Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2015

Principles of Consolidation and Presentation

The accompanying Consolidated Financial Statements include the accounts of the Company and its wholly owned subsidiaries. All inter-company accounts and transactions have been properly eliminated in consolidation.

Management Estimates

The Consolidated Financial Statements have been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”). The preparation of these Consolidated Financial Statements requires management to make estimates and judgments that may affect the amounts reported in its Consolidated Financial Statements and accompanying notes. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions.

Revenue Recognition

Multiple Element Arrangements

A significant portion of the Company's revenue relates to product sales for which revenue is recognized upon shipment, with limited judgment required related to product returns. Title transfer for substantially all product sales occurs upon delivery of products to our customer's freight forwarders. The software elements included in certain components of Embedded Products and Hardware Service systems, FlowEngine and MediaEngine products are considered to be functioning together with the non-software elements to provide the tangible product's essential functionality and these arrangements generally include multiple elements such as hardware, technical support services as well as software upgrades or enhancements on a when and if available basis. Arrangements including multiple elements require significant management judgment to evaluate the effective terms of agreements, our performance commitments and determination of fair value of the various deliverables under the arrangement.

For hardware sales which may include software, ASC 605 Revenue Recognition provides a fair value hierarchy in order to determine the appropriate relative fair value for each element of an arrangement. When available, the Company uses vendor specific objective evidence (“VSOE”) to determine the estimated fair value of each element of the arrangement. In the absence of VSOE or third−party evidence ("TPE") for a delivered element, the Company then uses an estimated selling price in order to determine fair value. Estimated selling prices represent the Company's best estimate of the price at which it would transact if the deliverables were sold on a standalone basis. For technical support services, the Company generally determines its selling price based on VSOE as supported by substantive renewal rates in the related service agreements. In certain instances where VSOE cannot be established, the Company then relies upon its estimated selling price for such deliverables as TPE is generally not available due to the unique company-specific terms surrounding such service agreements. In establishing an appropriate estimated selling price for these technical support agreements, the Company considered entity specific factors such as its historical and projected costs, historical and projected revenues, and profit objectives. The Company also considered market specific factors when establishing reasonable profit objectives.

Hardware

Revenue from hardware products is recognized in accordance with ASC 605 Revenue Recognition. Under the Company’s standard terms and conditions of sale, the Company transfers title and risk of loss to the customer at the time product is shipped to the customer and revenue is recognized accordingly, unless customer acceptance is uncertain or significant obligations remain. The Company reduces revenue for estimated customer returns for rotation rights according to agreements with the Company's distributors. The amount of revenues derived from distributors as a percentage of revenues was 15.1%, 16.3% and 14.3% for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013. Revenues associated with distributors are generally recognized upon shipment as the Company has established a sell-to model with distributors. The Company accrues the estimated cost of product warranties, based on historical experience at the time the Company recognizes revenue.

The software elements included in certain components of embedded product systems and MediaEngine products are considered to be functioning together with the non-software elements to provide the tangible product's essential functionality and the Company’s MediaEngine arrangements generally include multiple elements such as hardware and technical support services.

Software licenses and royalties

Revenue from software licenses and royalties is recognized in accordance with ASC 985 Software. The Company recognizes software license revenue at the time of shipment or upon delivery of the software master provided that the revenue recognition criteria have been met and VSOE exists to allocate the total fee to all undelivered elements of the arrangement. The Company defers revenue on arrangements, including specified software upgrades, until the specified upgrade has been delivered. Revenue from customers for prepaid, non-refundable software royalties is recorded when the revenue recognition criteria have been met. Revenue for non-prepaid royalties is recognized at the time the Company receives reporting from customers as the Company has not established an ability to reliably estimate customer royalties prior to time contractually obligated reporting is received.

Technical support services

Technical support services revenue is recognized as earned on the straight-line basis over the term of the contract. The fair value of the Company’s post-contract support has been determined by renewal rates within the Company’s support agreements, the actual amounts charged to customers for renewal of their support services or based on an estimated selling price.

Professional and other services

Professional services revenue is recognized upon completion of certain contractual milestones and customer acceptance of the services rendered. Other services revenues include hardware repair services and custom software implementation projects. Hardware repair services revenues are recognized when the services are complete. Software implementation revenues are recognized upon completion of certain contractual milestones and customer acceptance of the services rendered or as services are performed under the percentage-of-completion method when the Company is reasonably able to estimate the total effort required to complete the contract.

