Document



 
 
 
 
 
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C.  20549
FORM 10-K
(Mark One)
 
x
ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the fiscal year ended August 30, 2018
OR
o
TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the transition period from            to
Commission file number 1-10658
Micron Technology, Inc.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
Delaware
75-1618004
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)
(IRS Employer Identification No.)
8000 S. Federal Way, Boise, Idaho
83716-9632
(Address of principal executive offices)
(Zip Code)
Registrant's telephone number, including area code
(208) 368-4000
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
Title of each class
Name of each exchange on which registered
Common Stock, par value $0.10 per share
NASDAQ Global Select Market
Common Stock Purchase Rights
 
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 T No ¨
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Act.  Yes ¨ No T
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 Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.  Yes T No ¨
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Website, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).  Yes T 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 contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part 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, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of "large accelerated filer," "accelerated filer," "smaller reporting company," and "emerging growth company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
Large Accelerated Filer x
Accelerated Filer o
Non-Accelerated Filer o
Smaller Reporting Company o
Emerging Growth Company o
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. o
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).  Yes o No x
The aggregate market value of the voting stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant, based upon the closing price of such stock on March 1, 2018, as reported by the NASDAQ Global Select Market, was approximately $45.0 billion. Shares of common stock held by each executive officer and director and by each person who owns 5% or more of the outstanding common stock have been excluded in that such persons may be deemed to be affiliates. This determination of affiliate status is not necessarily a conclusive determination for other purposes.
The number of outstanding shares of the registrant's common stock as of October 8, 2018 was 1,134,255,375.
DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE: Portions of the Proxy Statement for the registrant's Fiscal 2018 Annual Meeting of Shareholders to be held on January 16, 2019 are incorporated by reference into Part II and Part III of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
 
 
 
 
 





Forward-Looking Statements

This Form 10-K contains trend information and other forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements such as those made regarding controller development; increasing sales of DDR4, 3D NAND, 3D XPointTM memory, and client and cloud SSDs; growth in our production of, and the market for, NAND products; our production of DRAM products; our joint research and development arrangements with Intel; the need to obtain additional patent licenses or renew existing license agreements; the entry into additional sales or licenses of intellectual property and partnering agreements; debt incurred to finance our capital investments; and cash expenditures for property, plant, and equipment. Our actual results could differ materially from our historical results and those discussed in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include, but are not limited to, those identified in "Item 1A. Risk Factors." All period references are to our fiscal periods unless otherwise indicated.


Definitions of Commonly Used Terms

As used herein, "we," "our," "us," and similar terms include Micron Technology, Inc. and our consolidated subsidiaries, unless the context indicates otherwise. Abbreviations, terms, or acronyms are commonly used or found in multiple locations throughout this report and include the following:
Term
 
Definition
 
Term
 
Definition
2021 MSAC Term Loan
 
Variable Rate MSAC Senior Secured Term Loan due 2021
 
Micron
 
Micron Technology, Inc. (Parent Company)
2021 MSTW Term Loan
 
Variable Rate MSTW Senior Secured Term Loan due 2021
 
MLC
 
Multi-Level Cell (two bits per cell)
2022 Notes
 
5.88% Senior Notes due 2022
 
MMJ
 
Micron Memory Japan, Inc.
2022 Term Loan B
 
Senior Secured Term Loan B due 2022
 
MMJ Companies
 
MAI and MMJ
2023 Notes
 
5.25% Senior Notes due 2023
 
MMJ Group
 
MMJ and its subsidiaries
2023 Secured Notes
 
7.50% Senior Secured Notes due 2023
 
MMT
 
Micron Memory Taiwan Co., Ltd.
2024 Notes
 
5.25% Senior Notes due 2024
 
MSP
 
Micron Semiconductor Products, Inc.
2025 Notes
 
5.50% Senior Notes due 2025
 
MSTW
 
Micron Semiconductor Taiwan Co., Ltd.
2026 Notes
 
5.63% Senior Notes due 2026
 
MTTW
 
Micron Technology Taiwan, Inc.
2032C Notes
 
2.38% Convertible Senior Notes due 2032
 
Nanya
 
Nanya Technology Corporation
2032D Notes
 
3.13% Convertible Senior Notes due 2032
 
OEM
 
Original Equipment Manufacturer
2033 Notes
 
2033E and 2033F Notes
 
Qimonda
 
Qimonda AG
2033E Notes
 
1.63% Convertible Senior Notes due 2033
 
QLC
 
Quad-Level Cell (four bits per cell)
2033F Notes
 
2.13% Convertible Senior Notes due 2033
 
R&D
 
Research and Development
2043G Notes
 
3.00% Convertible Senior Notes due 2043
 
SG&A
 
Selling, General, and Administration
IMFT
 
IM Flash Technologies, LLC
 
SLC
 
Single-Level Cell (one bit per cell)
Inotera
 
Inotera Memories, Inc.
 
SSD
 
Solid-State Drive
Intel
 
Intel Corporation
 
Tera Probe
 
Tera Probe, Inc.
LPDRAM
 
Mobile Low-Power DRAM
 
TLC
 
Triple-Level Cell (three bits per cell)
MAI
 
Micron Akita, Inc.
 
VIE
 
Variable Interest Entity
MCP
 
Multi-Chip Package
 
 
 
 

Micron, Crucial, Ballistix, any associated logos, and all other Micron trademarks are the property of Micron. 3D XPoint is a trademark of Intel or its subsidiaries in the United States and/or other countries. Other product names or trademarks that are not owned by Micron are for identification purposes only and may be the registered or unregistered trademarks of their respective owners.






PART I
  
ITEM 1. BUSINESS


Overview

Micron Technology, Inc., including its consolidated subsidiaries, is an industry leader in innovative memory and storage solutions. Through our global brands – Micron®, Crucial®, and Ballistix® – our broad portfolio of high-performance memory and storage technologies, including DRAM, NAND, NOR Flash and 3D XPoint memory, is transforming how the world uses information to enrich life. Backed by 40 years of technology leadership, our memory and storage solutions enable disruptive trends, including artificial intelligence, machine learning, and autonomous vehicles, in key market segments like cloud, data center, networking, and mobile.

We manufacture our products at our worldwide, wholly-owned and joint venture facilities. In recent years, we have increased our manufacturing scale and product diversity through strategic acquisitions, expansion, and various partnering arrangements.

We make significant investments to develop proprietary product and process technology, which is implemented in our manufacturing facilities. We generally increase the density per wafer and reduce manufacturing costs of each generation of product through advancements in product and process technology, such as our leading-edge line-width process technology and 3D NAND architecture. We continue to introduce new generations of products that offer improved performance characteristics, including higher data transfer rates, reduced package size, lower power consumption, improved read/write reliability, and increased memory density. Storage products incorporating NAND, a controller, and firmware constitute a significant and increasing portion of our sales. We generally develop firmware and expect to introduce proprietary controllers into our SSDs in the first half of 2019. Development of advanced technologies enables us to diversify our product portfolio toward a richer mix of differentiated, high-value solutions and to target high-growth markets.

We market our products through our internal sales force, independent sales representatives, distributors, and e-tailers, primarily to original equipment manufacturers and retailers located around the world. We face intense competition in the semiconductor memory and storage markets and, in order to remain competitive, we must continuously develop and implement new products and technologies and decrease manufacturing costs. Our success is largely dependent on market acceptance of our diversified portfolio of semiconductor-based memory and storage solutions, efficient utilization of our manufacturing infrastructure, successful ongoing development and integration of advanced product and process technology, return-driven capital spending, and successful R&D investments.


Products

Our product portfolio of memory and storage solutions, advanced solutions, and storage platforms are based on our high-performance semiconductor memory and storage technologies, including DRAM, NAND, 3D XPoint memory, and other technologies. We sell our products into various markets through our four business units (which are also our reportable segments) in various forms, including wafers, components, modules, SSDs and in MCPs that combine DRAM, NAND, and/or NOR with a controller and firmware. We are relentlessly focused on evolving our product portfolio to a richer mix of high-value solutions and cultivating deeper relationships with customers. Our position as a developer and manufacturer of DRAM, NAND, NOR and other emerging memory technologies uniquely enables us to collaborate with our customers to ensure our technology and engineering roadmaps deliver critical features. We continuously introduce new products on our advanced technologies, delivering performance, quality, and cost advantages to our customers.

Compute and Networking Business Unit

CNBU includes memory products and solutions sold into cloud server, enterprise, client, graphics, and networking markets. CNBU reported revenue of $15.25 billion in 2018, $8.62 billion in 2017, and $4.53 billion in 2016. In 2018, we significantly increased our production of DRAM using 1Xnm technology and continued to focus on developing our 1Ynm technology. In 2018, we achieved volume production of our 8Gb GDDR6 memory, which delivers significant performance improvements over our GDDR5 design, and enables bandwidth-intensive applications in our core CNBU markets in a variety of applications such as artificial intelligence and networking.

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Cloud Server: The cloud server market was CNBU's fastest growing market in 2018, particularly in datacenters, with significant increases in DRAM content per server. The cloud server market has been driven, in part, by intelligent edge devices capable of artificial intelligence and augmented reality that store and access data in the cloud. Artificial intelligence servers require significantly increasing quantities of DRAM and as the number and capabilities of these intelligent edge devices increase, more data is stored, processed, and accessed in the cloud, creating a virtuous cycle between the cloud and edge devices. We anticipate continued growth of our 1Xnm portfolio with the continued ramp of our second-generation 1Xnm 8Gb DDR4 products, which were validated with key partners and customers in 2018.

Enterprise: Similar to the cloud server market, the enterprise market is experiencing strong demand growth from intelligent edge devices that require rapid data analysis and storage in enterprise and cloud servers to enable machine learning, training, and inferencing. Our enterprise RDIMM DRAM memory modules provide the high performance, reliability, and integrity requirements for such applications. In 2018, we qualified our 32GB non-volatile module ("NVDIMM") at key OEMs and also began shipping in volume our 128GB through-silicon via-based ("TSV") RDIMMS.

Client: In 2018, we achieved significant production and sales to the client market from our 1Xnm technology. Our products sold to the client market support both PC unit growth, driven primarily by corporate replacement cycles from upgraded operating systems, as well as increases in content per unit. Additionally, our products sold to the client market are incorporated into gaming and ultra-thin notebooks.

