special provisions of the
Research and Development Law. In the past three years, we were eligible to receive grants constituting of up to 53% of certain research
and development expenses relating to these programs. Although the grants under these programs are not required to be repaid by way of
royalties, the restrictions of the Research and Development Law described below apply to these programs.
The provisions of the Research and Development
Law and the terms of the Israel Innovation Authority grants prohibit us from transferring manufacturing products which we originally planned
to manufacture in Israel outside of Israel if they incorporate technologies funded by the Israel Innovation Authority, and from transferring
intellectual property rights in technologies developed using these grants, without special approvals from the Israel Innovation Authority.
Even if we receive approval to manufacture
our products outside of Israel, we may be required to pay an increased total amount of royalties, which may be up to 300% of the grant
amount plus interest, depending on our manufacturing volume outside Israel. This restriction may impair our ability to outsource manufacturing
or engage in similar arrangements for those products or technologies. Know-how developed under an approved research and development program
may not be transferred to any third-parties, except in certain circumstances and subject to prior approval. Similarly, even if we receive
approval to transfer intellectual property rights in technologies developed using these grants, we may be required to repay up to 6 times
of the original grants plus LIBOR interest to the Israel Innovation Authority. In addition, if we fail to comply with any of the conditions
and restrictions imposed by the Research and Development Law or by the specific terms under which we received the grants, we may be required
to refund any grants previously received together with interest and penalties, and we may be subject to criminal charges.
It
may be difficult to enforce a U.S. judgment against us, our officers and directors, or our auditors in Israel or the United States, or
to assert U.S. securities laws claims in Israel or serve process on our officers and directors or our auditors.
We are incorporated in Israel. The majority
of our executive officers and directors, and our auditors are not residents of the U.S., and the majority of our assets and the assets
of these persons are located outside the U.S. Therefore, it may be difficult for an investor, or any other person or entity, to enforce
a U.S. court judgment based upon the civil liability provisions of the U.S. federal securities laws against us or any of these persons
in a U.S. or Israeli court, or to effect service of process upon these persons in the United States. Additionally, it may be difficult
for an investor, or any other person or entity, to assert U.S. securities law claims in original actions instituted in Israel. Israeli
courts may refuse to hear a claim based on a violation of U.S. securities laws on the grounds that Israel is not the most appropriate
forum in which to bring such a claim. Even if an Israeli court agrees to hear a claim, it may determine that Israeli law and not U.S.
law is applicable to the claim. If U.S. law is found to be applicable, the content of applicable U.S. law must be proved as a fact which
can be a time-consuming and costly process. Certain matters of procedure will also be governed by Israeli law. There is little binding
case law in Israel addressing the matters described above.
Provisions
of Israeli law and our articles of association may delay, prevent or make undesirable an acquisition of all or a significant portion of
our shares or assets.
Our articles of association contain certain
provisions that may delay or prevent a change of control, including a classified board of directors. In addition, Israeli corporate law
regulates acquisitions of shares through tender offers and mergers, requires special approvals for transactions involving significant
shareholders and regulates other matters that may be relevant to these types of transactions. These provisions of Israeli law could delay
or prevent a change in control and may make it more difficult for third-parties to acquire us, even if doing so would be beneficial to
our shareholders, and may limit the price that investors may be willing to pay for our ordinary shares in the future. Furthermore, Israeli
tax considerations may make potential transactions undesirable to us or to some of our shareholders. See “ITEM 10: Additional Information—Memorandum
and Articles of Association—Acquisitions under Israeli Law” and “—Anti-Takeover Measures.”
General Risk Factors
Our
financial results may differ materially from any guidance we may publish from time to time.
We may, from time to time, voluntarily publish
guidance regarding our future performance that represents our management’s estimates as of the date of relevant release. Any such
guidance is based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while presented with numerical specificity, is inherently subject to
significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are beyond our control and are based upon
specific assumptions with respect to future business decisions, some of which will change. The principal reason that we may release this
data is to provide a basis for our management to discuss our business outlook with analysts and investors. We do not accept any responsibility
for any projections or reports published by any such persons. Guidance is necessarily speculative in nature, and it can be expected that
some or all of the assumptions of the guidance furnished by us will not materialize or will vary significantly from actual results. Further,
our sales during any given quarter tend to be unevenly distributed as individual orders tend to close in greater numbers immediately prior
to the relevant quarter end and further. Our revenues from individual customers may also fluctuate from time to time based on the timing
and the terms under which further orders are received and the duration of the delivery and implementation of such orders. Therefore, if
our projected sales do not close before the end of the relevant quarter, our actual results may be inconsistent with our published guidance.
Accordingly, our guidance is only an estimate of what management believes is realizable as of the date of release. Actual results will
vary from the guidance and the variations may be material. Investors should also recognize that the reliability of any forecasted financial
data diminishes the farther in the future that the data is forecast. In light of the foregoing, investors are urged to consider any guidance
we may publish in context and not to place undue reliance on it.
Our
financial condition and results of operations may be harmed by political events and regulatory developments that could have a material
adverse effect on global economic condition.
