Nature of Business and Basis of Presentation (Policies)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 29, 2012

Nature of Business and Basis of Presentation [Abstract]

Description of Business – Nanometrics Incorporated and its wholly owned subsidiaries (“Nanometrics” or the “Company”) design, manufacture, market, sell and support thin film, optical critical dimension and overlay dimension metrology and inspection systems used primarily in the manufacturing of semiconductors, solar photovoltaics (“solar PV”) and high-brightness LEDs (“HB-LED”), as well as by customers in the silicon wafer and data storage industries. Nanometrics' metrology systems precisely measure a wide range of film types deposited on substrates during manufacturing in order to control manufacturing processes and increase production yields in the fabrication of integrated circuits. The thin film metrology systems use a broad spectrum of wavelengths, high-sensitivity optics, proprietary software, and patented technology to measure the thickness and uniformity of films deposited on silicon and other substrates as well as their chemical composition. The Company’s optical critical dimension technology is a patented critical dimension measurement technology that is used to precisely determine the dimensions on the semiconductor wafer that directly control the resulting performance of the integrated circuit devices. The overlay metrology systems are used to measure the overlay accuracy of successive layers of semiconductor patterns on wafers in the photolithography process. Nanometrics' inspection systems are used to find defects on patterned and unpatterned wafers at nearly every stage of the semiconductor production flow. The corporate headquarters of Nanometrics is located in Milpitas, California.

Basis of Presentation

Basis of Presentation – The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements ("financial statements") have been prepared on a consistent basis with the audited consolidated financial statements as of December 31, 2011 and include all adjustments necessary to fairly present the information set forth therein, which include only normal recurring adjustments. All significant intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the regulations of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) for interim periods in accordance with S-X Article 10, and, therefore, omit certain information and footnote disclosure necessary to present the statements in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. The operating results for interim periods are not necessarily indicative of the operating results that may be expected for the entire year. These financial statements should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements and notes thereto for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2011, which were included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 14, 2012.

Fiscal Period

Fiscal Period – The Company uses a 52/53 week fiscal year ending on the Saturday nearest to December 31. All references to the quarter refer to Nanometrics' fiscal quarter. The fiscal quarters presented herein include 13 weeks.

Reclassification

Reclassification – Certain prior year amounts have been reclassified to conform to the current year presentation.

Use of Estimates

Use of Estimates – The preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reported period. Actual results could differ materially from those estimates. Estimates are used for, but not limited to, revenue recognition, the provision for doubtful accounts, the provision for excess, obsolete, or slow moving inventories, depreciation and amortization, valuation of intangible assets and long-lived assets, warranty reserves, income taxes, valuation of stock-based compensation, and contingencies.

Foreign Currency Translation

Foreign Currency Translation – The assets and liabilities of foreign subsidiaries are translated from their respective functional currencies at exchange rates in effect at the balance sheet date and income and expense accounts are translated at average exchange rates during the reporting period. Resulting translation adjustments are reflected in “Accumulated other

comprehensive income,” a component of stockholders’ equity. Foreign currency transaction gains and losses are reflected in

“Other income (expense)” in the consolidated statements of operations in the period incurred and consist of a $0.1 million loss and a $0.7 million gain for the three-month periods ended September 29, 2012 and October 1, 2011, respectively, and a $0.4 million loss and $0.1 million loss in the nine month periods ended September 29, 2012 and October 1, 2011, respectively.

Revenue Recognition

Revenue Recognition – The Company derives revenue from the sale of process control metrology systems (“product revenue”) as well as spare part sales, billable service, service contracts, and upgrades (together “service revenue”). Upgrades are a group of parts and/or software that change the existing configuration of a product and are included in service revenue. They are distinguished from product revenue, which consists of complete, automated process control metrology systems (the “system(s)”). Nanometrics' systems consist of hardware and software components that function together to deliver the essential functionality of the system. Arrangements for sales of systems often include defined customer-specified acceptance criteria.

