COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

Operating Leases and Related Guarantees

The Company leases the majority of its administrative, research and development (“R&D”) and manufacturing facilities, regional sales/service offices, and certain equipment under non-cancelable operating leases. Certain of the Company’s facility leases for buildings located at its Fremont, California headquarters and certain other facility leases provide the Company with options to extend the leases for additional periods or to purchase the facilities. Certain of the Company’s facility leases provide for periodic rent increases based on the general rate of inflation.

The Company has operating leases regarding certain improved properties in Fremont and Livermore, California (the “Operating Leases”). The Company was required to maintain cash collateral in an aggregate of approximately $250.0 million in separate interest-bearing accounts as security for the Company’s obligations. These amounts are recorded with other restricted cash and investments in the Company’s Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet as of September 24, 2017.

During the term of the Operating Leases and when the terms of the Operating Leases expire, the property subject to those Operating Leases may be remarketed. The Company has guaranteed to the lessor that each property will have a certain minimum residual value. The aggregate guarantee made by the Company under the Operating Leases is generally no more than approximately $220.4 million; however, under certain default circumstances, the guarantee with regard to an Operating Lease may be 100% of the lessor’s aggregate investment in the applicable property, which in no case will exceed $250.0 million, in the aggregate.

Other Guarantees

The Company has issued certain indemnifications to its lessors for taxes and general liability under some of its agreements. The Company has entered into certain insurance contracts that are intended to limit its exposure to such indemnifications. As of September 24, 2017, the Company had not recorded any liability in connection with these indemnifications, as it does not believe that it is probable that any amounts will be paid under these guarantees.

Generally, the Company indemnifies, under pre-determined conditions and limitations, its customers for infringement of third party intellectual property rights by the Company’s products or services. The Company seeks to limit its liability for such indemnity to an amount not to exceed the sales price of the products or services subject to its indemnification obligations. The Company does not believe that it is probable that any material amounts will be paid under these guarantees.

The Company provides guarantees and standby letters of credit to certain parties as required for certain transactions initiated during the ordinary course of business. As of September 24, 2017, the maximum potential amount of future payments that it could be required to make under these arrangements and letters of credit was $20.6 million. The Company does not believe, based on historical experience and information currently available, that it is probable that any amounts will be required to be paid.

Warranties

The Company provides standard warranties on its systems. The liability amount is based on actual historical warranty spending activity by type of system, customer, and geographic region, modified for any known differences such as the impact of system reliability improvements.

Changes in the Company’s product warranty reserves were as follows:



	Three Months Ended
	September 24, 2017			September 25, 2016
	(in thousands)
Balance at beginning of period	$	161,981		$	100,321
Warranties issued during the period	48,790			34,855
Settlements made during the period	(44,053		)	(32,228		)
Changes in liability for pre-existing warranties	1,619			278
Balance at end of period	$	168,337		$	103,226

Legal proceedings

While the Company is not currently a party to any legal proceedings that it believes material, the Company is either a defendant or plaintiff in various actions that have arisen from time to time in the normal course of business, including intellectual property claims. The Company accrues for a liability when it is both probable that a liability has been incurred and the amount of the loss can be reasonably estimated. Significant judgment is required in both the determination of probability and the determination as to whether a loss is reasonably estimable. Based on current information, the Company does not believe that a material loss from known matters is probable and therefore has not recorded an accrual for litigation or other contingencies related to existing legal proceedings.