Summary of Significant Accounting Policies and Concentrations of Risk (Policies)

12 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2012

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies and Concentrations of Risk [Abstract]

Basis of presentation

Basis of Presentation

The accompanying consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Xilinx and its wholly-owned subsidiaries after elimination of all intercompany transactions. The Company uses a 52- to 53-week fiscal year ending on the Saturday nearest March 31. Fiscal 2012 and 2011 were a 52-week year ended on March 31, 2012 and April 2, 2011, respectively. Fiscal 2010 was a 53-week year ended on April 3, 2010. Fiscal 2013 will be a 52-week year ending on March 30, 2013.

Use of Estimates

Use of Estimates

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the U.S. requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of net revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Such estimates relate to, among others, the useful lives of assets, assessment of recoverability of property, plant and equipment, long-lived assets including acquisition-related intangible assets and goodwill, inventory write-downs, allowances for doubtful accounts customer returns and deferred tax assets, stock-based compensation, potential reserves relating to litigation and tax matters, valuation of certain investments and derivative financial instruments as well as other accruals or reserves. Actual results may differ from those estimates and such differences may be material to the financial statements.

Cash equivalents and investments

Cash Equivalents and Investments

Cash equivalents consist of highly liquid investments with original maturities from the date of purchase of three months or less. These investments consist of commercial paper, bank certificates of deposit, money market funds and time deposits. Short-term investments consist of municipal bonds, corporate bonds, commercial paper, U.S. and foreign government and agency securities, floating rate notes, mortgage-backed securities and bank certificates of deposit with original maturities greater than three months and remaining maturities less than one year from the balance sheet date. Long-term investments consist of U.S. and foreign government and agency securities, corporate bonds, mortgage-backed securities, floating rate notes, a debt mutual fund and municipal bonds with remaining maturities greater than one year, unless the investments are specifically identified to fund current operations, in which case they are classified as short-term investments. As of March 31, 2012 and April 2, 2011, long-term investments also included approximately $28.9 million and $35.0 million, respectively, of auction rate securities that experienced failed auctions in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008. These auction rate securities are secured primarily by pools of student loans originated under Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) that are substantially guaranteed by the U. S. Department of Education. Equity investments are also classified as long-term investments since they are not intended to fund current operations.

The Company maintains its cash balances with various banks with high quality ratings, and investment banking and asset management institutions. The Company manages its liquidity risk by investing in a variety of money market funds, high-grade commercial paper, corporate bonds, municipal bonds, U.S. and foreign government and agency securities and a debt mutual fund. This diversification of investments is consistent with its policy to maintain liquidity and ensure the ability to collect principal. The Company maintains an offshore investment portfolio denominated in U.S. dollars. All investments are made pursuant to corporate investment policy guidelines. Investments include Euro commercial paper, Euro dollar bonds, Euro dollar floating rate notes, offshore time deposits, U.S. and foreign government and agency securities, and mortgage-backed securities issued by U.S. government-sponsored enterprises and agencies.

Management classifies investments as available-for-sale or held-to-maturity at the time of purchase and re-evaluates such designation at each balance sheet date, although classification is not generally changed. Securities are classified as held-to-maturity when the Company has the positive intent and the ability to hold the securities until maturity. Held-to-maturity securities are carried at cost adjusted for amortization of premiums and accretion of discounts to maturity. Such amortization, as well as any interest on the securities, is included in interest income. No investments were classified as held-to-maturity as of March 31, 2012 or April 2, 2011. Available-for-sale securities are carried at fair value with the unrealized gains or losses, net of tax, included as a component of accumulated other comprehensive income in stockholders’ equity. See “Note 3. Fair Value Measurements” for information relating to the determination of fair value. Realized gains and losses on available-for-sale securities are included in interest and other expense, net, and declines in value judged to be other than temporary are included in impairment loss on investments. The cost of securities matured or sold is based on the specific identification method.

In determining whether a decline in value of non-marketable equity investments in private companies is other than temporary, the assessment is made by considering available evidence including the general market conditions in the investee’s industry, the investee’s product development status, the investee’s ability to meet business milestones and the financial condition and near-term prospects of the individual investee, including the rate at which the investee is using its cash, the investee’s need for possible additional funding at a lower valuation and bona fide offers to purchase the investee from a prospective acquirer. When a decline in value is deemed to be other than temporary, the Company recognizes an impairment loss in the current period’s operating results to the extent of the decline.

