Inphi Corporation
Annual Report 2014

Plain-text annual report

UNITED STATESSECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSIONWashington, D.C. 20549 Form 10-K (Mark One) ☑☑ ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2014 Or☐☐ TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 Commission file number 001-34942 Inphi Corporation(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter) Delaware 77-0557980(State or Other Jurisdictionof Incorporation or Organization) (I.R.S. EmployerIdentification No.) 2953 Bunker Hill Lane, Suite 300, Santa Clara, California 95054(Address of Principal Executive Offices) (Zip Code) Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (408) 217-7300 Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act: Title of Class Name of Exchange on WhichRegistered Common Stock, $0.001 par value New York Stock Exchange Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☐ No ☑ Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes ☐ No ☑ Indicate by check mark whether the registrant: (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities ExchangeAct of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has beensubject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☑ No ☐ Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive DataFile required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (orfor such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files). Yes ☑ No ☐ Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K (§ 229.405 of this chapter) is not containedherein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference inPart III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K. ☑ Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reportingcompany. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.(Check one): Large accelerated filer ☐Accelerated filer ☑Non-accelerated filer ☐Smaller reporting company ☐ (Do not check if a smaller reportingcompany) Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Exchange Act Rule 12b-2). Yes ☐ No ☑ As of June 30, 2014, the aggregate market value of the Registrant’s common stock held by non-affiliates of the Registrant was approximately$458 million, based on the closing price of the common stock as reported on the New York Stock Exchange for that date. The total number of shares outstanding of the Registrant’s common stock, $0.001 par value per share, as of February 28, 2015 was37,864,922. DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE Part III incorporates by reference certain information from the registrant’s definitive proxy statement for the 2015 Annual Meeting ofStockholders to be filed no later than 120 days after the conclusion of the registrant’s fiscal year ended December 31, 2014.  INPHI CORPORATION ANNUAL REPORT ON FORM 10-K FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2014 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page PART IItem 1. Business 1 Item 1A. Risk Factors 8 Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments 24 Item 2. Properties 24 Item 3. Legal Proceedings 24 Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures 26 PART IIItem 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities 27 Item 6. Selected Consolidated Financial Data 29 Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations 31 Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk 44 Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data 46 Item 9. Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure 78 Item 9A. Controls and Procedures 78 Item 9B. Other Information 78 PART IIIItem 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance 78 Item 11. Executive Compensation 79 Item 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters 79 Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence 79 Item 14. Principal Accountant Fees and Services 79 PART IVItem 15. Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules 79  PART I ITEM 1.BUSINESS This report contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. When used in thisreport, the terms “may,” “might,” “will,” “objective,” “intend,” “should,” “could,” “can,” “would,” “expect,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,”“potential,” “plan,” or the negative of these terms, and similar expressions intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements arestatements that relate to future periods and include statements regarding our anticipated trends and challenges in our business and the markets inwhich we operate, including the market for 40G and 100G high-speed analog semiconductor solutions, our plans for future products, expansion of ourproduct offerings and enhancements of existing products, our expectations regarding our expenses and revenue, sources of revenue, our tax benefits, thefeatures and benefits of our products and services, our technological capabilities and expertise, timing of the development of our products, the statusand anticipated impact of the Cortina integration, our collaborative relationships with industry and technology leaders, OEMs, systems manufacturersand standard bodies and the anticipated benefits thereof, our anticipated cash needs and our estimates regarding our capital requirements and ourneeds for additional financing, our anticipated growth and growth strategies, our ability to retain and attract customers, particularly in light of ourdependence on a limited number of customers for a substantial portion of our revenue, our strategies regarding sales and marketing, manufacturing,research and development, intellectual property and the anticipated benefits thereof, our expectations regarding competition, interest rate sensitivity,adequacy of our disclosure controls, our legal proceedings and warranty claims. These forward-looking statements involved known and unknown risks,uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results,performance or achievements expressed or implied by these or any other forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are notlimited to, those risks discussed below, as well as factors affecting our results of operations, our ability to manage our growth, our ability to sustain orincrease profitability, demand for our solutions, the effect of declines in average selling prices for our products, our ability to compete, our ability torapidly develop new technology and introduce new products, our ability to safeguard our intellectual property, trends in the semiconductor industryand fluctuations in general economic conditions, and the risks set forth throughout this Report, including the risks set forth under Part I, “Item 1A, RiskFactors”. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which are based on current expectations and reflectmanagement's opinions only as of the date hereof. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this Report. We expressly disclaim anyobligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in ourexpectations with regard thereto or any changes in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based. All references to “Inphi,” “we,” “us” or “our” mean Inphi Corporation. Inphi®, iMB™ and the Inphi logo are trademarks or service marks owned by Inphi. All other trademarks, service marks and trade names appearingin this report are the property of their respective owners. Overview Our Company We are a fabless provider of high-speed analog and mixed signal semiconductor solutions for the communications, datacenter and computingmarkets. We often refer to our business as covering various data transport segments from “fiber to memory”. Our analog and mixed signal semiconductorsolutions provide high signal integrity at leading-edge data speeds while reducing system power consumption. Our semiconductor solutions are designedto address bandwidth bottlenecks in networks, maximize throughput and minimize latency in computing environments and enable the rollout of nextgeneration communications, datacenter and computing infrastructures. Our solutions provide a vital high-speed interface between analog signals anddigital information in high-performance systems such as telecommunications transport systems, enterprise networking equipment, datacenters andenterprise servers, storage platforms, test and measurement equipment and military systems. We provide 40G and 100G high-speed analog semiconductorsolutions for the communications market and high-speed memory interface solutions for the computing market. On October 3, 2014, we completed the acquisition of Cortina Systems, Inc. including its high-speed interconnect and optical transport product lines(Cortina) for approximately $52.5 million in cash and approximately 5.3 million shares of our common stock in accordance with the Agreement and Planof Merger dated July 30, 2014 as amended by Amendment No. 1 to the Agreement and Plan of Merger dated September 25, 2014. We acquired Cortina toexpand the Company’s market share in high-speed optical and networking interconnects. 1 We leverage our proprietary high-speed analog and mixed signal processing expertise and our deep understanding of system architectures to addressdata bottlenecks in current and emerging communications, enterprise network, computing and storage architectures. We develop these solutions as aresult of our competitive strengths, including our system-level simulation capabilities, analog design expertise, strong relationships with industry leaders,extensive broad process technology experience and high-speed package modeling and design expertise. We use our core technology and strength inhigh-speed analog design to enable our customers to deploy next generation communications and computing systems that operate with high performanceat high speed. We believe we are at the forefront of developing semiconductor solutions that deliver 100G speeds throughout the network infrastructure,including core, metro and the datacenter. Furthermore, our analog signal processing expertise enables us to improve throughput in computing systems.For example, some of our computing products enable up to four times the memory capacity on server platforms while using the current generation ofmemory devices. We have ongoing, informal collaborative discussions with industry and technology leaders such as Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD), Alcatel-Lucent, ARM Ltd., Ciena Corporation, Cisco Systems, Inc., Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., Juniper Networks Inc., Intel Corporation, MicronTechnology, Inc., Samsung and SK Hynix Inc. to design architectures and products that solve bandwidth bottlenecks in existing and next generationcommunications and computing systems. Although, we generally do not have any formal collaboration agreements with these entities, we often engage ininformal discussions with these entities with respect to anticipated technological challenges, next generation customer requirements and industryconventions and standards. We help define industry conventions and standards within the markets we target by collaborating with technology leaders,original equipment manufacturers or OEMs, systems manufacturers and standards bodies. Our products are designed into systems sold by OEMs,including Alcatel-Lucent, Ciena, Cisco, Dell Inc., EMC Corporation, H3C Technologies, Hewlett-Packard Company, Huawei, International BusinessMachines Corporation (IBM), Juniper and Oracle Corporation. We believe we are one of a limited number of suppliers to these OEMs for the type ofproducts we sell, and in some cases we may be the sole supplier for certain applications. We sell both directly to these OEMs and to other intermediarysystems or module manufacturers that, in turn, sell to these OEMs. Our Business Our semiconductor solutions leverage our deep understanding of high-speed analog and mixed signal processing and our system architectureknowledge to address data bottlenecks in current and emerging network and datacenter architectures. We design and develop our products for thecommunications and computing markets, which typically have two to three year design cycles, and product life cycles of five or more years. We believeour leadership position in developing high-speed analog semiconductors is a result of the following core strengths: •System-Level Simulation Capabilities. We design our high-speed analog semiconductor solutions to be critical components in complexsystems. In order to understand and solve system problems, we work closely with systems vendors to develop proprietary component, channeland system simulation models. We use these proprietary simulation and validation tools to accurately predict system performance prior tofabricating the semiconductor or alternately, to identify and optimize critical semiconductor parameters to satisfy customer systemrequirements. We use these simulation and validation capabilities to reduce our customers’ time to market and engineering investments, thusenabling us to establish differentiated design relationships with our customers. •Analog Design Expertise. We believe that we are a leader in developing broadband analog semiconductors operating at high frequencies ofup to 100 GHz. High-speed analog circuit design is extremely challenging because, as frequencies increase, semiconductors are increasinglysensitive to temperature, power supply noise, process variation and interaction with neighboring circuit elements. Development ofcomponents that work robustly at high frequencies requires an understanding of analog circuit design, including electromagnetic theory andpractical experience in implementation and testing. Our analog design expertise has enabled us to design and commercially ship several firstin the world technologies including the first 100G linear transimpedance amplifier, or TIA, that is now being widely deployed in volumeglobally in Long Haul networking infrastructures. We also launched the industry’s first complementary metal oxide semiconductor, orCMOS, based 100G physical layers or PHYs and clock and data recovery, or CDRs, for Ethernet and optical transport network applications.These high speed serial PHYs, are designed in a generic CMOS process to target much lower power compared to silicon germanium or SiGebased products, while reducing the design footprint and improving manufacturability. •Strong Relationships with Industry Leaders. We develop many of our high-speed analog semiconductor solutions for applications andsystems that are driven by industry leaders in the communications, datacenter and computing markets. Through our established relationshipswith industry leaders, we have repeatedly demonstrated the ability to address their technological challenges. As a result, we are designed intoseveral of their current systems and believe we are well-positioned to develop high-speed analog semiconductor solutions for their emergingarchitectures. For instance, our high-speed memory interface designs have been validated for Intel’s Xeon Core i7 and next generationplatforms. We have ongoing, informal collaborative discussions with communication and networking companies such as Alcatel-Lucent,Cisco, Ciena, Huawei, and Juniper, among others to address their next generation 100G efforts. Specifically, we engage in informaldiscussions with these entities with respect to anticipated technological challenges, next generation customer requirements and industryconventions and standards. As a result of our development efforts with industry leaders, we help define industry conventions and standardswithin the markets we target by collaborating with technology leaders, OEMs and systems manufacturers, as well as standards bodies such asthe Joint Electronic Device Engineering Councils, or JEDEC, and the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, or IEEE, and theOptical Internetworking Forum, or OIF, to establish industry standards. 2®® •Broad Process Technology. We employ process technology experts, device technologists and circuit designers who have extensiveexperience in many process technologies including CMOS, SiGe and III-V technologies such as gallium arsenide, or GaAs, or indiumphosphide, or InP. We have developed specific internal models and design kits for each process to support a uniform design methodologyacross all of our semiconductor solutions. For example, our products using 40 nanometer CMOS technology require development of accuratemodels for sub-circuits such as integrated phase lock loop, or PLLs, varactors and inductors. As another example, for III-V materials-basedprocesses, in-house model development is a necessity and we believe also provides a substantial competitive advantage because theseprocesses have complex material and device interactions. Combined with our fabless manufacturing strategy, our design expertise,proprietary model libraries and uniform design methodology allow us to use the best possible materials and substrates to design and developour semiconductor solutions. We believe that our ability to design high-speed analog semiconductors in a wide range of materials andprocess technologies allows us to provide superior performance, power, cost and reliability for a specific set of market requirements. •High-Speed Package Modeling and Design. We have developed deep expertise in high-speed package modeling and design, sinceintroducing the first high-speed 50 GHz MUX and DEMUX product in 2001. At high frequencies, the interaction between an analog device,its package and the external environment can significantly affect product performance. Accurately modeling and developing advancedpackaging allows semiconductor solutions to address this challenge. Due to the advanced nature of this work, there is a limited supply ofengineers with experience in high-speed package modeling and design, and therefore, this required expertise can be difficult to acquire forcompanies that have not invested in developing such a skill set. We have developed an infrastructure to simulate electrical, mechanical andthermal properties of devices and packages that we integrate within our semiconductor design process and implement at our third-partypackaging providers. Modeling is an inherently iterative process, and since our model libraries are used extensively by our circuit designers,the accuracy and value of these models increases over time. Our current packaging and modeling techniques enable us to deliversemiconductors that are energy efficient, offer high-speed processing and enable advanced signal integrity, all in a small footprint. We believe that our system-level simulation capabilities, our analog design and broad process technology design capabilities as well as ourstrengths in packaging enable us to differentiate ourselves by delivering advanced high-speed analog signal processing solutions. For example, webelieve we are the first vendor who has successfully commercialized 100G Ethernet PHYs and CDRs in standard CMOS process. Within the server market,we have applied our analog signal processing expertise to develop our isolation memory buffer, or iMB technology, which is designed to expand thememory capacity in existing server and computing platforms. Adoption of the iMB allows up to four times the memory capacity to be installed in aserver platform, while using the current generation of memory devices. We believe the key benefits that our solutions provide to our customers are as follows: •High Performance. Our high-speed analog semiconductor solutions are designed to meet the specific technical requirements of our customersin their respective end-markets. In many cases, our close design relationships and deep engineering expertise put us in a position where we areone of a limited group of semiconductor vendors that can provide the necessary solution. For instance, in the broadband communicationsmarket, we believe our products achieve the highest signal integrity and attain superior signal transmission distance at required error-free orlow error rates. In the computing and datacenter market, we believe our products achieve industry leading data transfer rates at the smallestdie size. •Low Power and Small Footprint. In each of the end markets that we serve, the power budget of the overall system is a key consideration forsystems designers. Power consumption greatly impacts system operation cost, footprint and cooling requirements, and is increasinglybecoming a point of focus for our customers. We believe that our high speed analog signal processing solutions enable our customers toimplement system architectures that reduce overall system power consumption. We also believe that, at high frequencies, our high-speedanalog semiconductor devices typically consume less power than competitors’ standard designs, which often incorporate power-consumingdigital signal processing to perform data transfer functions, thereby further reducing overall system power consumption. In addition, in manyof our applications, we are able to design and deliver semiconductors that have a smaller footprint and therefore reduce the overall systemsize. •Faster Time to Market. Our customers compete in markets that require high-speed, reliable semiconductors that can be integrated into theirsystems as soon as new market opportunities develop. To meet our customers’ time-to-market requirements, we work closely with them earlyin their design cycles and are actively involved in their development processes. Over the past ten years, we have developed methodologiesand simulation environments that accurately predict the behavior of complex integrated circuits within various communications systems. Inaddition, we have developed an extensive internal library of proven building block circuits such as amplifiers, phase frequency detectors andtransmitters that are reused to shorten design cycles and reduce risk. 3TMTM Products Our products address bandwidth bottlenecks throughout the network communications and computing infrastructure markets – from “fiber tomemory”, as depicted in the illustration below. For instance, our products find application in devices such as dense wavelength division multiplexers thatenable core and aggregation networks as well as less complex optical interface links within data center communication infrastructures. In addition, ourhigh-speed memory interface products can be found in servers where they allow CPUs to better utilize available memory resources. As of December 31, 2014, we have a wide range product portfolio, including products that have commercially shipped, products for which we haveshipped engineering samples and products under development, that perform a wide range of functions such as amplifying, encoding, multiplexing,demultiplexing, retiming and buffering data and clock signals at speeds up to 100 Gbps. These products are key enablers for servers, routers, switches,storage and other equipment that process, store and transport data traffic. We introduced 15 and 20 new products in 2014 and 2013, respectively. Theacquisition of Cortina added approximately 130 products in our portfolio which includes high-speed interconnect and optical transport products. Wedesign and develop our products for the communications and computing markets, which typically have two to three year design cycles, and product lifecycles as long as five years or more. In 2011, we began to ship in production volume a new “ultra-low voltage” version of our integrated PLL and register buffer, which is shipping inthe form of product number INSSTE32882UV-GS02, or the GS02UV product. Sales of the GS02UV product comprised 15%, 39% and 45% of our totalrevenue in 2014, 2013 and 2012, respectively. In 2012, we introduced and began to ship in commercial volume a dual, differential input lineartransimpedance/variable-gain amplifier that we identify as product number IN3250TA-SO2D. Sales of IN3250TA-SO2D product comprised 14% of ourtotal revenue in 2014. In 2010, we introduced and began to ship in commercial volume a dual, differential linear transimpedance amplifier which weidentify as product number 2850TA-SO1D. Sales of 2850TA-SO1D product comprised 10% and 14% of our total revenue in 2013 and 2012, respectively.There were no other products that generated more than 10% of our total revenue in 2014, 2013 or 2012. Customers We sell our products directly to OEMs and indirectly to OEMs through module manufacturers, original design manufacturers or ODMs and sub-systems providers. We work closely with technology leaders, including microprocessor, memory vendors, communications equipment and optical modulecompanies, to design architectures and products that help solve bandwidth bottlenecks in and between systems. These technology leaders often designour products into reference designs, which they provide to their customers and suppliers. For example, in the server market we work closely with majorCPU manufacturers to address the bottleneck between the CPU and the increasing amount of memory attached to it. These CPU manufacturers thenprovide their server CPU customers and memory module partners with a validation report, including validation of our memory interface products. Theseserver OEMs and memory module companies then design our memory interface products into their production systems. Ultimately, our sales into theseservers are to memory module companies, including Micron, Samsung, SK Hynix and others. In the networking market, we work closely with OEMs todeliver high performance communication links. These OEMs design our product into their systems and then require their ODM and electronicsmanufacturing services suppliers to purchase and use that specific product from us. We also work directly with optical module manufacturers to designour products into their modules, which they sell to OEMs. 4 We work closely with our customers throughout design cycles that often last two to three years and we are able to develop long-term relationshipswith them as our technology becomes embedded in their products. As a result, we believe we are well-positioned to not only be designed into theircurrent systems, but also to continually develop next generation high-speed analog semiconductor solutions for their future products. During the yearended December 31, 2014, we sold our products to more than 160 customers. Sales to customers in Asia accounted for 71%, 71% and 65% of our total revenue in 2014, 2013 and 2012, respectively. Because many of ourcustomers or their OEM manufacturers are located in Asia, we anticipate that a majority of our future revenue will continue to come from sales to thatregion. Although a large percentage of our sales are made to customers in Asia, we believe that a significant number of the systems designed by thesecustomers and incorporating our semiconductor products are then sold to end users outside Asia. We currently rely, and expect to continue to rely, on a limited number of customers for a significant portion of our revenue. In the year endedDecember 31, 2014, sales to Samsung, including its subcontractors accounted for 18% of our total revenue, respectively, and our 10 largest customerscollectively accounted for 61% of our total revenue. In the year ended December 31, 2013, sales to Samsung, including its subcontractors and SK Hynix,including its subcontractor accounted for 20% and 16% of our total revenue, respectively, and our 10 largest customers collectively accounted for 70% ofour total revenue. In addition, sales directly and through distributors to Micron accounted for 11% of our total revenue in the year endedDecember 31, 2013. No other single customer directly or indirectly accounted for more than 10% of our total revenue in 2014 or 2013. Sales and Marketing Our design cycle from initial engagement to volume shipment is typically two to three years, with product life cycles in the markets we serveranging from two to 10 years or more. For many of our products, early engagement with our customers’ technical staff is necessary for success. To ensurean adequate level of early engagement, our application and development engineers work closely with our customers to identify and propose solutions totheir systems challenges. In addition to our direct customers, we work closely with technology leaders such as Intel, ARM and AMD for the computing and storage marketsand Alcatel-Lucent, Ciena, Cisco, Huawei and Juniper for the networking and communications market to anticipate and solve next generation challengesfacing our customers. As part of the sales and product development process, we often design our products in close collaboration with these industryleaders and help define their architecture. We also participate actively in setting industry standards with organizations such as IEEE, JEDEC and OIF tohave a voice in the definition of future market trends. We sell our products worldwide through multiple channels, including our direct sales force and a network of sales representatives and distributors.For the year ended December 31, 2014, 84% of our revenue was generated by our direct sales team and third-party sales representatives. We operate directsales offices in Japan, Korea, Singapore, and the United States and employ sales personnel that cover our direct customers and manage our channelpartners. We utilize ten sales representatives and/or distributors in Asia, three distributors in Europe, two distributors in Israel, two distributors in Japanand seven sales representatives and three distributors in North America. Our channel network includes more than 150 sales professionals to support ourproducts and customers, including 12 in Japan, 40 in Asia (other than Japan), 50 in North America and 20 in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, orEMEA. All of these sales professionals are sales agents and are employed by our distributors and sales representatives except for 30 sales agents who areour direct employees, including four in Japan, 13 in Asia, ten in North America and three in EMEA. We believe these distributors and salesrepresentatives have the requisite technical experience in our target markets and are able to leverage existing relationships and understanding of ourcustomers’ products to effectively sell our products. Given the breadth of our target markets, customers and products, we provide our direct and indirectsales teams with regular training and share product information with our customers and sales team using web-based tools. Manufacturing We operate a fabless business model and use third-party foundries and assembly and test manufacturing contractors to manufacture, assemble andtest our semiconductor products. We also inspect and test parts in our Westlake Village, California, facility. This outsourced manufacturing approachallows us to focus our resources on the design, sale and marketing of our products. In addition, we believe outsourcing many of our manufacturing andassembly activities provides us the flexibility needed to respond to new market opportunities, simplifies our operations and significantly reduces ourcapital requirements. We subject our third-party manufacturing contractors to qualification requirements in order to meet the high quality and reliability standardsrequired of our products. We carefully qualify each of our partners and processes before applying the technology to our products. Our engineers workclosely with our foundries and other contractors to increase yield, lower manufacturing costs and improve product quality. 5 •Wafer Fabrication. We currently utilize a wide range of semiconductor processes to develop and manufacture our products. Each of ourfoundries tends to specialize in a particular semiconductor wafer process technology. We choose the semiconductor process and foundry thatwe believe provides the best combination of performance attributes for any particular product. For most of our products, we utilize a singlefoundry for semiconductor wafer production. Our principal foundries are Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd., or TSMC, inTaiwan, Sumitomo Electric Device Innovations Inc., or SEDI, in Japan, WIN Semiconductors Corp. in Taiwan, and TowerJazz SemiconductorLtd. in North America. •Package and Assembly. Upon the completion of processing at the foundry, the finished wafers are shipped to our third-party assemblers forpackaging and assembly. Currently, our principal packaging and assembly contractors are Orient Semiconductor Electronics Ltd., or OSE inTaiwan, STATS ChipPAC Ltd. in Korea, Kyocera Corporation in North America and Japan, Signetics Corporation in Korea, AmkorTechnology in Korea and ASEM Technology in Malaysia. •Test. At the last stage of integrated circuit production, our third-party test service providers test the packaged and assembled integratedcircuits. Currently, OSE in Taiwan, Advanced Semiconductor Engineering or ASE in California, STATS ChipPAC in Korea, Evans AnalyticalGroup or EAG in North America, Signetics Corporation in Korea, Amkor Technology in Korea, ASEM Technology in Malaysia and PrestoEngineering in North America are our test partners. We also perform testing in our Westlake Village, California, facility. We are committed to maintaining the highest level of quality in our products. Our objective is that our products meet all of our customerrequirements, are delivered on-time and function reliably throughout their useful lives. As part of our total quality assurance program, our qualitymanagement system has been certified to ISO 9001:2008 standards. Our manufacturing partners are also ISO 9001 certified. Research and Development We focus our research and development efforts on developing products that address bandwidth bottlenecks in networks and minimize latency incomputing environments. We believe that our continued success depends on our ability to both introduce improved versions of our existing products andto develop new products for the markets that we serve. We devote a portion of our resources to expanding our core technology including efforts insystem-level simulation, high-speed analog design, supporting a broad range of process technologies and high-speed package modeling and design. We develop models that are used as an input to a combination of proprietary and commercially available simulation tools. We use these tools topredict overall system performance based on the performance of our product. After our product is manufactured, we perform system measurements andrefine our model set to improve the model’s accuracy and predictive ability. As a result, our models and simulation tools have improved over time and wehave been able to very accurately predict overall system performance prior to fabricating a part. We have assembled a core team of experienced engineers and systems designers in three design centers located in the United States, Singapore andUnited Kingdom. Our technical team typically has, on average, more than 23 years of industry experience with more than 60% having advanced degreesand more than 16% having Ph.Ds. These engineers and designers are involved in advancing our core technologies, as well as applying these coretechnologies to our product development activities across a number of areas including telecommunications transport systems, enterprise networkingequipment, datacenters and enterprise servers, storage platforms, test and measurement and military systems. In 2014, 2013 and 2012, our research anddevelopment expenses were $70.9 million, $50.5 million and $40.1 million, respectively. Competition The global semiconductor market in general, and the communications and computing markets in particular, are highly competitive. We expectcompetition to increase and intensify as more and larger semiconductor companies enter our markets. Increased competition could result in price pressure,reduced profitability and loss of market share, any of which could materially and adversely affect our business, revenue and operating results. Currently, our competitors range from large, international companies offering a wide range of semiconductor products to smaller companiesspecializing in narrow markets. Our primary competitors include Analog Devices, Inc., Avago Technologies Ltd., Broadcom Corporation, IntegratedDevice Technology, Inc., or IDT, M/A-COM Technology Solutions Inc., Montage Technology Group Limited, RF Micro Devices, Inc., PMC-Sierra, Inc.,Semtech Corp. and Texas Instruments Incorporated, as well as other smaller analog signal processing companies. We expect competition in our targetmarkets to increase in the future as existing competitors improve or expand their product offerings. 6 Our ability to compete successfully depends on elements both within and outside of our control, including industry and general economic trends.During past periods of downturns in our industry, competition in the markets in which we operate intensified as our customers reduced their purchaseorders. Many of our competitors are significantly larger, have greater financial, technical, marketing, distribution, customer support and other resources,are more established than we are, and have significantly better brand recognition and broader product offerings with which to withstand similar adverseeconomic or market conditions in the future. These developments may materially and adversely affect our current and future target markets and ourability to compete successfully in those markets. We compete or plan to compete in different target markets to various degrees on the basis of a number of principal competitive factors, including: •product performance; •power budget; •features and functionality; •customer relationships; •size; •ease of system design; •product roadmap; •reputation and reliability; •customer support; and •price. We believe we compete favorably with respect to each of these factors. We maintain our competitive position through our ability to successfullydesign, develop and market complex high-speed analog solutions for the customers that we serve. Intellectual Property We rely on a combination of intellectual property rights, including patents, trade secrets, copyrights and trademarks, and contractual protections, toprotect our core technology and intellectual property. As of December 31, 2014, we had 393 issued and allowed patents in the United States and otherpatent applications pending in the United States. The 393 issued and allowed patents in the United States expire in the years beginning in 2015 through2034. Many of our issued patents and pending patent applications relate to high-speed circuit and package designs. We may not receive competitive advantages from any rights granted under our patents, and our patent applications may not result in the issuance ofany patents. In addition, any future patent may be opposed, contested, circumvented, designed around by a third party or found to be unenforceable orinvalidated. Others may develop technologies that are similar or superior to our proprietary technologies, duplicate our proprietary technologies ordesign around patents owned or licensed by us. In addition to our own intellectual property, we also use third-party licensors for certain technologies embedded in our semiconductor solutions.These are typically non-exclusive contracts provided under paid-up licenses. These licenses are generally perpetual or automatically renewed for so longas we continue to pay any maintenance fees that may be due. To date, maintenance fees have not constituted a significant portion of our capitalexpenditures. We have entered into a number of licensing arrangements pursuant to which we license third-party technologies. We do not believe ourbusiness is dependent to any significant degree on any individual third-party license. We generally control access to and use of our confidential information through the use of internal and external controls, including contractualprotections with employees, contractors and customers. We rely in part on United States and international copyright laws to protect our mask work. Allemployees and consultants are required to execute confidentiality agreements in connection with their employment and consulting relationships with us.We also require them to agree to disclose and assign to us all inventions conceived or made in connection with the employment or consultingrelationship. Despite our efforts to protect our intellectual property, unauthorized parties may still copy or otherwise obtain and use our software, technology orother information that we regard as proprietary intellectual property. In addition, we intend to expand our international operations, and effective patent,copyright, trademark and trade secret protection may not be available or may be limited in foreign countries. 7 The semiconductor industry is characterized by vigorous protection and pursuit of intellectual property rights and positions, which has resulted inprotracted and expensive litigation for many companies. We have in the past received and, particularly as a public company, we expect that in the futurewe may receive, communications from various industry participants alleging our infringement of their patents, trade secrets or other intellectual propertyrights. Any lawsuits could subject us to significant liability for damages, invalidate our proprietary rights and harm our business and our ability tocompete. Any litigation, regardless of success or merit, could cause us to incur substantial expenses, reduce our sales and divert the efforts of our technicaland management personnel. In the event we receive an adverse result in any litigation, we could be required to pay substantial damages, seek licensesfrom third parties, which may not be available on reasonable terms or at all, cease sale of products, expend significant resources to develop alternativetechnology or discontinue the use of processes requiring the relevant technology. Employees At December 31, 2014, we employed 446 full-time equivalent employees, including 280 in research, product development and engineering, 64 insales and marketing, 39 in general and administrative management and 63 in manufacturing engineering and operations. We consider relations with ouremployees to be good and have never experienced a work stoppage. None of our employees are either represented by a labor union or subject to acollective bargaining agreement. Other We were incorporated in Delaware in November 2000 as TCom Communications, Inc. and changed our name to Inphi Corporation in February2001. Our principal executive offices are located at 2953 Bunker Hill Lane, Suite 300, Santa Clara, California 95054. Our telephone number at thatlocation is (408) 217-7300. Our website address is www.inphi.com. Information on our website is not part of this report and should not be relied upon indetermining whether to make an investment decision. The inclusion of our website address in this report does not include or incorporate by reference intothis report any information on our website. We electronically file our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K pursuant to Section 13(a) or15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, with the SEC. The public may read or copy any materials we file with theSEC at the SEC’s Public Reference Room at 100 F Street, NE, Washington, DC 20549. The public may obtain information on the operation of the PublicReference Room by calling the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330. The SEC maintains an Internet site that contains reports, proxy and information statements, andother information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC. The address of that site is http://www.sec.gov. You may obtain a free copy ofour annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K and amendments to those reports with the SEC on ourwebsite. ITEM 1A.RISK FACTORS Risks Related to Our Business Our revenue and operating results can fluctuate from period to period, which could cause our share price to fluctuate. Our revenue and operating results have fluctuated in the past and may fluctuate from period to period in the future due to a variety of factors, manyof which are beyond our control. Factors relating to our business that may contribute to these fluctuations include the following factors, as well as otherfactors described elsewhere in this report: • the receipt, reduction or cancellation of orders by customers; • fluctuations in the levels of component inventories held by our customers; • the gain or loss of significant customers; • market acceptance of our products and our customers’ products; • our ability to develop, introduce and market new products and technologies on a timely basis; • the timing and extent of product development costs; • new product announcements and introductions by us or our competitors; • incurrence of research and development and related new product expenditures; • fluctuations in sales by module manufacturers who incorporate our semiconductor solutions in their products, such as memory modules; • cyclical fluctuations in our markets; • fluctuations in our manufacturing yields; • significant warranty claims, including those not covered by our suppliers; • changes in our product mix or customer mix; • intellectual property disputes; and • loss of key personnel or the inability to attract qualified engineers. 