Graphics: Our GDDR5/5x DRAM graphics products are incorporated into applications providing virtual reality, augmented reality, and crypto-mining technology. In 2018, we benefitted from strong demand for graphics memory in gaming console applications, as well as a higher attach-rate of graphics DRAM products in performance and enthusiast graphics cards. In 2018, we migrated and scaled production of our 8Gb GDDR5 to our 1Xnm DRAM technology, which augmented production of our GDDR5/5x DRAM memory on our 20nm line-width technology. We remained focused on execution of technology transitions and achieved volume production of our 8Gb GDDR6 DRAM for the graphics and crypto-mining markets in 2018.

Networking: The networking memory market is characterized by long life-cycle DRAM products, and accordingly, a significant portion of our sales to the networking market consisted of products manufactured on our legacy 30nm and 25nm-series DRAM technology. In 2018, we accelerated a shift from DDR3 to DDR4 DRAM and began sales of 4Gb DDR4 DRAM into emerging 5G applications.

Mobile Business Unit

MBU includes memory products sold into smartphone and other mobile-device markets and includes discrete DRAM, discrete NAND, and managed NAND. MBU managed NAND includes eMMC and universal flash storage ("UFS") solutions, which each combine high-capacity NAND with a high-speed controller and firmware in a small ball-grid array, and eMCP products, which combine an eMMC/UFS solution with LPDRAM. MBU reported revenue of $6.58 billion in 2018, $4.42 billion in 2017, and $2.57 billion in 2016. In 2018, we announced new 64-layer, second-generation 3D NAND storage products, which support the high-speed UFS 2.1 standard and eMMC 5.1 standard. These new mobile solutions are based on our industry-leading TLC 3D NAND technology, empowering smartphone makers to enhance the user experience with next-generation mobile features such as artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and facial recognition. Our 1Xnm LPDRAM solutions provide power efficiency, particularly critical to our mobile customers, and our 1Ynm 12Gb LPDDR4 solutions, the highest capacity LPDRAM monolithic die available in the industry, provide both power efficiency and higher capacity to our mobile customers.

Smartphone: In 2018, we achieved product qualification of our 1Xnm LPDDR4 DRAM with major mobile phone OEMs. Our LPDRAM offers low-power, high-performance solutions to perform in extreme environments demanded by high-end smartphones. High-end smartphones incorporate higher levels of NAND and LPDRAM that enable features such as larger 4K displays, multiple high-resolution cameras, and 4K high-dynamic range video recording. Additionally, our smartphone products are utilized by OEMs to enable artificial intelligence, augmented reality, and life-like virtual reality capabilities into high-end phones, including facial and voice recognition, real-time translation, fast image search, and scene detection. In 2018, our managed NAND products achieved strong growth, including our new 128GB NAND plus 4GB DRAM MCP and our first high-performance UFS managed NAND products introduced in the fourth quarter of 2018.


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Storage Business Unit

SBU includes SSDs and component-level solutions sold into enterprise and cloud, client, and consumer storage markets as well as other discrete storage products sold in component and wafer forms to the removable storage markets. SBU sales also include "non-trade" products consisting of products manufactured and sold to Intel through IMFT under a long-term supply agreement at prices approximating cost, which included 3D XPoint memory and NAND products. SBU reported revenue of $5.02 billion in 2018, $4.51 billion in 2017, and $3.26 billion in 2016. In 2018, we continued to ramp our 64-layer 3D NAND technology and achieved bit output crossover relative to 32-layer in the second half of 2018. In 2018, we also extended our leadership position in 3D NAND technology by delivering the industry's first commercially available QLC 3D NAND technology. Leveraging our 64-layer structure, the new QLC NAND technology achieves 1 terabit ("Tb") density per die, which has a 33% higher array density as compared to TLC, enabling new operating points for density and cost in the enterprise, cloud, and client-storage markets. In 2018, we advanced development of our third-generation 96-tier 3D NAND structure, providing a 50 percent increase in layers. Both the 64-layer QLC and 96-layer TLC 3D NAND technologies utilize CMOS under the array ("CuA") technology to reduce die sizes and deliver improved performance when compared to competitive approaches. By leveraging four planes versus two, our new NAND flash memory can write and read more cells in parallel, which delivers faster throughput and higher bandwidth at the system level.

SSDs: SSD storage products incorporate NAND, a controller, and firmware and offer benefits over HDDs of a smaller form factor, faster read and write speeds, and solid-state architecture. SSDs offer significant performance and features, including speed, reliability, and lower power consumption. We offer SSD solutions utilizing our NAND technology to the enterprise and cloud, client, and consumer markets.

Enterprise and Cloud SSDs: SBU sales to the enterprise and cloud SSD markets in 2018 consisted primarily of our flagship SATA 5100 and 5200 series SSDs. In 2018, our SATA 5200 series SSD achieved qualification at enterprise server OEMs, cloud service providers, and enterprise customers. Similar to trends in the memory market, the enterprise and cloud storage markets have been driven by intelligent edge devices capable of artificial intelligence, augmented reality, and other features that store, access, and analyze data in the cloud. Artificial intelligence servers require significantly higher SSD capacity, and our 64-layer QLC NAND technology provides cost-optimized storage solutions, providing significantly lower total cost of ownership for read-intensive cloud workloads. Our 5200 series SATA SSDs, which deliver best-in-class performance and capacity, are based on the same proven architecture as our 5100 series. We shipped our first 5200 series SATA SSDs in the third quarter of 2018 and received broad acceptance in the enterprise and cloud SSD markets. By leveraging our advanced CuA NAND in enterprise and cloud SSDs, we deliver low cost, high density, high performance storage solutions.

Client SSDs: SBU sales to the client SSD market in 2018 consisted primarily of our 1100 series 3D NAND SATA Client SSD, which is targeted for leading personal computer OEMs as a replacement to HDDs. Our client SSDs, used in notebooks, desktops, workstations, and related consumer applications, deliver high performance, power efficiency, security, and capacity to our customers. In the first half of 2019, we expect to introduce our 2200 series 3D NAND PCIe client SSD incorporating our internally-developed controller, enabling us to offer additional differentiated storage solutions for our client customers.

Consumer SSDs: SBU sales to the consumer SSD market in 2018 consisted primarily of our Crucial-branded MX500 SATA SSD, utilizing our 64-layer TLC 3D NAND. Similar to the client SSD market, our consumer SSD solutions are replacing HDDs as end-users seek the higher performance, power savings, and reliability of our SSDs.

Components and Wafers: SBU sales of components and wafers in 2018 consisted primarily of our 32-layer TLC NAND technology and our 64-layer TLC and QLC NAND technology. We continue to transition our business from a storage components supplier to a storage solutions provider with a richer mix of high-value solutions such as SSDs and mobile managed NAND. As a result, SBU sales of products in component and wafer form declined in 2018 as compared to 2017.

3D XPoint memory: 3D XPoint memory has 10 times the chip density of DRAM, 1,000 times the endurance capability of NAND, and is 1,000 times faster than NAND. These specifications create a significant value opportunity for 3D XPoint memory in solutions between DRAM and NAND in the memory and storage hierarchy. Trends in machine learning, big data analytics, and artificial intelligence are driving demand for the features offered by 3D XPoint memory. We are collaborating with our customers to develop 3D XPoint memory products and expect to sample such products in late calendar 2019.


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Embedded Business Unit

EBU includes memory and storage products sold into automotive, industrial, and consumer markets and includes discrete DRAM, discrete NAND, managed NAND, and NOR. EBU reported revenue of $3.48 billion in 2018, $2.70 billion in 2017, and $1.94 billion in 2016. The embedded market is characterized by long life-cycle DRAM and NAND products manufactured on our mature process technologies. Our embedded products enable edge devices to store, connect, and share information in the growing internet of things ("IoT") and are utilized in a diverse set of applications in the automotive, industrial, and consumer markets.

Automotive: Our DDR3 DRAM and eMMC managed NAND automotive memory and storage products enable connected, large display infotainment systems and higher definition 4K displays and support improved voice and gesture control in automotive applications. Our comprehensive and expanding portfolio of DRAM, NAND, and NOR solutions to the automotive market, as well as our extensive customer support network, also support advancements in autonomous driving and automated driver assistance systems, which require high reliability and high performance memory and storage.
 
Industrial: Our industrial products, featuring SLC and MLC NAND, NOR, DDR3 DRAM, and MCP managed NAND, enable applications in the growing industrial IoT market, including factory automation, transportation, and surveillance. In 2018, we announced availability of our 128GB and 256GB density of edge storage microSD card solutions and collaboration with several leading video surveillance solution providers to promote surveillance-grade edge storage, utilizing our 64-layer TLC 3D NAND technology. This newly released solution enables greater capacity in a smaller space, delivering up to 30 days of surveillance video storage in the camera.

Consumer: Our DDR3 DRAM, SLC NAND, and eMCP managed NAND products sold into the consumer market are used in a diverse set of consumer products, including service provider and set-top boxes, digital still and video cameras, home networking, ultra-high definition televisions, and many more applications. Our embedded memory and storage solutions enable edge devices in the consumer products market to store, connect, and share information in the IoT.


Manufacturing

We manufacture our products at our worldwide, wholly-owned and joint venture facilities located in Taiwan, Singapore, the United States, Japan, and China and also utilize subcontractors to perform certain manufacturing processes. Nearly all of our products are manufactured on 300mm wafers in facilities that generally operate 24 hours per day, seven days per week. Semiconductor manufacturing is extremely capital intensive, requiring large investments in sophisticated facilities and equipment. A significant portion of our semiconductor equipment is generally replaced every five to seven years with increasingly advanced equipment. Our DRAM, NAND, 3D XPoint memory, and NOR Flash products share a number of common manufacturing processes, enabling us to leverage much of our product and process technology and manufacturing infrastructure across these product lines.

Our process for manufacturing semiconductor products is complex and involves a number of precise steps, including wafer fabrication, assembly, and test. Efficient production of semiconductor products requires utilization of advanced semiconductor manufacturing techniques and effective deployment of these techniques across multiple facilities. The primary determinants of manufacturing cost are process line-width, 3D non-volatile layers, NAND cell levels, process complexity, including number of mask layers and fabrication steps, and manufacturing yield. Other factors that contribute to manufacturing costs are the cost and sophistication of manufacturing equipment, equipment utilization, process complexity, cost of raw materials, labor productivity, package type, cleanliness of our manufacturing environment, and utilization of subcontractors to perform certain manufacturing processes. We continuously enhance our production processes, increasing bits per wafer and transitioning to higher density products. In 2018, we significantly increased our volume production of 1Xnm process node DRAM and expect to achieve bit crossover by the end of the first quarter of 2019. In 2018, we continued to ramp our 64-layer 3D NAND technology and achieved bit output crossover relative to 32-layer in the second half of 2018.

