NAND flash makers also have internal captive sources of controllers. The merchant market for controllers could shrink if the NAND flash makers were to expand their usage of captive sources of controllers. In the past, our operating results were negatively affected when NAND flash customers chose to insource controllers.
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact our business and could materially adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.
Our business has been, and will continue to be, adversely impacted by the effects of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The degree to which COVID-19, and variants of COVID-19, impacts our results of operations will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted, including, but not limited to, the duration and severity of the pandemic, the actions taken to contain the virus or treat its impact including the ongoing roll out of vaccinations and vaccine boosters, other actions taken by governments, businesses and individuals in response to the virus and resulting economic disruption and how quickly and to what extent normal economic and operating conditions can resume in each geographic location we conduct business in. We are similarly unable to predict the extent of the impact of the pandemic on our customers and suppliers and their financial conditions, but a material effect on them could also materially adversely affect us.
The pandemic has resulted in governments imposing and businesses implementing numerous measures to try to contain the virus, such as travel bans and restrictions, quarantines, shelter-in-place, social distancing and shutdowns. These measures have impacted and may further impact our workforce and operations, the operations of our customers and suppliers, including third-party manufacturers and supply chain, and our ability to conduct business with both our customers and suppliers.
The pandemic has caused us to modify our business practices, including limiting or restricting employee travel, enforcing work-from-home and social distancing and canceling physical meetings, events, and conferences. We may take further actions as required by government authorities, or that we determine are in the best interests of our employees, customers and suppliers. Work-from-home and other measures introduce additional operational risks, including cybersecurity risks, and have affected the way we conduct our product development, validation and qualification, business development, sales and customer support, as well as other activities, which could have a material adverse effect on our operations. There is no certainty that such measures will be sufficient to mitigate the risks posed by the virus, and illness and workforce disruptions could lead to unavailability of key personnel and harm our ability to perform critical functions.
The pandemic has significantly increased economic and demand uncertainty. It has caused a significant contraction in the global economy, and there is considerable uncertainty as to the severity and duration of the contraction and the timing and strength of an economic recovery. Given the continued and substantial economic uncertainty and volatility created by the pandemic, it is more difficult than normal to forecast demand for our products. In addition, the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic will be exacerbated the longer the pandemic continues and makes it challenging for us to estimate the future performance of our business.
While some governments have recently eased some of the restrictions put in place, the emergence of new variants could cause further restrictions to be put in place.
We may pursue acquisitions, investments and dispositions, which could adversely affect our results of operations.
Our growth strategy includes the acquisition of, and investment in, businesses that offer complementary products, services and technologies, augment our market coverage, or enhance our technological capabilities. Our past acquisitions include Shannon Systems in 2015 and Bigtera in 2017. Our investments include Kinara (previously known as Deep Vision, Inc.) in 2018, 2020 and 2021 and BIWIN Storage Technology Corp. (referred to herein as “BIWIN”) in 2021. We may not be able to identify suitable acquisition or investment opportunities, or to consummate any such transactions. In addition, our original estimates and assumptions used in assessing
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