Accounts Receivable

Accounts Receivable

The allowance for doubtful accounts reflects the Company’s best estimate of probable losses inherent in the accounts receivable balance. The Company determines the allowance based on the aging of Xilinx’s accounts receivable, historical experience, known troubled accounts, management judgment and other currently available evidence. Xilinx writes off accounts receivable against the allowance when Xilinx determines a balance is uncollectible and no longer actively pursues collection of the receivable. The amounts of accounts receivable written off were insignificant for all periods presented.

Inventories

Inventories

Inventories are stated at the lower of actual cost (determined using the first-in, first-out method), or market (estimated net realizable value) and are comprised of the following:

(In thousands)	March 31, 2012		April 2, 2011
Raw materials	$	11,707	$	15,465
Work-in-process		164,438		214,023
Finished goods		28,721		35,257
	$	204,866	$	264,745

The Company reviews and sets standard costs quarterly to approximate current actual manufacturing costs. The Company’s manufacturing overhead standards for product costs are calculated assuming full absorption of actual spending over actual volumes, adjusted for excess capacity. Given the cyclicality of the market, the obsolescence of technology and product lifecycles, the Company writes down inventory based on forecasted demand and technological obsolescence. These forecasts are developed based on inputs from the Company’s customers, including bookings and extended but uncommitted demand forecasts, and internal analyses such as customer historical purchasing trends and actual and anticipated design wins, as well as market and economic conditions, technology changes, new product introductions and changes in strategic direction. These factors require estimates that may include uncertain elements. The estimates of future demand that the Company uses in the valuation of inventory are the basis for its published revenue forecasts, which are also consistent with our short-term manufacturing plans. The differences between the Company’s demand forecast and the actual demand in the recent past have not resulted in any material write down in the Company’s inventory. If the Company’s demand forecast for specific products is greater than actual demand and the Company fails to reduce manufacturing output accordingly, the Company could be required to write down additional inventory, which would have a negative impact on the Company’s gross margin.

Property, Plant and Equipment

Property, Plant and Equipment

Property, plant and equipment are recorded at cost, net of accumulated depreciation. Depreciation for financial reporting purposes is computed using the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the assets of three to five years for machinery, equipment, furniture and fixtures and 15 to 30 years for buildings. Depreciation expense totaled $55.7 million, $50.4 million and $50.2 million for fiscal 2012, 2011 and 2010, respectively.

Impairment of Long-Lived Assets Including Acquisition-Related Intangibles

Impairment of Long-Lived Assets Including Acquisition-Related Intangibles

The Company evaluates the carrying value of long-lived assets and certain identifiable intangible assets to be held and used for impairment if indicators of potential impairment exist. Impairment indicators are reviewed on a quarterly basis. When indicators of impairment exist and assets are held for use, the Company estimates future undiscounted cash flows attributable to the assets. In the event such cash flows are not expected to be sufficient to recover the recorded value of the assets, the assets are written down to their estimated fair values based on the expected discounted future cash flows attributable to the assets or based on appraisals. When assets are removed from operations and held for sale, Xilinx estimates impairment losses as the excess of the carrying value of the assets over their fair value.

Goodwill

Goodwill

Goodwill is not amortized but is subject to impairment tests on an annual basis, or more frequently if indicators of potential impairment exist, using a fair-value-based approach. All other intangible assets are amortized over their estimated useful lives and assessed for impairment. Based on the impairment review performed during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012, there was no impairment of goodwill in fiscal 2012. Unless there are indicators of impairment, the Company’s next impairment review for goodwill will be performed and completed in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013. To date, no impairment indicators have been identified.