Wafer fabrication occurs in a highly-controlled clean environment to minimize dust and other yield and quality-limiting contaminants. Despite stringent manufacturing controls, individual circuits may be nonfunctional or wafers may need to be scrapped due to equipment errors, minute impurities in materials, defects in photomasks, circuit design marginalities or defects, and air particle defects. Success of our manufacturing operations depends largely on minimizing defects to maximize yield of high-quality circuits. In this regard, we employ rigorous quality controls throughout the manufacturing, screening, and testing processes. We are able to recover certain devices by testing and grading them to their highest level of functionality.


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We sell semiconductor products in both packaged and unpackaged (i.e., "bare die") forms. Our packaged products include memory modules, SSDs, and managed NAND including MCPs and eMMCs. We assemble many products in-house and, in some cases, outsource assembly services for certain memory modules, SSDs, and MCPs.

We test our products at various stages in the manufacturing process, conduct numerous quality control inspections throughout the entire production flow, and perform high temperature burn-in on finished products. In addition, we use our proprietary AMBYX™ line of intelligent test and burn-in systems to perform simultaneous circuit tests of semiconductor die during the burn-in process, capturing quality and reliability data and reducing testing time and cost.

In recent years, we have produced an increasingly broad portfolio of products and system solutions, which enhances our ability to allocate resources to our most profitable products but also increases the complexity of our manufacturing and supply chain operations. Although our product lines generally use similar manufacturing processes, our cost efficiency can be affected by frequent conversions to new products, the allocation of manufacturing capacity to more complex, smaller-volume products, and the reallocation of manufacturing capacity across various product lines.


Arrangements with Intel

IMFT

Since 2006, we have owned 51% of IMFT, a joint venture between us and Intel. IMFT is governed by a Board of Managers, for which the number of managers appointed by each member varies based on the members' respective ownership interests. IMFT manufactures semiconductor products exclusively for its members under a long-term supply agreement at prices approximating cost. In the first quarter of 2018, IMFT discontinued production of NAND and subsequent to that time has been entirely focused on 3D XPoint memory production. IMFT sales to Intel were $507 million, $438 million, and $457 million in 2018, 2017, and 2016, respectively.

The IMFT joint venture agreement extends through 2024 and includes certain buy-sell rights. At any time through December 2018, Intel can put to us, and from January 2019 through December 2021, we can call from Intel, Intel's interest in IMFT, in either case, for a price that approximates Intel's interest in the net book value of IMFT plus member debt at the time of the closing. If Intel exercises its put right, we can elect to set the closing date of the transaction any time between six months and two years following such election by Intel and we can elect to receive financing of the purchase price from Intel for one to two years from the closing date. If we exercise our call right, Intel can elect to set the closing date of the transaction to be any time between six months and one year following such election. Following the closing date resulting from exercise of either the put or the call, we will continue to supply to Intel for a period of one year between 50% and 100%, at Intel's choice, of Intel's immediately preceding six-month period pre-closing volumes of IMFT products for the first six-month period following the closing and between 0% and 100%, at Intel's choice, of Intel's first six-month period following the closing volumes of IMFT products for the second six-month period following the closing, at a margin that varies depending on whether the put or call was exercised.

IMFT's capital requirements are generally determined based on an annual plan approved by the members, and capital contributions to IMFT are requested as needed. Capital requests are made to the members in proportion to their then-current ownership interest. Members may elect to not contribute their proportional share, and in such event, the contributing member may elect to contribute any amount of the capital request, either in the form of an equity contribution or member debt financing. In 2018, Intel provided debt financing of $1.01 billion to IMFT pursuant to the terms of the IMFT joint venture agreement. Under the supply agreement, the members have rights and obligations to the capacity of IMFT in proportion to their investment, including member debt financing. Any capital contribution or member debt financing results in a proportionate adjustment to the sharing of output on an eight-month lag. Members pay their proportionate share of fixed costs associated with IMFT's capacity.

R&D Arrangements

We have agreements to jointly develop NAND and 3D XPoint technologies with Intel. We continue to jointly develop NAND technologies with Intel through the third generation of 3D NAND, which is expected to be completed in the second half of 2019. In the second quarter of 2018, we and Intel agreed to independently develop subsequent generations of 3D NAND in order to better optimize the technology and products for our respective business needs. We continue to jointly develop 3D XPoint technologies with Intel through the second generation of 3D XPoint technology, which is expected to be completed in the second half of 2019. To better optimize 3D XPoint technology for our product roadmap and maximize the benefits for our

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customers and shareholders, in the fourth quarter of 2018, we announced that we will no longer jointly develop with Intel subsequent generations of 3D XPoint technology. As a result of the above actions, we expect reimbursements under our cost-sharing agreements to decrease in early fiscal 2019.


Supply Chain, Materials, and Use of Third-Party Service Providers

Our supply chain and operations are dependent on the availability of materials that meet exacting standards and the use of third parties to provide us with components and services. We generally have multiple sources of supply for our raw materials and services. However, only a limited number of suppliers are capable of delivering certain raw materials and services that meet our standards and, in some cases, materials, components, or services are provided by a single supplier. Various factors could reduce the availability of raw materials or components such as chemicals, silicon wafers, gases, photoresist, controllers, substrates, lead frames, printed circuit boards, targets, and reticle glass blanks. Shortages or increases in lead times may occur from time to time in the future. Our manufacturing processes are also dependent on our relationships with third-party manufacturers of controllers used in a number of our products and with outsourced semiconductor assembly and test providers, contract manufacturers, logistic carriers, and other service providers. Certain raw materials are primarily available in certain countries, including rare earth minerals available primarily from China, and trade disputes or other political or economic conditions may limit our availability to obtain such raw materials. We and/or our suppliers and service providers could be affected by tariffs, embargoes or other trade restrictions, as well as laws and regulations enacted in response to concerns regarding climate change, conflict minerals, and responsible sourcing practices, which could limit the supply of our raw materials and/or increase the cost. In addition, disruptions in transportation lines could delay our receipt of raw materials. Lead times for the supply of raw materials have been extended in the past. The disruption of our supply of raw materials, components, services, or the extension of our lead times could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, or financial condition. We monitor and manage supply-chain activities to mitigate risks associated with raw materials and service providers.


Marketing and Customers

We continue to transform how we interact with our customers from transactional opportunistic sales of standardized memory components to collaborative relationships where we work with our customers to understand their unique opportunities and challenges. We engage with our customers early in the product life-cycle to identify and design features and performance characteristics into our products that our customers need in their end products, and then manufacture products that better anticipate and fit their changing needs. By collaborating with our customers on their design needs in a changing end market, we differentiate our memory and storage solutions, which provides greater value to our customers.

Our semiconductor memory and storage products are offered under our Micron, Crucial, and Ballistix brand names and through private labels. We market our semiconductor memory and storage products primarily through our own direct sales force and maintain sales or representative offices in our primary markets around the world. We sell our Crucial-branded products through a web-based customer direct sales channel as well as through channel and distribution partners. Our products are also offered through independent sales representatives, distributors, and e-tailers. Our independent sales representatives obtain orders subject to final acceptance by us, and we make shipments against the orders directly to our customers. Our distributors carry our products in inventory and typically sell a variety of other semiconductor products, including competitors' products. We maintain inventory at locations in close proximity to certain key customers to facilitate rapid delivery of products. Many of our customers require a thorough review or qualification of semiconductor products, which may take several months.

In each of the last three years, approximately one-half of our total net sales were to our top ten customers. For other information regarding our concentrations and customers, see "Part II – Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data – Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements – Certain Concentrations."



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Backlog

Because of volatile industry conditions, customers are generally reluctant to enter into long-term, fixed-price contracts. Accordingly, new order volumes for our memory and storage products may fluctuate significantly. We typically accept orders with acknowledgment that the terms may be adjusted to reflect market conditions at the date of shipment. For these reasons, we do not believe that our order backlog as of any particular date is a reliable indicator of actual sales for any succeeding period.


Product Warranty

Because the design and manufacturing process for semiconductor products is highly complex, it is possible that we may produce products that do not comply with applicable specifications, contain defects, or are otherwise incompatible with end uses. In accordance with industry practice, we generally provide a limited warranty that our products are in compliance with applicable specifications existing at the time of delivery and will operate to those specifications during a stated warranty period. Under our standard terms and conditions of sale, liability for certain failures of product during a stated warranty period is usually limited to repair or replacement of defective items or return of, or a credit with respect to, amounts paid for such items. Under certain circumstances, we provide more extensive limited warranty coverage than that provided under our standard terms and conditions.


Competition

We face intense competition in the semiconductor memory and storage markets from a number of companies, including Intel; Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.; SK Hynix Inc.; Toshiba Memory Corporation; and Western Digital Corporation. Some of our competitors are large corporations or conglomerates that may have greater resources to invest in technology, capitalize on growth opportunities, and withstand downturns in the semiconductor markets in which we compete. Consolidation of industry competitors could put us at a competitive disadvantage. In addition, some governments have provided and may continue to provide significant assistance, financial or otherwise, to some of our competitors or to new entrants and may intervene in support of national industries and/or competitors. In particular, we face the threat of increasing competition as a result of significant investment in the semiconductor industry by the Chinese government and various state-owned or affiliated entities that is intended to advance China's stated national policy objectives. In addition, the Chinese government may restrict us from participating in the China market or may prevent us from competing effectively with Chinese companies.

Our competitors generally seek to increase silicon capacity, improve yields, and reduce die size in their product designs which may result in significant increases in worldwide supply and downward pressure on prices. Increases in worldwide supply of semiconductor memory and storage also result from fabrication capacity expansions, either by way of new facilities, increased capacity utilization, or reallocation of other semiconductor production to semiconductor memory and storage production. Our competitors may increase capital expenditures resulting in future increases in worldwide supply. We and some of our competitors have plans to ramp, or are constructing or ramping, production at new fabrication facilities. Increases in worldwide supply of semiconductor memory and storage, if not accompanied by commensurate increases in demand, would lead to declines in average selling prices for our products and would adversely affect our business, results of operations, and financial condition. If competitors are more successful at developing or implementing new product or process technology, their products could have cost or performance advantages.

Certain of our memory and storage products are manufactured to industry standard specifications and, as such, have similar performance characteristics to those of our competitors. For these products, the principal competitive factors are generally price and performance characteristics including: operating speed, power consumption, reliability, compatibility, size, and form factors.



