Item 1A.    Risk Factors

         This Annual Report on Form 10-K includes forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements generally are identified by words such as "believe", "expect", "anticipate", "estimate", "intend", "strategy", "may", "will likely" and similar words or phrases. A forward-looking statement is neither a prediction nor a guarantee of future events or circumstances, and those future events or circumstances may not occur. Investors should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this Report. We are under no obligation to update or alter any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. These forward-looking statements are all based on currently available market, operating, financial and competitive information and are subject to various risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to the rapidly- changing nature of technology; evolving industry standards; introductions of new products by competitors; changes in end-user demand for technology solutions; our ability to attract and retain skilled personnel; our reliance on suppliers of critical components; fluctuations in the market price of critical components; and the political and regulatory environment in the PRC. Our actual future results and trends may differ materially depending on a variety of factors including, but not limited to, the risks and uncertainties discussed below. The risks below are not the only ones we face. Additional risks and risks that management currently considers immaterial may also have an adverse effect on us.

We have a limited operating history, and we expect a number of factors to cause our operating results to fluctuate on a quarterly and annual basis, which may make it difficult to predict our future performance.

        Our limited operating history makes it difficult to predict our future performance. Our operating results have varied significantly in the past and will continue to fluctuate from quarter-to-quarter or year-to-year in the future due to a variety of factors, many of which are beyond our control. Factors relating to our business that may contribute to these quarterly and annual fluctuations include the following factors, as well as other factors described elsewhere in this Report:

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the loss of, or a significant reduction in sales to, a key customer;



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the cyclical nature of the industry in which we operate;



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a reduction in the demand for our high performance memory subsystems or the systems into which they are incorporated;



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changes in the prices of our products or in the cost of the materials that we use to build our products, including fluctuations in the market price of DRAM ICs and NAND;



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our inability to develop new or enhanced products that achieve customer or market acceptance in a timely manner;

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the timing of introductions of competing products or technologies;



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our ability to adequately finance future growth;



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our ability to procure an adequate supply of key components, particularly DRAM ICs and NAND;



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our failure to maintain the qualification of our products with our current customers or to qualify future products with our current or prospective customers;



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our failure to produce products that meet the quality requirements of our customers;



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our ability to effectively operate a new manufacturing facility in the PRC;



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the loss of any of our key personnel;



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delays in fulfilling orders for our products or a failure to fulfill orders;



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disputes regarding intellectual property rights;



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litigation involving our products;



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our customers' failure to pay us on a timely basis; and;



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changes in accounting principles or policies.

        Due to the various factors mentioned above, and others, the results of any prior quarterly or annual periods should not be relied upon as an indication of our future operating performance.

Sales to a limited number of customers represent a significant portion of our net sales and the loss of, or a significant reduction in sales to, any one of these customers could materially harm our business.

        Sales to certain of our OEM customers such as Dell, IBM and Hewlett Packard have historically represented a significant portion of our net sales. We currently expect that sales to Dell and Hewlett Packard will continue to represent a significant percentage of our net sales for at least the next 12 months. We do not have long-term agreements with these customers, or with any other customer. Any one of these customers could decide at any time to discontinue, decrease or delay their purchase of our products. In addition, the prices that these customers pay for our products could change at any time. The loss of Dell or Hewlett Packard as a customer, or a significant reduction in sales to any of them, would significantly reduce our net sales and adversely affect our operating results.

        Our ability to maintain or increase our net sales to our key customers depends on a variety of factors, many of which are beyond our control. These factors include our customers' continued sales of servers and other computing systems that incorporate our memory subsystems and our customers' continued incorporation of our products into their systems.

        Because of these and other factors, we cannot assure you that net sales to these customers will continue or that the amount of such net sales will reach or exceed historical levels in any future period. Because these customers account for a substantial portion of our net sales, the failure of any one of these customers to pay on a timely basis would negatively impact our cash flow.

A limited number of relatively large potential customers dominate the markets for our products.

        Our target markets are characterized by a limited number of large companies. Consolidation in one or more of our target markets may further increase this industry concentration. As a result, we anticipate that sales of our products will continue to be concentrated among a limited number of large customers in the foreseeable future. We believe that our financial results will depend in significant part on our success in establishing and maintaining relationships with, and effecting substantial sales to,

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these potential customers. Even if we establish these relationships, our financial results will be largely dependent on these customers' sales and business results.

The markets in which we compete are cyclical in nature, and any future downturn could adversely affect our business.

        Sales of our products are dependent upon demand in the computing, networking, communications, printer, storage and industrial markets. These markets have been cyclical and are characterized by wide fluctuations in product supply and demand. These markets have experienced significant downturns, often connected with, or in anticipation of, maturing product cycles, reductions in technology spending and declines in general economic conditions. These downturns have been characterized by diminished product demand, production overcapacity, high inventory levels and the erosion of average selling prices.