Deferred revenue

Deferred revenue represents amounts received or billed for the following types of transactions:


•	Undelivered elements of an arrangement—Certain software sales include specified upgrades and enhancements to an existing product. Revenue for such products is deferred until the future obligation is fulfilled. Additionally, certain hardware shipments that have been delivered are deferred when customer acceptance is uncertain and revenue is recognized upon customer acceptance.


•	Technical support services—The Company has a number of technical support agreements with customers for hardware and software maintenance. Generally, these services are billed in advance and recognized over the term of the agreement.

Cost of sales associated with deferred revenue is also deferred. These deferred costs are recognized when the associated revenue is recognized.

Capitalized Software Development Costs

The Company does not capitalize internal software development costs incurred in the production of computer software as the Company does not incur any material costs between the point of technological feasibility and general release of the product to customers in the future. As such software development costs are expensed as research and development (“R&D”) costs.

Shipping Costs

The Company’s shipping and handling costs for product sales are included under cost of sales for all periods presented. For the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013 shipping and handling costs represented approximately 2% of cost of sales.

Advertising Costs

The Company expenses advertising costs as incurred. Advertising costs consist primarily of media, display, web, and print advertising, along with trade show costs and product demos and brochures. For the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013 advertising costs were $0.9 million, $1.1 million and $2.0 million.

Cash Equivalents

The Company considers all highly liquid investments purchased with an original maturity of three months or less at the date of purchase to be cash equivalents.

Accounts Receivable

Trade accounts receivable are stated at invoice amount net of an allowance for doubtful accounts and do not bear interest. An allowance for doubtful accounts is maintained for estimated losses resulting from the inability of customers to make required payments. Management reviews the allowance for doubtful accounts quarterly for reasonableness and adequacy. If the financial condition of the Company’s customers were to deteriorate resulting in an impairment of their ability to make payments, additional provisions for uncollectible accounts receivable may be required. In the event the Company determined that a smaller or larger reserve was appropriate, it would record a credit or a charge in the period in which such determination is made. In addition to specific customer reserves, the Company maintains a non-specific bad debt reserve for all customers. This non-specific bad debt reserve is calculated based on the Company's historical pattern of bad debt write-offs as a percentage of gross accounts receivable for the current rolling eight quarters, which percentage is then applied to the current gross accounts receivable. The Company’s customers are concentrated in the technology industry and the collection of its accounts receivable are directly associated with the operational results of the industry.

Inventories

Inventories are stated at the lower of cost, determined on the first-in, first-out (FIFO) basis, or market, net of an inventory valuation allowance. The Company uses a standard cost methodology to determine the cost basis for its inventories. The Company evaluates inventory on a quarterly basis for obsolete or slow-moving items to ascertain if the recorded allowance is reasonable and adequate. Inventory is written down for estimated obsolescence or unmarketable inventory equal to the difference between the cost of inventory and the estimated net realizable value based upon assumptions about future demand and market conditions. The Company's inventory valuation allowances establish a new cost basis for inventory.

Long-Lived Assets

Long-lived assets, such as property and equipment and definite-life intangible assets are evaluated for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate the carrying value of an asset may not be recoverable. The Company assesses the impairment of the assets based on the undiscounted future cash flow the assets are expected to generate compared to the carrying value of the assets. If the carrying amount of the assets is determined not to be recoverable, a write-down to fair value is recorded. Management estimates future cash flows using assumptions about expected future operating performance. Management’s estimates of future cash flows may differ from actual cash flow due to, among other things, technological changes, economic conditions or changes to the Company’s business operations.

Intangible assets with estimable useful lives are amortized on a straight-line basis over their respective estimated life and reviewed for impairment when certain triggering events suggest impairment has occurred. The Company determined that no triggering events occurred in 2015; however, it was determined that a triggering event occurred during the third quarter of 2014 and required an analysis of the recoverability of its long-lived assets. The Company concluded its long-lived assets were not impaired.

Property and Equipment

Property and equipment is recorded at historical cost and is depreciated or amortized on a straight-line basis according to the table below. In certain circumstances where the Company is aware that an asset’s life differs from the general guidelines set forth in its policy, management adjusts its depreciable life accordingly, to ensure expense is being recognized over the appropriate future periods. Ordinary maintenance and repair expenses are expensed when incurred.