7




Research and Development

Our process technology R&D efforts are focused primarily on development of process technology that enables continuous improvement to cost structures and performance enhancements for our future products. We are also focused on developing new fundamentally different memory structures, materials, and packages, which are designed to facilitate our transition to next generation products. Additional process technology R&D efforts focus on the enablement of advanced computing, storage, and mobile memory architectures, the investigation of new opportunities that leverage our core semiconductor expertise, and the development of new manufacturing materials. Product design and development efforts include our high density DDR4 and DDR5 DRAM and LPDRAM products as well as high density and mobile 3D NAND (including TLC and QLC technologies), 3D XPoint memory, SSDs (including firmware and controllers), managed NAND, specialty memory, and other memory technologies and systems.

To compete in the semiconductor memory and storage markets, we must continue to develop technologically advanced products and processes. We believe that expansion of our semiconductor product offerings is necessary to meet expected market demand for specific memory and storage products and solutions. Our process, design, and package development efforts occur at multiple locations across the world, with our largest R&D center located in Boise, Idaho and other R&D centers in Japan, China, Italy, Singapore, Taiwan, and other sites in the United States.

R&D expenses vary primarily with the number of development wafers processed, the cost of advanced equipment dedicated to new product and process development, and personnel costs. Because of the lead times necessary to manufacture our products, we typically begin to process wafers before completion of performance and reliability testing. Development of a product is deemed complete when it is qualified through reviews and tests for performance and reliability. R&D expenses can vary significantly depending on the timing of product qualification.

Our R&D expenses were $2.14 billion, $1.82 billion, and $1.62 billion for 2018, 2017, and 2016, respectively. We share the cost of certain product and process development activities under development agreements with partners, including agreements to jointly develop NAND and 3D XPoint technologies with Intel. These R&D expenses reflect net reductions of $201 million, $213 million, and $205 million for 2018, 2017, and 2016, respectively, as a result of reimbursements under our cost-sharing arrangements with development partners.


Geographic Information

See "Part II – Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data – Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements – Geographic Information."


Patents and Licenses

We are a recognized leader in per capita and quality of patents issued. As of August 30, 2018, we owned approximately 13,750 active U.S. patents and 5,000 active foreign patents. In addition, we have thousands of U.S. and foreign patent applications pending. Our patents have various terms expiring through 2038.

From time to time, we sell and/or license our technology to other parties and continue to pursue opportunities to monetize our investment in our intellectual property through partnering and other arrangements. We have also jointly developed memory and storage product and process technology with third parties on a limited basis.

We have a number of patent and intellectual property license agreements and have, from time to time, licensed or sold our intellectual property to third parties. Some of these license agreements require us to make one-time or periodic payments while others have resulted in us receiving payments. We may need to obtain additional licenses or renew existing license agreements in the future, and we may enter into additional sales or licenses of intellectual property and partnering arrangements. We are unable to predict whether these license agreements can be obtained or renewed on terms acceptable to us.



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Employees

As of August 30, 2018, we had approximately 36,000 employees.


Environmental Compliance

We approach environmental stewardship and sustainability proactively to ensure we meet all government regulations regarding raw materials, discharges, emissions, and solid wastes from our manufacturing processes. Our wafer fabrication facilities continued to conform to the requirements of the International Organization for Standardization ("ISO") 14001 environmental management systems standard to ensure we are continuously improving our performance. As part of the ISO 14001 framework, we meet requirements in environmental policy, compliance, planning, management, structure and responsibility, training, communication, document control, operational control, emergency preparedness and response, record keeping, and management review. While we have not experienced any material adverse effects to our operations from environmental regulations, changes in the regulations could necessitate additional capital expenditures, modification of our operations, or other compliance actions.


Directors and Executive Officers of the Registrant

Our executive officers are appointed annually by our Board of Directors (the "Board") and our directors are elected annually by our shareholders. Any directors appointed by the Board to fill vacancies on the Board serve until the next election by our shareholders. All officers and directors serve until their successors are duly chosen or elected and qualified, except in the case of earlier death, resignation, or removal.

As of August 30, 2018, the following executive officers and directors were subject to the reporting requirements of Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.
Name
 
Age
 
Officer/ Director Since
 
Position
April S. Arnzen
 
47
 
2015
 
Senior Vice President, Human Resources
Manish Bhatia
 
46
 
2018
 
Executive Vice President, Global Operations
Scott J. DeBoer
 
52
 
2007
 
Executive Vice President, Technology Development
Sanjay Mehrotra
 
60
 
2017
 
President and Chief Executive Officer, Director
Joel L. Poppen
 
54
 
2013
 
Senior Vice President, Legal Affairs, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary
Sumit Sadana
 
49
 
2017
 
Executive Vice President and Chief Business Officer
Steven L. Thorsen, Jr.
 
53
 
2012
 
Senior Vice President, Worldwide Sales
David A. Zinsner
 
49
 
2018
 
Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Robert L. Bailey
 
61
 
2007
 
Director
Richard M. Beyer
 
69
 
2013
 
Director
Patrick J. Byrne
 
57
 
2011
 
Director
Mercedes Johnson
 
64
 
2005
 
Director
Lawrence N. Mondry
 
58
 
2005
 
Director
Robert E. Switz
 
71
 
2006
 
Chairman of the Board of Directors

April S. Arnzen joined us in December 1996 and has served in various leadership positions since that time. Ms. Arnzen was named Senior Vice President, Human Resources in June 2017. Ms. Arnzen holds a BS in Human Resource Management and Marketing from the University of Idaho, and is a graduate of the Stanford Graduate School of Business Executive Program.

Manish Bhatia joined us in October 2017 as our Executive Vice President of Global Operations. From May 2016 to October 2017, Mr. Bhatia served as the Executive Vice President of Silicon Operations at Western Digital Corporation. From March 2010 to May 2016, Mr. Bhatia held several executive roles at SanDisk Corporation including Executive Vice President of Worldwide Operations when it was acquired by Western Digital in May 2016. Mr. Bhatia holds a BS and MS in Mechanical Engineering and an MBA, each from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.


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Scott J. DeBoer joined us in February 1995 and has served in various leadership positions since that time. Dr. DeBoer was named Executive Vice President, Technology Development in June 2017. Dr. DeBoer holds a PhD in Electrical Engineering and an MS in Physics from Iowa State University. He completed his undergraduate degree at Hastings College.

Sanjay Mehrotra joined us in May 2017 as our President, Chief Executive Officer, and Director. Mr. Mehrotra co-founded and led SanDisk Corporation as a start-up in 1988 until its eventual sale in May 2016, serving as its President and Chief Executive Officer from January 2011 to May 2016, and as a member of its Board of Directors from July 2010 to May 2016. Mr. Mehrotra served as a member of the Board of Directors for Cavium, Inc. from July 2009 until July 2018 and for Western Digital Corp. from May 2016 to February 2017. Mr. Mehrotra holds a BS and an MS in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the University of California, Berkeley and is a graduate of the Stanford Graduate School of Business Executive Program.

Joel L. Poppen joined us in October 1995 and has held various leadership positions since that time. Mr. Poppen was named Senior Vice President, Legal Affairs, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary in June 2017. Mr. Poppen holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois and a JD from the Duke University School of Law.

Sumit Sadana joined us in June 2017 as our Executive Vice President and Chief Business Officer. From April 2010 to May 2016, Mr. Sadana served in various roles at SanDisk Corporation, including Executive Vice President, Chief Strategy Officer, and General Manager, Enterprise Solutions when it was acquired by Western Digital in May 2016. Mr. Sadana currently serves on the Board of Directors of Silicon Laboratories, Inc. Mr. Sadana holds a B.Tech. in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India and an MS in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University.

David A. Zinsner joined us in February 2018 as our Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. From April 2017 to February 2018, Mr. Zinsner served as the President and Chief Operating Officer of Affirmed Networks. From January 2009 to April 2017, Mr. Zinsner served as the Senior Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer of Analog Devices. From July 2005 to January 2009, Mr. Zinsner served as the Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Intersil Corporation. Mr. Zinsner holds an MBA, Finance and Accounting from Vanderbilt University and a BS in Industrial Management from Carnegie Mellon University.

Steven L. Thorsen, Jr. joined us in September 1988 and has served in various leadership positions since that time. Mr. Thorsen was named Senior Vice President, Worldwide Sales in June 2017. Mr. Thorsen holds a BA in Business Administration from Washington State University. On September 20, 2018, Mr. Thorsen announced his intention to retire from Micron in early November 2018. Mr. Thorsen served as our Senior Vice President, Worldwide Sales through September 30, 2018.

Robert L. Bailey was Chief Executive Officer of Blue Willow Systems, Inc. from August 2017 until August 2018. Blue Willow is a software as a service resident safety platform for senior living facilities. Mr. Bailey was the Chairman of the Board of Directors of PMC-Sierra, Inc. from 2005 until May 2011 and also served as PMC's Chairman from February 2000 until February 2003. Mr. Bailey served as a director of PMC from October 1996 to May 2011. He also served as the Chief Executive Officer of PMC from July 1997 until May 2008. Within the past five years, Mr. Bailey also served on the Board of Directors of Entropic Communications. Mr. Bailey holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Bridgeport and an MBA from the University of Dallas.

Richard M. Beyer was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Freescale Semiconductor, Inc. from 2008 through June 2012 and served as a director with Freescale until April 2013. Prior to Freescale, Mr. Beyer was President, Chief Executive Officer and a director of Intersil Corporation from 2002 to 2008. He also has previously served in executive management roles at FVC.com, VLSI Technology, and National Semiconductor Corporation. Within the past five years, Mr. Beyer served on the Board of Directors of Microsemi Corporation, Analog Devices, Inc., and Freescale. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Dialog Semiconductor. Mr. Beyer served three years as an officer in the United States Marine Corps. He holds a BA and an MA in Russian from Georgetown University and an MBA in Marketing and International Business from Columbia University Graduate School of Business. Mr. Beyer is the Chair of the Board of Directors' Governance and Sustainability Committee.

Patrick J. Byrne has served as Senior Vice President of Fortive Corporation since July 2016, when Danaher Corporation completed the separation of its Test & Measurement and Industrial Technologies segments. Mr. Byrne was President of Tektronix, a subsidiary of Danaher, from July 2014 to July 2016. Previously, he was Vice President of Strategy and Business Development and Chief Technical Officer of Danaher from November 2012 to July 2014. Danaher designs, manufactures, and markets innovative products and services to professional, medical, industrial, and commercial customers. Mr. Byrne served as Director, President and Chief Executive Officer of Intermec, Inc. from 2007 to May 2012. Within the past five years, Mr. Byrne

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served on the Board of Directors of Flow International. Mr. Byrne holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley and an MS in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University.