        We may experience substantial period-to-period fluctuations in future operating results due to factors affecting the computing, networking, communications, printers, storage and industrial markets. A decline or significant shortfall in demand in any one of these markets could have a material adverse effect on the demand for our products. As a result, our sales will likely decline during these periods. During an industry downturn, there is also a higher risk that our trade receivables would be uncollectible. In addition, because many of our costs and operating expenses are relatively fixed, if we are unable to control our expenses adequately in response to reduced sales, our gross margins, operating income and cash flow would be negatively impacted.

        A decline in the worldwide semiconductor market or a future decline in economic conditions or consumer confidence in any significant geographic area would also likely decrease the overall demand for our products, which could have a material adverse effect on us. More generally, any of these events could cause consumer confidence and spending to decrease or result in increased volatility to the United States economy and worldwide financial markets. Any of these occurrences could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We are subject to risks relating to product concentration and lack of market diversification.

        In 2007 and 2006, we derived approximately 68% and 79%, respectively, of our net sales from sales of our high performance memory subsystems for use in the server market. We expect these memory subsystems to continue to account for a significant portion of our net sales in the near term. Continued market acceptance of these products for use in servers is critical to our success. If the demand for servers deteriorates or if the demand for our products to be incorporated in servers declines, our operating results would be adversely affected, and we would be forced to diversify our product portfolio and our target markets. We may not be able to achieve this diversification, and our inability to do so may adversely affect our business.

Our investments in auction rate securities are subject to risks which may cause losses and affect the liquidity of these investments.

        We hold certain investments in auction rate securities which have failed, or may in the future fail, their respective auctions. An auction failure means that the parties wishing to sell their securities could not do so. As a result of failed auctions, our ability to liquidate and fully recover the carrying value of our investments in the near term may be limited or not exist. If the issuers of these investments are unable to close future auctions and their credit ratings deteriorate, we may in the future be required to record an impairment charge on these investments. We may be required to wait until market stability is restored for these investments or until the final maturity of the underlying notes (up to 30 years) to realize our investments' recorded value.

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We have historically incurred losses and may continue to incur losses.

        We incurred net losses each year from the inception of our business through fiscal 2005, as well as for the year ended December 29, 2007. Our cumulative net losses were $23.9 million and $16.3 million as of December 29, 2007 and December 30, 2006, respectively. We may not be able to achieve or maintain profitability on a quarterly or annual basis in the future.

The prices of DRAM ICs and NAND is volatile, and changes in their prices could adversely affect our gross margin.

        The prices of our products are adjusted periodically based in part on the market price of DRAM ICs and NAND, which have historically constituted approximately 70% - 90% of the total cost of our memory subsystems. Once our prices with a customer are negotiated, we are generally unable to revise pricing with that customer until our next regularly scheduled price adjustment. Consequently, we are exposed to the risks associated with the volatility of the price of DRAM ICs and NAND during that period. If the market price for DRAM ICs and NAND increases, we generally cannot pass this price increase on to our customers for products purchased under an existing purchase order. As a result, our cost of sales could increase and our gross margins could decrease. Alternatively, if there is a decline in the price of DRAM ICs and NAND, we may need to reduce our selling prices for subsequent purchase orders, which may result in a decline in our expected net sales.

Customer demand is difficult to accurately forecast and any failure to optimally calibrate our production capacity and inventory levels to meet customer demand could adversely affect our revenues, gross margins and earnings.

        We make significant decisions regarding the levels of business that we will seek and accept, production schedules, component procurement commitments, personnel needs and other resource requirements, based on our estimates of customer requirements. The short-term nature of commitments by many of our customers, the fact that our customers may cancel or defer purchase orders for any reason, and the possibility of unexpected changes in demand for our customers' products each reduce our ability to accurately estimate future customer requirements for our products.

        If we underestimate customer demand, we may not have sufficient inventory of DRAM ICs and NAND on hand to manufacture enough product to meet that demand. We also may not have sufficient capacity at any given time to meet our customers' demands for rapid increases in production. These shortages of inventory and capacity will lead to delays in the delivery of our products, which could cause order cancellations, the loss of customers and a decrease in our net sales.

        Conversely, if we overestimate customer demand, we may have excess raw material inventory of DRAM ICs and NAND. If there is a subsequent decline in the price of DRAM ICs and NAND, the value of our inventory will fall. As a result, we may need to write-down the value of our DRAM IC and NAND inventory, which may result in a significant decrease in our gross margin and financial condition. Also, to the extent that we manufacture products in anticipation of future demand that does not materialize, or in the event a customer cancels or reduces outstanding orders, we could experience an unanticipated increase in our finished goods inventory. In the past, we have had to write-down inventory due to obsolescence, excess quantities and declines in market value below our costs.