8 As a result of these and other factors, the results of any prior quarterly or annual periods should not be relied upon as indications of our futurerevenue or operating performance. Fluctuations in our revenue and operating results could cause our share price to decline. We have an accumulated deficit and have incurred net losses in the past. We may incur net losses in the future. As of December 31, 2014, we had an accumulated deficit of $89.2 million. We have incurred net losses in each year through 2008. We alsogenerated net loss of $22.6 million, $13.2 million and $20.7 million for the years ended December 31, 2014, 2013 and 2012, respectively. We generatednet income of $1.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2011. We may continue to incur net losses in the future. We depend on a limited number of customers for a substantial portion of our revenue, and the loss of, or a significant reduction in orders from,one or more of our major customers could negatively impact our revenue and operating results. In addition, if we offer more favorable prices to attractor retain customers, our average selling prices and gross margins would decline. For the year ended December 31, 2014, sales to Samsung, including its subcontractors, accounted for 18% of our total revenue, and our 10 largestcustomers collectively accounted for 61% of our total revenue. For the year ended December 31, 2013, sales to Samsung, including its subcontractors,and SK Hynix, including its subcontractor, accounted for 20% and 16% of our total revenue, respectively, and our 10 largest customers collectivelyaccounted for 70% of our total revenue. In addition, sales directly and through distributors to Micron accounted for 11% of our total revenue in the yearended December 31, 2013. Some of our customers, including Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron, use our products primarily in high-speed memory devices.We believe our operating results for the foreseeable future will continue to depend on sales to a relatively small number of customers. In the future, thesecustomers may decide not to purchase our products at all, may purchase fewer products than they did in the past or may alter their purchasing patterns. In addition, our relationships with some customers may deter other potential customers who compete with these customers from buying ourproducts. To attract new customers or retain existing customers, we may offer these customers favorable prices on our products. In that event, our averageselling prices and gross margins would decline. The loss of a key customer, a reduction in sales to any key customer or our inability to attract newsignificant customers could negatively impact our revenue and materially and adversely affect our results of operations. We do not have long-term purchase commitments from our customers and if our customers cancel or change their purchase commitments, ourrevenue and operating results could suffer. Substantially all of our sales to date, including sales to Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron, have been made on a purchase order basis. We do not haveany long-term commitments with any of our customers. As a result, our customers may cancel, change or delay product purchase commitments with littleor no notice to us and without penalty. This in turn could cause our revenue to decline and materially and adversely affect our results of operations. We may face claims of intellectual property infringement, which could be time-consuming, costly to defend or settle and result in the loss ofsignificant rights and which could harm our relationships with our customers and distributors. The semiconductor industry is characterized by companies that hold patents and other intellectual property rights and that vigorously pursue,protect and enforce intellectual property rights. From time to time, third parties may assert against us and our customers and distributors their patent andother intellectual property rights to technologies that are important to our business. Claims that our products, processes or technology infringe third-party intellectual property rights, regardless of their merit or resolution, could becostly to defend or settle and could divert the efforts and attention of our management and technical personnel. For example, Netlist, Inc. filed suit againstus in the United States District Court, Central District of California, in September 2009, alleging that our iMB and certain other memory modulecomponents infringe three of Netlist’s patents. For more details, see Part I, “Item 3, Legal Proceedings.” Infringement claims also could harm our relationships with our customers or distributors and might deter future customers from doing business withus. We do not know whether we will prevail in these proceedings given the complex technical issues and inherent uncertainties in intellectual propertylitigation. If any pending or future proceedings result in an adverse outcome, we could be required to: • cease the manufacture, use or sale of the infringing products, processes or technology; 9™ • pay substantial damages for infringement; • expend significant resources to develop non-infringing products, processes or technology, which may not be successful; • license technology from the third-party claiming infringement, which license may not be available on commercially reasonable terms, or atall; • cross-license our technology to a competitor to resolve an infringement claim, which could weaken our ability to compete with thatcompetitor; or • pay substantial damages to our customers or end users to discontinue their use of or to replace infringing technology sold to them with non-infringing technology, if available. Any of the foregoing results could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Winning business is subject to lengthy competitive selection processes that require us to incur significant expenditures prior to generating anyrevenue or without any guarantee of any revenue related to this business. Even if we begin a product design, a customer may decide to cancel or changeits product plans, which could cause us to generate no revenue from a product. If we fail to generate revenue after incurring substantial expenses todevelop our products, our business and operating results would suffer. We are focused on winning more competitive bid processes, known as “design wins,” that enable us to sell our high-speed analog semiconductorsolutions for use in our customers’ products. These selection processes typically are lengthy and can require us to incur significant design anddevelopment expenditures and dedicate scarce engineering resources in pursuit of a single customer opportunity. We may not win the competitiveselection process and may never generate any revenue despite incurring significant design and development expenditures. Failure to obtain a design wincould prevent us from offering an entire generation of a product. This could cause us to lose revenue and require us to write off obsolete inventory, andcould weaken our position in future competitive selection processes. Even after securing a design win, we may experience delays in generating revenuefrom our products as a result of the lengthy development cycle typically required. Our customers generally take a considerable amount of time to evaluateour products. Our design cycle from initial engagement to volume shipment is typically two to three years. The delays inherent in these lengthy sales cycles increase the risk that a customer will decide to cancel, curtail, reduce or delay its product plans oradopt a competing design from one of our competitors, causing us to lose anticipated revenue. In addition, any delay or cancellation of a customer’s planscould materially and adversely affect our financial results, as we may have incurred significant expense without generating any revenue. Finally, ourcustomers’ failure to successfully market and sell their products could reduce demand for our products and materially and adversely affect our business,financial condition and results of operations. If we were unable to generate revenue after incurring substantial expenses to develop any of our products,our business would suffer. Our customers require our products and our third-party contractors to undergo a lengthy and expensive qualification process which does notassure product sales. If we are unsuccessful in or delayed in qualifying any of our products with a customer, our business and operating results wouldsuffer. Prior to purchasing our products, our customers require that both our products and our third-party contractors undergo extensive qualificationprocesses, which involve testing of our products in the customers’ systems, as well as testing for reliability. This qualification process may continue forseveral months. However, qualification of a product by a customer does not assure any sales of the product to that customer. Even after successfulqualification and sales of a product to a customer, a subsequent revision in our third party contractors’ manufacturing process or our selection of a newsupplier may require a new qualification process with our customers, which may result in delays and in our holding excess or obsolete inventory. Afterour products are qualified, it can take several months or more before the customer commences volume production of components or systems thatincorporate our products. Despite these uncertainties, we devote substantial resources, including design, engineering, sales, marketing and managementefforts, to qualifying our products with customers in anticipation of sales. If we are unsuccessful or delayed in qualifying any of our products with acustomer, sales of those products to the customer may be precluded or delayed, which may impede our growth and cause our business to suffer. The complexity of our products could result in undetected defects and we may be subject to warranty claims and product liability, which couldresult in a decrease in customers and revenue, unexpected expenses and loss of market share. In addition, our product liability insurance may notadequately cover our costs arising from products defects or otherwise. Our products are sold as components or as modules for use in larger electronic equipment sold by our customers. A product usually goes through anintense qualification and testing period performed by our customers before being used in production. We primarily outsource our product testing to thirdparties and also perform some testing in our Westlake Village, California, facility. We inspect and test parts, or have them inspected and tested in order toscreen out parts that may be weak or potentially suffer a defect incurred through the manufacturing process. From time to time, we are subject to warrantyor product liability claims that may require us to make significant expenditures to defend these claims or pay damage awards. For example, in September2010, we were informed of a claim related to repair and replacement costs in connection with shipments of over 4,000 integrated circuits made by usduring the summer and fall of 2009. We assessed, provided and accumulated additional warranty reserves based on estimated, probable costs to replacethese units. Based on our standard warranty provisions, we provided replacement parts to the customer for the known and suspected failures that hadoccurred. In June 2012, we entered into a settlement agreement with the customer in which we paid $1.75 million in July 2012. 10 Generally, our agreements seek to limit our liability to the replacement of the part or to the revenue received for the product, but these limitationson liability may not be effective or sufficient in scope in all cases. If a customer’s equipment fails in use, the customer may incur significant monetarydamages including an equipment recall or associated replacement expenses, as well as lost revenue. The customer may claim that a defect in our productcaused the equipment failure and assert a claim against us to recover monetary damages. The process of identifying a defective or potentially defectiveproduct in systems that have been widely distributed may be lengthy and require significant resources. We may test the affected product to determine theroot cause of the problem and to determine appropriate solutions. We may find an appropriate solution or a temporary fix while a permanent solution isbeing determined. If we are unable to determine the root cause, find an appropriate solution or offer a temporary fix, we may delay shipment to customers.As a result, we may incur significant replacement costs and contract damage claims from our customers as well as harm to our reputation. In certainsituations, circumstances might warrant that we consider incurring the costs or expense related to a recall of one of our products in order to avoid thepotential claims that may be raised should the customer reasonably rely upon our product only to suffer a failure due to a design or manufacturing processdefect. Defects in our products could harm our relationships with our customers and damage our reputation. Customers may be reluctant to buy ourproducts, which could harm our ability to retain existing customers and attract new customers and our financial results. In addition, the cost of defendingthese claims and satisfying any arbitration award or judicial judgment with respect to these claims could harm our business prospects and financialcondition. Although we carry product liability insurance, this insurance may not adequately cover our costs arising from defects in our products orotherwise. We rely on our relationships with industry and technology leaders to enhance our product offerings and our inability to continue to develop ormaintain such relationships in the future would harm our ability to remain competitive. We develop many of our semiconductor products for applications in systems that are driven by industry and technology leaders in thecommunications and computing markets. We also work with OEMs, system manufacturers and standards bodies to define industry conventions andstandards within our target markets. We believe these relationships enhance our ability to achieve market acceptance and widespread adoption of ourproducts. If we are unable to continue to develop or maintain these relationships, our semiconductor solutions would become less desirable to ourcustomers, our sales would suffer and our competitive position could be harmed. If we fail to accurately anticipate and respond to market trends or fail to develop and introduce new or enhanced products to address these trendson a timely basis, our ability to attract and retain customers could be impaired and our competitive position could be harmed. We operate in industries characterized by rapidly changing technologies and industry standards as well as technological obsolescence. We havedeveloped products that may have long product life cycles of 10 years or more, as well as other products in more volatile high growth or rapidly changingareas, which may have shorter life cycles of only two to three years. We believe that our future success depends on our ability to develop and introducenew technologies and products that generate new sources of revenue to replace, or build upon, existing product revenue streams that may be dependentupon limited product life cycles. If we are not able to repeatedly introduce, in successive years, new products that ship in volume, our revenue will likelynot grow and may decline significantly and rapidly. In 2009, we successfully introduced and began to ship a new product in production which weidentify as product number INSSTE32882-GS04, or the GS04 product, and which consists of an integrated PLL and register buffer. Sales of the GS04product comprised 18% of our total revenue in 2010. In 2010, we also began to ship in production volume a “low voltage” version of our integrated PLLand register buffer, which is shipping in the form of product number INSSTE32882LV-GS02, or the GS02 product. Sales of the GS02 product comprised38% and 32% of our total revenue in 2011 and 2010, respectively. In 2011, we began to ship in production volume a new “ultra-low voltage” version ofour integrated PLL and register buffer, which is shipping in the form of product number INSSTE32882UV-GS02, or the GS02UV product. Sales of theGS02UV product comprised 15%, 39% and 45% of our total revenue in 2014, 2013 and 2012, respectively. In 2010, we introduced and began to ship incommercial volume a dual, differential linear transimpedance amplifier that we identify as product number 2850TA-SO1D. Sales of 2850TA-SO1Dproduct comprised 10% and 14% of our total revenue in 2013 and 2012, respectively. In 2012, we introduced and began to ship in commercial volume adual, differential input linear transimpedance/variable-gain amplifier that we identify as product number IN3250TA-SO2D. Sales of IN3250TA-SO2Dproduct comprised 14% of our total revenue in 2014. There were no other products that generated more than 10% of our total revenue in 2014, 2013 or2012. 11 The GS02 and GS04 products matured in 2012 and 2011, respectively and as a result, sales of both products declined and were supplanted in partby newer parts which we developed. This underscores the importance of the need for us to continually develop and introduce new products to diversifyour revenue base as well as generate new revenue to replace and build upon the success of previously introduced products which may be rapidlymaturing. To compete successfully, we must design, develop, market and sell new or enhanced products that provide increasingly higher levels ofperformance and reliability while meeting the cost expectations of our customers. The introduction of new products by our competitors, the delay orcancellation of a platform for which any of our semiconductor solutions are designed, the market acceptance of products based on new or alternativetechnologies or the emergence of new industry standards could render our existing or future products uncompetitive from a pricing standpoint, obsoleteand otherwise unmarketable. Our failure to anticipate or timely develop new or enhanced products or technologies in response to technological shiftscould result in decreased revenue and our competitors winning design wins. In particular, we may experience difficulties with product design,manufacturing, marketing or certification that could delay or prevent our development, introduction or marketing of new or enhanced products. Althoughwe believe our products are fully compliant with applicable industry standards, proprietary enhancements may not in the future result in full conformancewith existing industry standards under all circumstances. Due to the interdependence of various components in the systems within which our productsand the products of our competitors operate, customers are unlikely to change to another design, once adopted, until the next generation of a technology.As a result, if we fail to introduce new or enhanced products that meet the needs of our customers or penetrate new markets in a timely fashion, and ourdesigns do not gain acceptance, we will lose market share and our competitive position, very likely on an extended basis, and operating results will beadversely affected. If sufficient market demand for 100G solutions does not develop or develops more slowly than expected, or if we fail to accurately predict marketrequirements or market demand for 100G solutions, our business, competitive position and operating results would suffer. We are currently investing significant resources to develop semiconductor solutions supporting 100G data transmission rates in order to increasethe number of such solutions in our product line. If we fail to accurately predict market requirements or market demand for 100G semiconductor solutions,or if our 100G semiconductor solutions are not successfully developed or competitive in the industry, our business will suffer. If 100G networks aredeployed to a lesser extent or more slowly than we currently anticipate, we may not realize any benefits from our investment. As a result, our business,competitive position, market share and operating results would suffer. Our target markets may not grow or develop as we currently expect and are subject to market risks, any of which could materially harm ourbusiness, revenue and operating results. To date, a substantial portion of our revenue has been attributable to demand for our products in the communications and computing markets andthe growth of these overall markets. These markets have fluctuated in size and growth in recent times. Our operating results are impacted by various trendsin these markets. These trends include the deployment and broader market adoption of next generation technologies, such as 100G and 100Gbe CMOSCDR and Serdes, in communications and enterprise networks, timing of next generation network upgrades, the introduction and broader market adoptionof next generation server platforms, timing of enterprise upgrades and the introduction and deployment of high-speed memory interfaces in computingplatforms. We are unable to predict the timing or direction of the development of these markets with any accuracy. In addition, because some of ourproducts are not limited in the systems or geographic areas in which they may be deployed, we cannot always determine with accuracy how, where or intowhich applications our products are being deployed. If our target markets do not grow or develop in ways that we currently expect, demand for oursemiconductor products may decrease and our business and operating results could suffer. We rely on a limited number of third parties to manufacture, assemble and test our products, and the failure to manage our relationships with ourthird-party contractors successfully could adversely affect our ability to market and sell our products and our reputation. Our revenue and operatingresults would suffer if these third parties fail to deliver products or components in a timely manner and at reasonable cost or if manufacturing capacityis reduced or eliminated as we may be unable to obtain alternative manufacturing capacity. We operate an outsourced manufacturing business model. As a result, we rely on third-party foundry wafer fabrication and assembly and testcapacity. We also perform testing in our Westlake Village, California, facility. We generally use a single foundry for the production of each of our varioussemiconductors. Currently, our principal foundries are SEDI, TSMC, TowerJazz Semiconductor Ltd., and WIN Semiconductors. We also use third-partycontract manufacturers for a significant majority of our assembly and test operations, including Kyocera, OSE, ASE, Presto, EAG, AIC and STATSChipPAC. Relying on third-party manufacturing, assembly and testing presents significant risks to us, including the following: • failure by us, our customers or their end customers to qualify a selected supplier; 12 • capacity shortages during periods of high demand; • reduced control over delivery schedules and quality; • shortages of materials; • misappropriation of our intellectual property; • limited warranties on wafers or products supplied to us; and • potential increases in prices. The ability and willingness of our third-party contractors to perform is largely outside our control. If one or more of our contract manufacturers orother outsourcers fails to perform its obligations in a timely manner or at satisfactory quality levels, our ability to bring products to market and ourreputation could suffer. For example, if that manufacturing capacity is reduced or eliminated at one or more facilities, including as a response to the recentworldwide decline in the semiconductor industry, or any of those facilities are unable to keep pace with the growth of our business, we could havedifficulties fulfilling our customer orders and our revenue could decline. In addition, if these third parties fail to deliver quality products and componentson time and at reasonable prices, we could have difficulties fulfilling our customer orders, our revenue could decline and our business, financial conditionand results of operations would be adversely affected. Additionally, as many of our fabrication and assembly and test contractors are located in the Pacific Rim region, principally in Taiwan, ourmanufacturing capacity may be similarly reduced or eliminated due to natural disasters, political unrest, war, labor strikes, work stoppages or publichealth crises, such as outbreaks of H1N1 flu. This could cause significant delays in shipments of our products until we are able to shift our manufacturing,assembly or test from the affected contractor to another third-party vendor. There can be no assurance that alternative capacity could be obtained onfavorable terms, if at all. Our costs may increase substantially if the wafer foundries that supply our products do not achieve satisfactory product yields or quality. The wafer fabrication process is an extremely complicated process where the slightest changes in the design, specifications or materials can result inmaterial decreases in manufacturing yields or even the suspension of production. From time to time, our third-party wafer foundries have experienced, andare likely to experience manufacturing defects and reduced manufacturing yields related to errors or problems in their manufacturing processes or theinterrelationship of their processes with our designs. In some cases, our third-party wafer foundries may not be able to detect these defects early in thefabrication process or determine the cause of such defects in a timely manner. We may incur substantial research and development expense for prototypeor development stage products as we qualify the products for production. Generally, in pricing our semiconductors, we assume that manufacturing yields will continue to increase, even as the complexity of oursemiconductors increases. Once our semiconductors are initially qualified with our third-party wafer foundries, minimum acceptable yields areestablished. We are responsible for the costs of the wafers if the actual yield is above the minimum. If actual yields are below the minimum we are notrequired to purchase the wafers. The minimum acceptable yields for our new products are generally lower at first and increase as we achieve fullproduction. Unacceptably low product yields or other product manufacturing problems could substantially increase the overall production time and costsand adversely impact our operating results on sales of our products. Product yield losses will increase our costs and reduce our gross margin. In additionto significantly harming our operating results and cash flow, poor yields may delay shipment of our products and harm our relationships with existing andpotential customers. We do not have any long-term supply contracts with our contract manufacturers or suppliers, and any disruption in our supply of products ormaterials could have a material adverse affect on our business, revenue and operating results. We currently do not have long-term supply contracts with any of our third-party contract manufacturers. We make substantially all of our purchaseson a purchase order basis, and our contract manufacturers are not required to supply us products for any specific period or in any specific quantity. Weexpect that it would take approximately nine to 12 months to transition from our current foundry or assembly services to new providers. Such a transitionwould likely require a qualification process by our customers or their end customers. We generally place orders for products with some of our suppliersseveral months prior to the anticipated delivery date, with order volumes based on our forecasts of demand from our customers. Accordingly, if weinaccurately forecast demand for our products, we may be unable to obtain adequate and cost-effective foundry or assembly capacity from our third-partycontractors to meet our customers’ delivery requirements, or we may accumulate excess inventories. On occasion, we have been unable to adequatelyrespond to unexpected increases in customer purchase orders and therefore, were unable to benefit from this incremental demand. None of our third-partycontract manufacturers have provided any assurance to us that adequate capacity will be available to us within the time required to meet additionaldemand for our products. 13 Our foundry vendors and assembly and test vendors may allocate capacity to the production of other companies’ products while reducing deliveriesto us on short notice. In particular, other customers that are larger and better financed than us or that have long-term agreements with our foundry vendoror assembly and test vendors may cause our foundry vendor or assembly and test vendors to reallocate capacity to those customers, decreasing thecapacity available to us. We do not have long-term supply contracts with our third-party contract manufacturers and if we enter into costly arrangementswith suppliers that include nonrefundable deposits or loans in exchange for capacity commitments, commitments to purchase specified quantities overextended periods or investment in a foundry, our operating results could be harmed. We may not be able to make any such arrangement in a timelyfashion or at all, and any arrangements may be costly, reduce our financial flexibility, and not be on terms favorable to us. Moreover, if we are able tosecure foundry capacity, we may be obligated to use all of that capacity or incur penalties. These penalties may be expensive and could harm ourfinancial results. To date, we have not entered into such arrangements with our suppliers. If we need another foundry or assembly and test subcontractorbecause of increased demand, or if we are unable to obtain timely and adequate deliveries from our providers, we might not be able to cost effectively andquickly retain other vendors to satisfy our requirements. Many of our customers depend on us as the sole source for a number of our products. If we are unable to deliver these products as the solesupplier or as one of a limited number of suppliers, our relationships with these customers and our business would suffer. A number of our customers do not have alternative sources for our semiconductor solutions and depend on us as the sole supplier or as one of alimited number of suppliers for these products. Since we outsource our manufacturing to third-party contractors, our ability to deliver our products issubstantially dependent on the ability and willingness of our third-party contractors to perform, which is largely outside our control. A failure to deliverour products in sufficient quantities or at all to our customers that depend on us as a sole supplier or as one of a limited number of suppliers may bedetrimental to their business and, as a result, our relationship with the customer would be negatively impacted. If we are unable to maintain ourrelationships with these customers after such failure, our business and financial results may be harmed. If we are unable to attract, train and retain qualified personnel, particularly our design and technical personnel, we may not be able to executeour business strategy effectively. Our future success depends on our ability to attract and retain qualified personnel, including our management, sales and marketing, and finance,and particularly our design and technical personnel. We do not know whether we will be able to retain all of these personnel as we continue to pursue ourbusiness strategy. Historically, we have encountered difficulties in hiring qualified engineers because there is a limited pool of engineers with theexpertise required in our field. Competition for these personnel is intense in the semiconductor industry. As the source of our technological and productinnovations, our design and technical personnel represent a significant asset. The loss of the services of one or more of our key employees, especially ourkey design and technical personnel, or our inability to attract and retain qualified design and technical personnel, could harm our business, financialcondition and results of operations. We may not be able to effectively manage our growth, and we may need to incur significant expenditures to address the additional operationaland control requirements of our growth, either of which could harm our business and operating results. To effectively manage our growth, we must continue to expand our operational, engineering and financial systems, procedures and controls and toimprove our accounting and other internal management systems. This may require substantial managerial and financial resources, and our efforts in thisregard may not be successful. Our current systems, procedures and controls may not be adequate to support our future operations. If we fail to adequatelymanage our growth, or to improve our operational, financial and management information systems, or fail to effectively motivate or manage our new andfuture employees, the quality of our products and the management of our operations could suffer, which could adversely affect our operating results. We face intense competition and expect competition to increase in the future. If we fail to compete effectively, it could have an adverse effect onour revenue, revenue growth rate, if any, and market share. The global semiconductor market in general, and the communications and computing markets in particular, are highly competitive. We compete orplan to compete in different target markets to various degrees on the basis of a number of principal competitive factors, including product performance,power budget, features and functionality, customer relationships, size, ease of system design, product roadmap, reputation and reliability, customersupport and price. We expect competition to increase and intensify as more and larger semiconductor companies enter our markets. Increased competitioncould result in price pressure, reduced profitability and loss of market share, any of which could materially and adversely affect our business, revenue andoperating results. 14 Currently, our competitors range from large, international companies offering a wide range of semiconductor products to smaller companiesspecializing in narrow markets. Our primary competitors include Analog Devices, Inc., Avago Technologies Ltd., Broadcom Corporation, IntegratedDevice Technology, Inc., M/A-COM Technology Solutions Inc., Montage Technology Group Limited, PMC-Sierra, Inc., Semtech Corp., RF MicroDevices, Inc. and Texas Instruments Incorporated, as well as other analog signal processing companies. We expect competition in the markets in which weparticipate to increase in the future as existing competitors improve or expand their product offerings. Our ability to compete successfully depends on elements both within and outside of our control, including industry and general economic trends.During past periods of downturns in our industry, competition in the markets in which we operate intensified as our customers reduced their purchaseorders. Many of our competitors have substantially greater financial and other resources with which to withstand similar adverse economic or marketconditions in the future. These developments may materially and adversely affect our current and future target markets and our ability to competesuccessfully in those markets. We use a significant amount of intellectual property in our business. Monitoring unauthorized use of our intellectual property can be difficultand costly and if we are unable to protect our intellectual property, our business could be adversely affected. Our success depends in part upon our ability to protect our intellectual property. To accomplish this, we rely on a combination of intellectualproperty rights, including patents, copyrights, trademarks and trade secrets in the United States and in selected foreign countries where we believe filingfor such protection is appropriate. Effective protection of our intellectual property rights may be unavailable, limited or not applied for in some countries.Some of our products and technologies are not covered by any patent or patent application, as we do not believe patent protection of these products andtechnologies is critical to our business strategy at this time. A failure to timely seek patent protection on products or technologies generally precludes usfrom seeking future patent protection on these products or technologies. We cannot guarantee that: • any of our present or future patents or patent claims will not lapse or be invalidated, circumvented, challenged or abandoned; • our intellectual property rights will provide competitive advantages to us; • our ability to assert our intellectual property rights against potential competitors or to settle current or future disputes will not be limited byour agreements with third parties; • any of our pending or future patent applications will be issued or have the coverage originally sought; • our intellectual property rights will be enforced in jurisdictions where competition may be intense or where legal protection may be weak; • any of the trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets or other intellectual property rights that we presently employ in our business will not lapse orbe invalidated, circumvented, challenged or abandoned; or • we will not lose the ability to assert our intellectual property rights against or to license our technology to others and collect royalties orother payments. In addition, our competitors or others may design around our protected patents or technologies. Effective intellectual property protection may beunavailable or more limited in one or more relevant jurisdictions relative to those protections available in the United States, or may not be applied for inone or more relevant jurisdictions. If we pursue litigation to assert our intellectual property rights, an adverse decision in any of these legal actions couldlimit our ability to assert our intellectual property rights, limit the value of our technology or otherwise negatively impact our business, financialcondition and results of operations. 15 Monitoring unauthorized use of our intellectual property is difficult and costly. Unauthorized use of our intellectual property may have occurred ormay occur in the future. Although we have taken steps to minimize the risk of this occurring, any such failure to identify unauthorized use and otherwiseadequately protect our intellectual property would adversely affect our business. Moreover, if we are required to commence litigation, whether as aplaintiff or defendant, not only would this be time-consuming, but we would also be forced to incur significant costs and divert our attention and effortsof our employees, which could, in turn, result in lower revenue and higher expenses. We also rely on contractual protections with our customers, suppliers, distributors, employees and consultants, and we implement security measuresdesigned to protect our trade secrets. We cannot assure you that these contractual protections and security measures will not be breached, that we willhave adequate remedies for any such breach or that our suppliers, employees or consultants will not assert rights to intellectual property arising out ofsuch contracts. In addition, we have a number of third-party patent and intellectual property license agreements. Some of these license agreements require us tomake one-time payments or ongoing royalty payments. We cannot guarantee that the third-party patents and technology we license will not be licensedto our competitors or others in the semiconductor industry. In the future, we may need to obtain additional licenses, renew existing license agreements orotherwise replace existing technology. We are unable to predict whether these license agreements can be obtained or renewed or the technology can bereplaced on acceptable terms, or at all. Average selling prices of our products generally decrease over time, which could negatively impact our revenue and gross margins. Our operating results may be impacted by a decline in the average selling prices of our semiconductors. If competition increases in our targetmarkets, we may need to reduce the average unit price of our products in anticipation of competitive pricing pressures, new product introductions by us orour competitors and for other reasons. If we are unable to offset any reductions in our average selling prices by increasing our sales volumes orintroducing new products with higher margins, our revenue and gross margins will suffer. To maintain our revenue and gross margins, we must developand introduce new products and product enhancements on a timely basis and continually reduce our costs as well as our customers’ costs. Failure to do sowould cause our revenue and gross margins to decline. We are subject to order and shipment uncertainties, and differences between our estimates of customer demand and product mix and our actualresults could negatively affect our inventory levels, sales and operating results. Our revenue is generated on the basis of purchase orders with our customers rather than long-term purchase commitments. In addition, our customerscan cancel purchase orders or defer the shipments of our products under certain circumstances. Our products are manufactured using semiconductorfoundries according to our estimates of customer demand, which requires us to make separate demand forecast assumptions for every customer, each ofwhich may introduce significant variability into our aggregate estimates. It is difficult for us to forecast the demand for our products, in part because ofthe complex supply chain between us and the end-user markets that incorporate our products. Due to our lengthy product development cycle, it is criticalfor us to anticipate changes in demand for our various product features and the applications they serve to allow sufficient time for product developmentand design. We have limited visibility into future customer demand and the product mix that our customers will require, which could adversely affect ourrevenue forecasts and operating margins. Moreover, because some of our target markets are relatively new, many of our customers have difficultyaccurately forecasting their product requirements and estimating the timing of their new product introductions, which ultimately affects their demand forour products. Our failure to accurately forecast demand can lead to product shortages that can impede production by our customers and harm our customerrelationships. Conversely, our failure to forecast declining demand or shifts in product mix can result in excess or obsolete inventory. For example, someof our customers may cancel purchase orders or delay the shipment of their products that incorporate our products as a result of component shortages theymay experience due to the earthquakes and tsunami in Japan, or likewise with respect to the flooding in Thailand, which may result in excess or obsoleteinventory and impact our sales and operating results. In addition, the rapid pace of innovation in our industry could also render significant portions of ourinventory obsolete. Excess or obsolete inventory levels could result in unexpected expenses or increases in our reserves that could adversely affect ourbusiness, operating results and financial condition. In contrast, if we were to underestimate customer demand or if sufficient manufacturing capacity wereunavailable, we could forego revenue opportunities, potentially lose market share and damage our customer relationships. In addition, any significantfuture cancellations or deferrals of product orders or the return of previously sold products due to manufacturing defects could materially and adverselyimpact our profit margins, increase our write-offs due to product obsolescence and restrict our ability to fund our operations. We rely on third-party sales representatives and distributors to assist in selling our products. If we fail to retain or find additional salesrepresentatives and distributors, or if any of these parties fail to perform as expected, it could reduce our future sales. In 2014, we derived 84% of our total revenue from sales by our direct sales team and third-party sales representatives. In addition, in 2014 and2013, approximately 16% of our sales were made through third-party distributors, respectively. Two of our distributors, which sell solely to Micron,accounted for 11% our total revenue in 2013. We are unable to predict the extent to which these third-party sales representatives and distributors will besuccessful in marketing and selling our products. Moreover, many of these third-party sales representatives and distributors also market and sellcompeting products, which may affect the extent to which they promote our products. Even where our relationships are formalized in contracts, our third-party sales representatives and distributors often have the right to terminate their relationships with us at any time. Our future performance will alsodepend, in part, on our ability to attract additional third-party sales representatives and distributors who will be able to market and support our productseffectively, especially in markets in which we have not previously sold our products. If we cannot retain our current distributors or find additional orreplacement third-party sales representatives and distributors, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be harmed. Additionally, ifwe terminate our relationship with a distributor, we may be obligated to repurchase unsold products. We record a reserve for estimated returns and pricecredits. If actual returns and credits exceed our estimates, our operating results could be harmed. 