Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)

9 Months Ended

Jul. 31, 2011

Significant Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Use of Estimates

Use of Estimates

     The preparation of the financial statements and related disclosures in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States requires management to make estimates and judgments that affect the amounts reported in the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements and accompanying notes. Estimates are used for purchase accounting, bad debts, valuation of inventories and investments, recoverability of intangible assets, other long-lived assets, income taxes, warranty obligations, restructuring liabilities, derivatives, contingencies and litigation. Ciena bases its estimates on historical experience and assumptions that it believes are reasonable. Actual results may differ materially from management’s estimates.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

Cash and Cash Equivalents

     Ciena considers all highly liquid investments purchased with original maturities of three months or less to be cash equivalents. Restricted cash collateralizing letters of credit are included in other current assets and other long-term assets depending upon the duration of the restriction.

Investments

Investments

     Ciena’s investments are classified as available-for-sale and are reported at fair value, with unrealized gains and losses recorded in accumulated other comprehensive income. Ciena recognizes losses when it determines that declines in the fair value of its investments, below their cost basis, are other-than-temporary. In determining whether a decline in fair value is other-than-temporary, Ciena considers various factors including market price (when available), investment ratings, the financial condition and near-term prospects of the investee, the length of time and the extent to which the fair value has been less than Ciena’s cost basis, and its intent and ability to hold the investment until maturity or for a period of time sufficient to allow for any anticipated recovery in market value. Ciena considers all marketable debt securities that it expects to convert to cash within one year or less to be short-term investments. All others are considered long-term investments.

     Ciena has certain minority equity investments in privately held technology companies that are classified as other assets. These investments are carried at cost because Ciena does not have the ability to exercise significant influence over these companies. These investments involve a high degree of risk as the markets for the technologies or products manufactured by these companies are usually early stage at the time of Ciena’s investment and such markets may never be significant. Ciena could lose its entire investment in some or all of these companies. Ciena monitors these investments for impairment and makes appropriate reductions in carrying values when necessary.

Inventories

Inventories

     Inventories are stated at the lower of cost or market, with cost computed using standard cost, which approximates actual cost, on a first-in, first-out basis. Ciena records a provision for excess and obsolete inventory when an impairment has been identified.

Segment Reporting

Segment Reporting

     Ciena’s chief operating decision maker, its chief executive officer, evaluates performance and allocates resources based on multiple factors, including segment profit (loss) information for the following product categories: (i) Packet-Optical Transport; (ii) Packet-Optical Switching; (iii) Carrier Ethernet Service Delivery; and (iv) Software and Services. Operating segments are defined as components of an enterprise: that engage in business activities which may earn revenue and incur expense; for which discrete financial information is available; and for which such information is evaluated regularly by the chief operating decision maker for purposes of allocating resources and assessing performance. Ciena considers the four product categories above to be its operating segments for reporting purposes. See Note 18.

Long-lived Assets, Equipment, Furniture and Fixtures, Intangible Assets and Maintenance Spares

Long-lived Assets

     Long-lived assets include: equipment, furniture and fixtures; intangible assets; and maintenance spares. Ciena tests long-lived assets for impairment whenever triggering events or changes in circumstances indicate that the assets’ carrying amount is not recoverable from its undiscounted cash flows. An impairment loss is measured as the amount by which the carrying amount of the asset or asset group exceeds its fair value. Ciena’s long-lived assets are assigned to asset groups which represent the lowest level for which cash flows can be identified.

     Equipment, Furniture and Fixtures

     Equipment, furniture and fixtures are recorded at cost. Depreciation and amortization are computed using the straight-line method over useful lives of two years to five years for equipment, furniture and fixtures and the shorter of useful life or lease term for leasehold improvements.

     Qualifying internal use software and website development costs incurred during the application development stage that consist primarily of outside services and purchased software license costs, are capitalized and amortized straight-line over the estimated useful lives of two years to five years.

     Intangible Assets

     Ciena has recorded finite-lived intangible assets as a result of several acquisitions. Finite-lived intangible assets are carried at cost less accumulated amortization. Amortization is computed using the straight-line method over the expected economic lives of the respective assets, from nine months to seven years, which approximates the use of intangible assets.

     Maintenance Spares

     Maintenance spares are recorded at cost. Spares usage cost is expensed ratably over four years.

Concentrations

Concentrations

     Substantially all of Ciena’s cash and cash equivalents are maintained at a small number of major U.S. financial institutions. The majority of Ciena’s cash equivalents consist of money market funds. Deposits held with banks may exceed the amount of insurance provided on such deposits. Generally, these deposits may be redeemed upon demand and, therefore, management believes that they bear minimal risk.