We use a small number of DRAM IC and NAND suppliers and are subject to risks of disruption in the supply of DRAM ICs and NAND.

        Our ability to fulfill customer orders is dependent on a sufficient supply of DRAM ICs and NAND, which are an essential component of our memory subsystems. There is a relatively small number of suppliers of DRAM ICs and NAND, and we purchase from only a subset of these suppliers. We have no long-term DRAM or NAND supply contracts. Our dependence on a small number of

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suppliers and the lack of any guaranteed sources of DRAM and NAND supply expose us to several risks, including the inability to obtain an adequate supply of DRAM ICs and NAND, price increases, delivery delays and poor quality.

        The recent declines in customer demand and revenues has caused us to reduce our purchases of DRAM ICs and NAND. Should we not maintain sufficient purchase levels with some suppliers, our ability to obtain future supplies of raw materials may be impaired due to the practice of some suppliers to allocate their products to customers with the highest regular demand.

        From time to time, shortages in DRAM ICs and NAND have required some suppliers to limit the supply of their DRAM ICs and NAND. As a result, we may be unable to obtain the DRAM ICs and NAND necessary to fill customers' orders for our products in a timely manner. If we are unable to obtain a sufficient supply of DRAM ICs and NAND to meet our customers' requirements, these customers may reduce future orders for our products or not purchase our products at all, which would cause our net sales to decline and harm our operating results. In addition, our reputation could be harmed, we may not be able to replace any lost business with new customers, and we may lose market share to our competitors.

        Our customers qualify the DRAM ICs and NAND of our suppliers for use in their systems. If one of our suppliers should experience quality control problems, it may be disqualified by one or more of our customers. This would disrupt our supplies of DRAM ICs and NAND and reduce the number of suppliers available to us, and may require that we qualify a new supplier.

The flash memory market is constantly evolving and competitive, and we may not have rights to manufacture and sell certain types of products utilizing emerging flash formats, or we may be required to pay a royalty to sell products utilizing these formats.

        The flash-based storage market is constantly undergoing rapid technological change and evolving industry standards. Many consumer devices, such as digital cameras, PDAs and smartphones, are transitioning to emerging flash memory formats, such as the Memory Stick, and xD Picture Card formats, which we do not currently manufacture and do not have rights to manufacture. Although we do not currently serve the consumer flash market, it is possible that certain OEMs may choose to adopt these higher-volume, lower-cost formats. This could result in a decline in demand, on a relative basis, for other products that we manufacture such as CompactFlash and embedded USB drives. If we decide to manufacture flash memory products utilizing emerging formats such as those mentioned, we will be required to secure licenses to give us the right to manufacture such products which may not be available at reasonable rates or at all. If we are not able to supply flash card formats at competitive prices or if we were to have product shortages, our net sales could be adversely impacted and our customers would likely cancel orders or seek other suppliers to replace us.

If the supply of other component materials used to manufacture our products is interrupted, or if our inventory becomes obsolete, our results of operations and financial condition could be adversely affected.

        We use consumables and other components, including PCBs, to manufacture our memory subsystems. We sometimes procure PCBs and other components from single or limited sources to take advantage of volume pricing discounts. Material shortages or transportation problems could interrupt the manufacture of our products from time to time in the future. These delays in manufacturing could adversely affect our results of operations.

        Frequent technology changes and the introduction of next-generation products also may result in the obsolescence of other items of inventory, such as our custom-built PCBs, which could reduce our gross margin and adversely affect our operating performance and financial condition. We may not be able to sell some products developed for one customer to another customer because our products are

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often designed to address specific customer requirements, and even if we are able to sell these products to another customer, our margin on such products may be reduced.

We may lose our competitive position if we are unable to timely and cost-effectively develop new or enhanced products that meet our customers' requirements and achieve market acceptance.

        Our industry is characterized by intense competition, rapid technological change, evolving industry standards and rapid product obsolescence. Evolving industry standards and technological change or new, competitive technologies could render our existing products obsolete. Accordingly, our ability to compete in the future will depend in a large part on our ability to identify and develop new or enhanced products on a timely and cost-effective basis, and to respond to changing customer requirements. In order to develop and introduce new or enhanced products, we need to:

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identify and adjust to the changing requirements of our current and potential customers;



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identify and adapt to emerging technological trends and evolving industry standards in our markets;



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design and introduce cost-effective, innovative and performance-enhancing features that differentiate our products from those of our competitors;



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develop relationships with potential suppliers of components required for these new or enhanced products;



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qualify these products for use in our customers' products; and



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develop and maintain effective marketing strategies.