Revenue Recognition

Revenue Recognition

Sales to distributors are made under agreements providing distributor price adjustments and rights of return under certain circumstances. Revenue and costs relating to distributor sales are deferred until products are sold by the distributors to the distributors’ end customers. For fiscal 2012, approximately 61% of the Company’s net revenues were from products sold to distributors for subsequent resale to OEMs or their subcontract manufacturers. Revenue recognition depends on notification from the distributor that product has been sold to the distributor’s end customer. Also reported by the distributor are product resale price, quantity and end customer shipment information, as well as inventory on hand. Reported distributor inventory on hand is reconciled to deferred revenue balances monthly. The Company maintains system controls to validate distributor data and to verify that the reported information is accurate. Deferred income on shipments to distributors reflects the effects of distributor price adjustments and the amount of gross margin expected to be realized when distributors sell through product purchased from the Company. Accounts receivable from distributors are recognized and inventory is relieved when title to inventories transfers, typically upon shipment from Xilinx at which point the Company has a legally enforceable right to collection under normal payment terms.

As of March 31, 2012, the Company had $90.0 million of deferred revenue and $23.0 million of deferred cost of revenues recognized as a net $67.0 million of deferred income on shipments to distributors. As of April 2, 2011, the Company had $134.0 million of deferred revenue and $34.2 million of deferred cost of revenues recognized as a net $99.8 million of deferred income on shipments to distributors. The deferred income on shipments to distributors that will ultimately be recognized in the Company’s consolidated statement of income will be different than the amount shown on the consolidated balance sheet due to actual price adjustments issued to the distributors when the product is sold to their end customers.

Revenue from sales to the Company’s direct customers is recognized upon shipment provided that persuasive evidence of a sales arrangement exists, the price is fixed, title has transferred, collection of resulting receivables is reasonably assured, and there are no customer acceptance requirements and no remaining significant obligations. For each of the periods presented, there were no significant formal acceptance provisions with the Company’s direct customers.

Revenue from software licenses is deferred and recognized as revenue over the term of the licenses of one year. Revenue from support services is recognized when the service is performed. Revenue from Support Products, which includes software and services sales, was less than 6% of net revenues for all of the periods presented.

Allowances for end customer sales returns are recorded based on historical experience and for known pending customer returns or allowances.

Foreign Currency Translation

Foreign Currency Translation

The U.S. dollar is the functional currency for the Company’s Ireland and Singapore subsidiaries. Monetary assets and liabilities that are not denominated in the functional currency are remeasured into U.S. dollars, and the resulting gains or losses are included in the consolidated statements of income under interest and other expense, net. The remeasurement gains or losses were immaterial for all fiscal periods presented.

The local currency is the functional currency for each of the Company’s other wholly-owned foreign subsidiaries. Assets and liabilities are translated from foreign currencies into U.S. dollars at month-end exchange rates and statements of income are translated at the average monthly exchange rates. Exchange gains or losses arising from translation of foreign currency denominated assets and liabilities (i.e., cumulative translation adjustment) are included as a component of accumulated other comprehensive income in stockholders’ equity.

Derivative Financial Instruments

Derivative Financial Instruments

To reduce financial risk, the Company periodically enters into financial arrangements as part of the Company’s ongoing asset and liability management activities. Xilinx uses derivative financial instruments to hedge fair values of underlying assets and liabilities or future cash flows which are exposed to foreign currency or commodity price fluctuations. The Company does not enter into derivative financial instruments for trading or speculative purposes. See “Note 5. Derivative Financial Instruments” for detailed information about the Company’s derivative financial instruments.

Research and Development Expenses

Research and Development Expenses

Research and development costs are current period expenses and charged to expense as incurred.

Stock-Based Compensation

Stock-Based Compensation

The Company has equity incentive plans that are more fully discussed in “Note 6. Stock-Based Compensation Plans.” The authoritative guidance of accounting for share-based payment requires the Company to measure the cost of all employee equity awards that are expected to be exercised based on the grant-date fair value of those awards and to record that cost as compensation expense over the period during which the employee is required to perform service in exchange for the award (over the vesting period of the award). In addition, the Company is required to record compensation expense (as previous awards continue to vest) for the unvested portion of previously granted awards that remain outstanding at the date of adoption. The authoritative guidance of accounting for share-based payment requires cash flows resulting from excess tax benefits to be classified as a part of cash flows from financing activities. Excess tax benefits are realized tax benefits from tax deductions for exercised options in excess of the deferred tax asset attributable to stock compensation costs for such options. The exercise price of employee stock options is equal to the market price of Xilinx common stock (defined as the closing trading price reported by The NASDAQ Global Select Market) on the date of grant. Additionally, Xilinx’s employee stock purchase plan is deemed a compensatory plan under the authoritative guidance of accounting for share-based payment. Accordingly, the employee stock purchase plan is included in the computation of stock-based compensation expense.