Machinery, equipment, furniture and fixtures		5 years
Software, computer hardware and manufacturing test fixtures		3 years
Engineering demonstration products and samples		1 year
Leasehold improvements		Lesser of the lease term or estimated useful lives

Leases

The Company leases all of its facilities, certain office equipment and vehicles under non-cancelable operating leases that expire at various dates through 2020, along with options that permit renewals for additional periods. Rent escalations are considered in the determination of straight-line rent expense for operating leases. Leasehold improvements made at the inception of or during the lease are amortized over the shorter of the asset life or the lease term.

Accrued Restructuring

Expenses associated with exit or disposal activities are recognized when probable and estimable because the Company has a history of paying severance benefits. The Company has engaged, and may continue to engage, in restructuring actions, which require the Company to make significant estimates in several areas including: realizable values of assets made redundant or obsolete; expenses for severance and other employee separation costs; the ability and timing to generate sublease income, as well as the Company's ability to terminate lease obligations at the amounts estimated; and other exit costs. Should the actual amounts differ from the estimates, the amount of the restructuring charges could be materially impacted.

Warranty

The Company provides for the estimated cost of product warranties at the time it recognizes revenue. Products are generally sold with warranty coverage for a period of 12 or 24 months after shipment. On a quarterly basis the Company assesses the reasonableness and adequacy of the warranty liability and adjusts such amounts as necessary. Warranty reserves are included in other accrued liabilities and other long-term liabilities in the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets as of December 31, 2015 and 2014.

Research and Development

Research, development and engineering ("R&D") costs are expensed as incurred. R&D expenses consist primarily of salary, bonuses and benefits for product development staff, and cost of design and development supplies and equipment, net of reimbursements for non-recurring engineering services.

Income Taxes

Income tax accounting requires the recognition of deferred tax assets and liabilities for the expected future tax consequences of temporary differences between the financial statement carrying amounts and tax bases of assets and liabilities. Valuation allowances are established to reduce deferred tax assets if it is “more likely than not” that all or a portion of the asset will not be realized due to inability to generate sufficient taxable income in the relevant period to utilize the deferred tax asset. Tax law and rate changes are reflected in the period such changes are enacted. The Company recognizes uncertain tax positions after evaluating whether certain tax positions are more likely than not to be sustained by taxing authorities. In addition, the Company recognizes potential accrued interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits in income tax expense.

Comprehensive Income (Loss)

The Company reports accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) in its Consolidated Balance Sheets. Comprehensive income (loss) includes net income (loss), translation adjustments and unrealized gains (losses) on hedging instruments net of their tax effect. The cumulative translation adjustments consist of unrealized gains (losses) for foreign currency translation.

Stock-Based Compensation

The Company measures stock-based compensation at the grant date, based on the fair value of the award, and recognizes expense on a straight-line basis over the employee's requisite service period. For performance-based restricted stock unit awards, the requisite service period is equal to the period of time over which performance objectives underlying the award are expected to be achieved and vested. The number of shares that ultimately vest depends on the achievement of certain performance criteria over the measurement period. For non-market based performance-based restricted stock, quarterly, we reevaluate the period during which the performance objective will be met and the number of shares expected to vest. The amount of quarterly expense recorded each period is based on our estimate of the number of awards that will ultimately vest.

The Company estimates the fair value of stock options and purchase rights under our employee stock purchase plans using a Black-Scholes option-pricing model. The Black-Scholes option-pricing model incorporates several highly subjective assumptions including expected volatility, expected term and interest rates.

In reaching our determination of expected volatility, we use the historic volatility of our shares of common stock. We base the expected term of our stock options on historic experience. The expected term for purchase rights under our employee stock plans is based on the 18 month offering period. The risk-free rate is based on the U.S. Treasury constant maturities in effect at the time of grant for the expected term of the option or share.

The calculation includes several assumptions that require management's judgment. The expected term of the option or share is determined based on assumptions about patterns of employee exercises and represents a probability-weighted average time-period from grant until exercise of stock options, subject to information available at time of grant. Determining expected volatility generally begins with calculating historical volatility for a similar long-term period and then considers the ways in which the future is reasonably expected to differ from the past.