16 The facilities of our third-party contractors and distributors are located in regions that are subject to earthquakes and other natural disasters. The facilities of our third-party contractors and distributors are subject to risk of catastrophic loss due to fire, flood or other natural or man-madedisasters. A number of our facilities and those of our contract manufacturers are located in areas with above average seismic activity and also subject totyphoons and other Pacific storms. Several foundries that manufacture our wafers are located in Taiwan, Japan and California, and a majority of our third-party contractors who assemble and test our products are located in Asia. In addition, our headquarters are located in California. The risk of an earthquakein the Pacific Rim region or California is significant due to the proximity of major earthquake fault lines. Any catastrophic loss to any of these facilitieswould likely disrupt our operations, delay production, shipments and revenue and result in significant expenses to repair or replace the facility. Inparticular, any catastrophic loss at our California locations would materially and adversely affect our business. We rely on third-party technologies for the development of our products and our inability to use such technologies in the future would harm ourability to remain competitive. We rely on third parties for technologies that are integrated into our products, such as wafer fabrication and assembly and test technologies used byour contract manufacturers, as well as licensed architecture technologies. If we are unable to continue to use or license these technologies on reasonableterms, or if these technologies fail to operate properly, we may not be able to secure alternatives in a timely manner or at all, and our ability to remaincompetitive would be harmed. In addition, if we are unable to successfully license technology from third parties to develop future products, we may notbe able to develop such products in a timely manner or at all. Our business would be adversely affected by the departure of existing members of our senior management team and other key personnel. Our success depends, in large part, on the continued contributions of our senior management team, in particular, the services of certain keypersonnel, including Dr. Loi Nguyen, one of our founders and our Vice President of Optical Interconnect. In February 2011, our Chief Technology Officerresigned and we promoted our Vice President of Engineering for New Business Initiatives to serve as our new Chief Technology Officer. Changes in ourmanagement team could negatively affect our operations and our relationships with our customers, employees and market leaders. In addition, we havenot entered into non-compete agreements with members of our senior management team. The loss of any member of our senior management team or keypersonnel could harm our ability to implement our business strategy and respond to the rapidly changing market conditions in which we operate. Potential future acquisitions could be difficult to integrate, divert attention of key personnel, disrupt our business, dilute stockholder value andimpair our operating results. As part of our business strategy, we have pursued and may continue to pursue acquisitions in the future that we believe will complement ourbusiness, semiconductor solutions or technologies. Any acquisition involves a number of risks, many of which could harm our business, including: • difficulties in integrating the operations, technologies, products, existing contracts, accounting and personnel of the target company; • realizing the anticipated benefits of any acquisition; • difficulties in transitioning and supporting customers, if any, of the target company; • diversion of financial and management resources from existing operations; • the price we pay or other resources that we devote may exceed the value we realize, or the value we could have realized if we had allocatedthe purchase price or other resources to another opportunity; • potential loss of key employees, customers and strategic alliances from either our current business or the target company’s business; • assumption of unanticipated problems or latent liabilities, such as problems with the quality of the target company’s products; • inability to generate sufficient revenue to offset acquisition costs; • dilutive effect on our stock as a result of any equity-based acquisitions; • inability to successfully complete transactions with a suitable acquisition candidate; and • in the event of international acquisitions, risks associated with accounting and business practices that are different from applicable U.S.practices and requirements. 17 Acquisitions also frequently result in the recording of goodwill and other intangible assets that are subject to potential impairments, which couldharm our financial results. As a result, if we fail to properly evaluate acquisitions or investments, we may not achieve the anticipated benefits of any suchacquisitions, and we may incur costs in excess of what we anticipate. The failure to successfully evaluate and execute acquisitions or investments orotherwise adequately address these risks could materially harm our business and financial results. Our portfolio of marketable securities is significant and subject to market, interest and credit risk that may reduce its value. We maintain a significant portfolio of marketable securities. Changes in the value of this portfolio could adversely affect our earnings. In particular,the value of our investments may decline due to increases in interest rates, downgrades of money market funds, U.S. Treasuries, municipal bonds,corporate bonds, certificates of deposit and asset backed securities included in our portfolio, instability in the global financial markets that reduces theliquidity of securities included in our portfolio, declines in the value of collateral underlying the asset-backed securities included in our portfolio andother factors. Each of these events may cause us to record charges to reduce the carrying value of our investment portfolio or sell investments for less thanour acquisition cost. Although we attempt to mitigate these risks by investing in high quality securities and continuously monitoring our portfolio’soverall risk profile, the value of our investments may nevertheless decline. Tax benefits that we receive may be terminated or reduced in the future, which would increase our costs. In 2010, we began to expand our international presence to take advantage of the opportunity to recruit additional engineering design talent, as wellas to more closely align our operations geographically with our customers and suppliers in Asia. In certain international jurisdictions, we have alsoentered into agreements with local governments to provide us with, among other things, favorable local tax rates if certain minimum criteria are met.These agreements may require us to meet several requirements as to investment, headcount and activities to retain this status. We currently believe thatwe will be able to meet all the terms and conditions specified in these agreements. However, if adverse changes in the economy or changes in technologyaffect international demand for our products in an unforeseen manner or if we fail to otherwise meet the conditions of the local agreements, we may besubject to additional taxes, which in turn would increase our costs. Changes in our effective tax rate may harm our results of operations. A number of factors may increase our future effective tax rates, including: • the jurisdictions in which profits are determined to be earned and taxed; • the resolution of issues arising from tax audits with various tax authorities; • changes in the measurement of our deferred tax assets and liabilities and in deferred tax valuation allowances; • changes in the value of assets or services transferred or provided from one jurisdiction to another; • adjustments to income taxes upon finalization of various tax returns; • increases in expenses not deductible for tax purposes, including write-offs of acquired in-process research and development and impairmentsof goodwill in connection with acquisitions; • changes in available tax credits; • changes in tax laws or the interpretation of such tax laws, and changes in U.S. generally accepted accounting principles; and • a decision to repatriate non-U.S. earnings for which we have not previously provided for U.S. taxes. We are subject to additional regulatory compliance requirements, including Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, as a result of being apublic company and our management has limited experience managing a public company. As a public company, we will incur significant legal, accounting and other expenses that we did not incur as a private company. Our managementteam and other personnel will need to devote a substantial amount of time to new compliance initiatives and we may not successfully or efficientlymanage our transition into a public company. We expect rules and regulations such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 to increase our legal and financecompliance costs and to make some activities more time-consuming and costly. We will need to hire a number of additional employees with publicaccounting and disclosure experience in order to meet our ongoing obligations as a public company. For example, Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Actof 2002 requires that our management report on, and our independent registered public accounting firm attest to, the effectiveness of our internal controlover financial reporting in our annual report on Form 10-K starting fiscal year ended December 31, 2011. Section 404 compliance has in the past and maycontinue to divert internal resources and require significant amount of time and effort to complete. If we fail to do so, or if in the future our ChiefExecutive Officer, Chief Financial Officer or independent registered public accounting firm determines that our internal controls over financial reportingare not effective as defined under Section 404, we could be subject to sanctions or investigations by The New York Stock Exchange, or NYSE, theSecurities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC, or other regulatory authorities. Furthermore, investor perceptions of our company may suffer, and thiscould cause a decline in the market price of our stock. Irrespective of compliance with Section 404, any failure of our internal controls could have amaterial adverse effect on our stated results of operations and harm our reputation. If we are unable to implement these changes effectively or efficiently,it could harm our operations, financial reporting or financial results and could result in an adverse opinion on internal controls from our independentauditors. 18 Risks Related to Cortina Acquisition Future sales of shares by existing stockholders, including former Cortina stockholders, could cause our stock price to decline. We filed a registration statement to register the shares issued in connection with the Cortina acquisition for sale into the public market by the sellingstockholders. These shares, if sold in the market all at once or at about the same time, could depress the market price during the period the registrationstatement remains effective and also could affect our ability to raise equity capital. We have pursued and may continue to pursue acquisition opportunities such as our acquisition of Cortina and may not realize the anticipated benefitsof any such acquisitions, which in turn could harm our business and operating results. We may be unable to successfully integrate Cortina’s high-speed interconnect and optical transport business or realize the anticipated benefits of theacquisition. The successful integration of Cortina as well as the retention of personnel require significant attention from our management and could resultin a diversion of resources from our existing business, which in turn could have an adverse effect on our business operations. We may not be successful inthese efforts. We may not achieve the anticipated benefits of any acquired assets or businesses, such as Cortina, due to a number of factors including:unanticipated costs or liabilities associated with the acquisition, incurrence of acquisition-related costs, harm to our relationships with existing customersas a result of the acquisition, harm to our brands and reputation, the loss of key employees in the acquired businesses, use of resources that are needed inother parts of our business, and use of substantial portions of our available cash to consummate the acquisition. In addition, our ability to imposeappropriate internal controls, including accurate forecasting, accounting integration of inventory, costs and reporting, to successfully manage anyacquired businesses will require significant investments of resources and management time. Finally, acquisitions could result in the use of substantialamounts of cash, potentially dilutive issuances of equity securities, the occurrence of significant goodwill impairment charges, amortization expenses forother intangible assets and exposure to potential unknown liabilities of the acquired business. Our business, particularly the high-speed interconnect and optical transport business, is dependent on capital expenditures by service providers, andany downturn that they experience could negatively impact our business. Our business, particularly the high-speed interconnect and optical transport business we acquired in connection with our acquisition of Cortina,depends on continued capital expenditures by service providers and is subject to the cyclicality of such expenditures. Our communicationssemiconductor products are sold primarily to network equipment vendors that in turn sell their equipment to service providers. If the demand for ourcustomers’ products declines or fails to increase, as a result of lower capital expenditures by service providers or any other factors, demand for ourproducts will be similarly affected. The global economic downturn caused a significant reduction in capital spending on communications networkequipment. While we are beginning to see improvement, there are no guarantees that this growth will continue, which could result in market volatility oranother downturn. If there is another downturn, our business, operating results and financial condition may be materially harmed. Cortina’s high-speed interconnect and optical transport business has historically relied on a small number of key customers for a substantial portion ofits revenue, and the loss of one or more of these key customers or the diminished demand for these products from one or more such key customers couldnegatively affect our ability to realize the anticipated benefits of our acquisition of Cortina. A small number of customers have historically accounted for a substantial portion of Cortina’s revenues from its high-speed interconnect and opticaltransport business in any particular period. We anticipate that our relationships with these key customers will continue to be important to this business,and we expect that this customer concentration will increase in the future. We have no long-term volume purchase commitments from our key customers.These customers may decide not to purchase our products at all, may purchase fewer products than they did in the past or may otherwise alter theirpurchasing patterns. Reductions, delays and cancellation of orders from our key customers or the loss of one or more key customers would significantlyreduce our revenue and profits. 19 The failure of our distributors to perform as expected could materially reduce our future revenue or negatively impact our reported financial results. Cortina’s high-speed interconnect and optical transport business has historically relied on a number of distributors, in particular Arrow Electronics,Inc., Dragon Technology Distribution (HK) Limited and Brilliant Technologies Company, to help generate customer demand, provide technical supportand other value-added services to its customers, fill customer orders and stock its products. These distributors do not sell those products exclusively, andto the extent they choose to emphasize a competitor’s products over our products, our results of operations could be harmed. Our contracts with thesedistributors may be terminated by either party with notice. Our distributors are located all over the world, and are of various sizes and financialconditions. Lower sales, lower earnings, debt downgrades, the inability to access capital markets and higher interest rates could potentially affect ourdistributors’ operations. Further, our distributors have contractual rights to return unsold inventory to us, and, if this were to happen, we could incursignificant cost in finding alternative sales channels for these products or through write-offs. Any adverse condition experienced by our distributors couldnegatively impact their level of support for our products or the rate at which they make payments to us and, consequently, could harm our results ofoperations. We rely on accurate and timely sales reports from our distributors in order for our financial results to represent the actual sales that ourdistributors make for us in any given period. Any inaccuracies or delays in these reports could negatively affect our ability to produce accurate and timelyfinancial reports and to recognize revenue. We also rely on distributors for sales forecasts, and any inaccuracies in such forecasts could impair theaccuracy of our projections and planned operations. Risks Related to Our Industry We may be unable to make the substantial and productive research and development investments, which are required to remain competitive inour business. The semiconductor industry requires substantial investment in research and development in order to develop and bring to market new andenhanced technologies and products. Many of our products originated with our research and development efforts and have provided us with a significantcompetitive advantage. Our research and development expense was $70.9 million in 2014, $50.5 million in 2013 and $40.1 million in 2012. We arecommitted to investing in new product development in order to remain competitive in our target markets. We do not know whether we will havesufficient resources to maintain the level of investment in research and development required to remain competitive. In addition, we cannot assure youthat the technologies which are the focus of our research and development expenditures will become commercially successful. Our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected by worldwide economic conditions, as well as politicaland economic conditions in the countries in which we conduct business. Our business and operating results are impacted by worldwide economic conditions. Uncertainty about current global economic conditions maycause businesses to continue to postpone spending in response to tighter credit, unemployment or negative financial news. This in turn could have amaterial negative effect on the demand for our semiconductor products or the products into which our semiconductors are incorporated. Multiple factorsrelating to our international operations and to particular countries in which we operate could negatively impact our business, financial condition andresults of operations. These factors include: • changes in political, regulatory, legal or economic conditions; • restrictive governmental actions, such as restrictions on the transfer or repatriation of funds and foreign investments and trade protectionmeasures, including export duties and quotas and customs duties and tariffs; • disruptions of capital and trading markets; • changes in import or export requirements; • transportation delays; • civil disturbances or political instability; • geopolitical turmoil, including terrorism, war or political or military coups; • public health emergencies; • differing employment practices and labor standards; • limitations on our ability under local laws to protect our intellectual property; • local business and cultural factors that differ from our customary standards and practices; • nationalization and expropriation; • changes in tax or intellectual property laws; • currency fluctuations relating to our international operating activities; and • difficulty in obtaining distribution and support.  20 A significant portion of our products are manufactured, assembled and tested outside the United States. Any conflict or uncertainty in thesecountries, including due to natural disasters, public health concerns, political unrest or safety concerns, could harm our business, financial condition andresults of operations. In addition, if the government of any country in which our products are manufactured or sold sets technical standards for productsmanufactured in or imported into their country that are not widely shared, it may lead some of our customers to suspend imports of their products into thatcountry, require manufacturers in that country to manufacture products with different technical standards and disrupt cross-border manufacturingrelationships which, in each case, could harm our business. Changes in current or future laws or regulations or the imposition of new laws or regulations, including new or changed tax regulations,environmental laws and export control laws, or new interpretations thereof, by federal or state agencies or foreign governments could impair ourability to compete in international markets. Changes in current laws or regulations applicable to us or the imposition of new laws and regulations in the United States or other jurisdictions inwhich we do business, such as China, Japan, Korea, Singapore and Taiwan, could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition andresults of operations. For example, we have entered into agreements with local governments to provide us with, among other things, favorable local taxrates if certain minimum criteria are met, as discussed in our risk factor entitled “Tax benefits that we received may be terminated or reduced in the future,which would increase our costs.” These agreements may require us to meet several requirements as to investment, headcount and activities to retain thisstatus. If we fail to otherwise meet the conditions of the local agreements, we may be subject to additional taxes, which in turn would increase our costs. Inaddition, potential future U.S. tax legislation could impact the tax benefits we effectively realize under these agreements. Due to environmental concerns, the use of lead and other hazardous substances in electronic components and systems is receiving increasedattention. In response, the European Union passed the Restriction on Hazardous Substances, or RoHS, Directive, legislation that limits the use of lead andother hazardous substances in electrical equipment. The RoHS Directive became effective July 1, 2006. We believe that our current product designs andmaterial supply chains are in compliance with the RoHS Directive. If our product designs or material supply chains are deemed not to be in compliancewith the RoHS Directive, we and our third party manufacturers may need to redesign products with components meeting the requirements of the RoHSDirective and we may incur additional expense as well as loss of market share and damage to our reputation. In addition, we are subject to export control laws, regulations and requirements that limit which products we sell and where and to whom we sellour products. In some cases, it is possible that export licenses would be required from U.S. government agencies for some of our products in accordancewith the Export Administration Regulations and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations. We may not be successful in obtaining the necessaryexport licenses in all instances. Any limitation on our ability to export or sell our products imposed by these laws would adversely affect our business,financial condition and results of operations. In addition, changes in our products or changes in export and import laws and implementing regulationsmay create delays in the introduction of new products in international markets, prevent our customers from deploying our products internationally or, insome cases, prevent the export or import of our products to certain countries altogether. While we are not aware of any other current or proposed export orimport regulations which would materially restrict our ability to sell our products in countries such as China, Japan, Korea, Singapore or Taiwan, anychange in export or import regulations or related legislation, shift in approach to the enforcement or scope of existing regulations, or change in thecountries, persons or technologies targeted by these regulations, could result in decreased use of our products by, or in our decreased ability to export orsell our products to, existing or potential customers with international operations. In such event, our business and results of operations could be adverselyaffected. Our product or manufacturing standards could also be impacted by new or revised environmental rules and regulations or other social initiatives.For instance, the SEC adopted new disclosure requirements in 2012 relating to the sourcing of certain minerals from the Democratic Republic of Congoand certain other adjoining countries. Those new rules, which will require reporting starting 2014, could adversely affect our costs, the availability ofminerals used in our products and our relationships with customers and suppliers. Also, since our supply chain is complex, we may face reputationalchallenges with our customers, stockholders, and other stakeholders if we are unable to sufficiently verify the origins for any conflict minerals used in theproducts that we sell. We are subject to the cyclical nature of the semiconductor industry, which has suffered and may suffer from future recessionary downturns. The semiconductor industry is highly cyclical and is characterized by constant and rapid technological change, rapid product obsolescence andprice erosion, evolving standards and wide fluctuations in product supply and demand. The industry experienced a significant downturn during thecurrent global recession. These downturns have been characterized by diminished product demand, production overcapacity, high inventory levels andaccelerated erosion of average selling prices. The most recent downturn and any future downturns could negatively impact our business and operatingresults. Furthermore, any upturn in the semiconductor industry could result in increased competition for access to third-party foundry and assemblycapacity. We are dependent on the availability of this capacity to manufacture and assemble our integrated circuits. None of our third-party foundry orassembly contractors has provided assurances that adequate capacity will be available to us in the future. 21 Our products must conform to industry standards in order to be accepted by end users in our markets. Our products comprise only a part of larger electronic systems. All components of these systems must uniformly comply with industry standards inorder to operate efficiently together. These industry standards are often developed and promoted by larger companies who are industry leaders andprovide other components of the systems in which our products are incorporated. In driving industry standards, these larger companies are able to developand foster product ecosystems within which our products can be used. We work with a number of these larger companies in helping develop industrystandards with which our products are compatible. If larger companies do not support the same industry standards that we do, or if competing standardsemerge, market acceptance of our products could be adversely affected, which would harm our business. Some industry standards may not be widely adopted or implemented uniformly, and competing standards may still emerge that may be preferred byour customers. Products for communications and computing applications are based on industry standards that are continually evolving. Our ability tocompete in the future will depend on our ability to identify and ensure compliance with these evolving industry standards. The emergence of newindustry standards could render our products incompatible with products developed by other suppliers or make it difficult for our products to meet therequirements of certain OEMs. As a result, we could be required to invest significant time and effort and to incur significant expense to redesign ourproducts to ensure compliance with relevant standards. If our products are not in compliance with prevailing industry standards for a significant period oftime, we could miss opportunities to achieve crucial design wins. We may not be successful in developing or using new technologies or in developingnew products or product enhancements that achieve market acceptance. Our pursuit of necessary technological advances may require substantial time andexpense. Risks Related to our Common Stock The trading price and volume of our common stock is subject to price volatility. The trading price of our common stock has experienced wide fluctuations. For example, since our initial public offering through December 31,2014, the closing price of our common stock has ranged from $7.20 to $26.63. Volatility in the market price of our common stock may occur in the future.The market price of shares of our common stock could be subject to wide fluctuations in response to many risk factors listed in this report and othersbeyond our control, including: • actual or anticipated fluctuations in our financial condition and operating results; • changes in the economic performance or market valuations of other companies that provide high-speed analog semiconductor solutions; • loss of a significant amount of existing business; • actual or anticipated changes in our growth rate relative to our competitors; • actual or anticipated fluctuations in our competitors’ operating results or changes in their growth rates; • issuance of new or updated research or reports by securities analysts; • our announcement of actual results for a fiscal period that are higher or lower than projected results or our announcement of revenue orearnings guidance that is higher or lower than expected; • regulatory developments in our target markets affecting us, our customers or our competitors; • fluctuations in the valuation of companies perceived by investors to be comparable to us; • share price and volume fluctuations attributable to inconsistent trading volume levels of our shares; • sales or expected sales of additional common stock; • terrorist attacks or natural disasters or other such events impacting countries where we or our customers have operations; and • general economic and market conditions. Furthermore, the stock markets have experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations that have affected and continue to affect the market pricesof equity securities of many companies. These fluctuations often have been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of thosecompanies. These broad market and industry fluctuations, as well as general economic, political and market conditions such as recessions, interest ratechanges or international currency fluctuations, may cause the market price of shares of our common stock to decline. In the past, companies that haveexperienced volatility in the market price of their stock have been subject to securities class action litigation. We may be the target of this type oflitigation in the future. Securities litigation against us could result in substantial costs and divert our management’s attention from other businessconcerns, which could seriously harm our business. 22 Due to the nature of our compensation program, our executive officers can sell shares of our common stock, often pursuant to trading plansestablished under Rule 10b5-1 of the Exchange Act. As a result, sales of common stock by our executive officers may not be indicative of their respectiveopinions of our performance at the time of sale or of our potential future performance. Nonetheless, the market price of our stock may be affected by salesof shares by our executive officers. If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or reports about our business, or if they change their recommendations regarding ourstock adversely, our stock price and trading volume could decline. The trading market for our common stock will be influenced by the research and reports that industry or securities analysts publish about us or ourbusiness. If one or more of the analysts who cover us downgrade our stock, our stock price would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts ceasecoverage of our company or fail to regularly publish reports on us, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which in turn could cause our stockprice or trading volume to decline. We may not be able to obtain capital when desired on favorable terms, if at all, or without dilution to our stockholders and our failure to raisecapital when needed could prevent us from executing our growth strategy. We believe that our existing cash and cash equivalents, investments in marketable securities, and cash flows from our operating activities, will besufficient to meet our anticipated cash needs for at least the next 12 to 18 months. We operate in an industry, however, that makes our prospects difficultto evaluate. It is possible that we may not generate sufficient cash flow from operations or otherwise have the capital resources to meet our future capitalneeds. If this occurs, we may need additional financing to execute on our current or future business strategies, including to: • invest in our research and development efforts by hiring additional technical and other personnel; • expand our operating infrastructure; • acquire complementary businesses, products, services or technologies; or • otherwise pursue our strategic plans and respond to competitive pressures. If we raise additional funds through the issuance of equity or convertible debt securities, the percentage ownership of our stockholders could besignificantly diluted, and these newly-issued securities may have rights, preferences or privileges senior to those of existing stockholders. If we raiseadditional funds by obtaining loans from third parties, the terms of those financing arrangements may include negative covenants or other restrictions onour business that could impair our operational flexibility, and would also require us to incur interest expense. We have not made arrangements to obtainadditional financing and there is no assurance that additional financing will be available on terms favorable to us, or at all. If adequate funds are notavailable or are not available on acceptable terms, if and when needed, our ability to fund our operations, take advantage of unanticipated opportunities,develop or enhance our products, or otherwise respond to competitive pressures could be significantly limited. Delaware law and our corporate charter and bylaws contain anti-takeover provisions that could delay or discourage takeover attempts thatstockholders may consider favorable. Provisions in our certificate of incorporation and bylaws, may have the effect of delaying or preventing a change of control or changes in ourmanagement. These provisions include the following: • the right of our board of directors to elect a director to fill a vacancy created by the expansion of our board of directors; • the classification of our board of directors so that only a portion of our directors are elected each year, with each director serving a three-yearterm; • the requirement for advance notice for nominations for election to our board of directors or for proposing matters that can be acted upon at astockholders’ meeting; • the ability of our board of directors to alter our bylaws without obtaining stockholder approval; • the ability of our board of directors to issue, without stockholder approval, up to 10,000,000 shares of preferred stock with rights set by ourboard of directors, which rights could be senior to those of common stock; • the required approval of holders of at least two-thirds of the shares entitled to vote at an election of directors to adopt, amend or repeal ourbylaws or amend or repeal the provisions of our certificate of incorporation regarding the election and removal of directors and the ability ofstockholders to take action by written consent; and • the elimination of the right of stockholders to call a special meeting of stockholders and to take action by written consent. 23 In addition, because we are incorporated in Delaware, we are governed by the provisions of Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law.These provisions may prohibit or restrict large stockholders, in particular those owning 15% or more of our outstanding voting stock, from merging orcombining with us. These provisions in our certificate of incorporation and bylaws and under Delaware law could discourage potential takeover attemptsand could reduce the price that investors might be willing to pay for shares of our common stock in the future and result in our market price being lowerthan it would without these provisions. We do not currently intend to pay dividends on our common stock and, consequently, your ability to achieve a return on your investment willdepend on appreciation in the price of our common stock. We have never declared or paid any cash dividends on our common stock and do not currently intend to do so for the foreseeable future. Wecurrently intend to invest our future earnings, if any, to fund our growth. Therefore, you are not likely to receive any dividends on your common stock forthe foreseeable future and the success of an investment in shares of our common stock will depend upon any future appreciation in their value. There is noguarantee that shares of our common stock will appreciate in value or even maintain the price at which our stockholders have purchased their shares. ITEM 1B.UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS None. ITEM 2.PROPERTIES We lease 57,914 square feet of office space in Santa Clara, California which currently serve as our principal executive office which will expire onAugust 17, 2019. We also lease 40,522 square feet of office space in Westlake Village, California under a lease that will expire on December 31, 2017.Our Singapore subsidiary currently leases 6,374 square feet of office space in Singapore under a lease that expires on April 30, 2017. Our United Kingdomsubsidiary currently leases office space in Northamptonshire, England under a lease that expires on March 30, 2016. We also occupy space in Folsom,California, consisting of 14,254 square feet under a lease that expires on May 31, 2015, and space in Raleigh, North Carolina, consisting of 15,440 squarefeet under a lease that expires on September 30, 2015. Our Canada subsidiary currently leases 13,951 square feet in Ottawa, Canada under a lease thatexpires on October 31, 2016. We believe that current facilities, are sufficient to meet our needs for the foreseeable future. For additional informationregarding our obligations under property leases, see Note 15 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements, included in Part II, “Item 8, FinancialStatements and Supplementary Data”. ITEM 3.LEGAL PROCEEDINGS – We are currently a party to the following legal proceedings: Netlist, Inc. v. Inphi Corporation, Case No. 09-cv-6900 (C.D. Cal.) On September 22, 2009, Netlist filed suit in the United States District Court, Central District of California, or the Court, asserting that we infringeU.S. Patent No. 7,532,537. Netlist filed an amended complaint on December 22, 2009, further asserting that we infringe U.S. Patent Nos. 7,619,912 and7,636,274, collectively with U.S. Patent No. 7,532,537, the patents-in-suit, and seeking both unspecified monetary damages to be determined and aninjunction to prevent further infringement. These infringement claims allege that our iMB™ and certain other memory module components infringe thepatents-in-suit. We answered the amended complaint on February 11, 2010 and asserted that we do not infringe the patents-in-suit and that the patents-in-suit are invalid. In 2010, we filed inter partes requests for reexamination with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (the “USPTO”), asserting thatthe patents-in-suit are invalid. 