     Historically, a significant percentage of Ciena’s revenue has been concentrated among sales to a small number of large communications service providers. Consolidation among Ciena’s customers has increased this concentration. Consequently, Ciena’s accounts receivable are concentrated among these customers. See Notes 7 and 18 below.

     Additionally, Ciena’s access to certain materials or components is dependent upon sole or limited source suppliers. The inability of any of these suppliers to fulfill Ciena’s supply requirements, or significant changes in their cost, could affect future results. Ciena relies on a small number of contract manufacturers to perform the majority of the manufacturing for its products. If Ciena cannot effectively manage these manufacturers and forecast future demand, or if they fail to deliver products or components on time, Ciena’s business and results of operations may suffer.

Revenue Recognition

Revenue Recognition

     Ciena recognizes revenue when all of the following criteria are met: persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists; delivery has occurred or services have been rendered; the price to the buyer is fixed or determinable; and collectibility is reasonably assured. Customer purchase agreements and customer purchase orders are generally used to determine the existence of an arrangement. Shipping documents and evidence of customer acceptance, when applicable, are used to verify delivery or services rendered. Ciena assesses whether the price is fixed or determinable based on the payment terms associated with the transaction and whether the sales price is subject to refund or adjustment. Ciena assesses collectibility based primarily on the creditworthiness of the customer as determined by credit checks and analysis, as well as the customer’s payment history. Revenue for maintenance services is generally deferred and recognized ratably over the period during which the services are to be performed.

     Ciena applies the percentage of completion method to long-term arrangements where it is required to undertake significant production, customizations or modification engineering, and reasonable and reliable estimates of revenue and cost are available. Utilizing the percentage of completion method, Ciena recognizes revenue based on the ratio of actual costs incurred to date to total estimated costs expected to be incurred. In instances that do not meet the percentage of completion method criteria, recognition of revenue is deferred until there are no uncertainties regarding customer acceptance.

     Software revenue is recognized when persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists, delivery has occurred, the fee is fixed or determinable, and collectibility is probable. In instances where final acceptance criteria of the software is specified by the customer, revenue is deferred until there are no uncertainties regarding customer acceptance.

     Ciena limits the amount of revenue recognition for delivered elements to the amount that is not contingent on the future delivery of products or services, future performance obligations or subject to customer-specified return or refund privileges.

     Accounting for multiple element arrangements entered into prior to fiscal 2011

     Arrangements with customers may include multiple deliverables, including any combination of equipment, services and software. If multiple element arrangements include software or software-related elements that are essential to the equipment, Ciena allocates the arrangement fee among separate units of accounting. Multiple element arrangements that include software are separated into more than one unit of accounting if the functionality of the delivered element(s) is not dependent on the undelivered element(s), there is vendor-specific objective evidence (“VSOE”) of the fair value of the undelivered element(s), and general revenue recognition criteria related to the delivered element(s) have been met. The amount of product and services revenue recognized is affected by Ciena’s judgments as to whether an arrangement includes multiple elements and, if so, whether VSOE of fair value exists. VSOE is established based on Ciena’s standard pricing and discounting practices for the specific product or service when sold separately. In determining VSOE, Ciena requires that a substantial majority of the selling prices for a product or service fall within a reasonably narrow pricing range. Changes to the elements in an arrangement and Ciena’s ability to establish VSOE for those elements could affect the timing of revenue recognition. For all other multiple element arrangements, Ciena separates the elements into more than one unit of accounting if the delivered element(s) have value to the customer on a stand-alone basis, objective and reliable evidence of fair value exists for the undelivered element(s), and delivery of the undelivered element(s) is probable and substantially in Ciena’s control. Revenue is allocated to each unit of accounting based on the relative fair value of each accounting unit or using the residual method if objective evidence of fair value does not exist for the delivered element(s). The revenue recognition criteria described above are applied to each separate unit of accounting. If these criteria are not met, revenue is deferred until the criteria are met or the last element has been delivered.

     Accounting for multiple element arrangements entered into or materially modified in fiscal 2011

     In October 2009, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) amended the accounting standard for revenue recognition with multiple deliverables which provided guidance on how the arrangement fee should be allocated and allows the use of management’s best estimate of selling price (“BESP”) for individual elements of an arrangement when VSOE or third-party evidence (“TPE”) is unavailable. Additionally, it eliminates the residual method of revenue recognition in accounting for multiple deliverable arrangements. The FASB also amended the accounting guidance for revenue arrangements with software elements to exclude from the scope of the software revenue recognition guidance, tangible products that contain both software and non-software components that function together to deliver the product’s essential functionality.