        Our product development efforts are costly and inherently risky. It is difficult to foresee changes or developments in technology or anticipate the adoption of new standards. Moreover, once these things are identified, if at all, we will need to hire the appropriate technical personnel, develop the product and identify and eliminate design flaws. As a result, we may not be able to successfully develop new or enhanced products, or we may experience delays in the development and introduction of new or enhanced products. Delays in product development and introduction could result in the loss of, or delays in generating, net sales and the loss of market share, as well as damage to our reputation. Even if we develop new or enhanced products, they may not meet our customers' requirements or gain market acceptance. Accordingly, we cannot assure you that our future product development efforts will result in the development of new or enhanced products or that such products will achieve market acceptance.

Our customers require that our products undergo a lengthy and expensive qualification process without any assurance of net sales.

        Our prospective customers generally make a significant commitment of resources to test and evaluate our memory subsystems prior to purchasing our products and integrating them into their systems. This extensive qualification process involves rigorous reliability testing and evaluation of our products, which may continue for six months or longer and is often subject to delays. In addition to qualification of specific products, some of our customers may also require us to undergo a technology qualification if our product designs incorporate innovative technologies that the customer has not previously encountered. Such technology qualifications often take substantially longer than product qualifications and can take over a year to complete. Qualification by a prospective customer does not ensure any sales to that prospective customer. Even after successful qualification and sales of our products to a customer, changes in our products, our manufacturing facilities, our production processes or our component suppliers may require a new qualification process, which may result in additional delays. In addition, because the qualification process is both product-specific and platform-specific, our

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existing customers sometimes require us to requalify our products, or to qualify our new products, for use in new platforms or applications. For example, as our OEM customers transition from prior generation DDR1 DRAM architectures to current generation DDR2 DRAM architectures, we must design and qualify new products for use by those customers. In the past, this process of design and qualification has taken up to six months to complete, during which time our net sales to those customers declined significantly. After our products are qualified, it can take several months before the customer begins production and we begin to generate net sales. We must devote substantial resources, including design, engineering, sales, marketing and management efforts, to qualify our products with prospective customers in anticipation of sales. If we delay or do not succeed in qualifying a product with a prospective customer, we will not be able to sell that product to that prospect, which would harm our operating results and business.

We may not be able to maintain our competitive position because of the intense competition in our targeted markets.

        We participate in a highly competitive market, and we expect competition to intensify. Many of these competitors have longer operating histories, significantly greater resources and name recognition, a larger base of customers and longer-standing relationships with customers and suppliers than we have. As a result, some of these competitors are able to devote greater resources to the development, promotion and sale of products and are better positioned than we are to influence customer acceptance of their products over our products. These competitors also may be able to respond better to new or emerging technologies or standards and may be able to deliver products with comparable or superior performance at a lower price. For these reasons, we may not be able to compete successfully against these competitors.

        In addition to the competitors described above, some of our OEM customers have their own internal design groups that may develop solutions that compete with ours. These design groups have some advantages over us, including direct access to their respective companies' technical information and technology roadmaps. Our OEM customers also have substantially greater resources, financial or otherwise, than we do, and may have lower cost structures than ours. As a result, they may be able to design and manufacture competitive products more efficiently or inexpensively. If any of these OEM customers are successful in competing against us, our sales could decline, our margins could be negatively impacted and we could lose market share, any or all of which could harm our business and results of operations.

        We expect our competitors to continue to improve the performance of their current products, reduce their prices and introduce new or enhanced technologies that may offer greater performance and improved pricing. If we are unable to match or exceed the improvements made by our competitors, our market position would deteriorate and our net sales would decline. In addition, our competitors may develop future generations and enhancements of competitive products that may render our technologies obsolete or uncompetitive.

        We also expect to face competition from new and emerging companies that may enter our existing or future markets. These potential competitors may have similar or alternative products which may be less costly or provide additional features.

The establishment and ongoing operation of our manufacturing facility in the People's Republic of China, or the PRC, could expose us to new and significant risks.

        During fiscal 2007 we invested significant time and effort in establishing a new manufacturing facility in the PRC and preparing it for full-scale operations. Our new manufacturing facility became operational in July 2007 and was successfully qualified by certain key customers. The difficulties normally associated with this complicated process are compounded by language and cultural

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differences, as well as the geographic distance from our current domestic facility in Irvine. Our management has limited experience in creating or overseeing foreign operations, and this new facility may divert substantial amounts of their time. We cannot assure you that we will be able to maintain control over product quality, delivery schedules, manufacturing yields and costs as we increase our output. We also have to manage a local workforce that may subject us to uncertainties or regulatory policies and we remain subject to risks related to managing the increased production capacity provided by the facility. Should anticipated demand not materialize, the costs related to having excess capacity would have an adverse impact on our gross margins and operating results.