Mercedes Johnson was the Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Avago Technologies Limited, a supplier of analog interface components for communications, industrial, and consumer applications, from December 2005 to August 2008. She also served as the Senior Vice President, Finance of Lam Research Corporation from June 2004 to January 2005 and as Lam's Chief Financial Officer from May 1997 to May 2004. Ms. Johnson holds a degree in Accounting from the University of Buenos Aires and currently serves on the Board of Directors for Juniper Networks, Inc., Teradyne, Inc., and Synopsys, Inc. She also served on the Board of Directors for Intersil Corporation from August 2005 to February 2017. Ms. Johnson is the Chair of the Board of Directors' Audit Committee and Finance Committee.

Lawrence N. Mondry has been the President and Chief Executive Officer of Stream Gas & Electric, Ltd., a provider of energy, mobile, and protective services, since February 2016. Mr. Mondry was the Chief Executive Officer of Apollo Brands, a consumer products portfolio company, from February 2014 to February 2015. Mr. Mondry was the Chief Executive Officer of Flexi Compras Corporation, a rent-to-own retailer, from June 2013 to February 2014. Mr. Mondry was the President and Chief Executive Officer of CSK Auto Corporation, a specialty retailer of automotive aftermarket parts, from August 2007 to July 2008. Prior to his appointment at CSK, Mr. Mondry served as the Chief Executive Officer of CompUSA Inc. from November 2003 to May 2006. Mr. Mondry is the Chair of the Board of Directors' Compensation Committee.

Robert E. Switz was the Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of ADC Telecommunications, Inc., a supplier of network infrastructure products and services, from August 2003 until December 2010, when Tyco Electronics Ltd. acquired ADC. Mr. Switz joined ADC in 1994 and throughout his career there held numerous leadership positions. Within the past five years, Mr. Switz served on the Board of Directors of GT Advanced Technologies Inc., Broadcom Corporation, Cyan, Inc., Pulse Electronics Corporation, Leap Wireless International, Inc., and Gigamon, Inc. Mr. Switz currently serves on the Board of Directors for Marvell Technology Group Ltd. and FireEye, Inc. Mr. Switz holds an MBA from the University of Bridgeport and a BS in Business Administration from Quinnipiac University. Mr. Switz was appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors in 2012.

There are no family relationships between any of our directors or executive officers.


Available Information

Micron, a Delaware corporation, was incorporated in 1978. Our executive offices are located at 8000 South Federal Way, Boise, Idaho 83716-9632 and our telephone number is (208) 368-4000. Information about us is available at our website, www.micron.com. Also available on our website are our: Corporate Governance Guidelines, Governance and Sustainability Committee Charter, Compensation Committee Charter, Audit Committee Charter, Finance Committee Charter, and Code of Business Conduct and Ethics. Any amendments or waivers of our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics will also be posted on our website within four business days of the amendment or waiver. Copies of these documents are available to shareholders upon request. Information contained or referenced on our website is not incorporated by reference and does not form a part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

We use our investor relations website http://investors.micron.com as a routine channel for distribution of important information, including news releases, analyst presentations, and financial information. Our filings are available free of charge on our website as soon as reasonably practicable after they are electronically filed with, or furnished to, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including our annual and quarterly reports on Forms 10-K and 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K, our proxy statements, and any amendments to those reports or statements. The Securities and Exchange Commission’s ("SEC") website, www.sec.gov, contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC. Materials filed or furnished by us with the SEC are also available at the SEC's Public Reference Room at 100 F Street, NE, Washington, D.C. 20549. Information on the operation of the Public Reference Room is available by calling (800) SEC-0330. The content on any website referred to in this Form 10-K is not incorporated by reference in this Form 10-K unless expressly noted.



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ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS

In addition to the factors discussed elsewhere in this Form 10-K, the following are important factors, the order of which is not necessarily indicative of the level of risk that each poses to us, which could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements made by us. Our operations could also be affected by other factors that are presently unknown to us or not considered significant. Any of the factors below could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition, or stock price.

We have experienced volatility in average selling prices for our semiconductor memory and storage products which may adversely affect our business.

We have experienced significant volatility in our average selling prices, including dramatic declines, as noted in the table below, and may continue to experience such volatility in the future. In some prior periods, average selling prices for our products have been below our manufacturing costs and we may experience such circumstances in the future. Decreases in average selling prices for our products that decline faster than our costs could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, or financial condition.
 
 
DRAM
 
Trade NAND
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(percentage change in average selling prices)
2018 from 2017
 
37
 %
 
(11
)%
2017 from 2016
 
19
 %
 
(9
)%
2016 from 2015
 
(35
)%
 
(20
)%
2015 from 2014
 
(11
)%
 
(17
)%
2014 from 2013
 
6
 %
 
(23
)%

We may be unable to maintain or improve gross margins.

Our gross margins are dependent in part upon continuing decreases in per gigabit manufacturing costs achieved through improvements in our manufacturing processes and product designs, including, but not limited to, process line-width, additional 3D memory layers, additional bits per cell (i.e., cell levels), architecture, number of mask layers, number of fabrication steps, and yield. In future periods, we may be unable to reduce our per gigabit manufacturing costs at sufficient levels to maintain or improve gross margins. Factors that may limit our ability to reduce costs include, but are not limited to, strategic product diversification decisions affecting product mix, the increasing complexity of manufacturing processes, difficulties in transitioning to smaller line-width process technologies, 3D memory layers, NAND cell levels, process complexity including number of mask layers and fabrication steps, manufacturing yield, technological barriers, changes in process technologies, and new products that may require relatively larger die sizes. Per gigabit manufacturing costs may also be affected by a broader product portfolio, which may have smaller production quantities and shorter product lifecycles. Our inability to maintain or improve gross margins could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, or financial condition.

The semiconductor memory and storage markets are highly competitive.

We face intense competition in the semiconductor memory and storage markets from a number of companies, including Intel; Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.; SK Hynix Inc.; Toshiba Memory Corporation; and Western Digital Corporation. Some of our competitors are large corporations or conglomerates that may have greater resources to invest in technology, capitalize on growth opportunities, and withstand downturns in the semiconductor markets in which we compete. Consolidation of industry competitors could put us at a competitive disadvantage. In addition, some governments have provided, and may continue to provide, significant assistance, financial or otherwise, to some of our competitors or to new entrants and may intervene in support of national industries and/or competitors. In particular, we face the threat of increasing competition as a result of significant investment in the semiconductor industry by the Chinese government and various state-owned or affiliated entities that is intended to advance China's stated national policy objectives. In addition, the Chinese government may restrict us from participating in the China market or may prevent us from competing effectively with Chinese companies.

Our competitors generally seek to increase silicon capacity, improve yields, and reduce die size in their product designs which may result in significant increases in worldwide supply and downward pressure on prices. Increases in worldwide supply of semiconductor memory and storage also result from fabrication capacity expansions, either by way of new facilities, increased capacity utilization, or reallocation of other semiconductor production to semiconductor memory and storage production. Our competitors may increase capital expenditures resulting in future increases in worldwide supply. We and some

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of our competitors have plans to ramp, or are constructing or ramping, production at new fabrication facilities. Increases in worldwide supply of semiconductor memory and storage, if not accompanied by commensurate increases in demand, would lead to further declines in average selling prices for our products and would materially adversely affect our business, results of operations, or financial condition. If competitors are more successful at developing or implementing new product or process technology, their products could have cost or performance advantages.

The competitive nature of our industry could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, or financial condition.

We may be unable to generate sufficient cash flows or obtain access to external financing necessary to fund our operations, make scheduled debt payments, and make adequate capital investments.

Our cash flows from operations depend primarily on the volume of semiconductor memory and storage products sold, average selling prices, and manufacturing costs. To develop new product and process technology, support future growth, achieve operating efficiencies, and maintain product quality, we must make significant capital investments in manufacturing technology, capital equipment, facilities, R&D, and product and process technology. We estimate that net cash expenditures in 2019 for property, plant, and equipment will be approximately $10.5 billion plus or minus 5%, which reflects the offset of amounts we expect to be funded by our partners. Investments in capital expenditures, net of amounts funded by our partners, were $8.20 billion for 2018.

As a result of the corporate reorganization proceedings of MMJ initiated in 2012, and for so long as such proceedings are continuing, MMJ is prohibited from paying dividends, including any cash dividends, to us and such proceedings require that excess earnings be used in MMJ's business or to fund the MMJ creditor payments. In addition, pursuant to an order of the Tokyo District Court, MMJ cannot make loans or advances, other than certain ordinary course advances, to us without the consent of the Tokyo District Court and may, under certain circumstances, be subject to approval of the legal trustee. As a result, the assets of MMJ are not available for use by us in our other operations. Furthermore, certain uses of the assets of MMJ, including certain capital expenditures of MMJ, may require consent of MMJ's trustees and/or the Tokyo District Court.

In the past we have utilized external sources of financing when needed. As a result of our debt levels, expected debt amortization, and general economic conditions, it may be difficult for us to obtain financing on terms acceptable to us. There can be no assurance that we will be able to generate sufficient cash flows, use cash held by MMJ to fund its capital expenditures, access capital markets or find other sources of financing to fund our operations, make debt payments, and make adequate capital investments to remain competitive in terms of technology development and cost efficiency. Our inability to do any of the foregoing could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, or financial condition.

Our future success depends on our ability to develop and produce competitive new memory and storage technologies.

Our key semiconductor memory and storage products and technologies face technological barriers to continue to meet long-term customer needs. These barriers include potential limitations on stacking additional 3D memory layers, increasing bits per cell (i.e., cell levels), meeting higher density requirements, and improving power consumption and reliability. We may face technological barriers to continue to shrink our products at our current or historical rate, which has generally reduced per-unit cost. We have invested and expect to continue to invest in R&D for new and existing products, which involves significant risk and uncertainties. We may be unable to recover our investment in R&D or otherwise realize the economic benefits of reducing die size or increasing memory and storage densities. Our competitors are working to develop new memory and storage technologies that may offer performance and/or cost advantages to existing technologies and render existing technologies obsolete. Accordingly, our future success may depend on our ability to develop and produce viable and competitive new memory and storage technologies. There can be no assurance of the following:

that we will be successful in developing competitive new semiconductor memory and storage technologies;
that we will be able to cost-effectively manufacture new products;
that we will be able to successfully market these technologies; and
that margins generated from sales of these products will allow us to recover costs of development efforts.

We develop and produce advanced memory technologies, including 3D XPoint memory, a new class of non-volatile technology. There is no assurance that our efforts to develop and market new product technologies will be successful. Unsuccessful efforts to develop new semiconductor memory and storage technologies could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, or financial condition.