24 On August 27, 2010, the USPTO ordered the request for Inter Partes Reexamination for U.S. Patent No. 7,636,274 and found a substantial newquestion of patentability based upon each of the different issues that we raised as the reexamination requestor. On September 27, 2011, the Patent Officeissued a First Office Action based on the Netlist '274 Patent Reexamination Request and rejected 91 of its 97 claims. On October 27, 2011, Netlistresponded to the USPTO determination by amending some but not all of the claims, adding new claims and making arguments as to the validity of therejected claims in view of the cited references. We provided rebuttable comments to the USPTO on November 28, 2011. On March 12, 2012, the Examinerissued an Action Closing Prosecution, indicating that the claims pending contain allowable subject matter, and Netlist did not respond to the ActionClosing Prosecution in the time provided by the USPTO. On June 22, 2012, the USPTO issued a Right of Appeal Notice, and on July 23, 2012, we filed aNotice of Appeal. We filed the Appeal Brief on September 24, 2012 and Netlist filed its Responsive Brief on October 24, 2012. The parties received anExaminer’s Answer dated April 16, 2013 from the USPTO that maintained the rejections set forth on the Right of Appeal Notice dated June 22, 2012. Wefiled a Rebuttal Brief on May 16, 2013 and a Request for Oral Hearing on June 7, 2013. The appeal hearing took place on November 20, 2013. The PatentTrial and Appeal Board (PTAB) issued its decision on January 16, 2014, finding the Examiner erred in declining to adopt 8 of the 9 different rejectionsthat had been proposed by us. We requested a rehearing of the decision not to adopt the remaining one rejection that had been proposed by us and wasnot adopted by the PTAB on February 18, 2014. In papers dated March 18, 2014, Netlist provided rebuttal comments to the request for rehearing and alsorequested re-opening of prosecution with respect to the claims that the PTAB had rejected, and in that request to re-open prosecution amended theindependent claims that stood rejected. We filed comments with respect to these proposed amended claims on April 17, 2014, which were refiled in aslightly different form on September 5, 2014. On June 26, 2014, the PTAB issued a decision on the request for rehearing, which included a rejection offurther claims pursuant to our request and on July 28, 2014 Netlist provided a response to the USPTO cancelling those claims that had been rejected inthe decision on the request for rehearing. On September 26, 2014, the PTAB remanded the proceedings back to the Examiner, with instructions toconsider part, but not all, of our comments that had been previously filed on September 5, 2014. On October 10, 2014, we filed a Petition to the Directorof the USPTO seeking reconsideration of the PTAB remand of September 26, 2014, and requesting that all of the comments that we had previously filedon September 5, 2014 should have been entered for consideration by the Examiner. The USPTO denied this Petition and a communication from theExaminer, with instructions to consider part, but not all, of our comments that had been previously filed on September 5, 2014 is expected as the nextsubstantive step of the proceeding, as prosecution otherwise remains closed. The proceeding is expected to continue in accordance with established InterPartes Reexamination procedures. We may consider filing an appeal to any determination made by the USPTO with the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals. On September 8, 2010, the USPTO ordered the request for Inter Partes Reexamination for U.S. Patent No. 7,532,537 and found a substantial newquestion of patentability based upon different issues that we raised as the reexamination requestor. The USPTO accompanied this Reexamination Order ofU.S. Patent No. 7,532,537 with its own evaluation of the validity of this patent, and rejected some but not all of claims. In a response dated October 8,2010, Netlist responded to the USPTO determination by amending some but not all of the claims, adding new claims and making arguments as to why theclaims were not invalid in view of the cited references. We provided rebuttable comments to the USPTO on November 8, 2010 along with a Petitionrequesting an increase in the number of allowed pages of the rebuttable comments. On January 20, 2011, the USPTO granted the Petition in part. We thenfiled updated rebuttal comments on January 27, 2011 in compliance with the granted Petition. The USPTO has considered these updated rebuttalcomments, and in a communication dated June 15, 2011, continued to reject all the previously rejected claims. The USPTO also rejected all the claimsnewly added in the October 8, 2010 Netlist response. In a further communication dated June 21, 2011, the USPTO issued an Action Closing Prosecutionindicating that it would confirm the patentability of four claims and reject all the other pending claims. On August 22, 2011, Netlist responded to theAction Closing Prosecution by further amending some claims and making arguments as to the validity of the rejected claims in view of the citedreferences. We submitted rebuttal comments on September 21, 2011. In a further communication dated February 7, 2012, the USPTO issued a Right ofAppeal Notice, which also indicated that the previous amendments to claim made by Netlist would be entered, and that the current pending claims, asamended, were patentable. We filed a Notice of Appeal at the USPTO on March 8, 2012, within the time period provided for filing the Notice of Appealand Netlist did not file Notice of Cross-Appeal. We filed its Appeal Brief on May 8, 2012, and Netlist filed its Responsive Brief on July 2, 2012. Theparties received an Examiner’s Answer dated April 16, 2013 from the USPTO that maintained the rejections set forth on the Right of Appeal Notice datedFebruary 7, 2012. We filed a Rebuttal Brief on May 16, 2013 and a Request for Oral Hearing on June 7, 2013. The appeal hearing took place in front ofthe PTAB on November 20, 2013. The PTAB issued its decision on January 16, 2014, affirming the Examiner’s decision as to all of the challenged claims.On February 18, 2014, we made a request for rehearing of the decision, and in papers dated March 18, 2014, Netlist provided rebuttal comments to therequest for rehearing. On August 13, 2014, the PTAB denied our request for rehearing, and on October 15, 2014, we filed a Notice of Appeal to the Courtof Appeals for the Federal Circuit. An Appeal Brief was filed with the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on February 3, 2015 and an OppositionBrief filed by Netlist in the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit is expected as the next substantive step of the proceeding, as prosecution otherwiseremains closed. The proceeding is expected to continue in accordance with established Inter Partes Reexamination procedures. 25 On September 8, 2010, the USPTO ordered the request for Inter Partes Reexamination for U.S. Patent No. 7,619,912 and found a substantial newquestion of patentability based upon different issues that we raised as the reexamination requestor. The USPTO accompanied this Reexamination Order ofU.S. Patent No. 7,619,912 with its own evaluation of the validity of this patent, and initially determined that all of the claims were patentable based uponour request for Inter Partes Reexamination. Netlist did not comment upon this Reexamination Order. The USPTO on February 28, 2011 also merged theProceedings of our Reexamination of U.S. Patent No. 7,619,912, bearing Control No. 90/001,339 with Inter Partes Reexamination Proceeding 95/000,578filed October 20, 2010 on behalf of SMART Modular Technologies, Inc. and Inter Partes Reexamination Proceeding 95/000,579 filed October 21, 2010on behalf of Google, Inc. In each of these other Reexamination Proceedings, the USPTO had indicated that there existed a substantial new question ofpatentability with respect to certain claims of U.S. Patent No. 7,619,912, but had not accompanied the Reexamination Orders related thereto with its ownevaluation of the validity of this patent, indicating that such evaluation would be forthcoming at a later time. This further evaluation was received in anOffice Action dated April 4, 2011, in which the Examiner rejected a substantial majority of the claims based upon a number of different rejections,including certain of the rejections originally proposed by the Company in its Request for Reexamination. This Office Action also indicated that oneclaim was deemed to be patentable over the prior art of record in the merged Reexamination Proceedings. After seeking and obtaining an extension oftime to respond to the Office Action dated April 4, 2011, Netlist served its response on July 5, 2011, which added new claims and made arguments as towhy the originally filed claims were not invalid in view of the cited references. Each of the merged Reexamination Requestors, including us, submittedrebuttal comments by August 29, 2011. The USPTO considered this Netlist response and each of the rebuttal comments, and in an Office Action datedOctober 14, 2011, continued to reject most, but not all of the previously rejected claims, as well as rejected claims that had been added by Netlist in itsJuly 5, 2011 response. After seeking and obtaining an extension of time to respond to the Office Action dated October 14, 2011, Netlist served itsresponse on January 13, 2012, which response made amendments based upon subject matter that had been indicated as allowable in the Office Actiondated October 14, 2011, added other new claims and made arguments as to why all of these claims should be allowed. The three different mergedReexamination Requestors, including us, timely submitted rebuttal comments on or about February 13, 2012. The USPTO issued a Non-final OfficeAction on November 13, 2012, rejecting some claims and indicating that others contained allowable subject matter. On January 14, 2013, Netlist filed aResponse to the Non-final Office Action which presented further claim amendments and evidence supporting its positions regarding patentability.Rebuttal comments from us and the other Requestors were filed on February 13, 2013. On March 21, 2014, the USPTO issued an Action ClosingProsecution in which the USPTO indicated that certain of the pending claims were allowable and other of the pending claims were rejected, and on June18, 2014 issued a Right of Notice of Appeal. By July 18, 2014, we as well as other Requesters each filed Notices of Appeal, and Netlist filed a CrossAppeal on July 30, 2014. By September 30, 2014, each of the Requestors as well as Netlist had filed their respective Appeal Briefs, and by October 30,2014 each of the Requestors as well as Netlist had filed their respective Responses to the previously filed Appeal Briefs. Reply Briefs by Requesters andNetlist were filed on or before February 18, 2015 and consideration by the USPTO will be the next substantive step of the proceeding, as currentlyprosecution otherwise will remain closed. The merged proceeding is expected to continue in accordance with established Inter Partes Reexaminationprocedures. The reexamination proceedings could result in a determination that the patents-in-suit, in whole or in part, are valid or invalid, as well asmodifications of the scope of the patents-in-suit. Based on these papers the Court in January 2014 ordered a continued stay of the proceedings, took the litigation off the active court calendar, andrequested that the parties file a joint status report on May 1, 2014 and every 120 days thereafter advising the Court as to status of the reexaminationproceedings at which times, the Court could decide to maintain or lift the stay. While we intend to defend the foregoing lawsuit vigorously, litigation, whether or not determined in our favor or settled, could be costly and time-consuming and could divert management’s attention and resources, which could adversely affect our business. Based on the nature of the litigation, we are currently unable to predict the final outcome of this lawsuit and therefore, cannot determine thelikelihood of loss nor estimate a range of possible loss. However, because of the nature and inherent uncertainties of litigation, should the outcome ofthese actions be unfavorable, our business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows could be materially and adversely affected. As a result of acquisition of Cortina, we are currently working to settle a patent dispute involving Cortina and Vitesse Semiconductor Corporation(Vitesse). The patent dispute involves a certain patent family owned by Vitesse associated with error correction. We are currently in discussion withVitesse in good faith to settle the dispute. We believe that the probable liability of this claim would be $750,000 which we recorded as of the acquisitiondate and December 31, 2014. Based on the Agreement and Plan of Merger dated July 30, 2014, we would be indemnified for future settlement arisingfrom this claim, up to an amount of $750,000. Accordingly, we recorded an indemnification asset in the amount of $750,000 as of the acquisition date.However, because of the nature and inherent uncertainties, should the outcome of the settlement be unfavorable, our business, financial condition, resultsof operations or cash flows could be materially and adversely affected. We are not currently a party to any other material litigation. The semiconductor industry is characterized by frequent claims and litigation,including claims regarding patent and other intellectual property rights as well as improper hiring practices. We may from time to time become involvedin litigation relating to claims arising from our ordinary course of business. These claims, even if not meritorious, could result in the expenditure ofsignificant financial and managerial resources. ITEM 4.MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES Not applicable. 26 PART II ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OFEQUITY SECURITIES Market for Registrant’s Common Equity Our common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “IPHI”. The following table sets forth the range of high and lowsales prices for our common stock in each quarter: 2014 Low High Fourth Quarter $12.41 $19.14 Third Quarter 12.57 17.17 Second Quarter 13.49 16.35 First Quarter 10.87 16.56 2013 Low High Fourth Quarter $10.88 $14.88 Third Quarter 10.59 13.85 Second Quarter 8.62 11.53 First Quarter 7.95 10.95 As of February 28, 2015, we had approximately 66 holders of record of our common stock. This number does not include the number of personswhose shares are in nominee or in “street name” accounts through brokers. We have never declared or paid any cash dividends on shares of our capital stock. We expect to retain all of our earnings to finance the expansionand development of our business and we do not currently intend to pay any cash dividends on our capital stock in the foreseeable future. Our board ofdirectors will determine future dividends, if any. Director and Executive Officers have currently and may from time to time in the future, establish pre-set trading plans in accordance with Rule10b5-1 promulgated under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Securities Authorized for Issuance under Equity Compensation Plans Information regarding the securities authorized for issuance under our equity compensation plans can be found under Part III, “Item 12, SecurityOwnership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters”. Share Performance Graph The following information is not deemed to be “soliciting material” or to be “filed” with the Securities and Exchange Commission or subject toRegulation 14A or 14C under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 or to the liabilities of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and will notbe deemed to be incorporated by reference into any filing under the Securities Act of 1933 or the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, except to the extentwe specifically incorporate it by reference into such a filing. Set forth below is a line graph showing the cumulative total stockholder return (change in stock price plus reinvested dividends) assuming theinvestment of $100 on November 11, 2010 (the day of our initial public offering) in each of our common stock, the S&P 500 Index and PHLXSemiconductor Index for the period commencing on November 11, 2010 and ending on December 31, 2014. The comparisons in the table are required bythe Securities and Exchange Commission and are not intended to forecast or be indicative of future performance of our common stock. 27 28 ITEM 6.SELECTED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL DATA The following selected consolidated financial data should be read together with Part II, “Item 7., Management’s Discussion and Analysis ofFinancial Condition and Results of Operations” and our consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this report. Theselected balance sheet data as of December 31, 2014 and 2013, and the selected statements of operations data for each of the years ended December 31,2014, 2013, and 2012 have been derived from our audited financial statements included elsewhere in this report. The selected balance sheet data as ofDecember 31, 2012, 2011 and 2010 and the selected statements of operations data for the years ended December 31, 2011 and 2010 have been derivedfrom our audited financial statements not included in this report. Historical results are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected in the future. Year Ended December 31, 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 (in thousands, except share and per share data) Statement of Operations Data: Revenue $156,142 $102,664 $91,206 $79,297 $83,193 Cost of revenue 70,488 37,095 32,684 28,687 29,438 Gross profit 85,654 65,569 58,522 50,610 53,755 Operating expense: Research and development 70,863 50,516 40,102 28,565 23,781 Sales and marketing 20,003 15,741 14,052 12,700 8,823 General and administrative 16,153 11,614 12,300 9,141 9,212 Total operating expense 107,019 77,871 66,454 50,406 41,816 Income (loss) from operations (21,365) (12,302) (7,932) 204 11,939 Interest and other income (expense) 495 876 914 509 (50)Income (loss) before income taxes (20,870) (11,426) (7,018) 713 11,889 Provision (benefit) for income taxes 1,738 1,752 13,673 (1,218) (14,242)Net income (loss) $(22,608) $(13,178) $(20,691) $1,931 $26,131 Net income (loss) allocable to common andparticipating common securities $(22,608) $(13,178) $(20,691) $1,931 $5,326 Earnings per share: Basic $(0.69) $(0.45) $(0.73) $0.07 $1.03 Diluted $(0.69) $(0.45) $(0.73) $0.07 $0.61 Weighted-average shares used in computingearnings per share: Basic 32,707,868 29,493,005 28,378,680 26,799,237 5,086,169 Diluted 32,707,868 29,493,005 28,378,680 29,367,423 8,546,537 (1)On October 3, 2014, we completed the acquisition of Cortina, including its high-speed interconnect and optical transport product lines forapproximately $52.5 million in cash and approximately 5.3 million shares of our common stock in accordance with the Agreement and Plan ofMerger dated July 30, 2014 as amended by Amendment No. 1 to the Agreement and Plan of Merger dated September 25, 2014. The results ofoperations of Cortina and estimated fair value of assets acquired and liabilities assumed were included in our consolidated financial statementsfrom the acquisition date. This acquisition resulted in a significant change in our statement of operations in 2014 which includes:(i) Charge to cost of goods sold resulting from the step-up inventory acquired from Cortina; and(ii) Charge to cost of goods sold and operating expenses from amortization of acquired intangibles Footnotes continued on the following page. 29(1) (4)(1) (2)(1) (2)(1) (2)(1) (2)(3) As of December 31, 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 (in thousands) Balance Sheet Data: Cash and cash equivalents $30,366 $31,667 $30,161 $29,696 $110,172 Investments in marketablesecurities 38,908 90,890 91,107 89,283 — Working capital 108,372 129,013 131,310 129,395 116,887 Total assets 278,710 182,342 170,074 172,628 158,957 Total liabilities 39,536 22,949 17,109 14,224 16,271 Total stockholders’ equity(deficit) 239,174 159,393 152,965 158,404 142,686 Footnotes continued from the prior page. (2)Stock-based compensation expense is included in our results of operations as follows: As of December 31, 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 (in thousands) Operating expenses: Cost of revenue $1,260 $1,086 $726 $315 $107 Research and development 12,420 8,586 5,833 3,214 1,381 Sales and marketing 4,079 3,204 2,660 2,054 526 General and administrative 4,701 4,102 3,240 1,609 691 (3)The provision (benefit) for income taxes for the year ended December 31, 2012 included the establishment of valuation allowance against deferredtax assets. The provision (benefit) for income taxes for the year ended December 31, 2010 included the releases and reversals of valuation allowancesagainst deferred tax assets provided in prior periods. Please see note 9 to the notes to our consolidated financial statements. (4)Samsung, together with associated entities, held over 13% of our outstanding shares of common stock before our initial public offering. After ourinitial public offering in November 2010, Samsung, together with associated entities, holds less than 10% of our outstanding shares of commonstock. As a result of decline in ownership below 10% of our common stock, we no longer consider Samsung a related party. Revenues from Samsungwere $27,940 for the year ended December 31, 2010. 30 ITEM 7.MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS This Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations and this report contain forward-looking statementswithin the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. When used in this report, the terms “may,” “might,” “will,” “objective,”“intend,” “should,” “could,” “can,” “would,” “expect,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential,” “plan,” or the negative of these terms, andsimilar expressions intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements are statements that relate to future periods and include statementsregarding our anticipated trends and challenges in our business and the markets in which we operate, including the market for 40G and 100G high-speed analog semiconductor solutions, our plans for future products, expansion of our product offerings and enhancements of existing products, ourexpectations regarding our expenses and revenue, sources of revenue, our tax benefits, the benefits of our products and services, our technologicalcapabilities and expertise, timing of the development of our products, the status and anticipated impact of the Cortina acquisition, our anticipated cashneeds and our estimates regarding our capital requirements and our needs for additional financing, our anticipated growth and growth strategies, ourability to retain and attract customers, particularly in light of our dependence on a limited number of customers for a substantial portion of ourrevenue, our expectations regarding competition, interest rate sensitivity, adequacy of our disclosure controls, our legal proceedings and warrantyclaims. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results,performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these or any otherforward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those risks discussed below, as well as factors affecting ourresults of operations, our ability to manage our growth, our ability to sustain or increase profitability, demand for our solutions, the effect of declines inaverage selling prices for our products, our ability to compete, our ability to rapidly develop new technology and introduce new products, our ability tosafeguard our intellectual property, trends in the semiconductor industry and fluctuations in general economic conditions, and the risks set forththroughout this Report, including the risks set forth under Part I, “ Item 1A, Risk Factors”. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on theseforward-looking statements, which are based on current expectations and reflect management's opinions only as of the date hereof. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this Report. We expressly disclaim any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates orrevisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in our expectations with regard thereto or any changes in events,conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based. The following discussion and analysis should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and related notes that areincluded elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Overview We are a fabless provider of high-speed analog and mixed signal semiconductor solutions for the communications, datacenter and computingmarkets. We often refer to our business as covering various data transport segments from “fiber to memory”. Our analog and mixed signal semiconductorsolutions provide high signal integrity at leading-edge data speeds while reducing system power consumption. Our semiconductor solutions are designedto address bandwidth bottlenecks in networks, maximize throughput and minimize latency in computing environments and enable the rollout of nextgeneration communications, datacenter and computing infrastructures. Our solutions provide a vital high-speed interface between analog signals anddigital information in high-performance systems such as telecommunications transport systems, enterprise networking equipment, datacenter andenterprise servers, storage platforms, test and measurement equipment and military systems. We provide 40G and 100G high-speed analog semiconductorsolutions for the communications market and high-speed memory interface solutions for the computing market. We have a wide range product portfoliowith many products sold in communication and datacenter markets as of December 31, 2014. We have ongoing, informal collaborative discussions withindustry and technology leaders such as AMD, Cisco, Alcatel-Lucent, Ciena, Dell Incorporated, Huawei, Intel, Juniper, Micron, Neophotonics, Samsungand other data center companies to design architectures and products that solve bandwidth bottlenecks in existing and next generation communicationsand computing systems. Although we do not have any formal agreements with these entities, we engage in informal discussions with these entities withrespect to anticipated technological challenges, next generation customer requirements and industry conventions and standards. We help define industryconventions and standards within the markets we target by collaborating with technology leaders, OEMs, systems manufacturers and standards bodies. The history of our product development and sales and marketing efforts is as follows: •From 2000 to 2002, we were primarily engaged in the development of our core high-speed analog products and proprietary systemarchitecture models to address bottlenecks in emerging network architectures. Specifically, during this period, we developed and shipped our50 GHz MUX and DEMUX products. During this period, we also began development work on our initial 40G products. •In 2003, we introduced and shipped 13G, 25G and 50G logic products, 20G MUX and 40G transimpedance amplifiers and modulator driversfor the communications, test and measurement and military markets. During this period, we also began the development of our first generationhigh-speed PLLs and register solution used primarily in conjunction with double data rate 2, or DDR2, modules for the computing market. 31 •In 2005, we introduced and shipped our high-speed PLLs and register solution used primarily in conjunction with DDR2 modules for thecomputing market. •In 2006, we began development of our second generation single chip high-speed PLLs and register solution to be used primarily in conjunctionwith double data rate 3, or DDR3, modules for the computing market and were the first to introduce this product to the market. In addition, weintroduced and shipped track-and-hold amplifiers for the communications market. •In 2007, we began volume shipments of our high-speed PLLs and register solution used primarily in conjunction with DDR2 modules, andcontinued development of our single chip high-speed PLLs and register solution, used primarily in conjunction with DDR3 modules. •In 2008, we began volume shipments of our 40G drivers for the communications market and commenced shipments of our high-speed PLLs andregister solution used primarily in conjunction with DDR3 modules for the computing market. •In 2009, due to the launch of Intel’s Nehalem-based platform servers, we began volume shipments of our single chip high-speed PLLs and registersolution to be used primarily in conjunction with DDR3 modules. We also shipped engineering samples of the first generation of our isolationmemory buffer, or iMB, for the computing market. We also began development of our second generation iMB product, the architecture forwhich has been adopted by the Joint Electronic Device Engineering Council, or JEDEC, and development of our low power CMOS SerDes productfor next generation 100G Ethernet in enterprise networks. •In 2010, we began to ship in production volume a “low voltage” version of our integrated PLL and register buffer. We also shipped engineeringsamples of the second generation iMB product. We also introduced and began to ship in commercial volume the industry’s first transimpedanceampliform for 100G reconfigurable colorless networks, which we identify as product number 2850TA-SO1D. •In 2011, we began to ship in production volume a new “ultra-low voltage” version of our integrated PLL and register buffer and the secondgeneration of iMB. We also shipped engineering samples of our iPHY 100 Gbe CMOS CDR and SerDes Gearbox products. •In 2012, we started shipping samples of the IN3250TA, our second-generation transimpedance amplifier, or TIA, for 100G reconfigurable colorlessnetworks. We also introduced the industry’s first quad linear driver designed for linear transmitters to enable next-generation 100G/400G coherentsystems to address the need for higher speed, higher performance networking infrastructure. We also began shipping in production volume ourlowest power integrated phase lock loop and register buffer, which is shipping in the form of product number INSSTE32882XV. We also announcethe availability of the world’s first production ready 100G CMOS PHY/SerDes Gearbox products for next-generation data center, enterprise andservice provider line cards. •In 2013, we introduced the second generation 100G CMOS SerDes gearbox integrated circuit, or GB IC, for data center, enterprise and serviceprovider line cards. The new GB IC with Tri-rate™ foundation is designed to enable seamless support of 10G, 40G and 100G Ethernet and opticaltransport network on a single line card. We also began shipping an improved version of iMB which delivers up to 35% improvement inLRDIMM bandwidth for 768BG memory capacities and 40% improvement in memory bandwidth for servers up to 512GB memory capacities. Wealso introduced the next generation high speed memory interface product, DDR4 register for the computing market. We also began shipping theindustry’s first quad linear driver designed for linear transmitters to enable next-generation 100G/400G coherent systems to address the need forhigher speed, higher performance networking infrastructure. •In 2014, we completed the acquisition of Cortina Systems Inc. which expands our market share of the high-speed optical and networkinginterconnects. This added more than 130 products in our portfolio which includes high-speed interconnect and optical transport products. We alsostarted sampling the IN3252TA, the industry’s first 32 Gbps dual high gain linear/variable-gain amplifier. The IN3252TA is designed specificallyto address the demanding requirements for 100G coherent transmission for the Metro market. We also announced the availability of a new iKON™family of 100G Clock and Data Recovery Retimer integrated circuits (IC) targeted at next-generation 2-Terabit line cards. The first product in thisseries, the IN112525-LC 100G CMOS CDR Retimer IC, is designed to accelerate deployment for higher density 100G in service center and datacenter networks. We also announced the availability of IN3216DZ, the first single chip quad channel linear Mach Zehnder driver in bare die formto address the network needs for 100G coherent systems in small form factors for the metro market. Specifically designed to be co-packaged withMZ modulators, the IN3216DZ will reduce size and cost of 100G coherent systems to enable higher density metro solutions. We also startedsampling 45GBaud Linear Coherent Product Family, the industry’s first linear ICs enabling 400G coherent solutions for next-generation metro tolong haul applications. The initial product offerings includes IN4514SZ, a high-performance octal linear differential to single-ended Mach-Zehnder Modulator Driver and IN4550TA, a quad linear TIA/VGA Amplifier. 32™™™™™ Our products are designed into systems sold by OEMs, including Alcatel-Lucent, Ciena, Cisco, Dell, EMC, HP, IBM, Juniper and Oracle. Webelieve we are one of a limited number of suppliers to these OEMs for the types of products we sell, and in some cases we may be the sole supplier forcertain applications. We sell both directly to these OEMs and to module manufacturers, original design manufacturers, or ODMs, and subsystemsproviders that, in turn, sell to these OEMs. During the year ended December 31, 2014, we sold our products to more than 160 customers. A significantportion of our revenue has been generated by a limited number of customers. Sales to Samsung, including its subcontractors, accounted for 18% and 20%of our total revenue for the years ended December 31, 2014 and 2013, respectively. Sales directly and through distributors to Micron accounted for 11%of our total revenue for the year ended December 31, 2013. In addition, sales to SK Hynix, including its subcontractor, accounted for 16% of our totalrevenue for the year ended December 31, 2013. Substantially all of our sales to date, including our sales to Samsung, Micron and SK Hynix, are made on apurchase order basis. Since the beginning of 2006, we have shipped more than 100 million high-speed analog semiconductors. Our total revenueincreased to $156.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2014 from $102.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2013. The increase in revenue forthe year ended December 31, 2014 was partially due to the acquisition of Cortina Systems as of October 3, 2014. As of December 31, 2014, ouraccumulated deficit was $89.2 million. Sales to customers in Asia accounted for 71%, 71% and 65% of our total revenue in 2014, 2013 and 2012, respectively. Because many of ourcustomers or their OEM manufacturers are located in Asia, we anticipate that a majority of our future revenue will continue to come from sales to thatregion. Although a large percentage of our sales are made to customers in Asia, we believe that a significant number of the systems designed by thesecustomers are then sold to end users outside Asia. In April 2010, we received approval from the government of Singapore to set up an international headquarters from which to conduct ourinternational operations. Because of its geographic alignment with suppliers and customers, we established our operations in Singapore to become a newinternational headquarters office for receiving and fulfilling orders for product shipped to locations outside the United States. Singapore has a stronguniversity system and an established group of technology-based companies from which to recruit new engineers. We intend to build a team ofengineering capability in Singapore both for development as well as testing associated with manufacturing. International operations in Singaporecommenced on May 1, 2010 and during 2010, we transitioned our international operations from the United States to our Singapore subsidiary. As ofDecember 31, 2014, our Singapore subsidiary leases 6,374 square feet of office space and employs 25 full time employees. Demand for new features changes rapidly. It is difficult for us to forecast the demand for our products, in part because of the complex supply chainbetween us and the end-user markets that incorporate our products. Due to our lengthy product development cycle, it is critical for us to anticipatechanges in demand for our various product features and the applications they serve to allow sufficient time for product development and design. Ourfailure to accurately forecast demand can lead to product shortages that can impede production by our customers and harm our customer relationships.Conversely, our failure to forecast declining demand or shifts in product mix can result in excess or obsolete inventory. Although revenue generated by each design win and the timing of the recognition of that revenue can vary significantly, we consider ongoingdesign wins to be a key factor in our future success. We consider a design win to occur when an OEM or contract manufacturer notifies us that it hasselected our products to be incorporated into a product or system under development. The design win process is typically lengthy, and as a result, oursales cycles will vary based on the market served, whether the design win is with an existing or new customer and whether our product is underconsideration for inclusion in a first or subsequent generation product. In addition, our customers’ products that incorporate our semiconductors can becomplex and can require a substantial amount of time to define, design and produce in volume. As a result, we can incur significant design anddevelopment expenditures in circumstances where we do not ultimately recognize, or experience delays in recognizing revenue. Our customers generallyorder our products on a purchase order basis. We do not have any long-term purchase commitments (in excess of one year) from any of our customers.Once our product is incorporated into a customer’s design, however, we believe that our product is likely to continue to be purchased for that designthroughout that product’s life cycle because of the time and expense associated with redesigning the product or substituting an alternativesemiconductor. Our design cycle from initial engagement to volume shipment is typically two to three years. Product life cycles in the markets we servetypically range from two to 10 years or more and vary by application. As a result of the Cortina acquisition, on October 16, 2014, the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors granted one-time employmentrestricted stock unit awards of 1,000,000 shares to certain Cortina employees who entered employment with us commencing upon the closing of theacquisition. The awards vest over four years contingent upon continuous service. Summary of Consolidated Financial Results As discussed in more detail below, for the year ended December 31, 2014, compared to the year ended December 31, 2013, we delivered thefollowing financial performance. The financial results for the year ended December 31, 2014, include the results of operations of Cortina from theacquisition date to December 31, 2014 and the effect of purchase price accounting. 33 ●Total revenues increased by $53.5 million, or 52%, to $156.1 million. ●Gross profit as a percentage of revenue decreased from 64% to 55%. ●Total operating expenses increased by $29.1 million, or 37%, to $107.0 million. ●Loss from operations increased by $9.1 million, to loss of $21.4 million. ●Provision for income tax was consistent from prior year. ●Diluted loss per share increased by $0.24, to ($0.69). The increase in our revenue for the year ended December 31, 2014 was a result of an increase in consumption of our dual linear TIAs, quad lineardriver products, iPHY products, iMB, high-speed interconnect and optical transport products. The decline in gross margin was due to the amortization of inventory fair value step-up related to the acquired Cortina inventories, sold during thefourth quarter of 2014 and amortization of the acquired intangibles. Total operating expenses increased due primarily to an increase in headcount and stock-based compensation. Our expenses primarily consist ofpersonnel costs, which include compensation, benefits, payroll related taxes and stock-based compensation. In 2014, we hired 95 new employees,primarily in the engineering department. In addition, the acquisition of Cortina added 145 employees in the fourth quarter of 2014. We expect expensesto continue to increase in absolute dollars as we continue to invest resources to develop more products, to support the growth of our business. Our dilutedloss per share increased primarily due to increase in operating expenses offset partially by increase in revenue. Critical Accounting Policies and Significant Management Estimates Our consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, or GAAP. In connectionwith the preparation of our consolidated financial statements, we are required to make assumptions and estimates about future events, and applyjudgments that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenue, expenses and the related disclosures. We base our assumptions, estimates andjudgments on historical experience, current trends and other factors that management believes to be relevant at the time our consolidated financialstatements are prepared. On a regular basis, we review the accounting policies, assumptions, estimates and judgments to ensure that our consolidatedfinancial statements are presented fairly and in accordance with GAAP. However, because future events and their effects cannot be determined withcertainty, actual results could differ from our assumptions and estimates, and such differences could be material. Our significant accounting policies are discussed in note 1 of the notes to our consolidated financial statements. We believe that the followingaccounting estimates are the most critical to aid in fully understanding and evaluating our reported financial results, and they require our most difficult,subjective or complex judgments, resulting from the need to make estimates about the effect of matters that are inherently uncertain. We have reviewedthese critical accounting estimates and related disclosures with our audit committee. Revenue Recognition Our products are fully functional at the time of shipment and do not require production, modification or customization. We recognize revenue fromproduct sales when persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists, delivery has occurred, the fee is fixed or determinable and collection is reasonablyassured. Our fee is considered fixed or determinable at the execution of an agreement, based on specific products and quantities to be delivered atspecified prices, which is evidenced by a customer purchase order or other persuasive evidence of an arrangement. Our agreements with non-distributorcustomers do not include rights of return or acceptance provisions. Product revenue is recognized upon shipment of product to customers, net of accrualsfor estimated sales returns and allowances, which to date, have not been significant. Approximately 16% of our sales were made through third-party distributors in 2014. Sales to distributors are included in deferred revenue and weinclude the related costs in inventory until sales and delivery to the end customers occurs. Distributor arrangements, allow for limited price protection andrights of stock rotation on product unsold by the distributors. The price protection rights allow distributors the right to a credit in the event of declines inthe price of our product that they hold prior to the sale to a specific end customer. In the event that we reduce the selling price of products held bydistributors, deferred revenue related to distributors with price protection rights is reduced upon notification to the customer of the price change.Additionally, distributors may receive a credit for the price discounts associated with the distributors' customers that purchased those products. Weestimate the extent of these distributor price discounts at each reporting period to reduce accounts receivable and deferred revenue, but we do not issuethese discounts to the distributor until the inventory is sold to the distributors' customers. Revenue recognition on product sales through distributors ishighly dependent on receiving pertinent and accurate data from our distributors in a timely fashion. Distributors provide us periodic data prior to therelease of our consolidated financial statements regarding the product, price, quantity and end customer when products are resold, as well as the quantitiesof our products they still have in stock. 