        As we continue to increase our operations in the PRC, some of our net sales in future periods may be denominated in Chinese Renminbi, or Yuan. The Chinese government controls the procedures by which Yuan is converted into other currencies, and conversion of Yuan generally requires government consent. As a result, Yuan may not be freely convertible into other currencies at all times. If the Chinese government institutes changes in currency conversion procedures, or imposes restrictions on currency conversion, those actions may negatively impact our operations and could reduce our operating results. In addition, fluctuations in the exchange rate between Yuan and U.S. dollars may adversely affect our expenses and results of operations as well as the value of our assets and liabilities. These fluctuations may also adversely affect the comparability of our period-to-period results. If we decide to declare dividends and repatriate funds from our Chinese operations, we will be required to comply with the procedures and regulations of applicable Chinese law. Any changes to these procedures and regulations, or our failure to comply with those procedures and regulations, could prevent us from making dividends and repatriating funds from our Chinese operations, which could adversely affect our financial condition. If we are able to make dividends and repatriate funds from our Chinese operations, these dividends would be subject to U.S. corporate income tax.

        The PRC currently provides for favorable tax rates for certain foreign-owned enterprises operating in specified locations in the PRC. We have established our PRC facility in such a tax-favored location. Should the PRC government enact a revised tax structure, it is possible that we would not realize the tax benefits that we currently anticipate and this could adversely impact our operating results.

We depend on a few key employees, and if we lose the services of any of those employees or are unable to hire additional personnel, our business could be harmed.

        To date we have been highly dependent on the experience, relationships and technical knowledge of certain key employees. We believe that our future success will be dependent on our ability to retain the services of these key employees, develop their successors, reduce our reliance on them, and properly manage the transition of their roles should departures occur.

        The loss of these key employees could delay the development and introduction of, and negatively impact our ability to sell, our products and otherwise harm our business. We do not have employment agreements with any of these key employees other than Chun K. Hong, our President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board. We do not carry "Key Man" life insurance on any of our key employees.

        Our future success also depends on our ability to attract, retain and motivate highly skilled engineering, manufacturing, other technical and sales personnel. Competition for experienced personnel is intense. We may not be successful in attracting new engineers or other technical personnel, or in retaining or motivating our existing personnel. If we are unable to hire and retain engineers with the skills necessary to keep pace with the evolving technologies in our markets, our ability to continue to provide our current products and to develop new or enhanced products will be negatively impacted, which would harm our business. In addition, the shortage of experienced engineers, and other factors, may lead to increased recruiting, relocation and compensation costs for such engineers, which may

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exceed our expectations and resources. These increased costs may make hiring new engineers difficult, or may reduce our margins.

        As of December 29, 2007, approximately 36% of our workforce consisted of contract personnel. We invest considerable time and expense in training these contract employees. We may experience high turnover rates in our contract employee workforce, which may require us to expend additional resources in the future. If we convert any of these contract employees into permanent employees, we may have to pay finder's fees to the contract agency.

Our lack of a significant backlog of unfilled orders, and the difficulty inherent in forecasting customer demand, makes it difficult to forecast our short-term production requirements to meet that demand.

        We do not have long-term purchase agreements with our customers. Instead, our customers generally place purchase orders no more than two weeks in advance of their desired delivery date, and these purchase orders generally have no cancellation or rescheduling penalty provisions. This fact, combined with the quick turn-around times that apply to each order, makes it difficult to forecast our production needs and allocate production capacity efficiently. Our production expense levels are based in part on our forecasts of our customers' future product requirements and to a large extent are fixed in the short term. As a result, we likely will be unable to adjust spending on a timely basis to compensate for any unexpected shortfall in those orders. Any significant shortfall of customer orders in relation to our expectations could hurt our operating results, cash flows and financial condition. Also, any rapid increases in production required by our customers could strain our resources and reduce our margins. If such a rapid increase were to occur at any given time, we may not have sufficient short-term manufacturing capacity to meet our customers' immediate demands.

        We attempt to forecast the demand for the DRAM ICs and other components needed to manufacture our products. Lead times for components vary significantly and depend on various factors, such as the specific supplier and the demand and supply for a component at a given time. If we underestimate customer demand or if we have not provided for sufficient manufacturing capacity, we would not be able to manufacture a sufficient quantity of our products and could forego sales opportunities, lose market share and damage our customer relationships.

If we are unable to manufacture our products efficiently, our operating results could suffer.

        We must continuously review and improve our manufacturing processes in an effort to maintain satisfactory manufacturing yields and product performance, lower our costs and otherwise remain competitive. As we manufacture more complex products, the risk of encountering delays or difficulties increases. The start-up costs associated with implementing new manufacturing technologies, methods and processes, including the purchase of new equipment, and any resulting manufacturing delays and inefficiencies, could negatively impact our results of operations.

        If we need to add manufacturing capacity, an expansion of our existing manufacturing facility or establishment of a new facility could be subject to factory audits by our customers. Any delays or unexpected costs resulting from this audit process could adversely affect our net sales and results of operations. In addition, we cannot be certain that we will be able to increase our manufacturing capacity on a timely basis or meet the standards of any applicable factory audits.