Significant political or regulatory developments
in the jurisdictions in which we sell our products, such as those stemming from the recent change in the presidential administration in
the U.S. or the U.K.’s exit from the E.U., are difficult to predict and may have a material adverse effect on us. For example, in
the United States, tariffs have recently been imposed on imports from China, Mexico, Canada and other countries, and there may be further
restrictions on free trade and has increased tariffs on goods imported into the United States. Changes in U.S. political, regulatory and
economic conditions or in its policies governing international trade and foreign manufacturing and investment in the U.S. could materially
adversely affect our sales in the U.S.
In the United Kingdom, following the vote
to approve an exit from the E.U., commonly referred to as “Brexit,” the government officially separated from the E.U. on January
31, 2020. A transition period ended on December 31, 2020, during which the U.K. and the E.U. negotiated the terms of the U.K.’s
relationship with the E.U. going forward. With the implementation of the E.U.-U.K. Trade and Cooperation Agreement beginning on January
1, 2021, it is still unclear how the deal will impact relationships within the U.K. and between the U.K. and other countries on many aspects
of fiscal policy, cross-border trade and international relations. The Trade and Cooperation Agreement could potentially disrupt the free
movement of goods, services and people between the U.K. and the E.U., undermine bilateral cooperation in key geographic areas and significantly
disrupt trade between the U.K. and the E.U. or other nations as the U.K. pursues independent trade relations. Because this is an unprecedented
event, it is unclear what long-term economic, financial, trade, tax and legal implications Brexit would have and how it would affect the
regulation applicable to our business globally and in the region. The impact on us will depend, in part, on the outcome of tariff, trade,
regulatory and other negotiations. Brexit could also lead to legal uncertainty and potentially divergent national laws and regulations
as the U.K. determines which E.U. laws to replace or replicate. In addition, Brexit may lead other E.U. member countries to consider referendums
regarding their European Union membership. Any of these developments, along with any political, economic and regulatory changes that may
occur, could cause political and economic uncertainty in Europe and internationally and could materially adversely affect our sales in
Europe.
We
may expand our business or enhance our technology through acquisitions that could result in diversion of resources and extra expenses.
This could disrupt our business and adversely affect our financial condition.
Part of our strategy is to selectively pursue
partnerships and acquisitions. We have acquired a number of companies in the past. The negotiation of acquisitions, investments or joint
ventures, as well as the integration of acquired or jointly developed businesses or technologies, could divert our management’s
time and resources. Acquired businesses, technologies or joint ventures may not be successfully integrated with our products and operations
and we may not realize the intended benefits of these acquisitions. We may also incur future losses from any acquisition, investment or
joint venture. In addition, acquisitions could result in:
• |
substantial cash expenditures; |
• |
potentially dilutive issuances of equity securities; |
• |
the incurrence of debt and contingent liabilities; |
• |
a decrease in our profit margins; and |
• |
amortization of intangibles and potential impairment of goodwill. |
Our
business may be materially affected by changes to fiscal and tax policies. Potentially negative or unexpected tax consequences of these
policies, or the uncertainty surrounding their potential effects, could adversely affect our results of operations and share price.
As we operate in the global market, we are
subject to taxation in Israel and various jurisdictions in which we conduct our business. Our tax expenses include the impact of tax exposures
in certain jurisdictions, and may also be affected by adverse changes in the underlying profitability and financial outlook of our operations
or changes in tax laws, including introduction of unilateral taxation such as digital services taxes in certain countries, international
tax treaties, guidelines such as the OECD inclusive framework on BEPS, proposed regimes informally known as Pillar 2 which apply to large
multinational corporations, or EU ATAD I and II, all of which could lead to an increase in our effective tax rate or to changes in our
valuation allowances against deferred tax assets on our consolidated balance sheets. Furthermore, we are subject to tax audits by governmental
authorities everywhere we do business. If we experience unfavorable results from one or more such tax audits, there could be an adverse
effect on our tax rate and therefore on our net income. Our results of operations may also be affected by changes in tax laws, tax rates
or double tax treaties.
London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”)
and other interest rates that are indices deemed to be “benchmarks” are the subject of recent and ongoing national, international
and other regulatory guidance and proposals for reform. Some of these reforms are already effective, while others are still to be implemented.
These reforms may cause such benchmarks to perform differently than in the past, or to disappear entirely as in the case of LIBOR, or
have other consequences that cannot be predicted. Any such consequence could have a material adverse effect on our future debt linked
to such a “benchmark” and our ability to service debt that bears interest at floating rates of interest.
If
the price of our ordinary shares declines, we may be more vulnerable to an unsolicited or hostile acquisition bid.
We do not have a controlling shareholder.
Notwithstanding provisions of our articles of association and Israeli law, a decline in the price of our ordinary shares may result in
us becoming subject to an unsolicited or hostile acquisition bid. In the event that such a bid is publicly disclosed, it may result in
increased speculation regarding our company and volatility in our share price even if our board of directors decides not to pursue a transaction.
If our board of directors does pursue a transaction, there can be no assurance that it will be consummated successfully or that the price
paid will represent a premium above the original price paid for our shares by all of our shareholders.
Additionally, in recent years, U.S. and
non-U.S. companies listed on securities exchanges in the United States have been faced with governance-related demands from activist shareholders,
unsolicited tender offers and proxy contests. Although as a foreign private issuer we are not subject to U.S. proxy rules, responding
to any action of this type by activist shareholders could be costly and time-consuming, disrupting our operations and diverting the attention
of management and our employees. Such activities could interfere with our ability to execute our strategic plans. In addition, a proxy
contest for the election of directors at our annual meeting would require us to incur significant legal fees and proxy solicitation expenses
and require significant time and attention by management and our board of directors. The perceived uncertainties due to such actions of
activist shareholders also could affect the market price of our securities.
