CONCENTRATIONS OF CREDIT RISK

12 Months Ended

Oct. 29, 2017

CONCENTRATIONS OF CREDIT RISK [Abstract]

CONCENTRATIONS OF CREDIT RISK

NOTE 15 – CONCENTRATIONS OF CREDIT RISK

Financial instruments that potentially subject us to credit risk principally consist of trade accounts receivables and short-term cash investments. We sell our products primarily to semiconductor and FPD manufacturers in Asia, North America, and Europe. We believe that the concentration of credit risk in our trade receivables is substantially mitigated by our ongoing credit evaluation process and relatively short collection terms. We do not generally require collateral from customers. We establish an allowance for doubtful accounts based upon factors surrounding the credit risk of specific customers, historical trends and other information.

Our cash and cash equivalents are deposited in several financial institutions, including institutions located within all of the countries in which we manufacture photomasks. Portions of deposits in some of these institutions may exceed the amount of insurance available for such deposits at these institutions. As these deposits are generally redeemable upon demand and are held by high quality, reputable institutions, we consider them to bear minimal credit risk. We further mitigate credit risks related to our cash and cash equivalents by spreading such risk among a number of institutions.