34™ We monitor collectability of accounts receivable primarily through review of the accounts receivable aging. Our policy is to record an allowancefor doubtful accounts based on specific collection issues we have identified, aging of underlying receivables and historical experience of uncollectiblebalances. As of December 31, 2014 and 2013, our allowance for doubtful accounts was $165,000 and $152,000, respectively. We have not made any material changes in the accounting methodology we use to record the allowance for doubtful accounts during the past threeyears. If actual results are not consistent with the assumptions and estimates used, for example, if the financial condition of the customer deteriorated, wemay be required to record additional expense that could materially negatively impact our operating results. To date, however, substantially all of ourreceivables have been collected within following quarter. Inventory Valuation We value our inventory, which includes materials, labor and overhead, at the lower of cost or market. Cost is computed using standard cost, whichapproximates actual cost, on a first-in, first-out basis. We periodically write-down our inventory to the lower of cost or market based on our estimates thatconsider historical usage and future demand. These factors are impacted by market and economic conditions, technology changes, new productintroductions and changes in strategic direction. The calculation of our inventory valuation requires management to make assumptions and to applyjudgment regarding forecasted customer demand and technological obsolescence that may turn out to be inaccurate. Inventory valuation reserves were$1,949,000 and $1,479,000 as of December 31, 2014 and 2013, respectively. Inventory valuation reserves, once established, are not reversed until therelated inventory has been sold or scrapped. We have not made any material changes in the accounting methodology we use to record inventory reserves during the past three years. We do notbelieve there is a reasonable likelihood that there will be a material change in the future estimates or assumptions that we use to calculate our inventoryreserve. However, if estimates regarding customer demand are inaccurate or changes in technology affect demand for certain products in an unforeseenmanner, we may be exposed to losses or gains that could be material. Product Warranty Our products are under warranty against defects in material and workmanship generally for a period of one or two years. We accrue for estimatedwarranty cost at the time of sale based on anticipated warranty claims and actual historical warranty claims experience including knowledge of specificproduct failures that are outside of our typical experience. The warranty obligation is determined based on product failure rates, cost of replacement andfailure analysis cost. We monitor product returns for warranty-related matters and monitor both a specific and general accrual for the related warrantyexpense based on specific circumstances and general historical experience. Our warranty obligation requires management to make assumptions regardingfailure rates and failure analysis costs. If actual warranty costs differ significantly from these estimates, adjustments may be required in the future, whichwould adversely affect our gross margins and operating results. The warranty liability as of December 31, 2014 and 2013, were $110,000 and $40,000,respectively. On November 3, 2014, we received a claim notification from an insurance company asserting a claim of approximately $4,000,000 for fieldinstallation repair and replacement costs incurred by a customer in 2011. We believe that we had fulfilled our contractual obligation to provide warrantyrepair and replacement, but referred the matter to our insurance carrier at the request of the insurance company. As of December 31, 2014, we believe theliability under this claim is not probable. Nevertheless, resolutions of third-party claims are inherently uncertain and as such, an unfavorable outcomecould ultimately impact our business, cash flow and results of operations. In September 2010, we were informed of a claim related to repair and replacement costs in connection with shipments of over 4,000 integratedcircuits made by us during the summer and fall of 2009. We also assessed, provided and accumulated additional warranty reserves based on estimated,probable costs to replace units. In March 2010, we developed additional tests to screen out the wafer die that might be susceptible to a suspected type offailure ultimately related to the lack of a manufacturing process design rule and resumed shipments to the customer. Based on our standard warrantyprovisions, we provided replacement parts to the customer for the known and suspected failures that had occurred. In 2012, based on additional reviewinvestigation and settlement discussions with the customer, we booked an additional warranty cost of $750,000. This amount was recorded as a reductionto revenue. In June 2012, we entered into a settlement agreement with the customer in which we paid $1,750,000 in July 2012. Business combinations We use the acquisition method of accounting for business combinations and recognize assets acquired and liabilities assumed measured at theirfair values on the date acquired. This requires us to recognize separately from goodwill the assets acquired and the liabilities assumed at their acquisitiondate fair values. Goodwill as of the acquisition date is measured as the excess of consideration transferred over the net of the acquisition date fair values ofthe assets acquired and the liabilities assumed. While we use our best estimates and assumptions to accurately value assets acquired and liabilitiesassumed at the acquisition date as well as contingent consideration, where applicable, our estimates are inherently uncertain and subject to refinement. Asa result, during the measurement period, which may be up to one year from the acquisition date, we adjust the assets acquired and liabilities assumed withthe corresponding offset to goodwill. Upon the conclusion of the measurement period or final determination of the values of assets acquired or liabilitiesassumed, whichever comes first, any subsequent adjustments are recognized in our consolidated statements of operations. 35 Accounting for business combinations requires our management to make significant estimates and assumptions, especially at the acquisition date,including our estimates for intangible assets, contractual obligations assumed and pre-acquisition contingencies, where applicable. Although we believethe assumptions and estimates we have made in the past have been reasonable and appropriate, they are based, in part, on historical experience andinformation obtained from the management of the acquired companies and are inherently uncertain. Critical estimates in valuing certain of the intangibleassets we have acquired include, but are not limited to: future expected cash flows from product sales, customer contracts and acquired technologies,expected costs to develop in-process research and development into commercially viable products, estimated cash flows from the projects whencompleted, and discount rates. Unanticipated events and circumstances may occur that may affect the accuracy or validity of such assumptions, estimatesor actual results. Goodwill and Purchased Intangible Assets Goodwill is recorded as the difference, if any, between the aggregate consideration paid for an acquisition and the fair value of the acquired nettangible and intangible assets. The amounts and useful lives assigned to intangible assets acquired, other than goodwill, impact the amount and timing offuture amortization. The value of our intangible assets, including goodwill, could be impacted by future adverse changes such as: (a) any future declinesin our operating results, (b) a decline in the valuation of technology company stocks, including the valuation of our common stock, (c) a furthersignificant slowdown in the worldwide economy or the semiconductor industry, (d) any failure to meet the performance projections included in ourforecasts of future operating results or (e) the abandonment of any of our acquired in-process research and development projects. We evaluate goodwilland purchased intangible assets deemed to have indefinite lives, on an annual basis in the fourth quarter or more frequently if we believe indicators ofimpairment exist. Significant management judgment is required in performing periodic impairment tests. The testing for a potential impairment ofgoodwill involves a two-step process. The first step involves comparing the estimated fair values of our reporting unit with the book values, includinggoodwill. If the estimated fair value exceeds book value, goodwill is considered not to be impaired and no additional steps are necessary. If, however, thefair value of the reporting unit is less than book value, then the carrying amount of the goodwill is compared with its implied fair value. The estimate ofimplied fair value of goodwill may require valuations of certain internally generated and unrecognized intangible assets such as our technology,customer relationships, patents and trademarks. If the carrying amount of goodwill exceeds the implied fair value of that goodwill, an impairment loss isrecognized in an amount equal to the excess. If our actual results, or the plans and estimates used in future impairment analyses, are lower than theoriginal estimates used to assess the recoverability of these assets, we could incur additional impairment charges. The acquisition of Cortina on October 3,2014 increased our goodwill and identifiable intangible assets by $3,530,000 and $82,410,000, respectively. See note 2 to the notes to our consolidatedfinancial statements. Stock-Based Compensation We account for stock-based compensation in accordance with authoritative guidance which requires the measurement and recognition ofcompensation expense for all share-based payment awards made to employees and directors based on the grant date fair values of the awards. The fairvalue of stock option awards is estimated using the Black-Scholes option pricing model. The fair value of restricted stock units is based on the fair marketvalue of our common stock on the date of grant. The value of the award that is ultimately expected to vest is recognized as expense over the requisiteservice periods in our consolidated statements of operations. We elected to treat share-based payment awards with graded vesting schedules and time-based service conditions as a single award and recognize stock-based compensation expense on a straight-line basis (net of estimated forfeitures) over therequisite service period. Stock-based compensation expenses are classified in the consolidated statement of operations based on the department to whichthe related employee reports. We account for stock options issued to non-employees in accordance with the guidance for equity-based payments to non-employees. Stock optionawards to non-employees are accounted for at fair value using the Black-Scholes option pricing model. Our management believes that the fair value ofstock options is more reliably measured than the fair value of the services received. The fair value of the unvested portion of the options granted to non-employees is re-measured each period. The resulting increase in value, if any, is recognized as expense during the period the related services are rendered. The Black-Scholes option pricing model requires management to make assumptions and to apply judgment in determining the fair value of ourawards. The most significant assumptions and judgments include estimating the fair value of underlying stock, expected volatility and expected term. Inaddition, the recognition of stock-based compensation expense is impacted by estimated forfeiture rates. 36 We estimated the expected volatility from the historical volatilities of several unrelated public companies within the semiconductor industrybecause our common stock has limited trading history. When selecting the public companies used in the volatility calculation, we selected companies inthe semiconductor industry with comparable characteristics to us, including stage of development, lines of business, market capitalization, revenue andfinancial leverage. The weighted average expected life of options was calculated using the simplified method. This decision was based on the lack ofrelevant historical data due to our limited experience and the lack of active market for our common stock. The risk-free interest rate is based on the U.S.Treasury yields in effect at the time of grant for periods corresponding to the expected term of the options. The expected dividend rate is zero based onthe fact that we have not historically paid dividends and have no intention to pay cash dividends in the foreseeable future. The forfeiture rate isestablished based on the historical average period of time that options were outstanding and adjusted for expected changes in future exercise patterns. We do not believe there is a reasonable likelihood that there will be material changes in the estimates and assumptions we use to determine stock-based compensation expense. In the future, if we determine that other option valuation models are more reasonable, the stock-based compensationexpense that we record in the future may differ significantly from what we have recorded using the Black-Scholes option pricing model. Income Taxes Deferred tax assets and liabilities are determined based on differences between financial reporting and tax bases of assets and liabilities, and aremeasured using the enacted tax rates and laws that will be in effect when and where the differences are expected to reverse. We record a valuationallowance to reduce deferred tax assets to the amount that we believe is more likely than not to be realized. In assessing the need for a valuationallowance, we consider all positive and negative evidence, including scheduled reversals of deferred tax liabilities, historical levels of income,projections of future income, expectations and risk associated with estimates of future taxable income and ongoing prudent and practical tax planningstrategies. To the extent that we believe it is more likely than not that some portion of our deferred tax assets will not be realized, we would increase thevaluation allowance against deferred tax assets. The determination of recording or releasing a tax valuation allowance is made, in part, pursuant to anassessment performed by management regarding the likelihood that we will generate sufficient future taxable income against which the benefits of ourdeferred tax assets may or may not be realized. This assessment requires management to exercise significant judgment and make estimates with respect toour ability to generate revenue, gross profits, operating income and taxable income in future periods. Among other factors, management must makeassumptions regarding current and projected overall business and semiconductor industry conditions, operating efficiencies, our ability to timelydevelop, introduce and consistently manufacture new products to meet our customers’ needs and specifications, our ability to adapt to technologicalchanges and the competitive environment, which may impact our ability to generate taxable income and, in turn, realize the value of our deferred taxassets. Although, we believe that the judgment we used is reasonable, actual results can differ due to a change in market conditions, changes in tax lawsand other factors. We have valuation allowance against deferred tax assets for the years ended December 31, 2014, 2013 and 2012. The decision to establish thevaluation allowance in 2012 was due to negative evidence that includes our cumulative losses in U.S., Singapore and Taiwan after considering permanenttax differences and the passage of new California tax law requiring use of single sales factor which reduces the amount of California taxable incomestarting 2013. In accordance with FASBs guidance on Accounting for Uncertainty in Income Taxes, we perform a comprehensive review of uncertain tax positionsregularly. The guidance prescribes a recognition threshold and measurement attribute for the financial statement recognition and measurement of a taxposition taken, or expected to be taken, in a tax return. We determine the tax liability for uncertain tax positions based on a two-step process. The firststep is to determine whether it is more likely than not based on technical merits that each income tax position would be sustained upon examination. Thesecond step is to measure the tax benefit as the largest amount that has a greater than 50% likelihood of being realized upon ultimate settlement with atax authority that has full knowledge of all relevant information. The assessment of each tax position requires significant judgment and estimates. Webelieve our tax return positions are fully supported, but tax authorities could challenge certain positions, which may not be fully sustained. All taxpositions are periodically analyzed and adjusted as a result of events, such as the resolution of tax audits, issuance of new regulations or new case law,negotiations with tax authorities, and expiration of statutes of limitations. Results of Operations and Key Operating Metrics The following describes the line items in the statements of operations, which we consider to be our key operating metrics. Revenue. We generate revenue from sales of our semiconductor products to end customers. A portion of our products is sold indirectly to customersthrough distributors. 37 We design and develop high-speed analog semiconductor solutions for the communications and computing markets. Our revenue is driven byvarious trends in these markets. These trends include the deployment and broader market adoption of next generation 100G technologies incommunications and enterprise networks, the timing of next generation network and enterprise server upgrades in different geographic locationsworldwide, the introduction and broader market adoption of next generation server platforms such as Intel’s Haswell-based platform, and the deploymentof high-speed memory interfaces in server and computing platforms. Our revenue is also impacted by changes in the number and average selling prices of our semiconductor products. Our products are typicallycharacterized by a life cycle that begins with higher average selling prices and lower volumes, followed by broader market adoption, higher volumes, andaverage selling prices that are lower than initial levels. We operate in industries characterized by rapidly changing technologies and industry standards as well as technological obsolescence. Our revenuegrowth is dependent on our ability to continually develop and introduce new products to meet the changing technology and performance requirements ofour customers, diversify our revenue base and generate new revenue to replace, or build upon, the success of previously introduced products which maybe rapidly maturing. As a result, our revenue is impacted to a more significant extent by product life cycles for a variety of products and to a much lesserextent, if any, by any single product. In 2011, we began to ship in production volume a new “ultra-low voltage” version of our integrated PLL andregister buffer, which is shipping in the form of product number INSSTE32882UV-GS02, or the GS02UV product. Sales of the GS02UV productcomprised 15%, 39% and 45% of our total revenue in 2014, 2013 and 2012, respectively. In 2010, we introduced and began to ship in commercialvolume a dual, differential linear TIA, which we identify as product number 2850TA-SO1D. Sales of 2850TA-SO1D product comprised 10% and 14% ofour total revenue in 2013 and 2012, respectively. In 2012, we introduced and began to ship in commercial volume a dual, differential input lineartransimpedance/variable-gain amplifier that we identify as product number IN3250TA-SO2D. Sales of IN3250TA-SO2D product comprised 14% of ourtotal revenue in 2014. In 2015, we expect that revenue from sales of IN3250TA-SO2D will be significant. The following table is based on the geographic location to which our product is initially shipped. In most cases this will differ from the ultimatelocation of the end user of a product containing our technology. For sales to our distributors, their geographic location may be different from thegeographic locations of the ultimate end customer. Sales by geography for the periods indicated were: Year Ended December 31, 2014 2013 2012 (in thousands) China $54,312 $23,039 $20,724 United States 22,918 22,389 21,582 Korea 10,123 21,818 17,424 Other 68,789 35,418 31,476 $156,142 $102,664 $91,206 In 2013, we were shipping products to a customer in Korea. However, in 2014, this customer requested to ship majority of the products to theirfacility in China, which resulted in a significant shift in revenue between China and Korea. In addition, the increase in shipments to China was due torevenue generated from Cortina during the fourth quarter of 2014. Cost of revenue. Cost of revenue includes cost of materials such as wafers processed by third-party foundries, costs associated with packaging andassembly, test and shipping, cost of personnel, including stock-based compensation, as well as equipment associated with manufacturing support,logistics and quality assurance, warranty costs, write down of inventories, amortization of production mask costs, amortization of developed technology,amortization of step-up values of inventory, overhead and other indirect costs, such as allocated occupancy and information technology, or IT, costs. As some semiconductor products mature and unit volumes increase, their average selling prices may decline. These declines are often paired withimprovements in manufacturing yields and lower wafer, assembly and test costs, which offset some of the margin reduction that results from lower prices.However, our gross profit, period over period, may fluctuate as a result of changes in average selling prices due to new product introductions or existingproduct transitions into larger scale commercial volumes, manufacturing costs as well as our product mix. Research and development. Research and development expense includes personnel-related expenses, including salaries, stock-based compensationand employee benefits. It also includes pre-production engineering mask costs, software license expenses, prototype wafer, packaging and test costs,design and development costs, testing and evaluation costs, depreciation expense and other indirect costs. All research and development costs areexpensed as incurred. We enter into development agreements with some of our customers. Recoveries from nonrecurring engineering services are recordedas an offset to product development expense incurred in support of this effort since these activities do not represent an earning process core to ourbusiness and serve as a mechanism to partially recover development expenditures. These reimbursements are recognized upon completion and acceptanceby the customer of contract deliverables or milestones. We expect research and development expense to increase in absolute dollars as we continue toinvest resources to develop more products and enhance our existing product portfolio. 38 Sales and marketing. Sales and marketing expense consists primarily of salaries, stock-based compensation, employee benefits, travel, promotions,trade shows, marketing and customer support, commission payments to employees, depreciation expense and other indirect costs. We expect sales andmarketing expense to increase in absolute dollars to support the growth of our business and promote our products to current and potential customers. General and administrative. General and administrative expense consists primarily of salaries, stock-based compensation, employee benefits andexpenses for executive management, legal, and finance. In addition, general and administrative expenses include fees for professional services and otherindirect costs. We expect general and administrative expense to increase in absolute dollars due to the general growth of our business and the costsassociated with becoming a public company for, among other things, SEC reporting and compliance, director fees, insurance, transfer agent fees andsimilar expenses. Provision (benefit) for income taxes. For the year ended December 31, 2012, we recorded provision for income taxes of $13.7 million, whichreflects an effective tax rate of 195%. The effective tax rate of 195% differs from the statutory rate of 35% primarily due to the full valuation allowanceestablished against net deferred tax assets and, to a lesser extent, foreign income taxes provided at lower rates, geographic mix in profitability,recognition of research and development credits and unrecognized tax benefits. For the year ended December 31, 2013, we recorded provision for incometaxes of $1.8 million, which reflects an effective tax rate of 15%. The effective tax rate of 15% differs from the statutory rate of 34% primarily due to thean increase in valuation allowance, foreign income taxes provided at lower rates, geographic mix in profitability, unrecognized tax benefits andrecognition of research and development credits. For the year ended December 31, 2014, we recorded provision for income taxes of $1.7 million, whichreflects an effective tax rate of 8%. The effective tax rate of 8% differs from the statutory rate of 34% primarily due to increase in valuation allowance,foreign income taxes provided at lower rates, geographic mix in profitability, unrecognized tax benefits, transaction cost adjustment and recognition ofresearch and development credits. The following table sets forth a summary of our statement of operations for the periods indicated: Year Ended December 31, 2014 2013 2012 (in thousands) Total revenue $156,142 $102,664 $91,206 Cost of revenue 70,488 37,095 32,684 Gross profit 85,654 65,569 58,522 Operating expense: Research and development 70,863 50,516 40,102 Sales and marketing 20,003 15,741 14,052 General and administrative 16,153 11,614 12,300 Total operating expenses 107,019 77,871 66,454 Loss from operations (21,365) (12,302) (7,932)Interest and other income 495 876 914 Loss before income taxes (20,870) (11,426) (7,018)Provision for income taxes 1,738 1,752 13,673 Net loss $(22,608) $(13,178) $(20,691) The following table sets forth a summary of our statement of operations as a percentage of each line item to the revenue: Year Ended December 31, 2014 2013 2012 Total revenue 100% 100% 100%Cost of revenue 45 36 36 Gross profit 55 64 64 Operating expense: Research and development 45 49 44 Sales and marketing 13 16 15 General and administrative 10 11 14 Total operating expenses 68 76 73 Loss from operations (13) (12) (9)Interest and other income - 1 1 Loss before income taxes (13) (11) (8)Provision (benefit) for income taxes 1 2 15 Net loss (14)% (13)% (23)% 39 Comparison of the Years Ended December 31, 2014, 2013 and 2012 Revenue Change Year Ended December 31, 2014 2013 2014 2013 2012 Amount % Amount % (dollars in thousands) Total revenue $156,142 $102,664 $91,206 $53,478 52% $11,458 13% Total revenue for the year ended December 31, 2014 increased by $53.5 million due to year over year increase in average selling price of 63%,partially offset by a decrease in the number of units sold of 7%. The increase in average selling price was due to product mix, mainly from sales of ourhigher priced products including dual linear TIA, quad linear driver products, iMB, high-speed interconnect and optical transport products. For the yearended December 31, 2014, the number of units sold decreased by 7% mainly from decrease in consumption of our other high speed memory interfaceproducts. We believe the reduction in the unit consumption of high speed memory is the natural result of migration to higher capacity DiMM cards ateconomic prices made possible in part by the availability of higher capacity DRAM at economic prices. In effect, a requirement for the same or morememory capacity can now be placed on a single card, thereby naturally absorbing the same or more aggregate memory requirement into a smaller numberof cards. Total revenue for the year ended December 31, 2013 increased by $11.5 million due to year over year increase in number of units sold and averageselling price of 7% and 4%, respectively. The increase in number of units sold was due to sale of high speed memory interface products, dual, differentiallinear TIA, iPHY 100Gbe CMOS gearbox products and iMB™. The increase in average selling price of 4% was due to product mix. In addition, revenueincreased by $0.8 million due to provision for estimated settlement of a warranty claim with a customer that was several years old, which was recorded asa reduction in revenue for the year ended December 31, 2012. Cost of Revenue and Gross Profit Change Year Ended December 31, 2014 2013 2014 2013 2012 Amount % Amount % (dollars in thousands) Cost of revenue $70,488 $37,095 $32,684 $33,393 90% $4,411 13%Gross profit 85,654 65,569 58,522 20,085 31% 7,047 12%Gross profit as a percentage of revenue 55% 64% 64% — (9%) — — Cost of revenue and gross profit for the year ended December 31, 2014 increased by $33.4 million and $20.1 million, respectively, compared to theprior year primarily due to increase in revenue from sales our dual linear TIA, quad linear driver products, iMB, high-speed interconnect and opticaltransport products which generated higher margin. Product costs as a percentage of revenue decreased due to the amortization of inventory fair value step-up related to the acquired Cortina inventories, sold during the fourth quarter of 2014 and amortization of the acquired intangibles. Cost of revenue and gross profit for the year ended December 31, 2013 increased by $4.4 million and $7.0 million, respectively, compared to theprior year, primarily due to increase in the number of units purchased by customers of our high speed memory interface products, TIA, iPHY 100GbeCMOS gearbox products and iMB™, consistent with the overall increase in revenue. Product costs as a percentage of revenue were relatively unchangedcompared to the prior year. Research and Development Change Year Ended December 31, 2014 2013 2014 2013 2012 Amount % Amount % (dollars in thousands) Research and development $70,863 $50,516 $40,102 $20,347 40% $10,414 26% 40™™ Research and development expense for the year ended December 31, 2014 increased by $20.3 million due to the increase in research anddevelopment headcount from new employees hired in 2014 and as a result of the acquisition of Cortina, which resulted in a $12.9 million and $3.8million increase in personnel costs and stock-based compensation expense, respectively. Consulting fees and CAD software tool license expenseincreased by $2.2 million and $2.0 million, respectively, primarily due to an increase in headcount and engineering activities. In addition, external testservices and pre-production engineering mask costs increased by $2.0 million. Depreciation and allocated expenses increased by $5.2 million, primarily,due to an increase in equipment and research and development activities. The increases were partially offset by higher reimbursement from customersrelated to research and development contracts of $9.3 million due to new development contracts entered with the customers in 2014. The increase inresearch and development expense was primarily driven by acquisition of Cortina and our strategy to continue to expand our product offerings andenhance our existing products. Research and development expense for the year ended December 31, 2013 increased by $10.4 million primarily due to the increase in research anddevelopment headcount, which resulted in a $7.5 million increase in personnel costs and stock-based compensation expense and $1.5 million increase inCAD software tool license expense. In addition, total reimbursement from customers related to research and development contracts was lower by $1.5million due to expiration of a contract in 2012. The increases were partially offset by a decrease in consulting expenses by $1.6 million, in turn due to thehiring of engineers. The increase in research and development expense was driven by our strategy to continue to expand our product offerings andenhance our existing products. Sales and Marketing Change Year Ended December 31, 2014 2013 2014 2013 2012 Amount % Amount % (dollars in thousands) Sales and marketing $20,003 $15,741 $14,052 $4,262 27% $1,689 12% Sales and marketing expense for the year ended December 31, 2014 increased by $4.3 million, primarily due to an increase in personnel costs,including stock-based compensation expense of $3.2 million, to support increasing sales activities from new developed products and from the Cortinaacquisition. Sales and marketing expense for the year ended December 31, 2013 increased primarily due to an increase in personnel costs, including stock-basedcompensation expense and consulting fees of $1.6 million, to support increasing sales activities. General and Administrative Change Year Ended December 31, 2014 2013 2014 2013 2012 Amount % Amount % (dollars in thousands) General and administrative $16,153 $11,614 $12,300 $4,539 39% $(686) (6%) General and administrative expenses for the year ended December 31, 2014 increased primarily due to increase in outside legal fees of $1.8 millionin connection with the acquisition of Cortina. In addition, personnel costs and stock-based compensation expense increased by $1.6 million due to newhires from Cortina and stock grants awarded in 2014. General and administrative expenses for the year ended December 31, 2013 decreased primarily due to accrual of provisional costs related toemployment and other related claims, as well as associated costs of $1.0 million we recorded during the year ended December 31, 2012. In addition,outside legal fees decreased by $0.4 million, primarily related to reduced expenditures for litigation matters described in Note 15 of the notes to ourfinancial statements. The decreases were partially offset by increase in stock-based compensation expense of $0.9 million. 41 Provision (benefit) for Income Taxes Change Year Ended December 31, 2014 2013 2014 2013 2012 Amount % Amount % (dollars in thousands)Provision (benefit) for income taxes $1,738 $1,752 $13,673 $(14) — $(11,921) N/M For the year ended December 31, 2014, we recorded a provision for income taxes of $1.7 million, which reflects an effective tax rate of 8%. Theeffective tax rate of 8% differs from the statutory rate of 34% primarily due to the change in valuation allowance, foreign income taxes provided at lowerrates, geographic mix in profitability, unrecognized tax benefits, transaction costs adjustments and recognition of research and development credits. For the year ended December 31, 2013, we recorded a provision for income taxes of $1.8 million, which reflects an effective tax rate of 15%. Theeffective tax rate of 15% differs from the statutory rate of 34% primarily due to the change in valuation allowance, foreign income taxes provided at lowerrates, geographic mix in profitability, unrecognized tax benefits and recognition of research and development credits. For the year ended December 31, 2012, we recorded a provision for income taxes of $13.7 million, which reflects an effective tax rate of 195%. Theeffective tax rate of 195% differs from the statutory rate of 35% primarily due to full valuation allowance established against deferred tax assets and, to alesser extent, foreign income taxes provided at lower rates, geographic mix in profitability and recognition of research and development credits. Weestablished full valuation allowance against deferred tax assets for the year ended December 31, 2012. The decision to establish the valuation allowancewas due to negative evidence which includes the passage of California tax law requiring the use of single sales factor, which reduces the amount ofCalifornia taxable income starting 2013 and our recent cumulative losses in U.S., Singapore and Taiwan after considering permanent tax differences. We operate under tax holiday in Singapore, which is effective through May 2020. The tax holiday is conditional upon our meeting certainemployment, activities and investment thresholds. There was no impact of the Singapore tax holiday on our Singapore taxes in 2014, 2013 and 2012. Thebenefit of tax holidays has no material impact on diluted earnings per share. Liquidity and Capital Resources As of December 31, 2014, we had cash and cash equivalents and investments in marketable securities of $69.3 million. Our primary uses of cash areto fund operating expenses, purchase inventory and acquire property and equipment. Cash used to fund operating expenses is impacted by the timing ofwhen we pay these expenses, as reflected in the changes in our outstanding accounts payable and accrued expenses. Our primary sources of cash are cashreceipts on accounts receivable from our revenue. Aside from the growth in amounts billed to our customers, net cash collections of accounts receivableare impacted by the efficiency of our cash collections process, which can vary from period to period, depending on the payment cycles of our majorcustomers. The following table summarizes our cash flows for the periods indicated: Years Ended December 31, 2014 2013 2012 (in thousands) Net cash provided by operating activities $8,386 $18,658 $6,468 Net cash used in investing activities (11,744) (20,098) (10,509)Net cash provided by financing activities 2,057 2,946 4,506 Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents $(1,301) $1,506 $465 Net Cash Provided by Operating Activities Net cash provided by operating activities in 2014 primarily reflected depreciation and amortization of $10.9 million, stock-based compensation of$22.5 million, abandonment of assets of $1.2 million, amortization of intangibles of $3.2 million, amortization of deferred tax charge of $0.9 million,amortization of premiums on marketable securities of $0.8 million, decrease in inventories of $10.1 million and increase in deferred revenue of $5.4million offset by net loss of $22.6 million, increase in accounts receivable by $8.7 million, increase in prepaid expenses by $3.3 million, decrease inaccounts payable and accrued expenses by $10.3 million and decrease in other liabilities of $1.7 million. Our inventories, net of acquired inventoriesfrom Cortina acquisition decreased due to shipments to customers. Our deferred revenue increased due to acquisition of Cortina and distributors increasedtheir inventory level for shipment to customers in the first quarter of 2015. Accounts receivable increased due to higher shipments made in the last monthof the quarter, including Cortina’s products. Our prepaid expenses and other assets increased as a result of new subscriptions with vendors and relatedprepayments. Our accounts payable and accrued expenses, net of assumed liabilities from Cortina acquisition, decreased due to payment to vendors andemployees. Other liabilities decreased due to amortization of advance payment received from a customer in 2013. 42 We completed the acquisition of Cortina for approximately $52.5 million in cash and approximately 5.3 million shares of our common stock. At theclosing of the Cortina acquisition, solely for purposes of convenience, Cortina also provided cash to the Company of approximately $17.2 million andsimultaneously directed the Company to use the cash to make certain post-acquisition payments of either acquisition- related, or pre- acquisitionobligations that the Definitive Agreement between the Company and Cortina would not have required the Company to assume. As a clarification to ourprevious disclosures and comments in our earnings call, the amount of Cortina cash acquired by the Company of $17.2 million reduces the amount ofcash paid for the acquisition of Cortina of $52.5 million as presented on the statement of cash flows under GAAP, and as a result, the amount reported inthe statement of cash flows for the acquisition of Cortina is $35.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2014. In addition, in discussing ourpreliminary fourth quarter results, we disclosed estimated cash flows from operations in the fourth quarter of approximately $16 million, which wasexclusive of the post-acquisition payments related to Cortina of $17.2 million and thus the amount was disclosed on a non-GAAP basis. As the post-acquisition payments were made in the year ended December 31, 2014 and related to operating cash flow activities, the amounts paid have been reflectedin the cash flow from operations in the statement of cash flows under GAAP for the year ended December 31, 2014. Net cash provided by operating activities in 2013 primarily reflected depreciation and amortization of $7.5 million, stock-based compensation of$17.0 million, impairment charge of $0.5 million, amortization of deferred tax charge of $0.9 million, amortization of premiums on marketable securitiesof $1.0 million, change in income tax receivable/payable by $3.0 million, increase in accounts payable and accrued expenses of $2.0 million, increase indeferred revenue of $0.6 million and other liabilities of $1.3 million offset by net loss of $13.2 million and increase in inventories of $1.9 million. Ouraccounts payable and accrued expenses increased as a result of increased production volume and employee related expenses. Our deferred revenueincreased as distributors increased their inventory level for shipment to customers in the first quarter of 2014. Other liabilities increased due to advancepayment received from a customer, which will be used in 2014. Our inventories increased a result of growing production for expected delivery tocustomers in the first quarter of 2014. Net cash provided by operating activities in 2012 primarily reflected depreciation and amortization of $4.9 million, stock-based compensation of$12.5 million, deferred income taxes of $10.0 million, amortization of deferred tax charge of $1.0 million, amortization of premiums on marketablesecurities of $1.2 million, change in income tax receivable/payable by $2.7 million, decrease in inventories of $0.8 million and increase in accountspayable and accrued expenses of $1.5 million offset by net loss of $20.7 million, excess tax benefit related to stock-based compensation of $2.1 million,increase in accounts receivable of $4.4 million and decrease in deferred revenue of $0.8 million. Our inventories decreased due to shipments to customers.Our accounts payable and accrued expenses increased as a result of increased production volume and employee related expenses. Accounts receivableincreased due to shipments made in the last month of the quarter. Our deferred revenue decreased as distributors reduced their inventory levels shippedparts to end customers to meet their demand. Net Cash Used in Investing Activities In 2014, net cash used in investing activities consisted of cash used to purchase investment in marketable securities of $38.6 million, acquisition ofCortina of $35.3 million, net of cash acquired, purchases of property and equipment of $21.2 million, mainly for laboratory, production and computerequipment and leasehold improvements for our offices, purchase of minority interest in an early stage private company for $5.0 million and purchase ofpatents for $1.6 million offset by sales and maturities of marketable securities of $89.9 million In 2013, net cash used in investing activities consisted of cash used to purchase investment in marketable securities of $43.1 million, purchases ofproperty and equipment of $16.6 million, mainly for laboratory and production equipment and leasehold improvements for our offices in California,purchase of minority interest in an early stage private company for $2.6 million offset by sales and maturities of marketable securities of $42.2 million. In 2012, net cash used in investing activities consisted of cash used to purchase investment in marketable securities of $47 million and purchases ofproperty and equipment of $8.4 million, mainly for laboratory and production equipment and leasehold improvements for our offices in California, offsetby sales and maturities of marketable securities of $44.7 million. Net Cash Provided by Financing Activities Net cash provided by financing activities in 2014, consisted primarily of proceeds from exercise of stock options and employee stock purchase planof $7.0 million. This was offset, in part, by the minimum tax withholding paid on behalf of employees for restricted stock units of $5.0 million. Net cash provided by financing activities in 2013, consisted primarily of proceeds from exercise of stock options and employee stock purchase planof $5.1 million. This was offset, in part, by the minimum tax withholding paid on behalf of employees for restricted stock units of $2.2 million. Net cash provided by financing activities in 2012, consisted primarily of $2.8 million proceeds from exercise of stock options and employee stockpurchase plan and excess tax benefit related to stock-based compensation of $2.1 million. This was offset, in part, by the minimum tax withholding paidon behalf of employees for restricted stock units of $0.3 million. 