Adverse
resolution of litigation may harm our operating results or financial condition.
We are a party to lawsuits in the normal
course of our business. Litigation can be expensive, lengthy, and disruptive to normal business operations. Moreover, the results of complex
legal proceedings are difficult to predict. Unfavorable resolution of lawsuits could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating
results, or financial condition.
ITEM
4: Information on Allot
A. History and Development
of Allot
Our History
Our legal and commercial name is Allot Ltd.
We were incorporated on November 12, 1996. We are a company limited by shares organized under the laws of the State of Israel. Our principal
executive offices are located at 22 Hanagar Street, Neve Ne’eman Industrial Zone B, Hod-Hasharon 4501317, Israel, and our telephone
number is +972 (9) 761-9200. We have irrevocably appointed Allot Communications Inc. as our agent to receive service of process in any
action against us in any United States federal or state court. The address of Allot Communications Inc. is 1500 District Avenue, Burlington,
MA 01803.
Our website address is www.allot.com. Information
contained on, or that can be accessed through, our website does not constitute a part of this annual report and is not incorporated by
reference herein. We have included our website address in this annual report solely for informational purposes. Our SEC filings are available
to you on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov, which contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information
regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC. The information on that website is not part of this annual report and is not
incorporated by reference herein.
B. Business Overview
Overview
We are a provider of leading innovative
security solutions and network intelligence solutions for mobile, fixed and cloud service providers as well as enterprises worldwide.
For 25 years, our solutions have been deployed globally for network-based security, including mobile security, distributed denial of service
(“DDoS”) protection and Internet of Things (“IoT”) security, network and application analytics, traffic control
and shaping, and more. More recently, we have cultivated a strategic focus on the expansion and advancement of our SECaaS product offerings.
The Company delivers a unified security
service for individual consumers and small and medium-sized businesses (“SMBs”), at home, at work and on the go, with the
Allot Secure product family. Our Allot Security Management product is, to our knowledge, the only platform that unifies security services
for mobile, fixed and 5G converged networks.
Our industry-leading network-based SECaaS
solution has previously achieved up to 50% penetration with some service providers and is already used by over 20 million subscribers
globally. Our multi-service platforms (AllotSmart) are deployed by over 500 mobile, fixed and cloud service providers and over 1,000 enterprises.
We have a global and diverse customer base
composed of mobile and fixed broadband service providers, cable operators, satellite service providers, private networks, data centers,
governments, and enterprises such as financial and educational institutions. We have a strong backlog representing customers’ orders
for products and services not yet recognized as revenues. Backlog is subject to delivery delays or program cancellations, which are beyond
our control.
With over 20 years of experience empowering
service providers and enterprises to get more out of their networks and to manage them better, we enable network operators and enterprises
to detect security breaches, to protect their own networks and their users from attacks, to clearly see and understand their networks
from within, to optimize, innovate and capitalize on every opportunity, to learn about users and network behaviors, and to improve Quality
of Service (“QoS”) and reduce costs, all while increasing value to customers and deploying new services faster.
Through our combination of innovative technology,
proven know-how and collaborative approach to industry standards and partnerships, we deliver solutions that equip service providers with
the capabilities to elevate their role as premier digital services providers and to expand into new business opportunities. We offer our
customers market leading, proprietary technologies that are powerful, diverse and scalable. In addition, we have developed significant
industry know-how and expertise through our experience in designing and implementing use cases with our large customer base.
We generated total revenues of $122.7 million
in the year ended December 31, 2022, a decrease of 16% over the prior year. In 2022, 23% of our revenues were attributable to security
solutions, and 77% of our revenues were attributable to network intelligence solutions.
Industry Overview
Security Solutions
As the number of networks, applications
and network-connected devices has increased, consumers and SMBs have become increasingly vulnerable to cyber threats and crime, and communication
service providers (“CSPs”) have begun to encounter complex operational challenges requiring nuanced solutions.
• |
Network Security
Threats: As reliance on the Internet has grown, service providers and enterprise
networks have become increasingly vulnerable to a wide range of security threats, including DDoS attacks, spambots, malware and other
threats. These attacks are designed to flood the network with traffic that consumes all available bandwidth, impeding operators’
ability to provide high quality broadband access to subscribers or preventing enterprises from using mission-critical applications. These
threats also compromise network and data integrity. We believe service providers and enterprises can better protect against such attacks
by detecting and neutralizing malicious traffic at very early stages, before such threats can compromise network integrity and services.
|
• |
End-User Security
Threats: Broadband devices and mobile devices have also become increasingly
vulnerable to online threats, such as malware, ransomware and phishing. Broadband and mobile device users have limited cyber-security
expertise and therefore present easy targets for cybercriminals. In recent years, we have seen a growing demand from large and mid-size
operators to offer such security services to their customers—both individual consumers and small and mid-size businesses. We believe
few consumers download security applications to all of their personal devices, but CSPs are well positioned to provide security services
because they are the sole providers of access to the network for their consumers, are capable of blocking attacks before they reach the
consumer and have multiple touch points with consumers as trusted brands, through ongoing customer support and frequent communication.