If we fail to protect our proprietary rights, our customers or our competitors might gain access to our proprietary designs, processes and technologies, which could adversely affect our operating results.

        We rely on a combination of patent protection, trade secret laws and restrictions on disclosure to protect our intellectual property rights. We have submitted a number of patent applications regarding our proprietary processes and technology. It is not certain when or if any of the claims in the remaining applications will be allowed. To date we have had only seven patents issued. We intend to continue

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filing patent applications with respect to most of the new processes and technologies that we develop. However, patent protection may not be available for some of these processes or technologies.

        It is possible that our efforts to protect our intellectual property rights may not:

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prevent challenges to, or the invalidation or circumvention of, our existing intellectual property rights;



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prevent our competitors from independently developing similar products, duplicating our products or designing around any patents that may be issued to us;



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prevent disputes with third parties regarding ownership of our intellectual property rights;



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prevent disclosure of our trade secrets and know-how to third parties or into the public domain;



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result in valid patents, including international patents, from any of our pending or future applications; or



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otherwise adequately protect our intellectual property rights.

        Others may attempt to reverse engineer, copy or otherwise obtain and use our proprietary technologies without our consent. Monitoring the unauthorized use of our technologies is difficult. We cannot be certain that the steps we have taken will prevent the unauthorized use of our technologies. This is particularly true in foreign countries, such as the PRC, where we have established a new manufacturing facility and where the laws may not protect our proprietary rights to the same extent as applicable U.S. laws.

        If some or all of the claims in our patent applications are not allowed, or if any of our intellectual property protections are limited in scope by a court or circumvented by others, we could face increased competition with regard to our products. Increased competition could significantly harm our business and our operating results.

We may be involved in costly legal proceedings to defend against claims that we infringe the intellectual property rights of others or to enforce or protect our intellectual property rights.

        Lawsuits claiming that we are infringing others' intellectual property rights may be brought against us, and we may have to defend against claims of infringement or invalidity. We currently plan to explore new technologies and to develop new products for our existing markets, such as communications, and for new markets, such as networking. By making use of these new technologies and entering these new markets there is an increased likelihood that others might allege that our products infringe on their intellectual property rights. Litigation is inherently uncertain, and an adverse outcome could subject us to significant liability for damages or invalidate our proprietary rights. An adverse outcome also could force us to take specific actions, including causing us to:

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cease selling products that are claimed to be infringing a third party's intellectual property;



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pay royalties on past or future sales;



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seek a license from the third party intellectual property owner to use their technology in our products, which license may not be available on reasonable terms, or at all; or



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redesign those products that are claimed to be infringing a third party's intellectual property.

        There is a limited pool of experienced technical personnel that we can draw upon to meet our hiring needs. As a result, a number of our existing employees have worked for our existing or potential competitors at some point during their careers, and we anticipate that a number of our future employees will have similar work histories. In the past, some of these competitors have claimed that our employees misappropriated their trade secrets or violated non-competition or non-solicitation agreements. Some of our competitors may threaten or bring legal action involving similar claims against us or our existing employees or make such claims in the future to prevent us from hiring qualified candidates. Lawsuits of this type may be brought, even if there is no merit to the claim, simply as a strategy to drain our financial resources and divert management's attention away from our business.

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        We also may find it necessary to litigate against others, including our competitors, customers and former employees, to enforce our intellectual property and contractual and commercial rights including, in particular, our trade secrets, as well as to challenge the validity and scope of the proprietary rights of others. We could become subject to counterclaims or countersuits against us as a result of this litigation. Moreover, any legal disputes with customers could cause them to cease buying or using our products or delay their purchase of our products and could substantially damage our relationship with them.

        Any litigation, regardless of its outcome, would be time consuming and costly to resolve, divert our management's time and attention and negatively impact our results of operations.

If we are required to obtain licenses to use third party intellectual property and we fail to do so, our business could be harmed.

        Although some of the components used in our final products contain the intellectual property of third parties, we believe that our suppliers bear the sole responsibility to obtain any rights and licenses to such third party intellectual property. While we have no knowledge that any third party licensor disputes our belief, we cannot assure you that disputes will not arise in the future. The operation of our business and our ability to compete successfully depends significantly on our continued operation without claims of infringement or demands resulting from such claims, including demands for payments of money in the form of, for example, ongoing licensing fees.

        We are also developing products to enter new markets, such as the industrial flash market. Similar to our current products, we may use components in these new products that contain the intellectual property of third parties. While we plan to exercise precautions to avoid infringing on the intellectual property rights of third parties, we cannot assure you that disputes will not arise.

        If it is determined that we are required to obtain inbound licenses and we fail to obtain licenses, or if such licenses are not available on economically feasible terms, our business, operating results and financial condition could be significantly harmed.

If our products do not meet the quality standards of our customers, we may be forced to stop shipments of products until the quality issues are resolved.