     Ciena adopted the new accounting guidance on a prospective basis for arrangements entered into or materially modified on or after November 1, 2010. Under the new guidance, Ciena separates elements into more than one unit of accounting if the delivered element(s) have value to the customer on a stand-alone basis, and delivery of the undelivered element(s) is probable and substantially in Ciena’s control. Therefore, the new guidance allows for deliverables, for which revenue was previously deferred due to an absence of fair value, to be separated and recognized as revenue as delivered. Also, because the residual method has been eliminated, discounts offered by Ciena are allocated to all deliverables, rather than to the delivered element(s). Ciena’s adoption of the new guidance for revenue arrangements changed the accounting for certain Ciena products that consist of hardware and software components, in which these components together provided the product’s essential functionality. For arrangements involving these products entered into prior to fiscal 2011, Ciena recognized revenue based on software revenue recognition guidance.

     Revenue for multiple element arrangements is allocated to each unit of accounting based on the relative selling price of each delivered element, with revenue recognized when the revenue recognition criteria are met for each delivered element. Ciena determines the selling price for each deliverable based upon the selling price hierarchy for multiple-deliverable arrangements. Under this hierarchy, Ciena uses VSOE of selling price, if it exists, or TPE of selling price if VSOE does not exist. If neither VSOE nor TPE of selling price exists for a deliverable, Ciena uses its BESP for that deliverable.

     VSOE is established based on Ciena’s standard pricing and discounting practices for the specific product or service when sold separately. In determining VSOE, which exists across certain of Ciena’s service offerings, Ciena requires that a substantial majority of the selling prices for a product or service fall within a reasonably narrow pricing range. Ciena has been unable to establish TPE of selling price because its go-to-market strategy differs from that of others in its markets, and the extent of customization and differentiated features and functions varies among comparable products or services from its peers. Ciena determines BESP based upon management-approved pricing guidelines, which consider multiple factors including the type of product or service, gross margin objectives, competitive and market conditions, and the go-to-market strategy; all of which can affect pricing practices.

     Historically, for arrangements with multiple elements, Ciena was typically able to establish fair value for undelivered elements and so Ciena applied the residual method. Assuming the adoption of the accounting guidance above on a prospective basis for arrangements entered into or materially modified on or after November 1, 2009, the effect on revenue recognized for the nine months ended July 31, 2010 would not have been materially different.

Warranty Accruals

Warranty Accruals

     Ciena provides for the estimated costs to fulfill customer warranty obligations upon the recognition of the related revenue. Estimated warranty costs include estimates for material costs, technical support labor costs and associated overhead. The warranty liability is included in cost of goods sold and determined based upon actual warranty cost experience, estimates of component failure rates and management’s industry experience. Ciena’s sales contracts do not permit the right of return of product by the customer after the product has been accepted.

Accounts Receivable, Net

Accounts Receivable, Net

     Ciena’s allowance for doubtful accounts is based on its assessment, on a specific identification basis, of the collectibility of customer accounts. Ciena performs ongoing credit evaluations of its customers and generally has not required collateral or other forms of security from its customers. In determining the appropriate balance for Ciena’s allowance for doubtful accounts, management considers each individual customer account receivable in order to determine collectibility. In doing so, management considers creditworthiness, payment history, account activity and communication with such customer. If a customer’s financial condition changes, Ciena may be required to record an allowance for doubtful accounts, which would negatively affect its results of operations.

Research and Development

Research and Development

     Ciena charges all research and development costs to expense as incurred. Types of expense incurred in research and development include employee compensation, prototype, consulting, depreciation, facility costs and information technologies.

Government Grants

Government Grants

     Ciena accounts for proceeds from government grants as a reduction of expense when there is reasonable assurance that Ciena has complied with the conditions attached to the grant and that the grant proceeds will be received. Grant benefits are recorded to the line item in the Condensed Consolidated Statement of Operations to which the grant activity relates. See Note 19 below.

Advertising Costs

Advertising Costs

     Ciena expenses all advertising costs as incurred.

Legal Costs

Legal Costs

     Ciena expenses legal costs associated with litigation defense as incurred.