In summary, the Company recognizes revenue when persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists, delivery has occurred or services have been rendered, the seller's price is fixed or determinable, and collectability is reasonably assured.

For product sales to existing customers, revenue recognition occurs at the time title and risk of loss transfer to the customer, which usually occurs upon shipment from the Company's manufacturing location, if it can be reliably demonstrated that the product has successfully met the defined customer specified acceptance criteria and all other recognition criteria has been met. For initial sales where the product has not previously met the defined customer specified acceptance criteria, product revenues are recognized upon the earlier of receipt of written customer acceptance or expiration of the contractual acceptance period. In Japan, where contractual terms with the customer specify risk of loss and title transfers upon customer acceptance, revenue is recognized upon receipt of written customer acceptance, provided that all other recognition criteria have been met.

The Company warrants its products against defects in manufacturing. Upon recognition of product revenue, a liability is recorded for anticipated warranty costs. On occasion, customers request a warranty period longer than the Company's standard warranty. In those instances where extended warranty services are separately quoted to the customer, the associated revenue is deferred and recognized as service revenue ratably over the term of the contract. The portion of service contracts and extended warranty services agreements that are uncompleted at the end of any reporting period are included in deferred revenue.

On January 2, 2011, the Company adopted the new accounting guidance for arrangements with software elements and/or multiple deliverables. The amended guidance for multiple deliverable arrangements did not change the units of accounting for the Company's revenue transactions, and most products and services qualify as separate units of accounting. The new guidance established a hierarchy of evidence to determine the standalone selling price of a deliverable based on vendor-specific objective evidence ("VSOE"), third-party evidence ("TPE"), or best estimate of selling price ("BESP").

As part of its customer services, the Company sells software that is considered to be an upgrade to a customer's existing systems. These standalone software upgrades are not essential to the tangible product's functionality and are accounted for under software revenue recognition rules which require vendor specific objective evidence ("VSOE") of fair value, third party evidence ("TPE"), or best estimate of selling price ("BESP") to allocate revenue in a multiple element arrangement. Revenue from upgrades is recognized when the upgrades are delivered to the customer, provided that all other recognition criteria have been met.

Revenue related to spare parts is recognized upon shipment. Revenue related to billable services is recognized as the services are performed. Service contracts may be purchased by the customer during or after the warranty period and revenue is recognized ratably over the service contract period.

Frequently, the Company delivers products and various services in a single transaction. The Company's deliverables consist of tools, installation, upgrades, billable services, spare parts, and service contracts. The Company's typical multi-element arrangements include a sale of one or multiple tools that include installation and standard warranty. Other arrangements consist of a sale of tools bundled with service elements or it includes delivery of different types of services. Installation is usually performed soon after delivery of the tool. Billable services are billed on a time-and-materials basis and performed as requested by customers. Under service contract arrangements, services are provided as needed over the fixed arrangement term, which terms can be up to 12 months. The Company does not grant its customers a general right of return or any refund terms and imposes a penalty on orders canceled prior to the scheduled shipment date.

The Company regularly evaluates its revenue arrangements to identify deliverables and to determine whether these deliverables are separable into multiple units of accounting. In accordance with this guidance, the Company allocates the arrangement consideration among the deliverables based on relative selling prices. The Company has established VSOE for some of its products and services when a substantial majority of selling prices falls within a narrow range when sold separately. For deliverables with no established VSOE, the Company uses best estimate of selling price to determine standalone selling price for such deliverable. The Company does not use TPE to determine standalone selling price since this information is not widely available in the market as the Company's products contain a significant element of proprietary technology and the solutions offered differ substantially from competitors. The Company has established a process for developing estimated selling prices, which incorporates historical selling prices, the effect of market conditions, gross margin objectives, pricing practices, as well as entity-specific factors. The Company monitors and evaluates estimated selling price on a regular basis to ensure that changes in circumstances are accounted for in a timely manner. The adoption of the new accounting standards did not have a significant impact on the consolidated financial statements.