Research conducted in partnership with Coleman Parkes Research in 2022 revealed that 84% of consumers believe that security solutions
should already be on the device or the responsibility of the devise manufacturer or CSPs. Further, data provided and developed by Coleman
Parkes Research in a separate research study of consumers’ attitudes toward cybersecurity revealed that 68% of mobile users are
willing to pay an additional $3 per month for a security service, and that 64% of fixed broadband users are willing to pay an additional
$6 per month for broadband a security service. |
Network Intelligence
Solutions
The rapid proliferation of broadband networks
in recent years has been driven largely by demand from users for faster and more reliable access to the Internet and by the increased
number and complexity of broadband applications, as well as the proliferation of mobile smartphones, tablets and other Internet-connected
devices. As a result of this rapid proliferation, service providers have been forced to invest heavily in network infrastructure upgrades
and customer support services to maintain the quality of experience for subscribers. Further, the cost of increasing the bandwidth in
mobile networks is significantly higher than that in wireline networks, and mobile operators require intelligent bandwidth management
solutions to handle increased data traffic and the requirement for continuous low-latency transmission. Moreover, to offset the increased
investment and operational costs, CSPs need to be able to offer premium services to consumers. To offer premium services, to guarantee
high-quality delivery of content and user experience, to optimize bandwidth utilization and to reduce operational costs, CSPs need enhanced
visibility into and control of network traffic, including visibility into the type of applications used on the network and levels of traffic
generated by different subscribers.
Our Security Solutions
Our Security-as-a-Service
Market Opportunity
For CSPs offering the Allot solutions as
security services to their subscribers, the Allot SECaaS solutions are offered to the CSPs on a revenue sharing basis in which both Allot
and the operator share the revenue generated from the operator’s subscribers for the use of Allot security services.
Our Products
Allot provides a comprehensive security
solution, referred to as Allot Secure 360, to protect network customers, network service integrity and brand reputation. Allot’s
SECaaS solutions enable operators to secure subscribers against online threats and harmful content by providing network-based SECaaS to
their customers. Allot Secure 360 provides consumers with a 360-degree security architecture—complete, end-to-end protection anywhere,
against any cyber threat, and on any device.
Protection for Consumers
and SMBs – 360-Degree Security
• |
Allot Secure
Management (ASM): The Allot Secure Management platform creates a unified
security experience for Allot security consumers by providing an end-to-end security management infrastructure that seamlessly communicates
with and integrates each enforcement point—NetworkSecure, HomeSecure, DNSecure, IoTSecure, EndpointSecure, and BusinessSecure. On-net
coverage is provided through NetworkSecure, HomeSecure, DNSecure, and IoTSecure, and off-net coverage through EndPoint Secure, and the
ASM solution creates a flexible security architecture of advanced threat detection technologies in-network, at the consumer-premises equipment
and at the endpoint device with network intelligence solutions, machine learning and comprehensive personalization capabilities. The ASM
solution delivers a scalable platform that simplifies security service activation, system awareness, new enforcement point integration,
threat event reporting and handling, operation and management by the consumer regardless of which enforcement point is active.
|
|
o |
Allot NetworkSecure:
A multi-tenant solution that allows the service provider to offer opt-in security services that allow subscribers to define and enforce
safe-browsing limits (Parental Control) and to prevent incoming malware from infecting their devices (Anti-Malware). Services are enforced
at the network level, requiring no device involvement or battery consumption. |
|
o |
Allot HomeSecure:
A multi-tenant solution that allows the service provider to offer opt-in security services that allow subscribers to define and enforce
safe-browsing limits (Parental Control) and to prevent incoming malware from infecting their devices (Anti-Malware). Services are enforced
at the home router & network level. |
|
o |
Allot DNSecure:
A multi-tenant solution that allows the service provider to offer opt-in security services that allow subscribers to define and enforce
safe-browsing limits (Parental Control) and to prevent incoming malware from infecting their devices (Anti-Malware). Services are enforced
at the network DNS requests level, requiring no device involvement or battery consumption. |
|
o |
Allot IoTSecure:
A multi-tenant solution that enables CSPs to grant each of its enterprise customers a dedicated management console for monitoring and
securing their mobile IoT deployments on the CSP network. |
|
o |
Allot BusinessSecure:
A multi-tenant solution that provides a simple, reliable and secure network for the connected business achieved through a small firmware
agent installed on the business router, supported by the Allot Secure cloud, and a mobile application. These elements, working in concert,
provide visibility into the network and block both external and internal attacks. |
|
o |
EndPoint Secure:
A multi-tenant solution that functions as an extension of NetworkSecure, securing the subscribers’ devices while off the Internet,
producing seamless customer protection using market leading malware protection and controls. |
|
o |
Allot Secure
Cloud: The Allot Secure cloud provides to each enforcement point in the
security architecture up-to-date threat intelligence, web categorization and device fingerprint data. The Allot Secure cloud uses machine
learning and Artificial Intelligence technologies to identify connected devices, create device-specific profiles and provide anti-virus
screening. |
Protection for the Carriers
• |
Allot DDoS Secure/5G
Protect: A solution that provides attack detection and mitigation services
that protect commercial networks against inbound and outbound Denial of Service (“DoS”) and DDoS attacks, Zero Day attacks,
worms, zombie and spambot behavior. |
Integrated Network Intelligence
Solutions
In addition to our comprehensive and sophisticated
security offerings, our integrated network intelligence solutions, together called AllotSmart, provide network visibility and control
and allow mobile, fixed and enterprise operators to elevate their role in the digital lifestyle ecosystem and expand into new business
opportunities. AllotSmart provides our customers with the potential to increase their revenues by monetizing network usage through value-added
products and services, implementing value-based charging and reducing costs by optimizing the delivery and performance of OTT content
and cloud computing services. AllotSmart also promotes improved customer loyalty by enabling service providers to offer a selection of
service tiers and digital lifestyle options, empowering customers to personalize their network experience. In addition, AllotSmart enables
telecommunication providers to comply with a wide range of regulatory requirements aimed to assist governments with securing the public.