The grant-date fair value of the PRSUs awarded in 2015 was calculated using a Monte Carlo simulation consistent with the fair value principals of Topic 718 since these awards vest based upon market conditions. Expense is recognized over a derived service period determined by the Monte Carlo simulation. If the conditions of PRSUs are met before the derived service period ends, all remaining expense will be recognized in the period the conditions are met.

The input factors used in the valuation model are based on subjective future expectations combined with management's judgment. If there is a difference between the assumptions used in determining stock-based compensation cost and the actual factors which become known over time, we may change the input factors used in determining stock-based compensation costs. These changes may materially impact the results of operations in the event such changes are made. In addition, if we were to modify any awards, additional charges would be taken. If our actual forfeiture rate is materially different from our estimate the stock-based compensation expense could be significantly different from what we have recorded in the current period. See Note 16 — Employee Benefit Plans of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements for a further discussion on stock-based compensation.

Net Income (Loss) Per Share

Net loss per share

Basic loss per share amounts are computed based on the weighted average number of common shares outstanding. Diluted net loss per share incorporates the incremental shares issuable upon the assumed exercise of stock options, incremental shares associated with the assumed vesting of restricted stock and the assumed conversion of the Company’s convertible notes, as if the conversion to common shares had occurred at the beginning of the fiscal year and when such conversion would have a dilutive effect. When the conversion of the Company’s convertible notes are dilutive, earnings would be adjusted for interest expense incurred on the convertible notes.

Derivatives

The Company hedges exposure to changes in exchange rates from the US Dollar to the Indian Rupee. These derivatives are recognized on the balance sheet at their fair value. Unrealized gain positions are recorded as other current assets and unrealized loss positions are recorded as other accrued liabilities. Changes in the fair values of the outstanding derivatives that are highly effective are recorded in other comprehensive income until net income (loss) is affected by the variability of the cash flows of the hedged transaction. Hedge ineffectiveness could result when the amount of the Company’s hedge contracts exceed the Company’s forecasted or actual transactions for which the hedge contracts were designed to hedge. Once a hedge contract matures the associated gain (loss) on the contract will remain in other comprehensive income (loss) until the underlying hedged transaction affects net income (loss), at which time the gain (loss) will be recorded to the expense line item being hedged, which is primarily cost of sales and research and development. The Company only enters into derivative contracts in order to hedge foreign currency exposure. If the Company entered into a contract for speculative reasons or if the Company’s current hedge position becomes ineffective, changes in the fair values of the derivatives would be recognized in earnings in the current period.

Foreign Currency Translation

Foreign currency translation

Assets and liabilities of international operations using a functional currency other than the U.S. dollar are translated into U.S. dollars at exchange rates as of December 31, 2015 and 2014. Income and expense accounts are translated into U.S. dollars at the average daily rates of exchange prevailing during the period. Adjustments resulting from translating foreign functional currency financial statements into U.S. dollars are recorded as a separate component in shareholders’ equity. Foreign exchange transaction gains and losses are included in other income (expense), net, in the Consolidated Statements of Operations.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

In November 2015, the FASB issued ASU No. 2015-17, Income Taxes (Topic 740): Balance Sheet Classification of Deferred Taxes to simplify the presentation of deferred taxes in the statement of financial position. The updated guidance requires that deferred tax assets and liabilities be classified as noncurrent in a classified balance sheet. The update to the standard is effective for all interim and annual period is fiscals years beginning after December 15, 2016 with early application permitted as of the beginning of any interim or annual reporting period. This guidance may be applied either prospectively to all deferred tax assets and liabilities or retrospectively to all periods presented. The Company has early adopted the updated guidance and have applied retrospectively to all periods presented in the Consolidated Balance Sheets which resulted in the reclassification of $0.2 million short-term deferred tax assets, net to long-term deferred tax assets, net.

In May 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") issued ASU 2014-09, "Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606)," which is the new comprehensive revenue recognition standard that will supersede all existing revenue recognition guidance under U.S. GAAP. The standard's core principle is that a company will recognize revenue when it transfers promised goods or services to a customer in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the company expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. ASU 2015-14, "Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606): Deferral of the Effective Date," which was issued in August 2015, revised the effective date for this ASU to annual and interim periods beginning on or after December 15, 2017, with early adoption permitted, but not earlier than the original effective date of annual and interim periods beginning on or after December 15, 2016, for public entities. Entities will have the option of using either a full retrospective approach or a modified approach to adopt the guidance in ASU 2014-09. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of adopting this guidance.