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Basis of Presentation and Significant Accounting Policies
9 Months Ended
Oct. 03, 2015
Accounting Policies [Abstract]  
Basis of Presentation and Significant Accounting Policies
Basis of Presentation and Significant Accounting Policies:

The accompanying Consolidated Financial Statements are unaudited and have been prepared by Lattice Semiconductor Corporation (“Lattice,” the “Company,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and in our opinion include all adjustments, consisting only of normal recurring adjustments, necessary for the fair statement of results for the interim periods. Certain information and footnote disclosures normally included in financial statements prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles ("U.S. GAAP") have been condensed or omitted pursuant to such rules and regulations. These Consolidated Financial Statements should be read in conjunction with our audited financial statements and notes thereto included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 3, 2015.
We report based on a 52 or 53-week fiscal year ending on the Saturday closest to December 31. Our third quarter of fiscal 2015 and third quarter of fiscal 2014 ended on October 3, 2015 and September 27, 2014, respectively. All references to quarterly, three or nine months ended financial results are references to the results for the relevant 13-week or 39-week fiscal period.

Principles of Consolidation

The accompanying Consolidated Financial Statements include the accounts of Lattice and its subsidiaries after the elimination of all intercompany balances and transactions. Certain balances in prior fiscal years have been reclassified to conform to the presentation adopted in the current year. Interest expense has been reported separately from Other (expense) income, net.

Cash Equivalents and Marketable Securities

We consider all investments that are readily convertible into cash and have original maturities of three months or less to be cash equivalents. Cash equivalents consist primarily of highly liquid investments in time deposits or money market accounts and are carried at cost. We account for marketable securities as available-for-sale investments, as defined by U.S. GAAP, and record unrealized gains or losses to Accumulated other comprehensive loss on our Consolidated Balance Sheets, unless losses are considered other than temporary, in which case, those are recorded directly to the Consolidated Statements of Operations and Statements of Comprehensive (Loss) Income.

Fair Value of Financial Instruments

We invest in various financial instruments including corporate and government bonds, notes, and commercial paper. In the past we have also invested in auction rate securities. We value these instruments at their fair value and monitor the portfolio for impairment on a periodic basis. In the event that the carrying value of an investment exceeds its fair value and the decline in value is determined to be other than temporary, we record an impairment charge and establish a new carrying value. We assess other than temporary impairment of marketable securities in accordance with Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 820, “Fair Value Measurements.” The framework under the provisions of ASC 820 establishes three levels of inputs that may be used to measure fair value. Each level of input has different levels of subjectivity and difficulty involved in determining fair value.

Foreign Exchange and Translation of Foreign Currencies

We have international subsidiary and branch operations. In addition, a portion of our silicon wafer and other purchases are denominated in Japanese yen, we bill certain Japanese customers in yen and collect a Japanese consumption tax refund in yen. Gains or losses from foreign exchange rate fluctuations on balances denominated in foreign currencies are reflected in Other (expense) income, net. Realized and unrealized gains or losses on foreign currency transactions were not significant for the periods presented. We translate accounts denominated in foreign currencies in accordance with ASC 830, “Foreign Currency Matters,” using the current rate method under which asset and liability accounts are translated at the current rate, while stockholders' equity accounts are translated at the appropriate historical rates, and revenue and expense accounts are translated at average monthly exchange rates. Translation adjustments related to the consolidation of foreign subsidiary financial statements are reflected in Accumulated other comprehensive loss in Stockholders' equity.

Derivative Financial Instruments

We mitigate foreign currency exchange rate risk by entering into foreign currency forward exchange contracts. At October 3, 2015 and January 3, 2015, we had open foreign exchange contracts of $1.7 million and $4.2 million, respectively. One contract outstanding at October 3, 2015 settled in October 2015, and three contracts will settle in June 2016. Although these hedges mitigate our foreign currency exchange rate exposure from an economic perspective, they were not designated as "effective" hedges under GAAP and as such are adjusted to fair value through Other (expense) income, net, with an impact of less than $0.1 million for the periods reported in the Consolidated Statements of Operations. We do not hold or issue derivative financial instruments for trading or speculative purposes.