Our products enable both CSPs and our governmental and law enforcement customers to monitor the content of internet traffic in order to
oversee compliance with legal and law enforcement requirements.
Centralized Management
The Allot NetXplorer is the management umbrella
for our devices, platforms and solutions, providing a central access point for network-wide monitoring, reporting, analytics, troubleshooting,
accounting and Quality of Service policy provisioning. Its user-friendly interface provides our customers with a comprehensive overview
of the application, user, device and network topology traffic, while its wide variety of reports provide accessible, detailed analyses
of granular traffic data.
Customers
We derive a significant and growing portion
of our revenue from direct sales to large mobile and fixed-line service providers, as well as government and law enforcement entities.
We generate the remainder of our revenue through a select and well-developed network of channel partners, generally consisting of distributors,
resellers, OEMs and system integrators. We also endeavor to increase our sales to enterprises and have adapted the structure of our sales
organization to this end. In 2022, we derived 34% of our revenues from Europe, 18% from the Americas, 24% from Asia and Oceania and 24%
from the Middle East and Africa. A breakdown of total revenues by geographic location for 2020, 2021 and 2022 is set forth in the following
table.
|
|
Revenues by Location |
|
|
|
($ in thousands) |
|
|
|
2022 |
|
|
% Revenues |
|
|
2021 |
|
|
% Revenues |
|
|
2020 |
|
|
% Revenues |
|
Revenues: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Europe |
|
$ |
41,773 |
|
|
|
34 |
% |
|
$ |
58,414 |
|
|
|
40 |
% |
|
$ |
94,644 |
|
|
|
70 |
% |
Asia and Oceania |
|
|
29,888 |
|
|
|
24 |
% |
|
|
44,227 |
|
|
|
30 |
% |
|
|
23,519 |
|
|
|
17 |
% |
Middle East and Africa |
|
|
29,285 |
|
|
|
24 |
% |
|
|
23,568 |
|
|
|
16 |
% |
|
|
9,628 |
|
|
|
7 |
% |
Americas |
|
|
21,791 |
|
|
|
18 |
% |
|
|
19,391 |
|
|
|
14 |
% |
|
|
8,131 |
|
|
|
6 |
% |
Total Revenues |
|
$ |
122,737 |
|
|
|
100 |
% |
|
$ |
145,600 |
|
|
|
100 |
% |
|
$ |
135,922 |
|
|
|
100 |
% |
The revenue decrease in Europe in 2021 and
2022 as compared to 2020 was due to an agreement signed in 2019 that accounted for 43% of our total 2020 revenues. The agreement was for
the performance and implementation of a specific, one-time project and did not contain any renewal provisions. The revenues from the same
contract were 5% of our total revenues in 2021 and 7% of our revenues in 2022 and were primarily attributable to ongoing maintenance and
service obligations in connection with the project.
Channel Partners
We market and sell our products to end-customers
both by direct sales and through channel partners, which include distributors, resellers, OEMs and system integrators. A significant portion
of our sales occur through our channel partners. In 2022, approximately 58% of our revenues were derived from channel partners. In some
cases, our channel partners are also responsible for installing and providing initial customer support for our products, with our continuous
technical assistance. In the majority of the cases, the partners are responsible for the initial customer support (Tier 1 support), while
we act as the escalation level. Our channel partners are located around the world and address most major markets. Our channel partners
target a range of end-users, including carriers, alternative carriers, cable operators, private networks, data centers and enterprises
in a wide range of industries, including government, financial institutions and education. Our agreements with channel partners that are
distributors or resellers are generally non-exclusive, for an initial term of one year and automatically renew for successive one-year
terms unless terminated. After the first year, such agreements may typically be terminated by either party upon ninety days prior notice.
We offer support to our channel partners.
This support includes the generation of leads through marketing events, seminars and web-based leads and incentive programs as well as
technical and sales training.
Sales and Marketing
Our product sales cycle varies based on
the intended use by the end-customer. The sales cycle for initial network deployment may generally last between twelve and twenty-four
months for large and medium service providers, six to twelve months for small service providers, and one to six months for enterprises.
Follow-on orders and additional deployment of our products usually require shorter cycles. Large and medium service providers generally
take longer to plan the integration of our solutions into their existing networks and to set goals for the implementation of the technology.
Beginning in late 2022, we changed our SECaaS
sales strategy to target strategic accounts that have high revenue potential, while ensuring small to medium sized deals have customer
assurances or minimum revenue threshold. Moving forward, the number of our SECaaS deals will likely drop, but we anticipate the total
sales potential will remain the same as was expected under the prior SECaaS sales strategy, and we believe the emphasis on larger customers
will help us achieve profitability sooner.