Share-Based Compensation Expense

Share-Based Compensation Expense

     Ciena measures and recognizes compensation expense for share-based awards based on estimated fair values on the date of grant. Ciena estimates the fair value of each option-based award on the date of grant using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model. This model is affected by Ciena’s stock price as well as estimates regarding a number of variables including expected stock price volatility over the expected term of the award and projected employee stock option exercise behaviors. Ciena estimates the fair value of each share-based award based on the fair value of the underlying common stock on the date of grant. In each case, Ciena only recognizes expense to its consolidated statement of operations for those options or shares that are expected ultimately to vest. Ciena uses two attribution methods to record expense, the straight-line method for grants with only service-based vesting and the graded-vesting method, which considers each performance period or tranche separately, for all other awards. See Note 16 below.

Income Taxes

Income Taxes

     Ciena accounts for income taxes using an asset and liability approach that recognizes deferred tax assets and liabilities for the expected future tax consequences attributable to differences between the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities for financial reporting purposes and their respective tax bases, and for operating loss and tax credit carryforwards. In estimating future tax consequences, Ciena considers all expected future events other than the enactment of changes in tax laws or rates. Valuation allowances are provided, if, based upon the weight of the available evidence, it is more likely than not that some or all of the deferred tax assets will not be realized.

     In the ordinary course of business, transactions occur for which the ultimate outcome may be uncertain. In addition, tax authorities periodically audit Ciena’s income tax returns. These audits examine significant tax filing positions, including the timing and amounts of deductions and the allocation of income tax expenses among tax jurisdictions. Ciena is currently under audit in India for 2007. Management does not expect the outcome of this audit to have a material adverse effect on the Company’s consolidated financial position, result of operations or cash flows. Ciena’s major tax jurisdictions and the earliest open tax years are as follows: United States (2008), United Kingdom (2005), Canada (2005) and India (2007). However, limited adjustments can be made to Federal tax returns in earlier years in order to reduce net operating loss carryforwards. Ciena classifies interest and penalties related to uncertain tax positions as a component of income tax expense. All of the uncertain tax positions, if recognized, would decrease the effective income tax rate.

     Ciena has not provided U.S. deferred income taxes on the cumulative unremitted earnings of its non-U.S. affiliates as it plans to permanently reinvest cumulative unremitted foreign earnings outside the U.S. and it is not practicable to determine the unrecognized deferred income taxes. These cumulative unremitted foreign earnings relate to ongoing operations in foreign jurisdictions and are required to fund foreign operations, capital expenditures, and any expansion requirements.

     Ciena recognizes windfall tax benefits associated with the exercise of stock options or release of restricted stock units directly to stockholders’ equity only when realized. A windfall tax benefit occurs when the actual tax benefit realized by Ciena upon an employee’s disposition of a share-based award exceeds the deferred tax asset, if any, associated with the award that Ciena had recorded. When assessing whether a tax benefit relating to share-based compensation has been realized, Ciena follows the tax law “with-and-without” method. Under the with-and-without method, the windfall is considered realized and recognized for financial statement purposes only when an incremental benefit is provided after considering all other tax benefits including Ciena’s net operating losses. The with-and-without method results in the windfall from share-based compensation awards always being effectively the last tax benefit to be considered. Consequently, the windfall attributable to share-based compensation will not be considered realized in instances where Ciena’s net operating loss carryover (that is unrelated to windfalls) is sufficient to offset the current year’s taxable income before considering the effects of current-year windfalls.

Loss Contingencies

Loss Contingencies

     Ciena is subject to the possibility of various losses arising in the ordinary course of business. These may relate to disputes, litigation and other legal actions. Ciena considers the likelihood of loss or the incurrence of a liability, as well as Ciena’s ability to reasonably estimate the amount of loss, in determining loss contingencies. An estimated loss contingency is accrued when it is probable that a liability has been incurred and the amount of loss can be reasonably estimated. Ciena regularly evaluates current information to determine whether any accruals should be adjusted and whether new accruals are required.

Fair Value of Financial Instruments

Fair Value of Financial Instruments

     The carrying value of Ciena’s cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable, accounts payable, and accrued liabilities, approximates fair market value due to the relatively short period of time to maturity. For information related to the fair value of Ciena’s convertible notes, see Note 14 below.

     Fair value for the measurement of financial assets and liabilities is defined as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. As such, fair value is a market-based measurement that should be determined based on assumptions that market participants would use in pricing an asset or liability. Ciena utilizes a valuation hierarchy for disclosure of the inputs for fair value measurement. This hierarchy prioritizes the inputs into three broad levels as follows:

• Level 1 inputs are unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities;

• Level 2 inputs are quoted prices for identical or similar assets or liabilities in less active markets or model-derived valuations in which significant inputs are observable for the asset or liability, either directly or indirectly through market corroboration, for substantially the full term of the financial instrument;

• Level 3 inputs are unobservable inputs based on Ciena’s assumptions used to measure assets and liabilities at fair value.