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New product and market development may be unsuccessful.

We are developing new products, including system-level memory and storage products and solutions, which complement our traditional products or leverage their underlying design or process technology. We have made significant investments in product and process technology and anticipate expending significant resources for new semiconductor product and system-level solution development over the next several years. Additionally, we are increasingly differentiating our products and solutions to meet the specific demands of our customers, which increases our reliance on our customer's ability to accurately forecast the end-customer's needs and preferences. As a result, our product demand forecasts may be impacted significantly by the strategic actions of our customers. In order to continue our success, we must develop, manufacture, and qualify the products our customers need at the time they need those products. The process to develop new products requires us to demonstrate advanced functionality and performance, often well in advance of a planned ramp of production, in order to secure design wins with our customers. In addition, some of our components have long lead-times, requiring us to place orders several months in advance of anticipated demand. Such long lead-times increase the risk of excess inventory or loss of sales in the event our forecasts vary substantially from actual demand. There can be no assurance of the following:

that our product development efforts will be successful;
that we will be able to cost-effectively manufacture new products;
that we will be able to successfully market these products;
that we will be able to establish or maintain key relationships with customers with specific chip set or design requirements;
that we will be able to introduce new products into the market and qualify them with our customers on a timely basis; or
that margins generated from sales of these products will allow us to recover costs of development efforts.

Our unsuccessful efforts to develop new products and solutions could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, or financial condition.

Our joint ventures and strategic relationships involve numerous risks.

We have entered into strategic relationships, including our joint development partnership and our IMFT joint venture with Intel, to develop new manufacturing process technologies and products and to manufacture certain products. These joint ventures and strategic relationships are subject to various risks that could adversely affect the value of our investments and our results of operations, including the following:
 
diverging interests between us and our partners and disagreements on the following:
ongoing or future development, manufacturing, or operational activities;
the amount, timing, or nature of further investments; and
commercial terms in our joint ventures or strategic relationships;
competition from our partners;
access by our partners to our proprietary product and process technology which they may use;
difficulties in transferring technology to joint ventures;
difficulties and delays in ramping production at joint ventures;
limited control over the operations of our joint ventures;
inability of our partners to meet their commitments to us or our joint ventures;
differences in participation on funding capital investments in our joint ventures due to differing business models or long-term business goals;
inadequate cash flows to fund increased capital requirements of our joint ventures;
difficulties or delays in collecting amounts due to us from our joint ventures and partners;
disputes with partners regarding the terms of arrangements or that terms of such arrangements are unfavorable; and
changes in tax, legal, or regulatory requirements that necessitate changes in the agreements with our partners.

Our joint ventures and strategic relationships, if unsuccessful, could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, or financial condition.

A significant concentration of our net sales is to a select number of customers.

In each of the last three years, approximately one-half of our total net sales were to our top ten customers. A disruption in our relationship with any of these customers could adversely affect our business. We could experience fluctuations in our customer base or the mix of revenue by customer as markets and strategies evolve. In addition, any consolidation of our

14




customers could reduce the number of customers to whom our products could be sold. Our inability to meet our customers' requirements or to qualify our products with them could adversely impact our sales. The loss of one or more of our major customers or any significant reduction in orders from, or a shift in product mix by, these customers could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, or financial condition.

Increases in sales of system solutions may increase our dependency upon specific customers and our costs to develop and qualify our system solutions.

Our development of system-level memory and storage products is dependent, in part, upon successfully identifying and meeting our customers' specifications for those products. Developing and manufacturing system-level products with specifications unique to a customer increases our reliance upon that customer for purchasing our products in sufficient volume, quantity, and in a timely manner. If we fail to identify or develop products on a timely basis, or at all, that comply with our customers' specifications or achieve design wins with our customers, we may experience a significant adverse impact on our sales and margins. Even if our products meet customer specifications, our sales of system-level solutions are dependent upon our customers choosing our products over those of our competitors and purchasing our products at sufficient volumes and prices. Our competitors' products may be less costly, provide better performance, or include additional features when compared to our products. Our long-term ability to sell system-level memory and storage products is reliant upon our customers' ability to create, market, and sell their products containing our system-level solutions at sufficient volumes and prices in a timely manner. If we fail to successfully develop and market system-level products, our business, results of operations, or financial condition may be materially adversely affected.

Even if we are successful in selling system-level solutions to our customers in sufficient volume, we may be unable to generate sufficient profit if our per-unit manufacturing costs exceed our per-unit selling prices. Manufacturing system-level solutions to customer specifications requires a longer development cycle, as compared to discrete products, to design, test, and qualify, which may increase our costs. Additionally, some of our system solutions are increasingly dependent on sophisticated firmware that may require significant customization to meet customer specifications, which increases our costs and time to market. Additionally, we may need to update our firmware or develop new firmware as a result of new product introductions or changes in customer specifications and/or industry standards, which increases our costs. System complexities and extended warranties for system-level products could also increase our warranty costs. Our failure to cost-effectively manufacture system-level solutions and/or firmware in a timely manner, may result in reduced demand for our system-level products, and could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, or financial condition.

Products that fail to meet specifications, are defective, or that are otherwise incompatible with end uses could impose significant costs on us.

Products that do not meet specifications or that contain, or are perceived by our customers to contain, defects or that are otherwise incompatible with end uses could impose significant costs on us or otherwise materially adversely affect our business, results of operations, or financial condition. From time to time, we experience problems with nonconforming, defective, or incompatible products after we have shipped such products. In recent periods, we have further diversified and expanded our product offerings, which could potentially increase the chance that one or more of our products could fail to meet specifications in a particular application. As a result, we could be adversely affected in several ways, including the following:

we may be required or agree to compensate customers for costs incurred or damages caused by defective or incompatible products and to replace products;
we could incur a decrease in revenue or adjustment to pricing commensurate with the reimbursement of such costs or alleged damages; and
we may encounter adverse publicity, which could cause a decrease in sales of our products or harm our relationships with existing or potential customers.

Any of the foregoing items could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, or financial condition.

Debt obligations could adversely affect our financial condition.

We have incurred in the past, and expect to incur in the future, debt to finance our capital investments, business acquisitions, and restructuring of our capital structure. As of August 30, 2018, we had debt with a carrying value of $4.64 billion and may borrow up to an additional $2.00 billion under an undrawn revolving credit facility. In addition, as of August 30, 2018, the conversion value in excess of principal of our convertible notes was $1.85 billion, based on the trading price of our common stock of $52.76 per share on such date.

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Our debt obligations could adversely impact us. For example, these obligations could:

require us to use a large portion of our cash flow to pay principal and interest on debt, which will reduce the amount of cash flow available to fund working capital, capital expenditures, acquisitions, R&D expenditures, and other business activities;
require us to use cash and/or issue shares of our common stock to settle any conversion obligations of our convertible notes;
result in certain of our debt instruments being accelerated to be immediately due and payable or being deemed to be in default if certain terms of default are triggered, such as applicable cross payment default and/or cross-acceleration provisions;
adversely impact our credit rating, which could increase future borrowing costs;
limit our future ability to raise funds for capital expenditures, strategic acquisitions or business opportunities, R&D, and other general corporate requirements;
restrict our ability to incur specified indebtedness, create or incur certain liens, and enter into sale-leaseback financing transactions;
increase our vulnerability to adverse economic and semiconductor memory and storage industry conditions;
increase our exposure to interest rate risk from variable rate indebtedness;
continue to dilute our earnings per share as a result of the conversion provisions in our convertible notes; and
require us to continue to pay cash amounts substantially in excess of the principal amounts upon settlement of our convertible notes to minimize dilution of our earnings per share.

Our ability to meet our payment obligations under our debt instruments depends on our ability to generate significant cash flows in the future. This, to some extent, is subject to market, economic, financial, competitive, legislative, and regulatory factors as well as other factors that are beyond our control. There can be no assurance that our business will generate cash flow from operations, or that additional capital will be available to us, in amounts sufficient to enable us to meet our debt payment obligations and to fund other liquidity needs. Additionally, events and circumstances may occur which would cause us to not be able to satisfy applicable draw-down conditions and utilize our revolving credit facility. If we are unable to generate sufficient cash flows to service our debt payment obligations, we may need to refinance or restructure our debt, sell assets, reduce or delay capital investments, or seek to raise additional capital. If we are unable to implement one or more of these alternatives, we may be unable to meet our debt payment obligations, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, or financial condition.

We may be unable to protect our intellectual property or retain key employees who are knowledgeable of and develop our intellectual property.

We maintain a system of controls over our intellectual property, including U.S. and foreign patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, licensing arrangements, confidentiality procedures, non-disclosure agreements with employees, consultants, and vendors, and a general system of internal controls. Despite our system of controls over our intellectual property, it may be possible for our current or future competitors to obtain, copy, use, or disclose, illegally or otherwise, our product and process technology or other proprietary information. The laws of some foreign countries may not protect our intellectual property to the same degree as do U.S. laws and our confidentiality, non-disclosure, and non-compete agreements may be unenforceable or difficult and costly to enforce.

Additionally, our ability to maintain and develop intellectual property is dependent upon our ability to attract, develop, and retain highly skilled employees. Global competition for such skilled employees in our industry is intense. Due to the volatile nature of our industry and our operating results, a decline in our operating results and/or stock price may adversely affect our ability to retain key employees whose compensation is dependent, in part, upon the market price of our common stock, achieving certain performance metrics, levels of company profitability, or other financial or company-wide performance. If our competitors or future entrants into our industry are successful in hiring our employees, they may directly benefit from the knowledge these employees gained while they were under our employment.

Our inability to protect our intellectual property or retain key employees who are knowledgeable of and develop our intellectual property could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, or financial condition.


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Claims that our products or manufacturing processes infringe or otherwise violate the intellectual property rights of others, or failure to obtain or renew license agreements covering such intellectual property, could materially adversely affect our business, results of operations, or financial condition.

As is typical in the semiconductor and other high technology industries, from time to time others have asserted, and may in the future assert, that our products or manufacturing processes infringe upon, misappropriate, misuse, or otherwise violate their intellectual property rights. We are unable to predict the outcome of these assertions made against us. Any of these types of claims, regardless of the merits, could subject us to significant costs to defend or resolve such claims and may consume a substantial portion of management's time and attention. As a result of these claims, we may be required to:

pay significant monetary damages, fines, royalties, or penalties;
enter into license or settlement agreements covering such intellectual property rights;
make material changes to or redesign our products and/or manufacturing processes; and/or
cease manufacturing, having made, selling, offering for sale, importing, marketing, or using products and/or manufacturing processes in certain jurisdictions.