We focus our marketing efforts on product
positioning, increasing brand awareness, communicating product advantages and generating qualified leads for our sales organization. We
rely on a variety of marketing communications channels, including our website, trade shows, industry research and professional publications,
the press and special events to gain wider market exposure.
We have organized our worldwide sales efforts
into the following regions: North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa; and Asia and Oceania. We have regional offices
in Spain, Italy, France, Singapore, India, Kazakhstan, Japan, Colombia and Israel. As of December 31, 2022, our sales and marketing staff,
including product management and business development functions, consisted of 139 employees.
Service and Technical
Support
We believe our technical support and professional
services capabilities are a key element of our sales strategy. Our technical staff provides project management, delivery, training, support
and professional services, as well as assists in presale activities and advises channel partners on the integration of our solutions into
end-customer networks. Our basic warranty to end-customers (directly or through our partners) is three months for software and twelve
months for hardware. Generally, end-customers are also offered a choice of one year or multi-year customer support programs when they
purchase our products. These customer support programs can be renewed at the end of their terms. Our end-customer support plans generally
offer the following features:
• |
unlimited 24/7 access to our global support organization, via phone, email and online support system, provided by regional support
centers; |
• |
expedited replacement units in the event of a warranty claim; |
• |
software updates and upgrades offering new features and protocols and addressing new and changing network applications; and
|
• |
periodic updates of solution documentation, technical information and training. |
Our support plans are designed to maximize
network up-time and minimize operating costs. Our customers, including partners and their end-customers, are entitled to take advantage
of our around-the-clock technical support, which we provide through our seven support centers located in France, Israel, Singapore, India,
Colombia, Spain and the United States. We also offer our customers 24-hour access to an external web-based technical knowledge base, which
provides technical support information and, in the case of our channel partners, enables them to support their customers independently
and obtain follow up and support from us.
We also offer particular professional services,
such as network audit, solution design, project management, business intelligence reports, customer project documentation, integration
services, interoperability testing and training.
The expenditures associated with the technical
support staff are allocated in our statements of comprehensive loss between sale and marketing expenses and cost of goods sold, based
on the roles of and tasks performed by personnel.
As of December 31, 2022, our technical staff
consisted of 188 employees, including 77 technical support persons, 93 deployment and professional services engineers, 13 documentation
and training persons, and 5 employees related to operations.
Research and Development
Our research and development activities
take place primarily in Israel. We also have research and development activities in Spain and India. In addition, since 2020 we have been
using subcontractors in Ukraine, Israel and Belarus to source research and development engineers. We devote a significant amount of our
resources towards research and development in order to introduce new products and continuously enhance existing products and to support
our growth strategy. We have assembled a core team of experienced engineers, many of whom are leaders in their particular field or discipline
and have technical degrees from top universities and have experience working for leading Israeli or international networking companies.
These engineers are involved in advancing our core technologies, as well as in applying these core technologies to our product development
activities. In previous years, our research and development efforts have benefited from non-royalty-bearing grants from the Israel Innovation
Authority. As of December 31, 2022, there are no outstanding royalties due from us to the Israel Innovation Authority. In 2022, we received
additional grants from the Israel Innovation Authority; however, these grants do not bear royalties. Under the terms of those grants,
we are required to perform our manufacturing activities within the state of Israel, as a condition to maintaining these benefits. The
State of Israel does not own any proprietary rights in technology developed with the Innovation Authority funding and there is no restriction
related to the Israel Innovation Authority on the export of products manufactured using technology developed with the Israel Innovation
Authority funding (other limitations on export apply under applicable law). For a description of restrictions on the transfer of the technology
and with respect to manufacturing rights, please see “ITEM 3: Key Information—Risk Factors—The government grants we
have received for research and development expenditures require us to satisfy specified conditions and restrict our ability to manufacture
products and transfer technologies outside of Israel. If we fail to comply with these conditions or such restrictions, we may be required
to refund grants previously received together with interest and penalties and may be subject to criminal charges.”
Subcontracting
We subcontract the repair of the hardware
components of our legacy Service Gateway platform to Flex (Israel) Ltd. This strategy enables us to reduce our fixed costs, focus on our
core research and development competencies and provide flexibility in meeting market demand. Flex (Israel) Ltd. is contractually obligated
to provide us with certain services based on agreed specifications, including integration, assembling, testing, storing, packaging and
procuring the raw materials for our devices. We are not required to provide any minimum orders. Our agreement with Flex (Israel) Ltd.
is automatically renewed annually for additional one-year terms. Flex (Israel) Ltd. may terminate our agreement with them at any time
during the term upon prior notice. We retain the right to procure independently any of the components used in our products. Flex (Israel)
Ltd. has affiliates outside of Israel, to which it can, with the prior consent of the Israel Innovation Authority, transfer manufacturing
of our products if necessary, in which event we may be required to pay increased royalties to the Israel Innovation Authority.
We subcontract the integration of our software
products with off-the-shelf hardware platforms provided mainly by Lenovo and Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE). Based on verbal understandings,
Arrow ocs (Israel) performs the integration of the software product with HPE servers, while Malam-Team (Israel) performs the integration
of such software with Lenovo Servers. Such hardware components are manufactured in accordance with the design of our products.