43 Operating and Capital Expenditure Requirements Our principal source of liquidity as of December 31, 2014 consisted of $69.3 million of cash, cash equivalents and investments in marketablesecurities. Based on our current operating plan, we believe that our existing cash and cash equivalents and investments in marketable securities fromoperations will be sufficient to finance our operational cash needs through at least the next 12 months. In the future, we expect our operating and capitalexpenditures to increase as we increase headcount, expand our business activities and grow our end customer base which will result in higher needs forworking capital. Our ability to generate cash from operations is also subject to substantial risks described in Part I, “Item 1A., Risk Factors.” If any of theserisks occur, we may be unable to generate or sustain positive cash flow from operating activities. We would then be required to use existing cash and cashequivalents to support our working capital and other cash requirements. If additional funds are required to support our working capital requirements,acquisitions or other purposes, we may seek to raise funds through debt financing or from other sources. If we raise additional funds through the issuanceof equity or convertible debt securities, the percentage ownership of our stockholders could be significantly diluted, and these newly-issued securitiesmay have rights, preferences or privileges senior to those of existing stockholders. If we raise additional funds by obtaining loans from third parties, theterms of those financing arrangements may include negative covenants or other restrictions on our business that could impair our operating flexibility,and would also require us to incur interest expense. We can provide no assurance that additional financing will be available at all or, if available, that wewould be able to obtain additional financing on terms favorable to us. Contractual Obligations, Commitments and Contingencies The following table summarizes our outstanding contractual obligations as of December 31, 2014: Payments due by period Total LessThan1 Year 1-3Years 3-5Years MoreThan5 Years (in thousands) Operating lease obligations $33,263 $15,131 $15,129 $3,003 — As of December 31, 2014, we recorded a liability for our uncertain tax position of $4.5 million. We are unable to reasonably estimate the timing ofpayments in individual years due to uncertainties in the timing of the effective settlement of tax positions. We depend upon third party subcontractors to manufacture our wafers. Our subcontractor relationships typically allow for the cancellation ofoutstanding purchase orders, but require payment of all expenses incurred through the date of cancellation. As of December 31, 2014, the total value ofopen purchase orders for wafers was approximately $10.3 million. Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements Since our inception, we have not engaged in any off-balance sheet arrangements, such as the use of structured finance, special purpose entities orvariable interest entities. Recent Authoritative Accounting Guidance See Note 1 of the notes to our consolidated financial statements for information regarding recently issued accounting pronouncements. ITEM 7A.QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK Interest Rate Sensitivity We had cash and cash equivalents and investments in marketable securities of $69.3 million and $122.6 million at December 31, 2014 andDecember 31, 2013, respectively, which was held for working capital purposes. Our exposure to market interest-rate risk relates primarily to ourinvestment portfolio. We do not use derivative financial instruments to hedge the market risks of our investments. We manage our total portfolio toencompass a diversified pool of investment-grade securities to preserve principal and maintain liquidity. We place our investments with high-qualityissuers, money market funds and debt securities. Our investment portfolio as of December 31, 2014 consisted of money market funds, U.S. Treasuries,municipal bonds, corporate bonds, certificates of deposit and asset backed securities. Investments in both fixed rate and floating rate instruments carry adegree of interest rate risk. Fixed rate securities may have their market value adversely impacted due to an increase in interest rates, while floating ratesecurities may produce less income than expected if interest rates fall. Due in part to these factors, our future investment income may fall short ofexpectations due to changes in interest rates or if the decline in fair value of our publicly traded debt investments is judged to be other-than-temporary.We may suffer losses in principal if we are forced to sell securities that have declined in market value due to changes in interest rates. However, becauseany debt securities we hold are classified as available-for-sale, no gains or losses are realized in the income statement due to changes in interest ratesunless such securities are sold prior to maturity or unless declines in value are determined to be other-than-temporary. These securities are reported at fairvalue with the related unrealized gains and losses, net of applicable taxes, included in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss), reported in aseparate component of stockholders' equity. Although, we currently expect that our ability to access or liquidate these investments as needed to supportour business activities will continue, we cannot ensure that this will not change. We believe that, if market interest rates were to change immediately anduniformly by 10% from levels at December 31, 2014, the impact on the fair value of these securities or our cash flows or income would not be material. 44 In a declining interest rate environment, as short-term investments mature, reinvestment occurs at less favorable market rates. Given the short-termnature of certain investments, the current interest rate environment may negatively impact our investment income. Our cash and cash equivalents and investment in marketable securities at December 31, 2014 consisted of $54.4 million held domestically, with theremaining balance of $14.9 million held by foreign subsidiaries. There may be adverse tax effects upon repatriation of these funds to the United States.We do not plan to repatriate cash balances from foreign subsidiaries to fund our operations in the United States. Foreign Currency Risk To date, our international customer and vendor agreements have been denominated almost exclusively in United States dollars. Accordingly, wehave limited exposure to foreign currency exchange rates and do not currently enter into foreign currency hedging transactions. 45 ITEM 8.FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA Index to Consolidated Financial Statements Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm47Consolidated Balance Sheets48Consolidated Statements of Operations49Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss)50Consolidated Statements of Stockholders’ Equity51Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows52Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements53 46 Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm To the Board of Directors and Stockholders of Inphi Corporation: In our opinion, the accompanying consolidated balance sheets and the related consolidated statements of operations, comprehensive income (loss),stockholders’ equity and cash flows present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of Inphi Corporation and its subsidiaries at December 31,2014 and 2013, and the results of their operations and their cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2014 in conformitywith accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. Also in our opinion, the Company maintained, in all material respects,effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2014, based on criteria established in Internal Control - Integrated Framework(2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). The Company's management is responsible for thesefinancial statements, for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control overfinancial reporting, included in Management's Annual Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting appearing under Item 9A. Our responsibilityis to express opinions on these financial statements and on the Company's internal control over financial reporting based on our integrated audits. Weconducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require thatwe plan and perform the audits to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement and whethereffective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects. Our audits of the financial statements included examining, on atest basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements, assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimatesmade by management, and evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. Our audit of internal control over financial reporting includedobtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, and testing and evaluating thedesign and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk. Our audits also included performing such other procedures as weconsidered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinions. A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reportingand the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company’s internalcontrol over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (i) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accuratelyand fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (ii) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded asnecessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures ofthe company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (iii) provide reasonable assuranceregarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company’s assets that could have a material effect on thefinancial statements. Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluationof effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree ofcompliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate. As described in Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting appearing under Item 9A, management has excluded CortinaSystems, Inc. from its assessment of internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2014 because it was acquired by the Company in apurchase business combination during 2014. We have also excluded Cortina Systems, Inc. from our audit of internal control over financial reporting.Cortina Systems, Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary whose total assets and total revenues represent 19% and 13%, respectively of the related consolidatedfinancial statement amounts as of and for the year ended December 31, 2014. /s/PricewaterhouseCoopers LLPSan Jose, CAMarch 10, 2015 47 Inphi CorporationConsolidated Balance Sheets(in thousands, except share and per share amounts) December 31, 2014 2013 Assets Current assets: Cash and cash equivalents $30,366 $31,667 Investments in marketable securities 38,908 90,890 Accounts receivable, net 36,914 13,073 Inventories 26,650 6,767 Deferred tax assets 678 1,099 Income tax receivable 204 240 Prepaid expenses and other current assets 6,779 2,361 Total current assets 140,499 146,097 Property and equipment, net 35,498 22,460 Goodwill 9,405 5,875 Identifiable intangible assets, net 80,773 — Deferred tax charge 3,261 4,200 Other assets, net 9,274 3,710 Total assets $278,710 $182,342 Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity Current liabilities: Accounts payable $7,884 $7,280 Deferred revenue 7,110 1,686 Accrued employee expenses 9,492 4,626 Other accrued expenses 4,952 1,611 Other current liabilities 2,689 1,881 Total current liabilities 32,127 17,084 Other long-term liabilities 7,409 5,865 Total liabilities 39,536 22,949 Commitments and contingencies (Note 15) Stockholders’ equity: Preferred stock, $0.001 par value; 10,000,000 shares authorized; no shares issued — — Common stock, $0.001 par value; 500,000,000 shares authorized; 37,310,963 and 30,244,439 issuedand outstanding at December 31, 2014 and 2013, respectively 37 30 Additional paid-in capital 327,475 225,007 Accumulated deficit (89,190) (66,582)Accumulated other comprehensive income 852 938 Total stockholders’ equity 239,174 159,393 Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity $278,710 $182,342 The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements. 48 Inphi CorporationConsolidated Statements of Operations(in thousands, except share and per share amounts) Year Ended December 31, 2014 2013 2012 Revenue $156,142 $102,664 $91,206 Cost of revenue 70,488 37,095 32,684 Gross profit 85,654 65,569 58,522 Operating expenses: Research and development 70,863 50,516 40,102 Sales and marketing 20,003 15,741 14,052 General and administrative 16,153 11,614 12,300 Total operating expenses 107,019 77,871 66,454 Loss from operations (21,365) (12,302) (7,932)Interest and other income 495 876 914 Loss before income taxes (20,870) (11,426) (7,018)Provision for income taxes 1,738 1,752 13,673 Net loss $(22,608) $(13,178) $(20,691)Earnings per share: Basic $(0.69) $(0.45) $(0.73)Diluted $(0.69) $(0.45) $(0.73)Weighted-average shares used in computing earnings per share: Basic 32,707,868 29,493,005 28,378,680 Diluted 32,707,868 29,493,005 28,378,680 The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements. 49 Inphi CorporationConsolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss)(in thousands) Year Ended December 31, 2014 2013 2012 Net loss $(22,608) $(13,178) $(20,691) Other comprehensive income (loss): Available for sale investments: Change in unrealized gain, net of $45, $(80) and $176 tax expense (benefit) in2014, 2013 and 2012, respectively 11 (88) 364 Realized loss (gain) reclassified into earnings, net of tax (97) (45) (68)Comprehensive loss $(22,694) $(13,311) $(20,395) The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements. 50 Inphi CorporationConsolidated Statements of Stockholders’ Equity(in thousands, except share amounts) Common Stock AdditionalPaid-inCapital AccumulatedDeficit AccumulatedOtherComprehensiveIncome TotalStock-holders’Equity Shares Amount Balance at December 31, 2011 27,882,223 $28 $190,314 $(32,713) $775 $158,404 Issuance of common stock from exerciseof stock options 670,734 1 1,827 — — 1,828 Issuance of common stock from restrictedstock unit grant, net of shares withheldfor tax 76,001 — (325) — — (325)Issuance of common stock from employeestock purchase plan 101,088 — 943 — — 943 Income tax benefit from stock optionexercises — — 51 — — 51 Stock-based compensation expense — — 12,459 — — 12,459 Net loss — — — (20,691) — (20,691)Other comprehensive income, net — — — — 296 296 Balance at December 31, 2012 28,730,046 $29 $205,269 $(53,404) $1,071 $152,965 Issuance of common stock from exerciseof stock options and warrant 854,379 1 2,904 — — 2,905 Issuance of common stock from restrictedstock unit grant, net of shares withheldfor tax 380,940 — (2,180) — — (2,180)Issuance of common stock from employeestock purchase plan 279,074 — 2,221 — — 2,221 Income tax benefit adjustment from stockoption exercises — — (185) — — (185)Stock-based compensation expense — — 16,978 — — 16,978 Net loss — — — (13,178) — (13,178)Other comprehensive loss, net — — — — (133) (133)Balance at December 31, 2013 30,244,439 $30 $225,007 $(66,582) $938 $159,393 Issuance of common stock from exerciseof stock options 788,196 1 4,297 — — 4,298 Issuance of common stock from restrictedstock unit grants, net of shares withheldfor tax 738,862 1 (4,965) — — (4,964)Issuance of common stock from employeestock purchase plan 264,886 — 2,668 — — 2,668 Income tax benefit from stock optionexercises — — 55 — — 55 Stock-based compensation expense — — 22,460 — — 22,460 Issuance of stock from Cortinaacquisition 5,274,580 5 77,953 — — 77,958 Net loss — — — (22,608) — (22,608)Other comprehensive income, net — — — — (86) (86) Balance at December 31, 2014 37,310,963 $37 $327,475 $(89,190) $852 $239,174 The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements. 51 Inphi CorporationConsolidated Statements of Cash Flows(in thousands) Year Ended December 31, 2014 2013 2012 Cash flows from operating activities Net loss $(22,608) $(13,178) $(20,691)Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities: Depreciation and amortization 14,114 7,508 4,908 Stock-based compensation 22,460 16,978 12,459 Abandonment of asset 1,195 516 — Deferred income taxes 487 (163) 9,954 Amortization of deferred tax charge 938 938 963 Excess tax benefit related to stock-based compensation (55) — (2,060)Amortization of premiums on marketable securities 800 983 1,161 Other noncash items 2 (46) 112 Changes in assets and liabilities: Accounts receivable (8,686) 644 (4,442)Inventories 10,119 (1,873) 822 Prepaid expenses and other assets (3,255) (578) (164)Income tax payable/receivable (576) 3,045 2,657 Accounts payable (1,302) 379 682 Accrued expenses (9,006) 1,645 847 Deferred revenue 5,424 603 (846)Other liabilities (1,665) 1,257 106 Net cash provided by operating activities 8,386 18,658 6,468 Cash flows from investing activities Purchases of property and equipment (21,171) (16,578) (8,383)Proceeds from sale of property and equipment — — 237 Purchases of marketable securities (38,557) (43,125) (47,030)Sales and maturities of marketable securities 89,872 42,226 44,667 Purchase of patents (1,580) — — Acquisition of Cortina, net of cash acquired (35,308) — — Purchase of cost-method investment in private company (5,000) (2,621) — Net cash used in investing activities (11,744) (20,098) (10,509) Cash flows from financing activities Proceeds from exercise of stock options and warrants 4,298 2,905 1,828 Excess tax benefit related to stock-based compensation 55 — 2,060 Proceeds from employee stock purchase plan 2,668 2,221 943 Minimum tax withholding paid on behalf of employees for restricted stock units (4,964) (2,180) (325)Net cash provided by financing activities 2,057 2,946 4,506 Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents (1,301) 1,506 465 Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of year 31,667 30,161 29,696 Cash and cash equivalents at end of year $30,366 $31,667 $30,161 Supplemental Cash Flow Information Acquisition of Cortina Systems, Inc. in exchange for common stock $77,958 $— $— Income taxes paid $715 $59 $99 The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements. 52 Inphi CorporationNotes to Consolidated Financial Statements(Dollars in thousands except share and per share amounts) 1. Organization and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies Inphi Corporation (the “Company”), a Delaware corporation, was incorporated in November 2000. The Company is a fabless provider of high-speedanalog and mixed signal semiconductor solutions for the communications, datacenter and computing markets. The Company’s semiconductor solutionsare designed to address bandwidth bottlenecks in networks, maximize throughput and minimize latency in computing environments and enable therollout of next generation communications, datacenter and computing infrastructures. In addition, the semiconductor solutions provide a vital high-speedinterface between analog signals and digital information in high-performance systems such as telecommunications transport systems, enterprisenetworking equipment, datacenter and enterprise servers, storage platforms, test and measurement equipment and military systems. On October 3, 2014, the Company completed the acquisition of Cortina Systems, Inc. including its high-speed interconnect and optical transportproduct lines (Cortina) for approximately $52,509 in cash and approximately 5.3 million shares of the Company’s common stock in accordance with theAgreement and Plan of Merger dated July 30, 2014 as amended by Amendment No. 1 to the Agreement and Plan of Merger dated September 25, 2014. The Company is subject to certain risks and uncertainties and believes changes in any of the following areas could have a material adverse effect onthe Company’s future financial position or results of operations or cash flows: ability to sustain profitable operations due to history of losses andaccumulated deficit, dependence on limited number of customers for a substantial portion of revenue, product defects, risks related to intellectualproperty matters, lengthy sales cycle and competitive selection process, lengthy and expensive qualification process, ability to develop new or enhanceproducts in a timely manner, market development of and demand for the Company’s products, reliance on third parties to manufacture, assemble and testproducts and ability to compete. Basis of Presentation The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in theUnited States of America (“GAAP”) and include the accounts of Inphi, Cortina and subsidiaries. All significant intercompany balances and transactionshave been eliminated in consolidation. Business Combinations The Company accounts for acquisitions of business using the purchase method of accounting, which requires the Company to recognize separatelyfrom goodwill the assets acquired and the liabilities assumed at their acquisition date fair values. While the Company uses its best estimates andassumptions to accurately value assets acquired and liabilities assumed at the acquisition date as well as contingent consideration, where applicable, theestimates are inherently uncertain and subject to refinement. As a result, during the measurement period, which may be up to one year from theacquisition date, the Company may record adjustments to the assets acquired and liabilities assumed with the corresponding offset to goodwill. Upon theconclusion of the measurement period or final determination of the values of assets acquired or liabilities assumed, whichever comes first, any subsequentadjustments are recorded to the consolidated statements of operations. Accounting for business combinations requires management to make significant estimates and assumptions, especially at the acquisition dateincluding our estimates for intangible assets, contractual obligations assumed and pre-acquisition contingencies where applicable. Although, theCompany believes the assumptions and estimates we have made in the past have been reasonable and appropriate, they are based in part on historicalexperience and information obtained from the management of the acquired companies and are inherently uncertain. Critical estimates in valuing certainof the intangible assets we have acquired include future expected cash flows from product sales, customer contracts and acquired technologies, expectedcosts to develop in-process research and development (IPR&D) into commercially viable products and estimated cash flows from the projects whencompleted and discount rates. Unanticipated events and circumstances may occur that may affect the accuracy or validity of such assumptions, estimatesor actual results. Use of Estimates The preparation of consolidated financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of Americarequires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets andliabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differfrom those estimates. 53 Inphi CorporationNotes to Consolidated Financial Statements(Dollars in thousands except share and per share amounts) On an ongoing basis, management evaluates its estimates, including those related to (i) the collectibility of accounts receivable and allowance fordistributors’ price discounts; (ii) write down for excess and obsolete inventories; (iii) warranty obligations; (iv) the value assigned to and estimated usefullives of long-lived assets; (v) the realization of tax assets and estimates of tax liabilities and tax reserves; (vi) the valuation of equity securities; (vii)amounts recorded in connection with acquisitions; (viii) recoverability of intangible assets and goodwill and (ix) the recognition and disclosure ofcontingent liabilities. These estimates are based on historical data and experience, as well as various other factors that management believes to bereasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying value of assets and liabilities that are notreadily apparent from other sources. The Company engages third party valuation specialists to assist with estimates related to the valuation of financialinstruments and assets associated with various contractual arrangements, and valuation of assets acquired in connection with acquisitions. Such estimatesoften require the selection of appropriate valuation methodologies and models, and significant judgment in evaluating ranges of assumptions andfinancial inputs. Actual results may differ from those estimates under different assumptions or circumstances. Foreign Currency Translation The Company and its subsidiaries use the U.S. dollar as its functional currency. Foreign currency assets and liabilities are remeasured intoU.S. dollars at the end-of-period exchange rates except for non-monetary assets and liabilities, which are remeasured at historical exchange rates. Revenueand expenses are remeasured at the exchange rate in effect during the period the transaction occurred, except for those expenses related to balance sheetamounts, which are remeasured at historical exchange rates. Gains or losses from foreign currency transactions are included in the ConsolidatedStatements of Operations as part of “Other income (expense)”. Foreign currency gain or loss in 2014, 2013 and 2012 were not material. Cash and Cash Equivalents The Company considers all highly liquid investments with an original or remaining maturity of three months or less at the date of purchase to becash equivalents. The Company maintains its cash and cash equivalents with major financial institutions and, at times, such balances with any onefinancial institution may exceed Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation insurance limits. Cash equivalents primarily consist of money market funds. Fair Market Value of Financial Instruments The carrying amount reflected in the balance sheet for cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable, prepaid and other current assets, accountspayable, accrued expenses and other current liabilities, approximate fair value due to the short-term nature of these financial instruments. Investments in Marketable Securities Investments in marketable securities consist of available-for-sale securities. These investments are recorded at fair value with changes in fair value,net of applicable taxes, recorded as unrealized gains (losses) as a component of accumulated other comprehensive income in stockholders' equity.Realized gains and losses and declines in value judged to be other-than-temporary on available-for-sale securities are included in Other (expense)income, net. The cost basis for realized gains and losses on available-for-sale securities is determined on a specific identification basis. Investments aremade based on our investment policy which restricts the types of investments that can be made. The Company classified available-for-sale securities asshort-term as the investments are available to be used in current operations. Inventories Inventories are stated at the lower of cost or market. Cost is computed using standard cost, which approximates actual cost, on a first-in, first-outbasis. Inventories are reduced for write downs based on periodic reviews for evidence of slow-moving or obsolete parts. The write-down is based oncomparison between inventory on hand and estimated future sales for each specific product. Once written down, inventory write downs are not reverseduntil the inventory is sold or scrapped. Inventory write downs are also established when conditions indicate that the net realizable value is less than costdue to physical deterioration, obsolescence, changes in price level or other causes. Inventory valuation reserves were $1,949 and $1,479, as ofDecember 31, 2014 and 2013, respectively. 54 Inphi CorporationNotes to Consolidated Financial Statements(Dollars in thousands except share and per share amounts) Property and Equipment Property and equipment are stated at cost less accumulated depreciation and amortization. Depreciation and amortization is provided on propertyand equipment over the estimated useful lives on a straight-line basis. Leasehold improvements are amortized on a straight-line basis over the shorter oftheir estimated useful lives or lease terms. Repairs and maintenance are charged to expense as incurred. Useful lives by asset category are as follows: Asset CategoryYears Office equipment3 yearsSoftware3 yearsLeasehold improvementsShorter of lease term or estimated useful lifeProduction equipment2 yearsComputer equipment5 yearsLab equipment5 yearsFurniture and fixtures7 years Equipment Under Capital Leases The Company leases certain of its equipment under capital lease agreements. The assets and liabilities under capital leases are initially recorded at the fairvalue of the assets under lease. The capital lease obligation outstanding at December 31, 2014 was $142, payable in 2015. Intangible Assets Intangible assets represent rights acquired for developed technology, customer relationships, trade mark, patents and IPR&D in connection with theacquisition of Cortina. Intangible assets with finite useful lives are amortized over periods ranging from five to ten years using a method that reflects thepattern in which the economic benefits of the intangible asset are consumed, or if that pattern cannot be reliably determined, using a straight-lineamortization method. Acquired IPR&D is capitalized and amortization commences upon completion of the underlying projects. If any of the projects areabandoned, the Company would be required to impair the related IPR&D asset. Impairment of Long-lived Assets and Goodwill Long-lived Assets The Company assesses the impairment of long-lived assets, which consist primarily of property and equipment and intangible assets, wheneverevents or changes in circumstances indicate that such assets might be impaired and the carrying value may not be recoverable. Events or changes incircumstances that may indicate that an asset is impaired include significant decreases in the market value of an asset, significant underperformancerelative to expected historical or projected future results of operations, a change in the extent or manner in which an asset is utilized, significant declinesin the estimated fair value of the overall Company for a sustained period, shifts in technology, loss of key management or personnel, changes in theCompany’s operating model or strategy and competitive forces. If events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of an asset may not be recoverable and the expected undiscounted futurecash flows attributable to the asset are less than the carrying amount of the asset, an impairment loss equal to the excess of the asset’s carrying value overits fair value is recorded. Fair value is determined based on the present value of estimated expected future cash flows using a discount rate commensuratewith the risk involved, quoted market prices or appraised values, depending on the nature of the assets. Goodwill Goodwill is recorded when the consideration paid for a business acquisition exceeds the fair value of net tangible and intangible assets acquired.Goodwill is measured and tested for impairment on an annual basis during the fourth fiscal quarter or more frequently if the Company believes indicatorsof impairment exist. 55 Inphi CorporationNotes to Consolidated Financial Statements(Dollars in thousands except share and per share amounts) The performance of the test involves a two-step process. The first step requires comparing the fair value of the reporting unit to its net book value,including goodwill. As the Company has only one reporting unit, the fair value of the reporting unit is determined by taking the market capitalization ofthe Company as determined through quoted market prices and adjusted for control premiums and other relevant factors. A potential impairment exists ifthe fair value of the reporting unit is lower than its net book value. The second step of the process is only performed if a potential impairment exists, andit involves determining the difference between the fair value of the reporting unit's net assets other than goodwill and the fair value of the reporting unit.If the difference is less than the net book value of goodwill, impairment exists and is recorded. In the event that the Company determines that the value ofgoodwill has become impaired, the Company will record an accounting charge for the amount of impairment during the fiscal quarter in which thedetermination is made. The Company has not been required to perform this second step of the process because the fair value of the reporting unit hassignificantly exceeded its book value at every measurement date. The guidance also provides the option to first assess qualitative factors to determinewhether the existence of events or circumstances leads to a determination that it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit is less thanits carrying amount. If, after assessing the totality of events or circumstances, an entity determines it is not more likely than not that the fair value of areporting unit is less than its carrying amount, then performing the two-step impairment test is unnecessary. There was no impairment of goodwill in2014, 2013 and 2012. Internal Use Software Costs Certain external computer software costs acquired for internal use are capitalized. Training costs and maintenance are expensed as incurred, whileupgrades and enhancements are capitalized if it is probable that such expenditures will result in additional functionality. Capitalized costs are includedwithin property and equipment. Revenue Recognition The Company’s products are fully functional at the time of shipment and do not require additional production, modification, or customization. TheCompany recognizes revenue when there is persuasive evidence of an arrangement, delivery has occurred, the fee is fixed or determinable, and collectionis reasonably assured. The Company’s sales arrangements do not include multiple elements. Product revenue is recognized upon shipment of product to customers, net of accruals for estimated sales returns and allowances, which to date,have not been significant. However, some of the Company’s sales are made through distributors under arrangements that allow for price protection orrights of return on product unsold by the distributors. Product revenue on sales made through distributors with rights of return or price protection isdeferred until the distributors sell the product to end customers. Sales to distributors are included in deferred revenue and the Company includes therelated costs in inventory until sale to the end customers occurs. Price protection rights allow distributors the right to a credit in the event of declines inthe price of the Company’s product that they hold prior to the sale to an end customer. In the event that the Company reduces the selling price of productsheld by distributors, deferred revenue related to distributors with price protection rights is reduced upon notification to the customer of the price change.Additionally, certain distributors may receive a credit for the price discounts associated with the distributors' customers that purchased those products.The Company estimates the extent of these distributor price discounts at each reporting period to reduce accounts receivable and deferred revenue, butdoes not issue these discounts to the distributor until the inventory is sold to the distributors' customers. The Company’s sales to direct customers aremade primarily pursuant to standard purchase orders for delivery of products. The Company generally allows customers to cancel or change purchaseorders within limited notice periods prior to the scheduled shipment. Cost of Revenue Cost of revenue includes cost of materials, such as wafers processed by third-party foundries, cost associated with packaging and assembly, test andshipping, cost of personnel, including stock-based compensation, and equipment associated with manufacturing support, logistics and quality assurance,warranty cost, write down of inventories, amortization of production mask costs, amortization of developed technology, amortization of step-up values ofinventory, overhead and an allocated portion of occupancy costs. Warranty The Company’s products are under warranty against defects in material and workmanship generally for a period of one or two years. The Companyaccrues for estimated warranty cost at the time of sale based on anticipated warranty claims and actual historical warranty claims experience includingknowledge of specific product failures that are outside of the Company’s typical experience. The warranty obligation is determined based on productfailure rates, cost of replacement and failure analysis cost. If actual warranty costs differ significantly from these estimates, adjustments may be required inthe future. As of both December 31, 2014 and 2013, the warranty liability was $110 and $40, respectively. 56 Inphi CorporationNotes to Consolidated Financial Statements(Dollars in thousands except share and per share amounts) The following table sets forth changes in warranty accrual included in other accrued expenses in the Company’s consolidated balance sheets: Year Ended December 31, 2014 2013 2012 Beginning balance $40 $40 $40 Warranty liabilities assumed in acquisition 79 — — Settlements (9) — — $110 $40 $40 On November 3, 2014, the Company received a claim notification from an insurance company asserting a claim of approximately $4,000 for fieldinstallation repair and replacement costs incurred by a customer in 2011. The Company believes that it had fulfilled its contractual obligation to providewarranty repair and replacement, but has referred the matter to its insurance carrier at the request of the insurance company. As of December 31, 2014, theCompany believes that the liability under this claim is not probable. Nevertheless, resolutions of third-party claims are inherently uncertain and as such,an unfavorable outcome could ultimately impact the Company’s business, cash flow and results of operations. In 2010, the Company was informed of a claim related to repair and replacement costs in connection with shipments of over 4,000 integratedcircuits made by the Company during the summer and fall of 2009. The Company assessed, provided and accumulated additional warranty reserves basedon estimated, probable costs to replace units. In 2012, based on additional investigation and discussions with the customer, the Company booked anadditional warranty cost of $750. This amount was recorded as a reduction to revenue. In June 2012, the Company entered into a settlement agreementwith the customer in which the Company paid $1,750 in July 2012. Research and Development Expense Research and development expense consists of costs incurred in performing research and development activities including salaries, stock-basedcompensation, employee benefits, occupancy costs, pre-production engineering mask costs, overhead costs and prototype wafer, packaging and test costs.Research and development costs are expensed as incurred. The Company enters into development agreements with some of our customers. Recoveriesfrom nonrecurring engineering services are recorded as an offset to product development expense incurred in support of this effort since these activitiesdo not represent an earning process core to our business and serve as a mechanism to partially recover development expenditures. These reimbursementsare recognized upon completion and acceptance by the customer of contract deliverables or milestones. The Company recorded approximately $10,250,$1,000 and $2,484 as offset to research and development expense for the years ended December 31, 2014, 2013 and 2012, respectively. Sales and Marketing Expense Sales and marketing expense consists of salaries, stock-based compensation, employee benefits, travel and trade show costs. The Companyexpenses sales and marketing costs as incurred. Advertising expenses for the years ended December 31, 2014, 2013 and 2012 were not material. General and Administrative Expense General and administrative expense consists of salaries, stock-based compensation, employee benefits and expenses for executive management,legal and finance. In addition, general and administrative expense includes fees for professional services and occupancy costs. These costs are expensedas incurred. Income Taxes Deferred tax assets and liabilities are determined based on differences between financial reporting and tax bases of assets and liabilities, and aremeasured using the enacted tax rates and laws that will be in effect when the differences are expected to reverse. The Company must also make judgmentsin evaluating whether deferred tax assets will be recovered from future taxable income. To the extent that it believes that recovery is not likely, theCompany must establish a valuation allowance. The carrying value of the Company’s net deferred tax asset is based on whether it is more likely than notthat the Company will generate sufficient future taxable income to realize these deferred tax assets. A valuation allowance is established for deferred taxassets which the Company does not believe meet the “more likely than not” criteria. The Company’s judgments regarding future taxable income maychange over time due to changes in market conditions, changes in tax laws, tax planning strategies or other factors. If the Company’s assumptions andconsequently its estimates change in the future, the valuation allowance the Company has established may be increased or decreased, resulting in amaterial respective increase or decrease in income tax expense (benefit) and related impact on the Company’s reported net income (loss). 57 Inphi CorporationNotes to Consolidated Financial Statements(Dollars in thousands except share and per share amounts) In accordance with FASBs guidance on Accounting for Uncertainty in Income Taxes, the Company performs a comprehensive review of uncertaintax positions regularly. In this regard, an uncertain tax position represents an expected treatment of a tax position taken in a filed tax return, or planned tobe taken in a future tax return or claim, which has not been reflected in measuring income tax expense for financial reporting purposes. Until thesepositions are sustained by the taxing authorities, the Company does not recognize the tax benefits resulting from such positions and reports the tax effectsas a liability for uncertain tax positions in our consolidated financial statements. The Company recognizes potential interest and penalties on uncertaintax positions within provision (benefit) for income taxes on the consolidated statement of operations. Stock-Based Compensation Stock-based compensation for stock option and restricted stock units issued to the Company’s employees is measured at the grant date based on thefair value of the award and is recognized as expense over the requisite service period, which is the vesting period, on a straight-line basis. The fair value ofrestricted stock units is based on the fair market value of the Company’s common stock on the date of grant. The Company uses the Black-Scholesoption-pricing model for valuing stock option awards granted to employees and directors at the grant date. Determining the fair value of stock optionawards at the grant date requires the input of various assumptions, including fair value of the underlying common stock, expected future share pricevolatility, expected term, risk-free interest rate and dividend rate. Changes in these assumptions can materially affect the fair value of the options. TheCompany based its estimate of expected volatility on the estimated volatility of similar entities whose share prices are publicly available. The risk-freeinterest rate is based on the U.S. Treasury yields in effect at the time of grant for periods corresponding to the expected life of the options. The weightedaverage expected life of options was calculated using the simplified method. This decision was based on the lack of relevant historical data due to theCompany’s limited experience. The expected dividend yield is zero because the Company has not historically paid dividends and has no presentintention to pay dividends. The Company establishes the estimated forfeiture rates based on historical experience. The value of the portion of the awardthat is ultimately expected to vest is recognized as expense over the requisite service period which is equal to the vesting period. The Company has elected to treat share-based payment awards with graded vesting schedules and time-based service conditions as single awardsand recognizes stock-based compensation expense on a straight-line basis (net of estimated forfeitures) over the requisite service period. The Company recognizes non-employee stock-based compensation expenses based on the estimated fair value of the equity instrument determinedusing the Black-Scholes option-pricing model. Management believes that the fair value of the stock options is more reliably measured than the fair valueof the services received. The fair value of each non-employee variable stock award is re-measured each period until a commitment date is reached, whichis generally the vesting date. Earnings per Share Basic earnings per share is calculated by dividing income allocable to common stockholders (after the reduction for any preferred stockdividends assuming current income for the period had been distributed) by the weighted average number of shares of common stock outstanding, net ofshares subject to repurchase by the Company, during the period. Diluted earnings per share is calculated by dividing the net income allocable to commonstockholders by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding, adjusted for the effects of potentially dilutive common stock, which arecomprised of stock options, restricted stock units and employee share purchase plan. Segment Information The Company operates in one segment related to the design, development and sale of high speed analog connectivity components that operate tomaintain, amplify and improve signal integrity at high speeds in a wide variety of applications. The Company’s chief operating decision-maker is itsChief Executive Officer, who reviews operating results on an aggregate basis and manages the Company’s operations as a single operating segment. 