     By distinguishing between inputs that are observable in the marketplace, and therefore more objective, and those that are unobservable and therefore more subjective, the hierarchy is designed to indicate the relative reliability of the fair value measurements. A financial asset or liability’s classification within the hierarchy is determined based on the lowest level input that is significant to the fair value measurement.

Restructuring

Restructuring

     From time to time, Ciena takes actions to better align its workforce, facilities and operating costs with perceived market opportunities, business strategies and changes in market and business conditions. Ciena implements these restructuring plans and incurs the associated liability concurrently. Generally accepted accounting principles require that a liability for the cost associated with an exit or disposal activity be recognized in the period in which the liability is incurred, except for one-time employee termination benefits related to a service period of more than 60 days, which are accrued over the service period. See Note 4 below.

Foreign Currency

Foreign Currency

     Some of Ciena’s foreign branch offices and subsidiaries use the U.S. dollar as their functional currency, because Ciena, as the U.S. parent entity, exclusively funds the operations of these branch offices and subsidiaries. For those subsidiaries using the local currency as their functional currency, assets and liabilities are translated at exchange rates in effect at the balance sheet date, and the statement of operations is translated at a monthly average rate. Resulting translation adjustments are recorded directly to a separate component of stockholders’ equity. Where the monetary assets and liabilities are transacted in a currency other than the entity’s functional currency, re-measurement adjustments are recorded in other income. The net gain (loss) on foreign currency re-measurement and exchange rate changes is immaterial for separate financial statement presentation.

Derivatives

Derivatives

     Ciena’s 4.0% convertible senior notes include a redemption feature that is accounted for as a separate embedded derivative. The embedded redemption feature is recorded at fair value on a recurring basis and these changes are included in interest and other income, net on the Condensed Consolidated Statement of Operations.

     From time to time, Ciena uses foreign currency forward contracts to reduce variability in certain forecasted non U.S.-dollar denominated cash flows. Generally, these derivatives have maturities of twelve months or less and are designated as cash flow hedges. At the inception of the cash flow hedge, and on an ongoing basis, Ciena assesses whether the forward contract has been effective in offsetting changes in cash flows attributable to the hedged risk during the hedging period. The effective portion of the derivative’s net gain or loss is initially reported as a component of accumulated other comprehensive income (loss), and, upon the occurrence of the forecasted transaction, is subsequently reclassified to the line item in the Condensed Consolidated Statement of Operations to which the hedged transaction relates. Any net gain or loss associated with the ineffectiveness of the hedging instrument is reported in interest and other income, net. See Note 13 below.

Computation of Net Income (Loss) per Share

Computation of Net Income (Loss) per Share

     Ciena calculates basic earnings per share (EPS) by dividing earnings attributable to common stock by the weighted-average number of common shares outstanding for the period. Diluted EPS includes other potential dilutive shares that would be outstanding if securities or other contracts to issue common stock were exercised or converted into common stock. Ciena uses a dual presentation of basic and diluted EPS on the face of its income statement. A reconciliation of the numerator and denominator used for the basic and diluted EPS computations is set forth in Note 15.

Software Development Costs

Software Development Costs

     Ciena develops software for sale to its customers. Generally accepted accounting principles require the capitalization of certain software development costs that are incurred subsequent to the date technological feasibility is established and prior to the date the product is generally available for sale. The capitalized cost is then amortized straight-line over the estimated life of the product. Ciena defines technological feasibility as being attained at the time a working model is completed. To date, the period between Ciena achieving technological feasibility and the general availability of such software has been short, and software development costs qualifying for capitalization have been insignificant. Accordingly, Ciena has not capitalized any software development costs.

Newly Issued Accounting Standards

Newly Issued Accounting Standards

     In June 2011, the FASB issued an accounting standards update that requires an entity to present total 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 and eliminates the option to present the components of other comprehensive income as part of the statement of changes in stockholders’ equity. This guidance is effective for fiscal years and interim periods, beginning after December 15, 2011. Early adoption is permitted. Ciena does not expect this new guidance to have any impact on its financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

     In May 2011, the FASB issued an accounting standards update that amends current fair value measurement and disclosure guidance to converge with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). This update provides improved comparability of fair value measurements presented and disclosed in financial statements prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP and IFRS. This guidance is effective for fiscal years and interim periods, beginning after December 15, 2011. Early application by public companies is not permitted. Ciena does not expect this new guidance to have any impact on its financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.