Some of the hardware components of our products
are obtained from single or limited sources. Since our products have been designed to incorporate these specific components, any change
in these components due to an interruption in supply or our inability to obtain such components on a timely basis may require engineering
changes to our products before we could incorporate substitute components. The global semiconductor shortage could increase the possibility
of making such engineering changes, or taking other remedial measures, as many of our suppliers use semiconductors in the products we
require.
We also purchase off–the-shelf hardware
components from single or limited sources for our security and Traffic Management products. We carry approximately three to nine months
of inventory of key components. We also work closely with our suppliers to monitor the end-of-life of the product cycle for integral components,
and believe that in the event that they announce end of life, we will be able to increase our inventory to allow enough time for replacing
such components. The agreements with our suppliers do not contain any minimum purchase or supply commitments. Product testing and quality
assurance is performed by our integrators using tests and automated testing equipment and according to controlled test documentation we
specify. We also use inspection testing and statistical process controls to assure the quality and reliability of our products.
Competition
We compete against large companies in a
rapidly evolving and highly competitive sector of the networking technology market, which offer, or may offer in the future, competing
technologies, including partial or alternative solutions to operators’ and enterprises’ challenges, and which, similarly to
us, intensely pursue the largest service providers (referred to as Tier 1 operators) as well as large enterprises. Our DPI technology
enabled offerings face significant competition from router and switch infrastructure companies that integrate functionalities into their
platforms addressing some of the same types of issues that our products are designed to address. This competition is expected to intensify
as expansion of 5G networks progresses. We do not anticipate growth in our DPI segment for the 2023 fiscal year.
Our security products, which are offered
to operators and are deployed in their networks for the purpose of enabling them to provide security services to their end customers,
are subject to competition from companies which offer security products, based on different technology and marketing and sales approaches.
Generally, we compete on the basis of product performance, ease of use and installation, customer support and price.
Our security product offerings face significant
competition from companies that directly approach end customers and offer them security applications to be installed on their devices;
companies that approach the business enterprise sector through distribution channels and offer cloud security products; and companies
that offer security products bundled with other products. By offering our security products to operators that provide security services
to both small and medium size business and individual end customers, we aim to expand the reach of our products.
See “ITEM 3: Key Information—Risk
Factors—Our revenues and business may be adversely affected if we do not effectively compete in the markets in which we operate.”
Intellectual Property
Our intellectual property rights are very
important to our business. We believe that the complexity of our products and the know-how incorporated into them makes it difficult to
copy them or replicate their features. We rely on a combination of confidentiality and other protective clauses in our agreements, copyright
and trade secrets to protect our know-how. We also restrict access to our servers physically and through closed networks since our product
designs and software are stored electronically and thus are highly portable.
We customarily require our employees, subcontractors,
customers, distributors, resellers, software testers, technology partners and contractors to execute confidentiality agreements or agree
to confidentiality undertakings when their relationship with us begins. Typically, our employment contracts also include assignment of
intellectual property rights for all inventions developed by employees, non-disclosure of all confidential information, and non-compete
clauses, which generally restrict the employee for six months following termination of employment. The enforceability of non-compete clauses
in certain jurisdictions in which we operate may be limited. See “ITEM 3: Key Information—Risk Factors—If we are unable
to successfully protect the intellectual property embodied in our technology, our business could be harmed significantly.”
The communications equipment industry is
characterized by constant product changes resulting from new technological developments, performance improvements and lower hardware costs.
We believe that our future growth depends to a large extent on our ability to be an innovator in the development and application of hardware
and software technology. As we develop the next generation products, we initiated and continuously pursue patent protection for our core
technologies in the telecommunications market. We have and plan to continue to seek patent protection in our largest markets and our competitors’
markets, for example in the United States and Europe. As we continue to spread our business into additional markets, such as Japan and
Australia, we will evaluate how best to protect our technologies in those markets. We intend to vigorously prosecute and defend the rights
of our intellectual property.
As of December 31, 2022, we had 28 issued
U.S. patents, 2 U.S. patents that have recently been allowed but not issued, 3 U.S. reissued patents, and 2 pending U.S. patent applications.
We expect to formalize our evaluation process for determining which inventions to protect by patents or other means. We cannot be certain
that patents will be issued as a result of the patent applications we have filed.
Government Regulation
Due to the industry and geographic diversity
of our operations and services, our operations are subject to a variety of rules and regulations, and several government agencies in the
United States, the E.U. and other countries regulate various aspects of our business. See the following risk factors in “ITEM 3.