When certain elements in multiple-element arrangements are not delivered or accepted at the end of a reporting period, the relative selling prices of undelivered elements are deferred until these elements are delivered and/or accepted. If deliverables cannot be accounted for as separate units of accounting, the entire arrangement is accounted for as a single unit of accounting and revenue is deferred until all elements are delivered and all revenue recognition requirements are met.

Business Combinations

Business Combinations - The Company allocates the purchase price of acquired companies to the tangible and intangible assets acquired and liabilities assumed based upon their estimated fair values at the acquisition date. The purchase price allocation process requires management to make significant estimates and assumptions, especially at the acquisition date with respect to intangible assets and inventory acquired. While best estimates and assumptions as a part of the purchase price allocation process are used to accurately value assets acquired and liabilities assumed at the acquisition date, estimates are inherently uncertain and subject to refinement. As a result, during the measurement period, which may be up to one year from the acquisition date, the Company may record adjustments to the assets acquired and liabilities assumed, with the corresponding offset to goodwill. Upon the conclusion of the measurement period or final determination of the values of assets acquired or liabilities assumed, whichever comes first, any subsequent adjustments are recorded in the consolidated statements of operations.

The Company estimates the fair value of inventory acquired by utilizing the net realizable value method which is based on the estimated sales price of the product less appropriate costs to complete and selling costs. Examples of critical estimates in valuing certain intangible assets that were acquired or may be acquired in the future include but are not limited to:


•	future expected cash flows from sales of products, services and acquired developed technologies and patents;


•	expected costs to develop the in-process research and development into commercially viable products and estimated cash flows from the projects when completed;


•	the acquired company's customer relationships, as well as assumptions about the estimated useful lives of the relationships;


•	discount rates.

Unanticipated events and circumstances may occur that may affect the accuracy or validity of assumptions, estimates or actual results associated with business combinations.

Intangibles-Goodwill and Other

In September 2011, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2011-08, Intangibles-Goodwill and Other (Topic 350): Testing Goodwill for Impairment which is intended to simplify how an entity tests goodwill for impairment. The amendment became effective for the Company beginning in the first quarter of fiscal 2012. Under this accounting standard update, an entity is allowed to first assess qualitative factors to determine whether it is necessary to perform the two-step quantitative goodwill impairment test. An entity no longer will be required to calculate the fair value of a reporting unit unless the entity determines, based on a qualitative assessment, that it is more likely than not that its fair value is less than its carrying amount. This guidance is effective for goodwill impairment tests performed for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2011, with early adoption permitted. The Company early adopted this standard during the fourth quarter of 2011. Refer to Note 4 "Acquisition, Goodwill Impairment and Long-Lived Asset Impairment" for a summary of the accounting impact.

Comprehensive Income

In June 2011, the FASB issued ASU 2011-05, Comprehensive Income: Presentation of Comprehensive Income (ASU 2011-05), which provides amendments to FASB Accounting Standards Codification ("ASC") Topic 220, Comprehensive Income. The objective of ASU 2011-05 is to require an entity to present the total of comprehensive income, the components of net income and the components of other comprehensive income either in a single continuous statement of comprehensive income or in two separate but consecutive statements. ASU 2011-05 eliminates the option to present the components of other comprehensive income as part of the statement of equity. The Company adopted this standard during the first quarter of 2012. This adoption did not have an impact on the Company’s financial position, results of operations or cash flows, as it only requires a change in the format of the Company’s current presentation. Other comprehensive income is presented as a single continuous statement included in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income.

Fair Value Measurement

In May 2011, the FASB issued ASU 2011-04, Fair Value Measurement (Accounting Standards Codification ("ASC") Topic 820) - Amendments to Achieve Common Fair Value Measurement and Disclosure Requirements in U.S. GAAP and IFRS (ASU 2011-04), which is effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2011. This guidance amends certain accounting and disclosure requirements related to fair value measurements. It had no material impact on the Company's consolidated financial statements.