We may not be able to take any of the actions described above on commercially reasonable terms and any of the foregoing results could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, or financial condition. (See "Part II – Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data – Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements – Contingencies.")

We have a number of intellectual property license agreements. Some of these license agreements require us to make one-time or periodic payments. We may need to obtain additional licenses or renew existing license agreements in the future. We are unable to predict whether these license agreements can be obtained or renewed on terms acceptable to us. The failure to obtain or renew licenses as necessary could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, or financial condition.

We have been served with complaints in Chinese courts alleging patent infringement.

We have been served with complaints in Chinese courts alleging that we infringe certain Chinese patents by manufacturing and selling certain products in China. The complaints seek orders requiring us to destroy inventory of the accused products and equipment for manufacturing the accused products in China, to stop manufacturing, using, selling, and offering for sale the accused products in China, and to pay damages plus court fees.

We are unable to predict the outcome of these assertions of infringement made against us and therefore cannot estimate the range of possible loss. A determination that our products or manufacturing processes infringe the intellectual property rights of others or entering into a license agreement covering such intellectual property could result in significant liability and/or require us to make material changes to our operations in China, products, and/or manufacturing processes. Any of the foregoing could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, or financial condition. (See "Part II – Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data – Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements – Contingencies.")

Litigation could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, or financial condition.

From time to time we are subject to various legal proceedings and claims that arise out of the ordinary conduct of our business or otherwise, both domestically and internationally. Any claim, with or without merit, could result in significant legal fees that could negatively impact our financial results, disrupt our operations, and require significant attention from our management. We could be subject to litigation or arbitration disputes arising from our relationships with vendors or customers, supply agreements, or contractual obligations with our subcontractors or business partners. We may also be associated with and subject to litigation arising from the actions of our subcontractors or business partners. We may also be subject to litigation as a result of indemnities we issue, primarily with our customers, the terms of our product warranties, and from product liability claims. As we continue to focus on developing system solutions with manufacturers of consumer products, including autonomous driving, augmented reality, and others, we may be exposed to greater potential for personal liability claims against us as a result of consumers' use of those products. There can be no assurance that we are adequately insured to protect against all claims and potential liabilities, and we may elect to self-insure with respect to certain matters. Exposures to various litigation could lead to significant costs and expenses as we defend claims, are required to pay damage awards, or enter into settlement agreements, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, or financial condition.


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If our manufacturing process is disrupted, our business, results of operations, or financial condition could be materially adversely affected.

We and our subcontractors manufacture products using highly complex processes that require technologically advanced equipment and continuous modification to improve yields and performance. Difficulties in the manufacturing process or the effects from a shift in product mix can reduce yields or disrupt production and may increase our per gigabit manufacturing costs. We and our subcontractors maintain operations and continuously implement new product and process technology at manufacturing facilities, which are widely dispersed in multiple locations in several countries including the United States, Singapore, Taiwan, Japan, Malaysia, and China. Additionally, our control over operations at IMFT is limited by our agreements with Intel. From time to time, there have been disruptions in the manufacturing process as a result of power outages, improperly functioning equipment, disruptions in supply of raw materials or components, equipment failures, earthquakes, or other environmental events. If production is disrupted for any reason, manufacturing yields may be adversely affected or we may be unable to meet our customers' requirements and they may purchase products from other suppliers. This could result in a significant increase in manufacturing costs, loss of revenues, or damage to customer relationships, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, or financial condition.

Increases in tariffs or other trade restrictions or taxes on our products or equipment and supplies could have an adverse impact on our operations.

In 2018, 88% of our sales were to customers located outside the United States. We also purchase a significant portion of equipment and supplies from suppliers outside the United States. Additionally, a significant portion of our facilities are located outside the United States, including Taiwan, Singapore, Japan, and China. The United States and other countries have levied tariffs and taxes on certain goods. General trade tensions between the U.S. and China have been escalating in 2018, with three rounds of U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods taking effect in July, August, and September 2018, each followed by a round of retaliatory Chinese tariffs on U.S. goods. Some of our products are included in these announced tariffs. Higher duties on existing tariffs and further rounds of tariffs have been announced or threatened by U.S. and Chinese leaders. If the U.S. were to impose additional tariffs on components that we or our suppliers source from China, our cost for such components would increase. We may also incur increases in manufacturing costs due to our efforts to mitigate the impact of tariffs on our customers and our operations. Further changes in trade policy, tariffs, additional taxes, restrictions on exports or other trade barriers, or restrictions on supplies, equipment, and raw materials including rare earth minerals, may limit our ability to produce products, increase our selling and/or manufacturing costs, decrease margins, reduce the competitiveness of our products, or inhibit our ability to sell products or purchase necessary equipment and supplies, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, or financial conditions.

We must attract, retain, and motivate highly skilled employees.

To remain competitive, we must attract, retain, and motivate executives and other highly skilled employees. Hiring and retaining qualified executives, engineers, technical staff, and sales representatives are critical to our business, and competition for experienced employees in our industry can be intense. Our inability to attract and retain key employees may inhibit our ability to expand our business operations. Additionally, changes to immigration policies in the numerous countries in which we operate, including the United States, may limit our ability to hire and/or retain talent in specific locations. If our total compensation programs and workplace culture cease to be viewed as competitive, our ability to attract, retain, and motivate employees could be weakened, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, or financial condition.

The acquisition of our ownership interest in Inotera from Qimonda has been challenged by the administrator of the insolvency proceedings for Qimonda.

On January 20, 2011, Dr. Michael Jaffé, administrator for Qimonda's insolvency proceedings, filed suit against Micron and Micron Semiconductor B.V., our Netherlands subsidiary ("Micron B.V."), in the District Court of Munich, Civil Chamber. The complaint seeks to void, under Section 133 of the German Insolvency Act, a share purchase agreement between Micron B.V. and Qimonda signed in fall 2008, pursuant to which Micron B.V. purchased substantially all of Qimonda's shares of Inotera (the "Inotera Shares"), representing approximately 18% of Inotera's outstanding shares as of August 30, 2018, and seeks an order requiring us to re-transfer those shares to the Qimonda estate. The complaint also seeks, among other things, to recover damages for the alleged value of the joint venture relationship with Inotera and to terminate, under Sections 103 or 133 of the German Insolvency Code, a patent cross-license between us and Qimonda entered into at the same time as the share purchase agreement.


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Following a series of hearings with pleadings, arguments, and witnesses on behalf of the Qimonda estate, on March 13, 2014, the court issued judgments: (1) ordering Micron B.V. to pay approximately $1 million in respect of certain Inotera Shares sold in connection with the original share purchase; (2) ordering Micron B.V. to disclose certain information with respect to any Inotera Shares sold by it to third parties; (3) ordering Micron B.V. to disclose the benefits derived by it from ownership of the Inotera Shares, including in particular, any profits distributed on the Inotera Shares and all other benefits; (4) denying Qimonda’s claims against Micron for any damages relating to the joint venture relationship with Inotera; and (5) determining that Qimonda's obligations under the patent cross-license agreement are canceled. In addition, the Court issued interlocutory judgments ordering, among other things: (1) that Micron B.V. transfer to the Qimonda estate the Inotera Shares still owned by Micron B.V. and pay to the Qimonda estate compensation in an amount to be specified for any Inotera Shares sold to third parties; and (2) that Micron B.V. pay the Qimonda estate as compensation an amount to be specified for benefits derived by Micron B.V. from ownership of the Inotera Shares. The interlocutory judgments have no immediate, enforceable effect on us, and, accordingly, we expect to be able to continue to operate with full control of the Inotera Shares subject to further developments in the case. We have filed a notice of appeal, and the parties have submitted briefs to the appeals court.

We are unable to predict the outcome of the matter and, therefore, cannot estimate the range of possible loss. The final resolution of this lawsuit could result in the loss of the Inotera Shares or monetary damages, unspecified damages based on the benefits derived by Micron B.V. from the ownership of the Inotera Shares, and/or the termination of the patent cross-license, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, or financial condition.

Breaches of our security systems could expose us to losses.

We maintain a system of controls over the physical security of our facilities. We also manage and store various proprietary information and sensitive or confidential data relating to our operations. In addition, we process, store, and transmit large amounts of data relating to our customers and employees, including sensitive personal information. Unauthorized persons or employees may gain access to our facilities or network systems to steal trade secrets or other proprietary information, compromise confidential information, create system disruptions, or cause shutdowns. These parties may also be able to develop and deploy viruses, worms, and other malicious software programs that disrupt our operations and create security vulnerabilities. Breaches of our physical security and attacks on our network systems could result in significant losses and damage our reputation with customers and suppliers and may expose us to litigation if the confidential information of our customers, suppliers, or employees is compromised, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, or financial condition.

Changes in foreign currency exchange rates could materially adversely affect our business, results of operations, or financial condition.

Across our global operations, significant transactions and balances are denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar (our reporting currency), primarily the euro, Singapore dollar, New Taiwan dollar, and yen. Although we hedge our primary exposures to changes in currency exchange rates from our monetary assets and liabilities, the effectiveness of these hedges is dependent upon our ability to accurately forecast our monetary assets and liabilities. In addition, a significant portion of our manufacturing costs are denominated in foreign currencies. Exchange rates for some of these currencies against the U.S. dollar, particularly the yen, have been volatile in recent periods. If these currencies strengthen against the U.S. dollar, our manufacturing costs could significantly increase. Exchange rates for the U.S. dollar that adversely change against our foreign currency exposures could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, or financial condition.

We may make future acquisitions and/or alliances, which involve numerous risks.

Acquisitions and the formation or operation of alliances, such as joint ventures and other partnering arrangements, involve numerous risks, including the following:

integrating the operations, technologies, and products of acquired or newly formed entities into our operations;
increasing capital expenditures to upgrade and maintain facilities;
increased debt levels;
the assumption of unknown or underestimated liabilities;
the use of cash to finance a transaction, which may reduce the availability of cash to fund working capital, capital expenditures, R&D expenditures, and other business activities;
diverting management's attention from daily operations;
managing larger or more complex operations and facilities and employees in separate and diverse geographic areas;
hiring and retaining key employees;

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requirements imposed by governmental authorities in connection with the regulatory review of a transaction, which may include, among other things, divestitures or restrictions on the conduct of our business or the acquired business;
inability to realize synergies or other expected benefits;
failure to maintain customer, vendor, and other relationships;
inadequacy or ineffectiveness of an acquired company's internal financial controls, disclosure controls and procedures, compliance programs, and/or environmental, health and safety, anti-corruption, human resource, or other policies or practices; and
impairment of acquired intangible assets, goodwill, or other assets as a result of changing business conditions, technological advancements, or worse-than-expected performance of the acquired business.