Key Information—D. Risk Factors” for more information on regulation material to our business, financial condition and results
of operations:
• |
Legal, Regulatory and Compliance Risks—We are subject to certain regulatory regimes that may affect the way that we conduct
business internationally, and our failure to comply with applicable laws and regulations could materially adversely affect our reputation
and result in penalties and increased costs. |
• |
Legal, Regulatory and Compliance Risks— As with many DPI products, some of our products may be used by governmental or law
enforcement customers in a manner that is, or that is perceived to be, incompatible with human rights. |
• |
Legal, Regulatory and Compliance Risks—Demand for our products may be impacted by government regulation of the internet and
telecommunications industry. |
• |
Legal, Regulatory and Compliance Risks— Our failure to comply with data privacy laws may expose us to reputational harm and
potential regulatory actions and fines. |
• |
Risks Related to our Ordinary Shares—Our shareholders do not have the same protections afforded to shareholders of a U.S. company
because we have elected to use certain exemptions available to foreign private issuers from certain corporate governance requirements
of Nasdaq. |
• |
Risks Related to our Ordinary Shares—As a foreign private issuer, we are not subject to the provisions of Regulation FD or
U.S. proxy rules and are exempt from filing certain Exchange Act reports. |
• |
Risks Related to our Ordinary Shares—Certain U.S. holders of our ordinary shares may suffer adverse tax consequences if we
or any of our non-U.S. subsidiaries are characterized as a “controlled foreign corporation,” or a CFC, under Section 957(a)
of the Code. |
• |
Risks Related to our Location in Israel —The tax benefits that are available to us require us to meet several conditions and
may be terminated or reduced in the future, which would increase our costs and taxes. |
• |
Risks Related to our Location in Israel—The government grants we have received for research and development expenditures require
us to satisfy specified conditions and restrict our ability to manufacture products and transfer technologies outside of Israel. If we
fail to comply with these conditions or such restrictions, we may be required to refund grants previously received together with interest
and penalties and may be subject to criminal charges. |
• |
General Risks—Our business may be materially affected by changes to fiscal and tax policies. Potentially negative or unexpected
tax consequences of these policies, or the uncertainty surrounding their potential effects, could adversely affect our results of operations
and share price. |
Additionally, see “ITEM 5: Overview—Government
Grants” for a description of grants received from the Israel Innovation Authority of the Ministry of Economy and “ITEM 10:
Additional Information—Taxation—United States Federal Income Taxation—Passive Foreign Investment Company Considerations”
for a description of classification as a “passive foreign investment company,” or a PFIC, for United States federal income
tax purposes.
Internal Cybersecurity
As a provider of innovative network intelligence
and security solutions for mobile and fixed service providers, we are particularly sensitive about the possibility of cyber-attacks and
data theft. A breach of our system could provide data information about us and the customers that our solutions protect. Further, we may
be targeted by cyber-terrorists because we are an Israeli company. We are also aware of the material impact that an actual or perceived
breach of our network may have on the market perception of our products and services and on our potential liability. In 2022, we believe
we have successfully prevented all cyber-attack and breach attempts, with no impact on our ongoing operations.
We are focused on instituting new technologies
and solutions to assist in the prevention of potential and attempted cyber-attacks, as well as protective measures and contingency plans
in the event of an existing attack. For instance, in our internal IT systems, we employ identity and access controls, next-gen endpoint
protection and other security measures that we believe make our infrastructure less susceptible to cyber-attacks. We also continuously
monitor our IT networks and systems for intrusions and regularly maintain our backup and protective systems. We have made certain updates
to our IT infrastructure to enhance our ability to prevent and respond to such threats and we routinely test the infrastructure for vulnerabilities.
We conduct periodic trainings for our employees
in this respect on phishing, malware and other cybersecurity risks to the Company. We also have mechanisms in place designed to ensure
prompt internal reporting of potential or actual cybersecurity breaches, and maintain compliance programs to address the potential applicability
of restrictions on trading while in possession of material, nonpublic information generally and in connection with a cybersecurity breach.
Finally, our agreements with third parties also typically contain provisions that reduce or limit our exposure to liability.
C. Organizational Structure
As of December 31, 2022, we held directly
and indirectly the percentage indicated of the outstanding capital of the following subsidiaries:
Company |
|
Jurisdiction of Incorporation |
|
Percentage
Ownership
|
|
Allot Communications Inc. |
|
United States |
|
|
100 |
% |
Allot Communications Europe SARL |
|
France |
|
|
100 |
% |
Allot Communications (Asia Pacific) Pte. Limited |
|
Singapore |
|
|
100 |
% |
Allot Communications (UK) Limited (with branches in Italy and
Germany) |
|
United Kingdom |
|
|
100 |
% |
Allot Communications Japan K.K. |
|
Japan |
|
|
100 |
% |
Allot Communications Africa (PTY) Ltd |
|
South Africa |
|
|
100 |
% |
Allot Communications India Private Ltd |
|
India |
|
|
100 |
% |
Allot Communications Spain, S.L. Sociedad Unipersonal |
|
Spain |
|
|
100 |
% |
Allot Communications (Colombia) S.A.S |
|
Colombia |
|
|
100 |
% |
Allot MexSub |
|
Mexico |
|
|
100 |
% |
Allot Turkey Komunikasion Hizmeleri limited |
|
Turkey |
|
|
100 |
% |
Allot Australia (PTY) LTD |
|
Australia |
|
|
100 |
% |
* Allot Ltd also holds a branch in Colombia.
D. Property, Plant and
Equipment
Our principal administrative and research
and development activities are located in our approximately 65,412 square foot (6,077 square meter) facilities in Hod-Hasharon, Israel.
The leases for our facilities vary in dates and terms, with the main facility’s non-stabilized lease expiring in February 2025.
We also lease a total of 7,664 square feet
(712 square meters) in two facilities in Spain, mainly for our sales and research and development operations in Spain, pursuant to lease
agreements. The lease agreement of our main site in Spain was renewed for one year in 2022 and we are considering to extend it further
subject to mutually agreed terms.