The Company uses the straight-line attribution method to recognize stock-based compensation costs over the requisite service period of the award. Upon exercise, cancellation or expiration of stock options, deferred tax assets for options with multiple vesting dates are eliminated for each vesting period on a first-in, first-out basis as if each award had a separate vesting period. To calculate the excess tax benefits available for use in offsetting future tax shortfalls as of the date of implementation, the Company followed the alternative transition method.

Income Taxes

Income Taxes

All income tax amounts reflect the use of the liability method under the accounting for income taxes, as interpreted by Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) authoritative guidance for measuring uncertain tax positions. Under this method, deferred tax assets and liabilities are determined based on the expected future tax consequences of temporary differences between the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities for financial and income tax reporting purposes.

Product warranty and indemnification

Product Warranty and Indemnification

The Company generally sells products with a limited warranty for product quality. The Company provides an accrual for known product issues if a loss is probable and can be reasonably estimated. As of the end of both fiscal 2012 and 2011, the accrual balance of the product warranty liability was immaterial.

The Company offers, subject to certain terms and conditions, to indemnify certain customers and distributors for costs and damages awarded against these parties in the event the Company’s hardware products are found to infringe third-party intellectual property rights, including patents, copyrights or trademarks, and to compensate certain customers for limited specified costs they actually incur in the event our hardware products experience epidemic failure. To a lesser extent, the Company may from time-to-time offer limited indemnification with respect to its software products. The terms and conditions of these indemnity obligations are limited by contract, which obligations are typically perpetual from the effective date of the agreement. The Company has historically received only a limited number of requests for indemnification under these provisions and has not made any significant payments pursuant to these provisions. The Company cannot estimate the maximum amount of potential future payments, if any, that the Company may be required to make as a result of these obligations due to the limited history of indemnification claims and the unique facts and circumstances that are likely to be involved in each particular claim and indemnification provision. However, there can be no assurances that the Company will not incur any financial liabilities in the future as a result of these obligations.

Concentrations of credit risk

Concentrations of Credit Risk

Avnet, one of the Company’s distributors, distributes the substantial majority of the Company’s products worldwide. As of March 31, 2012 and April 2, 2011, Avnet accounted for 67% and 79% of the Company’s total accounts receivable, respectively. Resale of product through Avnet accounted for 48%, 51% and 49% of the Company’s worldwide net revenues in fiscal 2012, 2011 and 2010, respectively. The percentage of accounts receivable due from Avnet and the percentage of worldwide net revenues from Avnet are consistent with historical patterns.

Xilinx is subject to concentrations of credit risk primarily in its trade accounts receivable and investments in debt securities to the extent of the amounts recorded on the consolidated balance sheet. The Company attempts to mitigate the concentration of credit risk in its trade receivables through its credit evaluation process, collection terms, distributor sales to diverse end customers and through geographical dispersion of sales. Xilinx generally does not require collateral for receivables from its end customers or from distributors.

No end customer accounted for more than 10% of net revenues for any of the periods presented.

The Company mitigates concentrations of credit risk in its investments in debt securities by currently investing more than 90% of its portfolio in AA or higher grade securities as rated by Standard & Poor’s or Moody’s Investors Service. The Company’s methods to arrive at investment decisions are not solely based on the rating agencies’ credit ratings. Xilinx also performs additional credit due diligence and conducts regular portfolio credit reviews, including a review of counterparty credit risk related to the Company’s forward currency exchange contracts. Additionally, Xilinx limits its investments in the debt securities of a single issuer based upon the issuer’s credit rating and attempts to further mitigate credit risk by diversifying risk across geographies and type of issuer. As of March 31, 2012, 72% and 28% of its investments in debt securities were domestic and foreign issuers, respectively. See “Note 4. Financial Instruments” for detailed information about the Company’s investment portfolio.