Concentration Risk

Potential exposure to concentration risk may impact revenue, trade receivables, marketable securities, and supply of wafers for our new products.

Customer concentration risk may impact revenue. Our top five end customers constituted approximately 31% of our revenue for the third quarter of fiscal 2015, compared to approximately 41% for the third quarter of fiscal 2014. Our top five end customers constituted approximately 33% of our revenue for the first nine months of fiscal 2015, compared to approximately 46% for the first nine month of fiscal 2014.

Our largest end customer accounted for approximately 9% of total revenue in the third quarter of fiscal 2015 and 11% of total revenue in the first nine months of fiscal 2015. Our two largest end customers accounted for approximately 18% and 10% of total revenue, respectively, in the third quarter of fiscal 2014 and 21% and 12% of total revenue, respectively, in the first nine months of fiscal 2014. No other customers accounted for more than 10% of total revenue during these periods.

Sales through distributors have historically accounted for a significant portion of our total revenue. Revenue attributable to resale of products by our sell-through distributors for the third quarter of fiscal 2015 and fiscal 2014 was 46% and 51%, respectively. Revenue attributable to resale of products by our sell-through distributors for the first nine months of fiscal 2015 and fiscal 2014 was 45% and 44%, respectively.

Concentration of credit risk with respect to trade receivables is mitigated by our credit and collection process including active management of collections, credit limits, routine credit evaluations for essentially all customers and secure transactions with letters of credit or advance payments where appropriate. Accounts receivable do not bear interest and are shown net of allowances for doubtful accounts of $0.9 million and $0.9 million at October 3, 2015 and January 3, 2015, respectively. We regularly review our allowance for doubtful accounts and the aging of our accounts receivable. Write-offs for uncollected trade receivables have not been significant to date.

We place our investments primarily through one financial institution and mitigate the concentration of credit risk by limiting the maximum portion of the investment portfolio which may be invested in any one instrument. Our investment policy defines approved credit ratings for investment securities. Investments on-hand in marketable securities consisted primarily of money market instruments, “AA” or better corporate notes and bonds and commercial paper, and U.S. government agency obligations. See Note 5 for a discussion of the liquidity attributes of our marketable securities.

We rely on a limited number of foundries for our wafer purchases including Fujitsu Limited, Seiko Epson Corporation, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd, and United Microelectronics Corporation.

Revenue Recognition and Deferred Income

Product Revenue

We sell our products directly to end customers, through a network of independent manufacturers' representatives, and indirectly through a network of independent sell-in and sell-through distributors. Distributors provide periodic data regarding the product, price, quantity, and end customer when products are resold, as well as the quantities of our products they still have in stock.

Revenue from sales to original equipment manufacturers ("OEMs") and sell-in distributors is generally recognized upon shipment. Reserves for sell-in stock rotations, where applicable, are estimated based primarily on historical experience and provided for at the time of shipment. Revenue from sales by our sell-through distributors is recognized at the time of reported resale. Under both types of revenue recognition, persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists, the price is fixed or determinable, title has transferred, collection of resulting receivables is reasonably assured, and there are no remaining customer acceptance requirements and no remaining significant performance obligations.

Orders from our sell-through distributors are initially recorded at published list prices; however, for a majority of our sales, the final selling price is determined at the time of resale and in accordance with a distributor price agreement. In certain circumstances, we allow sell-through distributors to return unsold products. At times, we protect our sell-through distributors against reductions in published list prices. For these reasons, we do not recognize revenue until products are resold by sell-through distributors to an end customer.

For sell-through distributors, at the time of shipment to distributors, we (a) record Accounts receivable at published list price since there is a legally enforceable obligation from the distributor to pay us currently for product delivered, (b) relieve inventory for the carrying value of goods shipped since legal title has passed to the distributor, and (c) record deferred revenue and deferred cost of sales in Deferred income and allowances on sales to sell-through distributors in the liability section of our Consolidated Balance Sheets. The final price is set at the time of resale and is determined in accordance with a distributor price agreement. Revenue and cost of sales to sell-through distributors are deferred until either the product is resold by the distributor or, in certain cases, return privileges terminate, at which time Revenue and Cost of products sold are reflected in Net (loss) income, and Accounts receivable, net are adjusted to reflect the final selling price.