        Our customers require our products to meet strict quality standards. Should our products not meet such standards, our customers may discontinue purchases from us until we are able to resolve the quality issues that are causing us to not meet the standards, Such "quality holds" could have a significant adverse impact on our revenues and operating results.

If our products are defective or are used in defective systems, we may be subject to product recalls or product liability claims.

        If our products are defectively manufactured, contain defective components or are used in defective or malfunctioning systems, we could be subject to product liability claims and product recalls, safety alerts or advisory notices. While we have product liability insurance coverage, it may not be adequate to satisfy claims made against us. We also may be unable to obtain insurance in the future at satisfactory rates or in adequate amounts. Product liability claims or product recalls, regardless of their ultimate outcome, could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and reputation, and on our ability to attract and retain customers. In addition, we may determine that it is in our best interest to accept product returns in circumstances where we are not contractually obligated to do so in order to maintain good relations with our customers. Accepting product returns may negatively impact our operating results.

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If we acquire other businesses or technologies in the future, these acquisitions could disrupt our business and harm our operating results and financial condition.

        We will evaluate opportunities to acquire businesses or technologies that might complement our current product offerings or enhance our technical capabilities. We have no experience in acquiring other businesses or technologies. Acquisitions entail a number of risks that could adversely affect our business and operating results, including:

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difficulties in integrating the operations, technologies or products of the acquired companies;



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the diversion of management's time and attention from the normal daily operations of the business;



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insufficient increases in net sales to offset increased expenses associated with acquisitions or acquired companies;



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difficulties in retaining business relationships with suppliers and customers of the acquired companies;



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the overestimation of potential synergies or a delay in realizing those synergies;



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entering markets in which we have no or limited experience and in which competitors have stronger market positions; and



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the potential loss of key employees of the acquired companies.

        Future acquisitions also could cause us to incur debt or be subject to contingent liabilities. In addition, acquisitions could cause us to issue equity securities that could dilute the ownership percentages of our existing stockholders. Furthermore, acquisitions may result in material charges or adverse tax consequences, substantial depreciation, deferred compensation charges, in-process research and development charges, the amortization of amounts related to deferred stock-based compensation expense and identifiable purchased intangible assets or impairment of goodwill, any or all of which could negatively affect our results of operations.

If we do not effectively manage our growth, our resources, systems and controls may be strained and our results of operations may suffer.

        We have expanded, and plan to continue to expand, our operations, both domestically and internationally. Any future growth may strain our resources, management information and telecommunication systems, and operational and financial controls. To manage our growth effectively, including the development of our new manufacturing facility in the PRC, we must continue to improve and expand our systems and controls. We may not be able to do this in a timely or cost-effective manner, and our current systems and controls may not be adequate to support our future operations. In addition, our officers have relatively limited experience in managing a rapidly growing business or a public company. As a result, they may not be able to provide the guidance necessary to continue our growth or maintain our market position. Any failure to manage our growth or improve or expand our existing systems and controls, or unexpected difficulties in doing so, could harm our business.

Our internal controls over financial reporting may not be effective, which could have a significant and adverse effect on our business.

        Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission, which we collectively refer to as Section 404, require us to evaluate our internal controls over financial reporting to allow management to report on those internal controls as of the end of each year beginning in fiscal 2007. Section 404 will also require our independent registered public accounting firm to attest to the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting in

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future periods. Effective internal controls are necessary for us to produce reliable financial reports and are important in our effort to prevent financial fraud. In the course of our Section 404 evaluations, we may identify conditions that may result in significant deficiencies or material weaknesses and we may conclude that enhancements, modifications or changes to our internal controls are necessary or desirable. Implementing any such matters would divert the attention of our management, could involve significant costs, and may negatively impact our results of operations.

        We note that there are inherent limitations on the effectiveness of internal controls, as they cannot prevent collusion, management override or failure of human judgment. If we fail to maintain an effective system of internal controls or if management or our independent registered public accounting firm were to discover material weaknesses in our internal controls, we may be unable to produce reliable financial reports or prevent fraud, and it could harm our financial condition and results of operations, result in a loss of investor confidence and negatively impact our share price.

If a standardized memory solution which addresses the demands of our customers is developed, our net sales and market share may decline.

        Many of our memory subsystems are specifically designed for our OEM customers' high performance systems. Our business would be harmed if these high performance systems were to become standardized so that DRAM IC manufacturers or other companies could develop and manufacture a commodity memory module addressing the demands of some or all of these high performance applications. If DRAM IC manufacturers or other companies are able to develop a standardized solution, our future business may be limited to identifying the next generation of high performance memory demands of OEM customers and developing a solution that addresses such demands. Until fully implemented, this next generation of products may constitute a much smaller market, which may reduce our net sales and market share.