As of March 31, 2012, less than 1% of the Company’s $3.06 billion investment portfolio consisted of student loan auction rate securities and all of these securities are rated AAA with the exception of $3.4 million that were downgraded to an A rating during fiscal 2009. While these securities experienced failed auctions in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008 due to liquidity issues in the global credit markets, which have not been completely resolved as of March 31, 2012, the Company has collected and expects to collect all interest payable on these securities when due. Substantially all of the underlying assets that secure these securities are pools of student loans originated under the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP), which are substantially guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Education. Because there can be no assurance of a successful auction in the future, these student loan auction rate securities are classified as long-term investments on the consolidated balance sheets. The maturity dates range from December 2027 to May 2046.

As of March 31, 2012, approximately 29% of the portfolio consisted of mortgage-backed securities. All of the mortgage-backed securities in the investment portfolio were issued by U.S. government-sponsored enterprises and agencies and are rated AA+ by Standard & Poor’s and AAA by Moody’s Investors Service.

The global credit and capital markets have continued to experience adverse conditions that have negatively impacted the values of various types of investment and non-investment grade securities, and have experienced volatility and disruption due to instability in the global financial system, uncertainty related to global economic conditions and concerns regarding sovereign financial stability. Therefore, there is a risk that the Company may incur other-than-temporary impairment charges for certain types of investments should credit market conditions deteriorate or the underlying assets fail to perform as anticipated. See “Note 4. Financial Instruments” for a table of the Company’s available-for-sale securities.

Dependence on independent manufacturers and subcontractors

Dependence on Independent Manufacturers and Subcontractors

The Company does not directly manufacture the finished silicon wafers used to manufacture its products. Xilinx receives a majority of its finished wafers from independent wafer manufacturers located in Taiwan. The Company is also dependent on a limited number of subcontractors, primarily located in the Asia Pacific region, to provide semiconductor assembly, test and shipment services.

Recent accounting pronouncements

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

In the first quarter of fiscal 2012, the Company adopted the new authoritative guidance for revenue arrangements with multiple deliverables. This guidance established a selling price hierarchy, which allows the use of an estimated selling price to determine the selling price of a deliverable in cases where neither vendor-specific objective evidence nor third-party evidence is available. The adoption of this new guidance did not have a significant impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

In the first quarter of fiscal 2012, the Company adopted the new authoritative guidance that clarifies which revenue allocation and measurement guidance should be used for arrangements that contain both tangible products and software, in cases where the software is more than incidental to the tangible product as a whole. More specifically, if the software sold with or embedded within the tangible product is essential to the functionality of the tangible product, then this software as well as undelivered software elements that relate to this software are excluded from the scope of existing software revenue guidance. The adoption of this new guidance did not have a significant impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

In June 2011, the FASB issued the authoritative guidance to improve the comparability, consistency, and transparency of financial reporting and to increase the prominence of items reported in other comprehensive income. Under this guidance, an entity has the option 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. The guidance is to be applied retrospectively. For public entities, this guidance is effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those years, beginning after December 15, 2011, which for the Company is its first quarter of fiscal 2013. Early application is permitted. This guidance does not affect the underlying accounting for components of other comprehensive income, but will change the presentation of the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

In September 2011, the FASB issued the authoritative guidance that gives companies the option to perform a qualitative assessment to determine whether it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying amount and, in some cases, skip the two-step impairment test for purposes of evaluating goodwill. The guidance is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2011, which for the Company is for its fiscal 2013. Early adoption is permitted. The Company does not expect this new guidance to have significant impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

In December 2011, the FASB issued the authoritative guidance that requires an entity to disclose information about offsetting and related arrangements of financial and derivative instruments, which enable users of its financial statements to understand the effect of those arrangements on its financial position. This includes the effect or potential effect of rights of setoff associated with an entity’s recognized assets and recognized liabilities. The guidance is effective for annual reporting periods beginning on or after January 1, 2013, and interim periods within those annual periods, including all comparative periods presented, which for Xilinx is for its first quarter of fiscal 2014. Early adoption is permitted. The Company does not expect this new guidance to have significant impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.