58 Inphi CorporationNotes to Consolidated Financial Statements(Dollars in thousands except share and per share amounts) Recent Accounting Pronouncements In January 2014, the Company adopted the guidance on the “Presentation of an Unrecognized Tax Benefit When a Net Operating LossCarryforward, a Similar Tax Loss, or a Tax Credit Carryforward Exists.” The guidance provides that an unrecognized tax benefit, or a portion of anunrecognized tax benefit, should be presented in the financial statements as a reduction to a deferred tax asset for a net operating loss carryforward, asimilar tax loss, or a tax credit carryforward, except as follows. To the extent a net operating loss carryforward, a similar tax loss, or a tax creditcarryforward is not available at the reporting date under the tax law of the applicable jurisdiction to settle any additional income taxes that would resultfrom the disallowance of a tax position or the tax law of the applicable jurisdiction does not require the entity to use, and the entity does not intend touse, the deferred tax asset for such purpose, the unrecognized tax benefit should be presented in the financial statements as a liability and should not becombined with deferred tax assets. The assessment of whether a deferred tax asset is available is based on the unrecognized tax benefit and deferred taxasset that exist at the reporting date and should be made presuming disallowance of the tax position at the reporting date. The amendments in this updatedo not require new recurring disclosures. The adoption of this guidance had no impact on the Company’s financial statements. In May 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued guidance on “Revenue from Contracts with Customers.” The new revenuerecognition guidance provides a five-step analysis of transactions to determine when and how revenue is recognized. The guidance requires an entity torecognize the amount of revenue to which it expects to be entitled for the transfer of promised goods or services to customers. The new guidance iseffective for the Company on January 1, 2017. Early application is not permitted. The new guidance permits the use of either the retrospective orcumulative effect transition method. The Company is evaluating the effect that the new revenue recognition guidance will have on the consolidatedfinancial statements and related disclosures. The Company has not yet selected a transition method nor determined the effect of the standard on theongoing financial reporting. In November 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board, issued authoritative guidance that provides guidance on whether and at whatthreshold an acquired business or not-for-profit organization can apply pushdown accounting. This guidance provides an option to apply pushdownaccounting in the separate financial statements of an acquired entity upon the occurrence of an event in which an acquirer obtains control of the acquiredentity. The guidance is effective on November 18, 2014. After the effective date, an acquired entity can make an election to apply the guidance to futurechange-in-control events or to its most recent change-in-control event. However, if the financial statements for the period in which the most recentchange-in-control event occurred already have been issued or made available to be issued, the application of this guidance would be a change inaccounting principle. The adoption of this guidance is not expected to have any significant impact in the consolidated financial statements. 2. Acquisition On October 3, 2014, the Company completed the acquisition of Cortina Systems, Inc. including its high-speed interconnect and optical transportproduct lines for approximately $52,509 in cash and approximately 5.3 million shares. The Company did not acquire as part of the merger, CortinaSystems, Inc.’s access and digital Home business, which Cortina Systems, Inc. divested prior to the closing of the acquisition. The Company acquiredCortina to expand the Company’s market share of the high-speed optical and networking interconnects. Cash of $16,500 was placed in an escrow fund forup to 12 months following the closing for the satisfaction of certain potential indemnification claims. The consolidated financial statements include theresults of operations of Cortina as of the acquisition date. The fair value of consideration transferred is shown in the table below: Cash $52,509 Common stock 77,958 $130,467 The acquisition has been accounted for using the acquisition method of accounting which requires, among other things, that assets acquired andliabilities assumed be recognized at their fair values as of the acquisition date. As additional information becomes available, the Company may revise itspreliminary purchase price allocation during the remainder of the measurement period (which will not exceed 12 months from the acquisition date). Anysuch revisions or changes may be material. 59 Inphi CorporationNotes to Consolidated Financial Statements(Dollars in thousands except share and per share amounts) The following table summarizes the preliminary purchase price allocation as of the acquisition date: Cash $17,201 Receivables 15,155 Inventories 30,002 Other current assets 1,685 Property and equipment 4,751 Identifiable intangible assets 80,660 In-process research and development 1,750 Other noncurrent assets 366 Accounts payable, accrued expenses and other current liabilities (22,796)Deferred tax liabilities, noncurrent (725)Other liabilities (1,112)Total identifiable net assets 126,937 Goodwill 3,530 Net assets acquired $130,467 As of the acquisition date, the fair value of receivables, other assets, accounts payable and accrued expenses approximated the book value acquired. The following table summarizes the estimated fair value of intangible assets and their estimated useful lives as of the date of acquisition: EstimatedFair Value EstimatedUseful Life (Years) Developed technology $71,570 5-8 Customer relationships 8,170 10 Trade name 920 5 In-process research and development 1,750 — $82,410 Developed technology was valued using the multi-period excess earnings method under the income approach. This method involves discountingthe direct cash flow expected to be generated by the technologies over their remaining lives, net of returns on contributory assets. The estimated usefullife was determined based on the technology cycle related to each product family and its expected contribution to forecast revenue. Customerrelationships were valued using the incremental cash flow approach which involved discounting management’s estimate of the incremental revenuesafforded by having the existing customer relationships in place as of the acquisition date, net of operating expense, taxes and returns on contributoryassets. The estimated useful life was determined based on the estimated customer product or program ramp-up period required to develop the similarexisting customer revenue base. Trade name was valued based on application of relief-from-royalty approach under the income approach. This method isbased on the application of a royalty rate to forecasted revenue. The estimated useful life was determined based on the expected life of the trade names,the history of the trade names and the cash flows anticipated over the forecasted periods. In-process research and development was valued using the multi-period excess earnings method under the income approach, with the additional inclusion of estimated costs required to complete the projects. The Company capitalized $1,750 of IPR&D costs related to the Cortina acquisition. Upon completion of the project, the related IPR&D assets willbe amortized over their estimated useful lives. If the project are abandoned, the Company will be required to impair the related IPR&D asset. Thesignificant assumptions underlying the valuation of IPR&D are: Estimated percent complete 5%Estimated time to complete 18 months Estimated cost to complete $12,548 Discount rate 26.5% 60 Inphi CorporationNotes to Consolidated Financial Statements(Dollars in thousands except share and per share amounts) As of December 31, 2014, the projects are expected to be completed in March 2016 and will commence commercial production in 2016. Goodwill is calculated as the excess of the consideration transferred over the net assets recognized and is attributable to the workforce of Cortina.Goodwill is not amortized and is not deductible for tax purposes. The Company incurred acquisition costs of $1,091 which are included in general and administrative expense in the consolidated statement ofincome for the year ended December 31, 2014. Cortina contributed revenue of $21,018 and pre-tax loss of $10,018 to the Company for the period from October 3, 2014 to December 31, 2014. Pro Forma Information The following unaudited pro forma financial information presents a summary of the Company’s consolidated results of operations for the yearended December 31, 2014 and the year ended December 31, 2013, assuming the Cortina acquisition had been completed as of January 1, 2013. The proforma information includes adjustments to amortization and depreciation for intangible assets and property and equipment acquired, amortization of thepurchase accounting effect on inventory acquired from Cortina, and interest income for reduction in short-term investments to fund the acquisition. Pro FormaYear EndedDecember 31,2014 Pro FormaYear EndedDecember 31,2013 (unaudited) (unaudited) Revenue $224,116 $191,966 Net loss $(8,500) $(28,427)Earnings per share – basic $(0.23) $(0.82)Earnings per share – diluted $(0.23) $(0.82) The unaudited pro forma consolidated results were prepared using the acquisition method of accounting and are based on the historical financialinformation of the Company and Cortina, reflecting the results of operations for the year ended December 31, 2014 and 2013. The unaudited pro formaconsolidated results are not necessarily indicative of what our consolidated results of operations actually would have been had we completed theacquisition as of the beginning of the period presented. In addition, the unaudited pro forma consolidated results do not purport to project the futureresults of operations of the combined company nor do they reflect the expected realization of any cost savings associated with the acquisition. 3. Investments The following table summarizes the investments by investment category: December 31, 2014 Cost GrossUnrealizedGain GrossUnrealizedLoss Fair Value Available-for-sale securities: US treasury securities $2,056 $1 $— $2,057 Municipal bonds 19,686 43 (17) 19,712 Corporate notes/bonds 16,381 32 (21) 16,392 Asset backed securities 750 — (3) 747 Total investments $38,873 $76 $(41) $38,908 61 Inphi CorporationNotes to Consolidated Financial Statements(Dollars in thousands except share and per share amounts) December 31, 2013 Cost GrossUnrealizedGain GrossUnrealizedLoss Fair Value Available-for-sale securities: US treasury securities $25,061 $11 $— $25,072 Municipal bonds 34,912 105 (34) 34,983 Corporate notes/bonds 28,565 105 (22) 28,648 Certificate of deposit 1,500 1 — 1,501 Asset backed securities 685 1 — 686 Total investments $90,723 $223 $(56) $90,890 As of December 31, 2014, we had 22 investments that were in an unrealized loss position. The gross unrealized losses on these investments atDecember 31, 2014 were primarily due to changes in interest rates and determined to be temporary in nature. The Company reviews the investments toidentify and evaluate investments that have an indication of possible other-than-temporary impairment. Factors considered in determining whether a lossis other-than-temporary include the length of time and extent to which fair value has been less than the cost basis, the financial condition and near-termprospects of the investee, and the intent and ability to hold the investment for a period of time sufficient to allow for any anticipated recovery in marketvalue. The realized gain related to the Company’s available-for-sale investment, which was reclassified from other comprehensive income, was includedin other income in the consolidated statements of income. The contractual maturities of available-for-sale securities at December 31, 2014 are presented in the following table: Cost Fair Value Due in one year or less $13,613 $13,656 Due between one and five years 25,260 25,252 $38,873 $38,908 In 2014 and 2013, the Company used cash to purchase a minority interest in an early stage private company for $5,000 and $2,621, respectively.The Company’s ownership in the entity is less than 10% and the Company does not have significant influence, therefore, the investment is accounted forunder the cost method and included in other assets in the Company’s consolidated balance sheets. 4. Concentrations Financial instruments that subject the Company to concentrations of credit risk consist primarily of cash, cash equivalents and trade accountsreceivable. The Company extends differing levels of credit to customers and does not require collateral deposits. As of December 31, 2014 and 2013, theCompany has allowance for doubtful accounts of $165 and $152, respectively. As of December 31, 2014, the Company has allowance for distributors’price discount of $2,206. The following table summarizes the significant customers’ and distributors’ accounts receivable and revenue as a percentage of total accountsreceivable and total revenue, respectively: December 31, Accounts Receivable 2014 2013 Customer A * 11% Customer B * * Customer C 18% * 62 Inphi CorporationNotes to Consolidated Financial Statements(Dollars in thousands except share and per share amounts) Year Ended December 31, Revenue 2014 2013 2012 Customer A 13% 12% 19% Customer B * 15 15 Customer C * * * *Less than 10% of total accounts receivable or total revenue Certain other customers are distributors that sell the Company’s products exclusively to what would be a “Customer D” above if we were able toinclude the sales made to those distributors. In the aggregate, revenue to such end customer, including revenue made through distributors as a percentageof total revenue was 11% and 14% for the years ended December 31, 2013 and 2012, respectively. In addition, certain other customers are subcontractorsof customers A and B above. In the aggregate, revenue to Customer A, including its subcontractors as a percentage of total revenue was 18%, 20% and23% for the years ended December 31, 2014, 2013 and 2012, respectively. In the aggregate, revenue to Customer B, including its subcontractor as apercentage of total revenue was 16% and 15% for the years ended December 31, 2013 and 2012, respectively. 5. Inventories Inventories consist of the following: December 31, 2014 2013 Raw materials $5,803 $670 Work in process 2,409 2,001 Finished goods 18,438 4,096 $26,650 $6,767 Finished goods include amounts held by distributors of $2,798 and $543 as of December 31, 2014 and 2013, respectively. 6. Property and Equipment, net Property and equipment consist of the following: December 31, 2014 2013 Laboratory and production equipment $48,522 $34,443 Office, software and computer equipment 15,855 8,649 Furniture and fixtures 1,762 834 Leasehold improvements 5,212 3,952 71,351 47,878 Less accumulated depreciation (35,853) (25,418) $35,498 $22,460 Depreciation and amortization expense for the years ended December 31, 2014, 2013 and 2012 was $10,897, $7,508 and $4,908, respectively. As of December 31, 2014 and 2013, computer software costs included in property and equipment were $4,582 and $2,815, respectively.Amortization expense of capitalized computer software costs was $614, $283 and $280 for the years ended December 31, 2014, 2013 and 2012,respectively. 63 Inphi CorporationNotes to Consolidated Financial Statements(Dollars in thousands except share and per share amounts) 7. Goodwill and Identifiable Intangible Assets The following table presents details of identifiable intangible assets: December 31, 2014 Gross AccumulatedAmortization Net Developed technology $71,570 $2,857 $68,713 Customer relationships 8,170 201 7,969 Trade name 920 46 874 Patents 1,579 112 1,467 In-process research and development 1,750 — 1,750 $83,989 $3,216 $80,773 The following table presents amortization of intangible assets for the year ended December 31, 2014: Cost of goods sold $2,857 Sales and marketing 201 General and administrative 158 $3,216 Based on the amount of intangible assets subject to amortization at December 31, 2014, the expected amortization expense for each of the nextfive fiscal years and thereafter is as follows: 2015 $12,730 2016 12,704 2017 12,678 2018 12,645 2019 11,075 Thereafter 17,191 $79,023 The weighted-average amortization periods remaining by intangible asset category were as follows (in years): Developed technology 6.27 Customer relationship 9.75 Others 10.71 During the year ended December 31, 2014, goodwill increased by $3,530 as a result of Cortina acquisition. 8. Other Long-term Liabilities Other long-term liabilities consist of the following: December 31, 2014 2013 Deferred rent $1,930 $1,471 Income tax payable 4,687 3,295 Deferred tax liabilities 792 1,099 $7,409 $5,865 64 Inphi CorporationNotes to Consolidated Financial Statements(Dollars in thousands except share and per share amounts) 9. Income Taxes Loss before income taxes consists of the following: Year Ended December 31, 2014 2013 2012 United States $(2,684) $(2,507) $(2,852)Foreign (18,186) (8,919) (4,166)Total $(20,870) $(11,426) $(7,018) Income tax provision (benefit) consisted of the following: Year Ended December 31, 2014 2013 2012 Current: U.S. Federal $350 $1,816 $3,760 U.S. State 55 1 (132)Foreign 846 98 91 1,251 1,915 3,719 Deferred: U.S. Federal 895 (135) 4,842 U.S. State — — 5,088 Foreign (408) (28) 24 487 (163) 9,954 Total $1,738 $1,752 $13,673 65 Inphi CorporationNotes to Consolidated Financial Statements(Dollars in thousands except share and per share amounts) Income tax provision (benefit) differed from the amounts computed by applying the U.S. federal income tax rate of 34% in 2014 and 2013 and 35%in 2012 to loss before income taxes as a result of the following: Year Ended December 31, 2014 2013 2012 Provision (benefit) at statutory rate $(7,096) $(3,886) $(2,456)State income taxes 1,651 303 200 Research and development credits (7,384) (5,850) (1,345)Change in valuation allowance 5,271 6,781 15,247 Foreign earnings, taxed at different rates 6,381 2,888 1,649 Unrecognized tax benefits 1,713 1,708 1,487 Stock-based compensation 166 142 336 Tax exempt income (83) (157) (197)Prior year return to provision adjustment 292 (257) (1,264)Cortina acquisition transaction cost 444 — — Other 383 80 16 $1,738 $1,752 $13,673 Significant components of the Company’s net deferred taxes consist of the following: December 31, 2014 2013 Deferred tax assets Net operating loss carry forwards $8,314 $8,532 Research and development credits 30,637 15,460 Stock-based compensation 6,966 5,192 Accrued expenses and allowances 2,117 1,592 Amortization and depreciation 1,052 — Other temporary differences 3,461 111 Valuation allowance (39,682) (22,448)Total deferred tax assets 12,865 8,439 Deferred tax liabilities Subpart F income on foreign subsidiaries earnings (5,981) (5,621)Acquired intangible assets (6,157) — Amortization and depreciation — (2,790)Other deferred tax liabilities (820) — Total deferred tax liabilities (12,958) (8,411)Deferred tax assets (liabilities), net $(93) $28 At December 31, 2014 and 2013, the Company has recorded a deferred tax charge of $3,261 and $4,200, respectively, which represents the taxon the intercompany transfer of intangible assets in connection with the Company’s international reorganization during 2010. The deferred tax charge isbeing amortized over the estimated useful life of 8 years to income tax expense. Valuation Allowance The Company records a valuation allowance to reduce deferred tax assets to the amount that the Company believes is more likely than not to berealized. The determination of recording or releasing tax valuation allowances is made, in part, pursuant to an assessment performed by managementregarding the likelihood that the Company will generate sufficient future taxable income against which benefits of the deferred tax assets may or may notbe realized. This assessment requires management to exercise significant judgment and make estimates with respect to the Company’s ability to generaterevenue, gross profits, operating income and taxable income in future periods. Amongst other factors, management must make assumptions regardingoverall current and projected business and semiconductor industry conditions, operating efficiencies, the Company’s ability to timely develop, introduceand consistently manufacture new products to customers’ specifications, acceptance of new products, customer concentrations, technological change andthe competitive environment which may impact the Company’s ability to generate taxable income and, in turn, realize the value of the deferred tax assets.The Company uses the tax law ordering approach of intraperiod allocation to allocate the benefit of windfall tax benefits based on provisions in the taxlaw that identify the sequence in which those amounts are utilized for tax purposes. Additionally, when determining whether uncertain tax positions are asource of income for valuation allowance purposes, the Company applies the tax law ordering approach to determine how these liabilities will ultimatelybe satisfied. 66 Inphi CorporationNotes to Consolidated Financial Statements(Dollars in thousands except share and per share amounts) At December 31, 2012, the Company established full valuation allowances of approximately $14,827 against certain U.S. deferred tax assets, andvaluation allowances of approximately $853 against deferred tax assets of the Company’s subsidiaries in Singapore and Taiwan, to reflect the deferred taxasset at the net amount that is more likely than not to be realized. The decision to establish the valuation allowance in 2012 was due to negative evidencewhich includes the Company’s cumulative losses in U.S., Singapore and Taiwan after considering permanent tax differences, the passage of a Californiatax law requiring use of single sales factor, which reduces the amount of California taxable income starting 2013. At December 31, 2013, full valuationallowance was recorded on the U.S., Singapore, and Taiwan deferred tax assets. At December 31, 2014, the Company has full valuation allowancerecorded against the U.S., Singapore and Canada deferred tax assets, and partial valuation allowance on Taiwan deferred tax assets. The valuation allowance increased $17,234, $6,768 and $15,247 in the years ended December 31, 2014, 2013 and 2012, respectively. General Income Tax Disclosures The Company has net operating loss (“NOL”) carryforwards for federal and state income tax purposes of approximately $67,951 and $34,904,respectively at December 31, 2014, that will begin to expire in 2022 for federal income tax purposes and in 2015 for state income tax purposes. TheCompany has additional federal and state NOL carryover as of December 31, 2014 of $29,204 and $12,417, respectively, arising from an excess stockoption deduction that were not recognized in the financial statements. These excess stock option compensation benefits will be credited to additionalpaid-in capital when it reduces current taxable income. At December 31, 2014, the Company has NOL carryforwards of $3,215 for its Taiwan subsidiarywhich begin to expire in 2019, and capital allowance carryover of $30,459 for the Singapore subsidiary, which does not expire. A full valuationallowance has been provided on U.S. NOL and Singapore capital allowance carryforwards, and partial valuation allowance has been provided on theTaiwan NOL. At December 31, 2014, the Company has federal and state research and development (“R&D”) tax credit carryforwards of $21,059 and $23,853,respectively. The federal tax credits will begin to expire in 2024, unless previously utilized. Some state tax credits will begin to expire in 2022 and somedo not expire. A full valuation allowance has been provided on R&D tax credit carryforwards. Pursuant to Internal Revenue Code sections 382 and 383, use of the Company’s NOL and R&D credits generated prior to June 2004 are subject toan annual limitation due to a cumulative ownership percentage change that occurred in that period. The Company has had two changes in ownership, onein December 2000 and the second in June 2004, that resulted in an annual limitation on NOL and R&D credit utilization. The NOL and R&D creditcarryover of Cortina, are also subject to annual limitation under Internal Revenue Code sections 382 and 383. The acquisition of Cortina caused anownership change that resulted in an annual limitation, as well as Cortina’s legacy annual limitation amount from ownership changes prior to acquisition.The NOL and R&D credit carryforward which will expire unused due to annual limitation is not recognized for financial statement purposes and is notreflected in the above carryover amounts. The Company’s NOL carryforwards include Cortina’s federal and state pre-acquisition NOL of $49,609 and $32,033, respectively. These NOLcarryforwards will begin to expire in 2024 for federal and 2016 for state. The Company’s R&D credit carryforwards included Cortina’s federal and statepre-acquisition credits of $6,033 and $7,977, respectively. The federal R&D credit carryforward will begin to expire in 2027. While some state tax creditswill begin to expire in 2022, most do not expire. In addition, Cortina has $2,859 capital loss carryover which expires in 2018. The utilization of Cortina’spre-acquisition tax attributes is subject to certain annual limitations under Internal Revenue Code sections 382 and 383. No benefit for these taxattributes was recorded upon the close of the acquisition, as the benefit from these tax attributes did not meet the "more-likely-than-not" standard. The Company operates under tax holiday in Singapore, which is effective through May 2020. The tax holiday is conditional upon meeting certainemployment, activities and investment thresholds. The Singapore tax holiday did not impact the Company’s Singapore taxes for the years 2014, 2013,and 2012 due to losses and valuation allowance. 67 Inphi CorporationNotes to Consolidated Financial Statements(Dollars in thousands except share and per share amounts) The following table summarizes the changes in gross unrecognized tax benefits: Year Ended December 31, 2014 2013 2012 Balance as of January 1 $8,031 $6,155 $4,132 Increases based on tax positions related to the current year 3,102 1,918 1,418 Increase (decreases) based on tax positions of prior year (61) (42) 605 Gross increases for acquired unrecognized tax benefits 33,935 — — Statute of limitation expirations (926) — — Balance as of December 31 $44,081 $8,031 $6,155 As of December 31, 2014, the Company had approximately $4,370 of unrecognized tax benefits that if recognized would affect the effectiveincome tax rate. The Company believes that before the end of next year, it is reasonably possible that the gross unrecognized tax benefit may decrease byapproximately $1,750 due to resolution of the state audit. The Company recognizes interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits as a component of income tax expense. The Company recorded$14 interest in the year ended December 31, 2014, and no interest or penalties in the years ended December 31, 2013 and 2012. The Company files income tax returns in the U.S. federal jurisdiction, various states and certain foreign jurisdictions. The Company is no longersubject to U.S. federal income tax examinations for tax years ended on or before December 31, 2010 or to California state income tax examinations for taxyears ended on or before December 31, 2009. However, to the extent allowed by law, the tax authorities may have the right to examine prior periodswhere net operating losses or tax credits were generated and carried forward, and make adjustments up to the amount of the net operating loss or creditcarryforward. The Company does not provide for U.S. income taxes on undistributed earnings of its controlled foreign corporations as the Company intends toreinvest these earnings indefinitely outside the United States. At December 31, 2014, certain foreign subsidiaries had cumulative undistributed earningswhile others had accumulated deficit. The cumulative undistributed earnings as of December 31, 2014 was $3,395 that, if repatriated, is not expected toresult in additional tax liability as these earnings would be absorbed by the NOL and research credit carryover. No U.S. deferred tax asset was recorded forthe accumulated deficit as it was not apparent as of December 31, 2014, that such deferred tax asset would reverse in the foreseeable future. The Company paid $715 for various state and foreign income taxes during the year ended December 31, 2014. In October 2012, the Company received notification from the California Franchise Tax Board that the 2009 and 2010 California tax returns will beexamined. The Company believes it has adequate reserve for its uncertain tax positions, however, there is no assurance that the taxing authorities will notpropose adjustments that are different from the Company’s expected outcome and such adjustments may impact the provision for income taxes. TheCalifornia Franchise Tax Board examination is on-going as of report date. In June 2013, the Singapore subsidiary received notification from the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore that the 2010 tax return will bereviewed. The review is on-going as of report date. 68 Inphi CorporationNotes to Consolidated Financial Statements(Dollars in thousands except share and per share amounts) 10. Earnings Per Share The following shows the computation of basic and diluted earnings per share: Year Ended December 31, 2014 2013 2012 Numerator Net loss $(22,608) $(13,178) $(20,691) Denominator Weighted average common stock 32,707,868 29,495,856 28,391,528 Less weighted average unvested common stock subject torepurchase and unvested restricted stock award — (2,851) (12,848)Weighted average common stock—basic and diluted 32,707,868 29,493,005 28,378,680 Earnings per share Basic $(0.69) $(0.45) $(0.73)Diluted $(0.69) $(0.45) $(0.73) The following securities were not included in the computation of diluted earnings per share as inclusion would have been anti-dilutive: Year Ended December 31, 2014 2013 2012 Common stock options 3,350,112 4,373,642 4,797,873 Warrant to purchase redeemable convertible preferred stock — 1,696 2,142 Unvested restricted stock award and restricted stock unit 3,705,415 3,030,202 1,608,464 7,055,527 7,405,540 6,408,479 11. Stock-Based Compensation In June 2010, the Board of Directors approved the Company’s 2010 Stock Incentive Plan (the “2010 Plan”), which became effective in November2010. The 2010 Plan provides for the grants of restricted stock, stock appreciation rights and stock unit awards to employees, non-employee directors,advisors and consultants. The Board of Directors administers the 2010 Plan, including the determination of the recipient of an award, the number of sharessubject to each award, whether an option is to be classified as an incentive stock option or nonstatutory option, and the terms and conditions of eachaward, including the exercise and purchase prices and the vesting or duration of the award. Options granted under the 2010 Plan are exercisable onlyupon vesting. At December 31, 2014, 1,570,319 shares of common stock have been reserved for future grants under the 2010 Plan. Stock Option Awards The fair value of each option grant is estimated on the date of grant using the Black-Scholes option pricing model with the following weightedaverage assumptions: Year Ended December 31, 2014 2013 2012 Risk-free interest rate — 1.41% 1.32%Expected life (in years) — 6.25 6.22 Dividend yield — — — Expected volatility — 50% 50% 69 Inphi CorporationNotes to Consolidated Financial Statements(Dollars in thousands except share and per share amounts) The following table summarizes information regarding options outstanding: Number ofShares WeightedAverageExercisePrice PerShare WeightedAverageRemainingContractualLife AggregateIntrinsicValue Outstanding at December 31, 2013 3,883,097 $9.26 6.33 $16,229 Granted — — Exercised (788,196) 5.45 Canceled (89,307) 12.52 Outstanding at December 31, 2014 3,005,594 $10.16 6.12 $25,302 Exercisable at December 31, 2014 2,349,476 $9.69 5.82 $20,880 Vested and expected to vest in the future as of December 31, 2014 3,001,391 $10.16 6.12 $25,273 The intrinsic value of options outstanding, exercisable and vested and expected to vest is calculated based on the difference between the exerciseprice and the fair value of the Company’s common stock as of the respective balance sheet dates. The weighted average grant date fair value per share of stock options granted to employees during the years ended December 31, 2014, 2013 and2012 was $0, $4.82 and $6.18, respectively. The total intrinsic value of options exercised during the years ended December 31, 2014, 2013 and 2012 was $7,800, $7,313, and $6,861,respectively. The intrinsic value of exercised options is calculated based on the difference between the exercise price and the fair value of the Company’scommon stock as of the exercise date. Cash received from the exercise of stock options was $4,298, $2,905 and $1,828, respectively, for the years endedDecember 31, 2014, 2013 and 2012. Stock Option Exchange Offer On September 20, 2012, the Company commenced an offering to eligible employees to voluntarily exchange certain vested and unvested stockoption grants. Under the program, eligible employees holding options to purchase the Company’s common stock were given the opportunity to exchangecertain of their existing options, with exercise prices at or above $16.63 per share for a predetermined smaller number of stock options to be grantedfollowing the expiration of the tender offer with exercise prices equal to the fair market value of one share of the Company’s common stock on the day thenew awards were issued. Stock options to purchase an aggregate of 508,399 shares with exercise prices ranging from $16.63 to $22.07 were eligible fortender at the commencement of the program. The Company’s directors and executive officers were not eligible to participate in the program. The programis structured as a value-neutral exchange. The replacement awards would be targeted at providing value that is, in the aggregate, not greater than the fairvalue of the exchanged stock options. This means that the employees who participate in the program are expected to receive a number of replacementawards with an aggregate value that does not exceed the aggregate value of the stock options surrendered in the exchange. The terms and conditions ofthe new options, including the vesting schedules, will be substantially the same as the terms and conditions of the options cancelled. On October 19, 2012, the offer period ended and the Company accepted for exchange and cancellation 464,899 vested and unvested eligibleoptions to purchase common stock, with a weighted average exercise price of $21.06. In exchange, the Company issued 353,779 vested and unvestedoptions to purchase shares of the Company’s common stock with an exercise price of $8.93, the closing price of the Company’s common stock onOctober 22, 2012. Using the Black-Scholes option pricing model, the Company determined that the fair value of the surrendered stock options on a grant-by-grant basis was approximately equal, as of the date of the exchange, to the fair value of the eligible stock options exchanged, resulting in insignificantincremental share-based compensation. Restricted Stock Units and Awards The Company granted restricted stock units (RSUs) to members of the Board of Directors and employees. Most of the Company’s outstandingrestricted stock units vest over four years with vesting contingent upon continuous service. The Company estimates the fair value of restricted stock unitsusing the market price of the common stock on the date of the grant. The fair value of these awards is amortized on a straight-line basis over the vestingperiod. 70 Inphi CorporationNotes to Consolidated Financial Statements(Dollars in thousands except share and per share amounts) The following table summarizes information regarding outstanding restricted stock units: Number ofShares WeightedAverageGrant Date FairValue Per Share Outstanding at December 31, 2013 3,209,567 $11.69 Granted 2,878,836 13.99 Vested (1,098,924) 12.61 Canceled (199,857) 11.92 Outstanding at December 31, 2014 4,789,622 $12.85 Expected to vest in the future as of December 31, 2014 4,712,501 On October 16, 2014, the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors granted one-time employment RSU awards of 1,000,000 shares tocertain Cortina employees who entered employment with the Company commencing upon the closing of the acquisition. The awards vest over four yearswith vesting contingent upon continuous service. The Company granted restricted stock awards (RSAs) to certain members of the Board of Directors. The Company estimates the fair value of theRSAs using the market price of the common stock on the date of the grant. As of December 31, 2011, the Company had 21,425 of which 8,576 RSAsvested during the year ended December 31, 2012, resulting to 12,849 unvested RSAs outstanding as of December 31, 2012. During 2013, 9,998 RSAsvested, resulting to 2,851 unvested RSAs outstanding as of December 31, 2013. All remaining unvested RSAs of $2,851 vested during the year endedDecember 31, 2014. Employee Stock Purchase Plan In December 2011, the Company adopted the Employee Stock Purchase Plan (“ESPP”). Participants purchase the Company's stock using payrolldeductions, which may not exceed 15% of their total cash compensation. Pursuant to the terms of the ESPP, the "look-back" period for the stock purchaseprice is six months. Offering and purchase periods will begin on February 10 and August 10 of each year. Participants will be granted the right to purchasecommon stock at a price per share that is 85% of the lesser of the fair market value of the Company's common shares at the beginning or the end of eachsix-month period. The ESPP imposes certain limitations upon an employee’s right to acquire common stock, including the following: (i) no employee shall begranted a right to participate if such employee immediately after the election to purchase common stock, would own stock possessing 5% or more to thetotal combined voting power or value of all classes of stock of the Company, and (ii) no employee may be granted rights to purchase more than $25 fairvalue of common stock for each calendar year. The maximum aggregate number of shares of common stock available for purchase under the ESPP is onemillion shares. Total common stock issued under the ESPP during the years ended December 31, 2014, 2013 and 2012 was 264,886, 279,074 and101,088, respectively. The fair value of employee stock purchase plan is estimated at the start of offering period using the Black-Scholes option pricing model with thefollowing average assumptions for the years ended December 31, 2014, 2013 and 2012: Year Ended December 31, 2014 2013 2012 Risk-free interest rate 0.07% 0.10% 0.13%Expected life (in years) 0.50 0.49 0.50 Dividend yield — — — Expected volatility 40% 45% 81%Estimated fair value $3.55 $2.86 $4.69 71 Inphi CorporationNotes to Consolidated Financial Statements(Dollars in thousands except share and per share amounts) Stock-Based Compensation Expense Stock-based compensation expense is included in the Company’s results of operations as follows: Year Ended December 31, 2014 2013 2012 Cost of revenue $1,260 $1,086 $726 Research and development 12,420 8,586 5,833 Sales and marketing 4,079 3,204 2,660 General and administrative 4,701 4,102 3,240 $22,460 $16,978 $12,459 As of December 31, 2014, total unrecognized compensation cost related to unvested stock options and awards prior to the consideration ofexpected forfeitures, was approximately $52,068, which is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of 2.88 years. 12. Employee Benefit Plan The Company has established a 401(k) tax-deferred savings plan (the “Plan”) which permits participants to make contributions by salary deductionpursuant to Section 401(k) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. The Company may, at its discretion, make matching contributions to thePlan. Furthermore, the Company is responsible for administrative costs of the Plan. The Company has not made contributions to the Plan since itsinception. 13. Fair Value Measurements The guidance on fair value measurements requires fair value measurements to be classified and disclosed in one of the following three categories: Level 1: Unadjusted quoted prices in active markets that are accessible at the measurement date for identical, unrestricted assets or liabilities; Level 2: Quoted prices in markets that are not active, or inputs which are observable, either directly or indirectly, for substantially the full term ofthe asset or liability, or Level 3: Prices or valuation techniques that require inputs that are both significant to the fair value measurement and unobservable (i.e., supportedby little or no market activity). The Company measures its investments in marketable securities at fair value using the market approach which uses prices and other relevantinformation generated by market transactions involving identical or comparable assets or liabilities. The Company has cash equivalents which consist ofmoney market funds valued using the amortized cost method, in accordance with Rule 2a-7 under the 1940 Act which approximates fair value. The following table presents information about assets and liabilities required to be carried at fair value on a recurring basis: December 31, 2014 Total Level 1 Level 2 Assets Cash equivalents: Money market funds $1,457 $— $1,457 Investment in marketable securities: US treasury securities 2,057 2,057 — Municipal bonds 19,712 — 19,712 Corporate notes/bonds 16,392 — 16,392 Asset backed securities 747 — 747 $40,365 $2,057 $38,308 72  Inphi CorporationNotes to Consolidated Financial Statements(Dollars in thousands except share and per share amounts) December 31, 2013 Total Level 1 Level 2 Assets Cash equivalents: Money market funds $5,119 $— $5,119 Investment in marketable securities: US treasury securities 25,072 25,072 — Municipal bonds 34,983 — 34,983 Corporate notes/bonds 28,648 — 28,648 Certificate of deposit 1,501 — 1,501 Asset backed securities 686 — 686 $96,009 $25,072 $70,937 14. Segment and Geographic Information The Company operates in one reportable segment. Revenue by region is classified based on the locations to which the product is transported, whichmay differ from the customer’s principal offices. The following table sets forth the Company’s revenue by geographic region: Year Ended December 31, 2014 2013 2012 China $54,312 $23,039 $20,724 United States 22,918 22,389 21,582 Korea 10,123 21,818 17,424 Other 68,789 35,418 31,476 $156,142 $102,664 $91,206 As of December 31, 2014, $6,153 of long-lived tangible assets are located outside the United States of which $3,463 are located in Taiwan. As ofDecember 31, 2013, $5,217 of long-lived tangible assets are located outside the United States of which $4,694 are located in Taiwan. 