Our failure to comply with environmental laws and regulations could subject us to significant fines and liabilities or cause us to incur significant costs.

        We are subject to various and frequently changing U.S. federal, state and local and foreign governmental laws and regulations relating to the protection of the environment, including those governing the discharge of pollutants into the air and water, the management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes, the cleanup of contaminated sites and the maintenance of a safe workplace. In particular, some of our manufacturing processes may require us to handle and dispose of hazardous materials from time to time. For example, in the past our manufacturing operations have used lead-based solder in the assembly of our products. Today, we use lead-free soldering technologies in our manufacturing processes, as this is required for products entering the European Union. We could incur substantial costs, including clean-up costs, civil or criminal fines or sanctions and third-party claims for property damage or personal injury, as a result of violations of, or noncompliance with, environmental laws and regulations. These laws and regulations also could require us to incur significant costs to remain in compliance.

Economic, political and other risks associated with international sales and operations could adversely affect our net sales.

        Part of our growth strategy involves making sales to foreign corporations and delivering our products to facilities located in foreign countries. To facilitate this process and to meet the long-term projected demand for our products, we have set up a new manufacturing facility in the PRC. Selling and manufacturing in foreign countries subjects us to additional risks not present with our domestic operations. We have begun operating in business and regulatory environments in which we have little or no previous experience. We will need to overcome language and cultural barriers to effectively conduct our operations in these new environments. In addition, the economies of the PRC and other

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countries have been highly volatile in the past, resulting in significant fluctuations in local currencies and other instabilities. These instabilities affect a number of our customers and suppliers in addition to our foreign operations and continue to exist or may occur again in the future. International turmoil and the threat of future terrorist attacks, both domestically and internationally, have contributed to an uncertain political and economic climate, both in the U.S. and globally, and have negatively impacted the worldwide economy. The occurrence of one or more of these instabilities could adversely affect our foreign operations and some of our customers or suppliers, each of which could adversely affect our net sales. In addition, our failure to meet applicable regulatory requirements or overcome cultural barriers could result in production delays and increased turn-around times, which would adversely affect our business.

Our operations could be disrupted by power outages, natural disasters or other factors.

        Our current manufacturing facilities are located in Irvine, California and Suzhou, PRC. Due to this geographic concentration, a disruption of our manufacturing operations, resulting from equipment failure, power failures, quality control issues, human error, government intervention or natural disasters, including earthquakes, fires or floods, could interrupt or interfere with our manufacturing operations and consequently harm our business, financial condition and results of operations. Such disruptions would cause significant delays in shipments of our products and adversely affect our operating results.

Our principal stockholders have significant voting power and may take actions that may not be in the best interest of our other stockholders.

        As of December 29, 2007, our executive officers, directors and 5% stockholders beneficially own, in total, approximately 50% of our outstanding common stock. As a result, these stockholders, acting together, have the ability to exert substantial influence over all matters requiring approval by our stockholders, including the election and removal of directors and any proposed merger, consolidation or sale of all or substantially all of our assets and other corporate transactions. This concentration of control could be disadvantageous to other stockholders with interests different from those of our executive officers, directors and principal stockholders. For example, our executive officers, directors and principal stockholders could delay or prevent an acquisition or merger even if the transaction would benefit other stockholders. In addition, this significant concentration of share ownership may adversely affect the trading price for our common stock because investors may perceive disadvantages in owning stock in companies with stockholders that have the ability to exercise significant control.

Anti-takeover provisions under our charter documents and Delaware law could delay or prevent a change of control and could also limit the market price of our stock.

        Our certificate of incorporation and bylaws contain provisions that could delay or prevent a change of control of our company or changes in our board of directors that our stockholders might consider favorable. In addition, these provisions could limit the price that investors would be willing to pay in the future for shares of our common stock. The following are examples of provisions which are included in our certificate of incorporation and bylaws, each as amended:

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our board of directors is authorized, without prior stockholder approval, to designate and issue preferred stock, commonly referred to as "blank check" preferred stock, with rights senior to those of our common stock;



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stockholder action by written consent is prohibited;



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nominations for election to our board of directors and the submission of matters to be acted upon by stockholders at a meeting are subject to advance notice requirements; and



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our board of directors is expressly authorized to make, alter or repeal our bylaws.

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        In addition, we are governed by the provisions of Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporate Law, which may prohibit certain business combinations with stockholders owning 15% or more of our outstanding voting stock. These and other provisions in our certificate of incorporation and bylaws, and of Delaware law could make it more difficult for stockholders or potential acquirors to obtain control of our board of directors or initiate actions that are opposed by the then-current board of directors, including delaying or impeding a merger, tender offer, or proxy contest or other change of control transaction involving our company. Any delay or prevention of a change of control transaction or changes in our board of directors could prevent the consummation of a transaction in which our stockholders could receive a substantial premium over the then-current market price for their shares.