The components of Deferred income and allowances on sales to sell-through distributors are presented in the following table:
(In thousands)
 
October 3,
2015
 
January 3,
2015
Inventory valued at published list price and held by sell-through distributors with right of return
 
$
48,205

 
$
50,854

Allowance for distributor advances
 
(22,890
)
 
(29,490
)
Deferred cost of sales related to inventory held by sell-through distributors
 
(4,888
)
 
(6,418
)
Total Deferred income and allowances on sales to sell-through distributors
 
$
20,427

 
$
14,946



A significant portion of our year-to-date revenue in fiscal 2015 was from sell-through distributors. Resale of products by sell-through distributors as a percentage of total revenue was 46% and 45% for the three and nine months ended October 3, 2015, respectively, and 51% and 44% for the three and nine months ended September 27, 2014, respectively.

We must use estimates and apply judgment to reconcile sell-through distributors' reported inventories to their activities. Errors in our estimates or judgments could result in inaccurate reporting of our Revenue, Cost of products sold, Deferred income and allowances on sales to sell-through distributors, and Net (loss) income.

Licensing and Services Revenue

Our licensing and services revenue is comprised of revenue from our intellectual property ("IP") core licensing activity, patent monetization activities, device management system and remote support services, and royalty and adopter fee revenue from our standards activities. These activities are complementary to our product sales and help us monetize our intellectual property and accelerate market adoption curves associated with our technology and standards.

We enter into IP licensing agreements that generally provide licensees the right to incorporate our IP components into their products pursuant to terms and conditions that vary by licensee. Revenue earned under these agreements is classified as Licensing and services revenue. Our IP licensing agreements generally include multiple elements, which may include one or more off-the-shelf or customized IP licenses bundled with support services covering a fixed period of time, generally one year. If the different elements of a multiple-element arrangement qualify as separate units of accounting, we allocate the total arrangement consideration to each element based on relative selling price.

Amounts allocated to off-the-shelf IP licenses are recognized at the time of sale provided the other conditions for revenue recognition have been met. Amounts allocated to the support services are deferred and recognized on a straight-line basis over the support period, generally one year. Certain licensing agreements provide for royalty payments based on agreed-upon royalty rates, which may be fixed or variable depending on the terms of the agreement. The amount of revenue we recognize is based on a specified time period or on the agreed-upon royalty rate multiplied by the number of units shipped by the customer.

From time to time, we enter into IP licensing agreements that involve significant modification, customization or engineering services. Revenues derived from these contracts are accounted for using the percentage-of-completion method or completed contract method. The completed contract method is used for contracts where there is a risk of final acceptance by the customer or for short-term contracts. HDMI royalty revenue is determined by a contractual allocation formula agreed to by the members ("Founders") of the HDMI consortium. Evidence of an arrangement, as to HDMI royalty revenue, is deemed complete when all of the Founders agree on the royalty sharing formula.

Property and Equipment

Property and equipment are stated at cost. Depreciation and amortization are computed using the straight-line method for financial reporting purposes over the estimated useful lives of the related assets, generally three to five years for equipment and software, one to three years for tooling and thirty years for buildings. Upon disposal of Property and equipment, the accounts are relieved of the costs and related accumulated depreciation and amortization, and resulting gains or losses are reflected in the Consolidated Statements of Operations for recognized gains and losses, or in the Consolidated Balance Sheets for deferred gains and losses. Repair and maintenance costs are expensed as incurred.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts and classification of assets, such as marketable securities, accounts receivable, inventory, goodwill (including the assessment of reporting unit), intangible assets, current and deferred income taxes, accrued liabilities (including restructuring charges and bonus arrangements), deferred income and allowances on sales to sell-through distributors, disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, anticipated amounts used in acquisition valuations and purchase accounting, and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the fiscal periods presented. Actual results could differ from those estimates.