15. Commitments and Contingencies Leases The Company leases its facility under noncancelable lease agreements expiring in various years through 2019. The Company also licenses certainsoftware used in its research and development activities under a term license subscription and maintenance arrangement. Future minimum lease payments under noncancelable operating leases having initial terms in excess of one year are as follows: December 31, 2014 2015 $15,131 2016 10,749 2017 4,380 2018 1,744 2019 1,259 $33,263 For the years ended December 31, 2014, 2013 and 2012, lease operating expense was $8,193, $5,990 and $3,980, respectively. 73 Inphi CorporationNotes to Consolidated Financial Statements(Dollars in thousands except share and per share amounts) Noncancelable Purchase Obligations We depend upon third party subcontractors to manufacture our wafers. Our subcontractor relationships typically allow for the cancellation ofoutstanding purchase orders, but require payment of all expenses incurred through the date of cancellation. As of December 31, 2014, the total value ofopen purchase orders for wafers was approximately $10,278. Legal Proceedings Netlist, Inc. v. Inphi Corporation, Case No. 09-cv-6900 (C.D. Cal.) On September 22, 2009, Netlist filed suit in the United States District Court, Central District of California, or the Court, asserting that the Companyinfringes U.S. Patent No. 7,532,537. Netlist filed an amended complaint on December 22, 2009, further asserting that the Company infringes U.S. PatentNos. 7,619,912 and 7,636,274, collectively with U.S. Patent No. 7,532,537, the patents-in-suit, and seeking both unspecified monetary damages to bedetermined and an injunction to prevent further infringement. These infringement claims allege that the Company’s iMB™ and certain other memorymodule components infringe the patents-in-suit. The Company answered the amended complaint on February 11, 2010 and asserted that the Companydoes not infringe the patents-in-suit and that the patents-in-suit are invalid. In 2010, Company filed inter partes requests for reexamination with theUnited States Patent and Trademark Office (the “USPTO”), asserting that the patents-in-suit are invalid. On August 27, 2010, the USPTO ordered the request for Inter Partes Reexamination for U.S. Patent No. 7,636,274 and found a substantial newquestion of patentability based upon each of the different issues that the Company raised as the reexamination requestor. On September 27, 2011, thePatent Office issued a First Office Action based on the Netlist '274 Patent Reexamination Request and rejected 91 of its 97 claims. On October 27, 2011,Netlist responded to the USPTO determination by amending some but not all of the claims, adding new claims and making arguments as to the validity ofthe rejected claims in view of the cited references. The Company provided rebuttable comments to the USPTO on November 28, 2011. On March 12,2012, the Examiner issued an Action Closing Prosecution, indicating that the claims pending contain allowable subject matter, and Netlist did notrespond to the Action Closing Prosecution in the time provided by the USPTO. On June 22, 2012, the USPTO issued a Right of Appeal Notice, and onJuly 23, 2012, the Company filed a Notice of Appeal. The Company filed the Appeal Brief on September 24, 2012 and Netlist filed its Responsive Briefon October 24, 2012. The parties received an Examiner’s Answer dated April 16, 2013 from the USPTO that maintained the rejections set forth on theRight of Appeal Notice dated June 22, 2012. The Company filed a Rebuttal Brief on May 16, 2013 and a Request for Oral Hearing on June 7, 2013. Theappeal hearing took place on November 20, 2013. The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) issued its decision on January 16, 2014, finding theExaminer erred in declining to adopt 8 of the 9 different rejections that had been proposed by us. The Company requested a rehearing of the decision notto adopt the remaining one rejection that had been proposed by the Company and was not adopted by the PTAB on February 18, 2014. In papers datedMarch 18, 2014, Netlist provided rebuttal comments to the request for rehearing and also requested re-opening of prosecution with respect to the claimsthat the PTAB had rejected, and in that request to re-open prosecution amended the independent claims that stood rejected. The Company filed commentswith respect to these proposed amended claims on April 17, 2014, which were refiled in a slightly different form on September 5, 2014. On June 26, 2014,the PTAB issued a decision on the request for rehearing, which included a rejection of further claims pursuant to the Company’s request and on July 28,2014, Netlist provided a response to the USPTO cancelling those claims that had been rejected in the decision on the request for rehearing. On September26, 2014, the PTAB remanded the proceedings back to the Examiner, with instructions to consider part, but not all, of the Company’s comments that hadbeen previously filed on September 5, 2014. On October 10, 2014, the Company filed a Petition to the Director of the USPTO seeking reconsideration ofthe PTAB remand of September 26, 2014, and requesting that all of the comments that the Company previously filed on September 5, 2014 should havebeen entered for consideration by the Examiner, The USPTO denied this Petition and a communication from the Examiner, with instructions to considerpart, but not all, of the Company’s comments that had been previously filed on September 5, 2014 is expected as the next substantive step of theproceeding, as prosecution otherwise remains closed. The proceeding is expected to continue in accordance with established Inter Partes Reexaminationprocedures. The Company may consider filing an appeal to any determination made by the USPTO with the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals. 74 Inphi CorporationNotes to Consolidated Financial Statements(Dollars in thousands except share and per share amounts) On September 8, 2010, the USPTO ordered the request for Inter Partes Reexamination for U.S. Patent No. 7,532,537 and found a substantial newquestion of patentability based upon different issues that the Company raised as the reexamination requestor. The USPTO accompanied thisReexamination Order of U.S. Patent No. 7,532,537 with its own evaluation of the validity of this patent, and rejected some but not all of claims. In aresponse dated October 8, 2010, Netlist responded to the USPTO determination by amending some but not all of the claims, adding new claims andmaking arguments as to why the claims were not invalid in view of the cited references. The Company provided rebuttable comments to the USPTO onNovember 8, 2010 along with a Petition requesting an increase in the number of allowed pages of the rebuttable comments. On January 20, 2011, theUSPTO granted the Petition in part. The Company then filed updated rebuttal comments on January 27, 2011 in compliance with the granted Petition.The USPTO has considered these updated rebuttal comments, and in a communication dated June 15, 2011, continued to reject all the previously rejectedclaims. The USPTO also rejected all the claims newly added in the October 8, 2010 Netlist response. In a further communication dated June 21, 2011, theUSPTO issued an Action Closing Prosecution indicating that it would confirm the patentability of four claims and reject all the other pending claims. OnAugust 22, 2011, Netlist responded to the Action Closing Prosecution by further amending some claims and making arguments as to the validity of therejected claims in view of the cited references. The Company submitted rebuttal comments on September 21, 2011. In a further communication datedFebruary 7, 2012, the USPTO issued a Right of Appeal Notice, which also indicated that the previous amendments to claim made by Netlist would beentered, and that the current pending claims, as amended, were patentable. The Company filed a Notice of Appeal at the USPTO on March 8, 2012, withinthe time period provided for filing the Notice of Appeal and Netlist did not file Notice of Cross-Appeal. The Company filed its Appeal Brief on May 8,2012, and Netlist filed its Responsive Brief on July 2, 2012. The parties received an Examiner’s Answer dated April 16, 2013 from the USPTO thatmaintained the rejections set forth on the Right of Appeal Notice dated February 7, 2012. The Company filed a Rebuttal Brief on May 16, 2013 and aRequest for Oral Hearing on June 7, 2013. The appeal hearing took place in front of the PTAB on November 20, 2013. The PTAB issued its decision onJanuary 16, 2014, affirming the Examiner’s decision as to all of the challenged claims. On February 18, 2014, the Company made a request for rehearingof the decision, and in papers dated March 18, 2014, Netlist provided rebuttal comments to the request for rehearing. On August 13, 2014, the PTABdenied our request for rehearing, and on October 15, 2014, the Company filed a Notice of Appeal to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. AnAppeal Brief was filed with the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on February 3, 2015 and an Opposition Brief filed by Netlist in the Court ofAppeals for the Federal Circuit is expected as the next substantive step of the proceeding, as prosecution otherwise remains closed. The proceeding isexpected to continue in accordance with established Inter Partes Reexamination procedures. On September 8, 2010, the USPTO ordered the request for Inter Partes Reexamination for U.S. Patent No. 7,619,912 and found a substantial newquestion of patentability based upon different issues that the Company raised as the reexamination requestor. The USPTO accompanied thisReexamination Order of U.S. Patent No. 7,619,912 with its own evaluation of the validity of this patent, and initially determined that all of the claimswere patentable based upon the Company’s request for Inter Partes Reexamination. Netlist did not comment upon this Reexamination Order. The USPTOon February 28, 2011 also merged the Proceedings of our Reexamination of U.S. Patent No. 7,619,912, bearing Control No. 90/001,339 with Inter PartesReexamination Proceeding 95/000,578 filed October 20, 2010 on behalf of SMART Modular Technologies, Inc. and Inter Partes ReexaminationProceeding 95/000,579 filed October 21, 2010 on behalf of Google, Inc. In each of these other Reexamination Proceedings, the USPTO had indicated thatthere existed a substantial new question of patentability with respect to certain claims of U.S. Patent No. 7,619,912, but had not accompanied theReexamination Orders related thereto with its own evaluation of the validity of this patent, indicating that such evaluation would be forthcoming at alater time. This further evaluation was received in an Office Action dated April 4, 2011, in which the Examiner rejected a substantial majority of theclaims based upon a number of different rejections, including certain of the rejections originally proposed by the Company in its Request forReexamination. This Office Action also indicated that one claim was deemed to be patentable over the prior art of record in the merged ReexaminationProceedings. After seeking and obtaining an extension of time to respond to the Office Action dated April 4, 2011, Netlist served its response on July 5,2011, which added new claims and made arguments as to why the originally filed claims were not invalid in view of the cited references. Each of themerged Reexamination Requestors, including the Company, submitted rebuttal comments by August 29, 2011. The USPTO considered this Netlistresponse and each of the rebuttal comments, and in an Office Action dated October 14, 2011, continued to reject most, but not all of the previouslyrejected claims, as well as rejected claims that had been added by Netlist in its July 5, 2011 response. After seeking and obtaining an extension of time torespond to the Office Action dated October 14, 2011, Netlist served its response on January 13, 2012, which response made amendments based uponsubject matter that had been indicated as allowable in the Office Action dated October 14, 2011, added other new claims and made arguments as to whyall of these claims should be allowed. The three different merged Reexamination Requestors, including the Company, timely submitted rebuttalcomments on or about February 13, 2012. The USPTO issued a Non-final Office Action on November 13, 2012, rejecting some claims and indicating thatothers contained allowable subject matter. On January 14, 2013, Netlist filed a Response to the Non-final Office Action which presented further claimamendments and evidence supporting its positions regarding patentability. Rebuttal comments from the Company and the other Requestors were filed onFebruary 13, 2013. On March 21, 2014, the USPTO issued an Action Closing Prosecution in which the USPTO indicated that certain of the pendingclaims were allowable and other of the pending claims were rejected, and on June 18, 2014 issued a Right of Notice of Appeal. By July 18, 2014, theCompany as well as other Requesters each filed Notices of Appeal, and Netlist filed a Cross Appeal on July 30, 2014. By September 30, 2014, each of theRequestors as well as Netlist had filed their respective Appeal Briefs, and by October 30, 2014 each of the Requestors as well as Netlist had filed theirrespective Responses to the previously filed Appeal Briefs. Reply Briefs by Requesters and Netlist were filed on or before February 18, 2015 andconsideration by the USPTO will be the next substantive step of the proceeding, as currently prosecution otherwise will remain closed. The mergedproceeding is expected to continue in accordance with established Inter Partes Reexamination procedures. The reexamination proceedings could result in a determination that the patents-in-suit, in whole or in part, are valid or invalid, as well asmodifications of the scope of the patents-in-suit. 75 Inphi CorporationNotes to Consolidated Financial Statements(Dollars in thousands except share and per share amounts) Based on these papers the Court in January 2014 ordered a continued stay of the proceedings, took the litigation off the active court calendar, andrequested that the parties file a joint status report on May 1, 2014 and every 120 days thereafter advising the Court as to status of the reexaminationproceedings at which times, the Court could decide to maintain or lift the stay. While the Company intends to defend the foregoing lawsuit vigorously, litigation, whether or not determined in the Company’s favor or settled,could be costly and time-consuming and could divert management’s attention and resources, which could adversely affect the Company’s business. Based on the nature of the litigation, the Company is currently unable to predict the final outcome of this lawsuit and therefore, cannot determinethe likelihood of loss nor estimate a range of possible loss. However, because of the nature and inherent uncertainties of litigation, should the outcome ofthese actions be unfavorable, the Company’s business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows could be materially and adversely affected. As a result of acquisition of Cortina, the Company is currently working to settle a patent dispute involving Cortina and Vitesse SemiconductorCorporation (Vitesse). The patent dispute involves a certain patent family owned by Vitesse associated with error correction. The Company is currently indiscussion with Vitesse in good faith to settle the dispute. The Company believes that the probable liability of this claim would be $750 which theCompany recorded s of the acquisition date and December 31, 2014. Based on the Agreement and Plan of Merger dated July 30, 2014, we would beindemnified for future settlement arising from this claim, up to an amount of $750. Accordingly, we recorded an indemnification asset in the amount of$750 as of the acquisition date. However, because of the nature and inherent uncertainties, should the outcome of the settlement be unfavorable, theCompany’s business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows could be materially and adversely affected. Indemnifications In the ordinary course of business, the Company may provide indemnifications of varying scope and terms to customers, vendors, lessors,investors, directors, officers, employees and other parties with respect to certain matters, including, but not limited to, losses arising out of the Company’sbreach of such agreements, services to be provided by the Company, or from intellectual property infringement claims made by third-parties. Theseindemnifications may survive termination of the underlying agreement and the maximum potential amount of future payments the Company could berequired to make under these indemnification provisions may not be subject to maximum loss clauses. The Company has not incurred material costs todefend lawsuits or settle claims related to these indemnifications. Accordingly, the Company has no liabilities recorded for these agreements as ofDecember 31, 2014 and December 31, 2013. 16. Related Party Transactions In 2007, the Company entered into a software subscription and maintenance agreement with Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (“Cadence”), a relatedparty company. A former member of the Company’s Board of Directors is also the Chief Executive Officer, President and a director of Cadence. TheCompany committed to pay $7,000 payable in 16 quarterly payments through May 2011. In December 2010, the software subscription and maintenanceagreement was renewed effective June 30, 2011. Under the new agreement, the Company committed to pay $5,250 payable in 10 quarterly paymentsthrough November 2013. In June 2012, the software subscription and maintenance agreement was amended to include new licensed materials effective onSeptember 28, 2012 and expired on December 31, 2013. Under this amendment, the Company committed to pay $2,129 payable in 5 quarterly paymentsthrough November 2013. The Company paid $2,224 in the year ended December 31, 2012. Operating lease expense related to this agreement included inresearch and development expense was $2,467 for the year ended December 31, 2012. 76 Supplementary Financial Information (Unaudited) Quarterly Results of Operations Year Ended December 31, 2014 Mar. 31,2014 Jun. 30,2014 Sept. 30,2014 Dec. 31,2014 (in thousands, except per share amounts) Total revenue $31,189 $33,922 $36,278 $54,753 Gross profit 20,126 21,626 23,275 20,627 Net income (loss) (995) 2,634 (6,857) (17,390)Basic earnings per share (0.03) 0.08 (0.22) (0.47)Diluted earnings per share (0.03) 0.08 (0.22) (0.47) Year Ended December 31, 2013 Mar. 31,2013 Jun. 30,2013 Sept. 30,2013 Dec. 31,2013 (in thousands, except per share amounts) Total revenue $22,584 $24,339 $26,611 $29,130 Gross profit 14,292 15,446 16,815 19,016 Net income (loss) (7,671) (1,474) (2,760) (1,273)Basic earnings per share (0.27) (0.05) (0.09) (0.04)Diluted earnings per share (0.27) (0.05) (0.09) (0.04) (1)On October 3, 2014, we completed the acquisition of Cortina, including its high-speed interconnect and optical transport product lines. The results ofoperations of Cortina and estimated fair value of assets acquired and liabilities assumed were included in our financial statements from theacquisition date. This acquisition resulted in a significant change in our statement of operations in 2014 which includes increase cost of goods soldresulting from the step-up inventory acquired from Cortina and amortization of acquired intangibles. 77(1) ITEM 9 —CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS ON ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE None. ITEM 9A—CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES (a) Evaluation of disclosure controls and procedures. We maintain “disclosure controls and procedures,” as such term is defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d – 15(e) under the Securities Exchange Act 1934, or the Exchange Act (as amended), that are designed to provide reasonable assurance thatinformation required to be disclosed by us in reports we file or submit under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within thetime periods specified in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s rules and forms and that such information is accumulated and communicated to ourmanagement, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, as appropriate, to allow for timely decisions regarding requireddisclosure. In designing and evaluating the disclosure controls and procedures, management recognizes that any controls and procedures, no matter howwell designed and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the objectives of the disclosure controls and procedures are met.Our disclosure controls and procedures have been designed to provide reasonable, not absolute assurance. Additionally, in designing disclosure controlsand procedures, our management necessarily was required to apply its judgment in evaluating the cost-benefit relationship of possible disclosure controlsand procedures. The design of any disclosure controls and procedures also is based in part upon certain assumptions about the likelihood of future events,and there can be no assurance that any design will succeed in achieving its stated goals under all potential future conditions. Based on their evaluation as of the end of the period covered by this Annual Report on Form 10-K, our Chief Executive Officer and ChiefFinancial Officer have concluded that, as of such date, our disclosure controls and procedures were effective at the reasonable assurance level. (b) Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting. Our management is responsible for establishing andmaintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting, as such term is defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f). Because of itsinherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation ofeffectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree ofcompliance with policies or procedures may deteriorate. Our management, with the participation of our Chief Executive Officer and Chief FinancialOfficer, assessed the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2014. In making this assessment, our managementused the criteria set forth by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission, or COSO, in Internal Control — IntegratedFramework (2013). Based on the assessment using those criteria, our management concluded that as of December 31, 2014, our internal control overfinancial reporting was effective. Our evaluation of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2014 did notinclude the internal controls of Cortina. We excluded Cortina from our assessment of internal controls over financial reporting as of December 31, 2014because it was acquired in a business combination in October 2014. Cortina is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company whose total assets and totalrevenues represent 19% and 13%, respectively of the related consolidated financial statement amounts as of and for the year ended December 31, 2014.The effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2014 has been audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, anindependent registered public accounting firm, as stated in their report which is included in Part II “Item 8, Financial Statements and SupplementaryData”. (c) Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting. There has been no change in our “internal control over financial reporting” as suchterm is defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) under the Exchange Act, during our most recent fiscal quarter that materially affected, or is reasonablylikely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting. ITEM 9B —OTHER INFORMATION None. PART III ITEM 10 —DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE The information required by this item is incorporated by reference from the information under the captions “Election of Directors,” “Section 16(a)Beneficial Ownership Reporting Compliance” and “Corporate Governance” contained in our Proxy Statement to be filed with the Securities andExchange Commission in connection with the solicitation of proxies for our 2015 Annual Meeting of Stockholders to be held on May 28, 2015, or ProxyStatement. 78 ITEM 11 —EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION The information required by this item is incorporated by reference from the information under the captions “Election of Director,”“Compensation of Directors,” “Compensation Discussion and Analysis,” “Corporate Governance,” “Compensation Committee Report” and “ExecutiveCompensation” contained in the Proxy Statement. ITEM 12 —SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT AND RELATED STOCKHOLDERMATTERS The information required by this item is incorporated by reference from the information under the captions “Security Ownership of CertainBeneficial Owners and Management” and “Executive Compensation” contained in the Proxy Statement. ITEM 13 —CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS, AND DIRECTOR INDEPENDENCE The information required by this item is incorporated by reference from the information under the captions “Election of Directors,” “CorporateGovernance” and “Certain Relationships and Related Person Transactions” contained in the Proxy Statement. ITEM 14 —PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTANT FEES AND SERVICES The information required by this item is incorporated by reference from the information under the captions “Audit Committee Report” and“Ratification of the Appointment of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm — Principal Accountant Fees and Services” contained in the ProxyStatement. PART IV ITEM 15 —EXHIBITS AND FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES 1.Financial Statements. See “Index to Consolidated Financial Statements” under Part II, “Item 8, Financial Statements and SupplementaryData”. (a)Documents filed as part of this report: (1) Financial Statements Reference is made to the Index to Consolidated Financial Statements of Inphi Corporation under Part II, “Item 8, Financial Statements andSupplementary Data”. (2) Financial Statement Schedules All financial statement schedules have been omitted because they are not applicable or not required or because the information isincluded elsewhere in the Consolidated Financial Statements or the Notes thereto. (3) Exhibits See Item 15(b) below. Each management contract or compensatory plan or arrangement required to be filed has been identified. (b)Exhibits The exhibits listed in the Exhibit Index below are filed or incorporated by reference as part of this report. (c) Financial Statements and Schedules Reference is made to Item 15(a)(2) above. 79 SIGNATURES Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed onits behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized. INPHI CORPORATION By:/s/ Ford Tamer Ford Tamer Chief Executive Officer (Principal Executive Officer) Date: March 10, 2015 POWER OF ATTORNEY KNOW ALL PERSONS BY THESE PRESENTS, that each person whose signature appears below constitutes and appoints Ford Tamer and JohnEdmunds, and each of them, his true and lawful attorneys-in-fact, each with full power of substitution, for him or her in any and all capacities, to sign anyamendments to this report on Form 10-K and to file the same, with exhibits thereto and other documents in connection therewith, with the Securities andExchange Commission, hereby ratifying and confirming all that each of said attorneys-in-fact or their substitute or substitutes may do or cause to be doneby virtue hereof. Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of theregistrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated. Name Title Date/s/ Ford Tamer Chief Executive Officer March 10, 2015Ford Tamer (Principal Executive Officer), President and Director /s/ John Edmunds Chief Financial Officer and Chief Accounting Officer March 10, 2015John Edmunds (Principal Financial and Accounting Officer) /s/ Diosdado P. Banatao Chairman of the Board March 10, 2015Diosdado P. Banatao /s/ Chenming C. Hu Director March 10, 2015Chenming C. Hu /s/ David Liddle Director March 10, 2015David Liddle /s/ Bruce McWilliams Director March 10, 2015Bruce McWilliams /s/ Nicholas Brathwaite Director March 10, 2015Nicholas Brathwaite /s/ Sam S. Srinivasan Lead Director March 10, 2015Sam S. Srinivasan 80 EXHIBIT INDEX ExhibitNumber Description 3(i) Restated Certificate of Incorporation of the Registrant (incorporated by reference to exhibit 3(i) of theRegistrant’s annual report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 7, 2011). 3(ii) Amended and Restated Bylaws of the Registrant (incorporated by reference to the exhibit 3(ii).2 filedwith Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-167564), as amended). 4.1 Specimen Common Stock Certificate (incorporated by reference to exhibit 4.1 filed with RegistrationStatement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-167564), as amended). 4.2 Amended and Restated Investors' Rights Agreement dated as of August 12, 2010 (incorporated byreference to exhibit 4.2 of the Registrant’s annual report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 7,2011). 10.1+ Inphi Corporation 2000 Stock Option/Stock Issuance Plan (as amended on June 2, 2010) and relatedform stock option plan agreements (incorporated by reference to exhibit 10.1 filed with RegistrationStatement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-167564), as amended). 10.2+ Inphi Corporation 2010 Stock Incentive Plan and related form agreements (incorporated by reference toexhibit 10.2 of the Registrant’s annual report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 7, 2011). 10.3+ Form of Indemnification Agreement between the Registrant and its officers and directors (incorporatedby reference to exhibit 10.3 filed with Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-167564), asamended). 10.4+ Offer letter dated July 14, 2007 between Young K. Sohn and the Registrant, as amended (incorporatedby reference to exhibit 10.4 filed with Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-167564), asamended). 10.5+ Change of Control and Severance Agreement dated June 8, 2010, by and between Young K. Sohn andthe Registrant (incorporated by reference to exhibit 10.5 filed with Registration Statement on Form S-1(File No. 333-167564), as amended). 10.6+ Offer letter dated December 10, 2007 between John Edmunds and the Registrant, as amended(incorporated by reference to exhibit 10.6 to filed with Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File No.333-167564), as amended). 10.7+ Change of Control and Severance Agreement dated June 8, 2010, by and between John Edmunds andthe Registrant (incorporated by reference to exhibit 10.7 filed with Registration Statement on Form S-1(File No. 333-167564), as amended). 10.8+ Offer letter dated October 3, 2007 between Ron Torten and the Registrant, as amended (incorporated byreference to exhibit 10.8 filed with Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-167564), asamended). 10.9+ Offer letter dated February 1, 2012 between Ford Tamer and the Registrant (incorporated by reference toexhibit 10.2 of the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K with the SEC on February 3, 2012). 10.10+ Change of Control and Severance Agreement dated February 1, 2012 between Ford Tamer and theRegistrant (incorporated by reference to exhibit 10.3 of the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-Kwith the SEC on February 3, 2012). 10.11+ Senior Advisor Agreement dated as of February 1, 2012 by and between Young K. Sohn and theRegistrant (incorporated by reference to exhibit 10.1 of the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-Kwith the SEC on February 3, 2012). 10.12+ Transition Services Agreement dated May 30, 2012 between Ron Torten and the Registrant(incorporated by reference to exhibit 10.1 of the Registrant’s Quarterly Report on Form 1O-Q for thethree months ended June 30, 2012). 10.13+ Change of Control and Severance Agreement dated September 4, 2012, by and between Charlie Roachand the Registrant (incorporated by reference to exhibit 10.4 of the Registrant’s Quarterly Report onForm 1O-Q for the three months ended September 30, 2012). 10.14+ Separation Agreement dated as of July 30, 2013 by and between Norman Yeung and the Registrant(incorporated by reference to exhibit 10.1 of the Registrant’s Quarterly Report on Form 1O-Q for thethree months ended September 30, 2013). 10.15+ Consulting Agreement effective as of October 18, 2013 by and between Norman Yeung and theRegistrant (incorporated by reference to exhibit 10.2 of the Registrant’s Quarterly Report on Form 1O-Qfor the three months ended September 30, 2013). 10.16 Lease Agreement between the Registrant and LBA Realty Fund III—Company VII, LLC dated as ofJune 4, 2010 (incorporated by reference to exhibit 10.12 filed with Registration Statement on Form S-1(File No. 333-167564), as amended). 10.17 Lease Agreement between the Registrant and Bayland Corporation dated as of September 20, 2012(incorporated by reference to exhibit 10.2 of the Registrant’s Quarterly Report on Form 1O-Q for thethree months ended September 30, 2012). 81 10.18 Second Amendment to Lease Agreement between the Registrant and LBA Realty Fund III—Company VII, LLC dated as ofSeptember 30, 2012 (incorporated by reference to exhibit 10.3 of the Registrant’s Quarterly Report on Form 1O-Q for the threemonths ended September 30, 2012). 10.19+ Inphi Corporation Employee Stock Purchase Plan (incorporated by reference to exhibit 99.1 filed with Registration Statementon Form S-8 (File No. 333-179270)). 10.20 Agreement and Plan of Merger dated July 30, 2014 by and among the Company, Cortina, Catalina Acquisition Corporation, aDelaware corporation and wholly owned subsidiary of the Company, and the Stockholder’s Agent (incorporated by reference toexhibit 2.1 of the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K with the SEC on August 1, 2014). 10.21 Agreement and Plan of Merger dated July 30, 2014 by and among the Company, Cortina, Catalina Acquisition Corporation, aDelaware corporation and wholly owned subsidiary of the Company, and the Stockholder’s Agent, as amended by AmendmentNo. 1 thereto dated September 25, 2014 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 2.1 of the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K with the SEC on October 6, 2014). 21.1 List of Subsidiaries (incorporated by reference to the exhibit of the same number filed with Registration Statement on Form S-1(File No. 333-167564), as amended). 23.1 Consent of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, independent registered public accounting firm. 24.1 Power of Attorney (see page 73 of this report). 31.1 Certificate of Chief Executive Officer pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (18 U.S.C. Section 1350). 31.2 Certificate of Chief Financial Officer pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (18 U.S.C. Section 1350). 32.1(1) Certificate of Chief Executive Officer pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (18 U.S.C. Section 1350). 32.2(1) Certificate of Chief Financial Officer pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (18 U.S.C. Section 1350). 101.INS XBRL Instance Document 101.SCH XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema 101.CAL XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase 101.DEF XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase 101.LAB XBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase 101.PRE XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase +Indicates management contract or compensatory plan. (1) The material contained in Exhibit 32.1 and Exhibit 32.2 is not deemed “filed” with the SEC and is not to be incorporated by reference into anyfiling of the Company under the Securities Act of 1933 or the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, whether made before or after the date hereof andirrespective of any general incorporation language contained in such filing, except to the extent that the registrant specifically incorporates it byreference. 82 EXHIBIT 23.1 CONSENT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM We hereby consent to the incorporation by reference in the Registration Statements on Form S-8 (No. 333-179270, 333-170629, 333-187108, 333-194339, and 333-200616) and Form S-3 (No. 333-200008) of Inphi Corporation of our report dated March 10, 2015 relating to the financial statementsand the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting, which appears in this Form 10-K. /s/PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP San Jose, CaliforniaMarch 10, 2015 EXHIBIT 31.1 CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER CERTIFICATION I, Ford Tamer, certify that: 1. I have reviewed this annual report on Form 10-K of Inphi Corporation; 2. Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make thestatements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this report; 3. Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included in this report, fairly present in all material respects thefinancial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this report; 4. The registrant’s other certifying officer and I are responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined inExchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for theregistrant and have: (a)Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, toensure that material information relating to the registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within thoseentities, particularly during the period in which this report is being prepared; (b)Designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused such internal control over financial reporting to be designed under oursupervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for externalpurposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles; (c)Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant’s disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about theeffectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and (d)Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the registrant’s most recentfiscal quarter (the registrant’s fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an annual report) that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materiallyaffect, the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting; and 5. The registrant’s other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to theregistrant’s auditors and the audit committee of the registrant’s board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions): (a) All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control over financial reporting which are reasonablylikely to adversely affect the registrant’s ability to record, process, summarize and report financial information; and (b) Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the registrant’s internal control overfinancial reporting. Date: March 10, 2015 /s/ Ford Tamer Ford Tamer President and Chief Executive Officer(Principal Executive Officer) EXHIBIT 31.2 CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER CERTIFICATION I, John Edmunds, certify that: 1. I have reviewed this annual report on Form 10-K of Inphi Corporation; 2. Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make thestatements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this report; 3. Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included in this report, fairly present in all material respects thefinancial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this report; 4. The registrant’s other certifying officer and I are responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined inExchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for theregistrant and have: (a)Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, toensure that material information relating to the registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within thoseentities, particularly during the period in which this report is being prepared; (b)Designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused such internal control over financial reporting to be designed under oursupervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for externalpurposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles; (c)Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant’s disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about theeffectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and (d)Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the registrant’s most recentfiscal quarter (the registrant’s fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an annual report) that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materiallyaffect, the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting; and 5. The registrant’s other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to theregistrant’s auditors and the audit committee of the registrant’s board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions): (a) All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control over financial reporting which are reasonablylikely to adversely affect the registrant’s ability to record, process, summarize and report financial information; and (b) Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the registrant’s internal control overfinancial reporting. Date: March 10, 2015 /s/ John Edmunds John Edmunds Chief Financial Officer and Chief Accounting Officer(Principal Financial Officer) EXHIBIT 32.1 SECTION 906 CERTIFICATION OF CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER I, Ford Tamer, the chief executive officer of Inphi Corporation (the "Company"), certify for the purposes of section 1350 of chapter 63 of title 18 of the UnitedStates Code that, to my knowledge: 1.The Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the period ended December 31, 2014 fully complies with the requirements of Section 13(a) orSection 15(d) of the Exchange Act, and 2.The information contained in the Annual Report fairly presents, in all material respects, the financial condition and results of operations of theCompany. Date: March 10, 2015 /s/ Ford TamerFord TamerPresident and Chief Executive Officer(Principal Executive Officer) EXHIBIT 32.2 SECTION 906 CERTIFICATION OF CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER I, John Edmunds, the chief financial officer of Inphi Corporation (the "Company"), certify for the purposes of section 1350 of chapter 63 of title 18 of theUnited States Code that, to my knowledge: 1.The Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the period ended December 31, 2014 fully complies with the requirements of Section 13(a) orSection 15(d) of the Exchange Act, and 2.The information contained in the Annual Report fairly presents, in all material respects, the financial condition and results of operations of theCompany. Date: March 10, 2015 /s/ John EdmundsJohn EdmundsChief Financial Officer and Chief Accounting Officer(Principal Financial Officer) 

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