In previous years, supply of memory and storage products has significantly exceeded customer demand resulting in significant declines in average selling prices. The global memory and storage industry has experienced consolidation and may continue to consolidate. We engage, from time to time, in discussions regarding potential acquisitions and similar opportunities. To the extent we are successful in completing any such transactions, we could be subject to some or all of the risks described above, including the risks pertaining to funding, assumption of liabilities, integration challenges, and increases in debt that may accompany such transactions. Acquisitions of, or alliances with, technology companies are inherently risky and may not be successful and could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, or financial condition.

Our business, results of operations, or financial condition could be adversely affected by the limited availability and quality of materials, supplies, and capital equipment, or the dependency on third-party service providers.

Our supply chain and operations are dependent on the availability of materials that meet exacting standards and the use of third parties to provide us with components and services. We generally have multiple sources of supply for our raw materials and services. However, only a limited number of suppliers are capable of delivering certain raw materials and services that meet our standards and, in some cases, materials, components, or services are provided by a single supplier. Various factors could reduce the availability of raw materials or components such as chemicals, silicon wafers, gases, photoresist, controllers, substrates, lead frames, printed circuit boards, targets, and reticle glass blanks. Shortages or increases in lead times may occur from time to time in the future. Our manufacturing processes are also dependent on our relationships with third-party manufacturers of controllers used in a number of our products and with outsourced semiconductor assembly and test providers, contract manufacturers, logistic carriers, and other service providers. Certain raw materials are primarily available in certain countries, including rare earth minerals available primarily from China, and trade disputes or other political or economic conditions may limit our availability to obtain such raw materials. We and/or our suppliers and service providers could be affected by tariffs, embargoes or other trade restrictions, as well as laws and regulations enacted in response to concerns regarding climate change, conflict minerals, and responsible sourcing practices, which could limit the supply of our raw materials and/or increase the cost. In addition, disruptions in transportation lines could delay our receipt of raw materials. Lead times for the supply of raw materials have been extended in the past. The disruption of our supply of raw materials, components, services, or the extension of our lead times could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, or financial condition.

Our operations are dependent on our ability to procure advanced semiconductor manufacturing equipment that enables the transition to lower cost manufacturing processes. For certain key types of equipment, including photolithography tools, we are sometimes dependent on a single supplier. From time to time, we have experienced difficulties in obtaining some equipment on a timely basis due to suppliers' limited capacity. Our inability to obtain equipment on a timely basis could adversely affect our ability to transition to next generation manufacturing processes and reduce our costs. Delays in obtaining equipment could also impede our ability to ramp production at new facilities and could increase our overall costs of a ramp. Our inability to obtain advanced semiconductor manufacturing equipment in a timely manner could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, or financial condition.

A downturn in the worldwide economy may harm our business.

Downturns in the worldwide economy have harmed our business in the past and future downturns could also adversely affect our business. Adverse economic conditions affect demand for devices that incorporate our products, such as personal computers, mobile devices, SSDs, and servers. Reduced demand for these products could result in significant decreases in our average selling prices and product sales. A deterioration of current conditions in worldwide credit markets could limit our ability to obtain external financing to fund our operations and capital expenditures. In addition, we may experience losses on our holdings of cash and investments due to failures of financial institutions and other parties. Difficult economic conditions may also result in a higher rate of losses on our accounts receivables due to credit defaults. As a result, a downturn in the worldwide economy could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, or financial condition.


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Our results of operations could be affected by natural disasters and other events in the locations in which we or our customers or suppliers operate.

We have manufacturing and other operations in locations subject to natural occurrences such as severe weather and geological events, including earthquakes or tsunamis, that could disrupt operations or result in construction delays. In addition, our suppliers and customers also have operations in such locations. A natural disaster, fire, explosion, or other event that results in a prolonged disruption to our operations, or the operations of our customers or suppliers, could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, or financial condition.

Our incentives from various governments are conditional upon achieving or maintaining certain performance obligations and are subject to reduction, termination, or clawback.

We have received, and may in the future continue to receive, benefits and incentives from national, state, and local governments in various regions of the world designed to encourage us to establish, maintain, or increase investment, workforce, or production in those regions. These incentives may take various forms, including grants, loan subsidies, and tax arrangements, and typically require us to perform or maintain certain levels of investment, capital spending, employment, technology deployment, or research and development activities to qualify for such incentives. We cannot guarantee that we will successfully achieve performance obligations required to qualify for these incentives or that the granting agencies will provide such funding. These incentive arrangements typically provide the granting agencies with rights to audit our performance with the terms and obligations. Such audits could result in modifications to, or termination of, the applicable incentive program. The incentives we receive could be subject to reduction, termination, or clawback, and any decrease or clawback of government incentives could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, or financial condition.

A change in tax laws in key jurisdictions could materially increase our tax expense.

We are subject to income taxes in the U.S. and many foreign jurisdictions. Changes to income tax laws and regulations in any of the jurisdictions in which we operate, or in the interpretation of such laws, could significantly increase our effective tax rate and ultimately reduce our cash flow from operating activities and otherwise have a material adverse effect on our financial condition. For example, as a result of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the "Tax Act") enacted on December 22, 2017 by the United States, our effective tax rate may increase to the low teens percentage in 2019, depending on the amount and geographic mix of our taxable income. Additionally, various levels of government are increasingly focused on tax reform and other legislative action to increase tax revenue. Further changes in the tax laws of foreign jurisdictions could arise as a result of the base erosion and profit shifting project undertaken by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, which represents a coalition of member countries and recommended changes to numerous long-standing tax principles. If adopted by countries, such changes, as well as changes in U.S. federal and state tax laws or in taxing jurisdictions' administrative interpretations, decisions, policies, and positions, could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, or financial condition.

We may incur additional tax expense or become subject to additional tax exposure.

We operate in a number of locations outside the United States, including Singapore, where we have tax incentive arrangements that are conditional, in part, upon meeting certain business operations and employment thresholds. Our domestic and international taxes are dependent upon the geographic mix of our earnings among these jurisdictions. Our provision for income taxes and cash tax liabilities in the future could be adversely affected by numerous factors, including challenges by tax authorities to our tax positions and intercompany transfer pricing agreements, failure to meet performance obligations with respect to tax incentive agreements, and changes in tax laws and regulations. Additionally, we file income tax returns with the U.S. federal government, various U.S. states, and various other jurisdictions throughout the world and certain tax returns may remain open to examination for several years. The results of audits and examinations of previously filed tax returns and continuing assessments of our tax exposures may have an adverse effect on our provision for income taxes and cash tax liability. The foregoing items could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, or financial condition.

We may incur additional restructuring charges in future periods.

From time to time, we have, and may in the future, enter into restructure initiatives in order to, among other items, streamline our operations, respond to changes in business conditions, our markets or product offerings, or to centralize certain key functions. We may not realize expected savings or other benefits from our restructure activities and may incur additional restructure charges or other losses in future periods associated with other initiatives. In connection with any restructure initiatives, we could incur restructure charges, loss of production output, loss of key personnel, disruptions in our operations,

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and difficulties in the timely delivery of products, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, or financial condition.

We face risks associated with our international sales and operations that could materially adversely affect our business, results of operations, or financial condition.

A substantial majority of our consolidated net sales are to customers outside the United States. In addition, a substantial portion of our manufacturing operations are located outside the United States. In particular, a significant portion of our manufacturing operations are concentrated in Singapore, Taiwan, Japan, and China. Our international sales and operations are subject to a variety of risks, including:

export and import duties, changes to import and export regulations, customs regulations and processes, and restrictions on the transfer of funds;
compliance with U.S. and international laws involving international operations, including the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended, export and import laws, and similar rules and regulations;
theft of intellectual property;
political and economic instability;
problems with the transportation or delivery of products;
issues arising from cultural or language differences and labor unrest;
longer payment cycles and greater difficulty in collecting accounts receivable;
compliance with trade, technical standards, and other laws in a variety of jurisdictions;
contractual and regulatory limitations on the ability to maintain flexibility with staffing levels;
disruptions to manufacturing operations as a result of actions imposed by foreign governments;
changes in economic policies of foreign governments; and
difficulties in staffing and managing international operations.

Many of our customers, suppliers, and vendors operate internationally and are also subject to the foregoing risks. If we or our customers, suppliers, or vendors are impacted by these risks, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, or financial condition.

Compliance with customer requirements and regulations regarding the use of conflict minerals could limit the supply and increase the cost of certain metals used in manufacturing our products.

Increased focus on environmental protection and social responsibility initiatives led to the passage of Section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (the "Dodd-Frank Act") and its implementing SEC regulations. The Dodd-Frank Act imposes supply chain diligence and disclosure requirements for certain manufacturers of products containing specific minerals that may originate in or near the Democratic Republic of the Congo (the "DRC") and finance or benefit local armed groups. These "conflict minerals" are commonly found in materials used in the manufacture of semiconductors. The implementation of these regulations may limit the sourcing and availability of some of these materials. This in turn may affect our ability to obtain materials necessary for the manufacture of our products in sufficient quantities and may affect related material pricing. Some of our customers may elect to disqualify us as a supplier or reduce purchases from us if we are unable to verify that our products are DRC conflict free. In addition, many of our customers have or are planning to adopt responsible sourcing programs with requirements that our broader in terms of minerals and geographies than DRC conflict minerals programs. Our inability to comply with requirements regarding the use of conflict and other minerals could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, or financial condition.


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We and others are subject to a variety of laws and regulations that may result in additional costs and liabilities.

The manufacturing of our products requires the use of facilities, equipment, and materials that are subject to a broad array of laws and regulations in numerous jurisdictions in which we operate. Additionally, we are subject to a variety of other laws and regulations relative to the construction, maintenance, and operations of our facilities. Any of these laws or regulations could cause us to incur additional direct costs, as well as increased indirect costs related to our relationships with our customers and suppliers, and otherwise harm our operations and financial condition. Any failure to comply with these laws or regulations could adversely impact our reputation and our financial results. Additionally, we engage various third parties to represent us or otherwise act on our behalf and we partner with other companies in our joint ventures, all of whom are also subject to a broad array of laws and regulations. Our engagement with these third parties and our ownership in these joint ventures may also expose us to risks associated with their respective compliance with these laws and regulations. As a result of these items, we could experience the following:

suspension of production;
remediation costs;
alteration of our manufacturing processes;
regulatory penalties, fines, and legal liabilities; and
reputational challenges.

Our failure, or the failure of our third-party agents or joint ventures, to comply with these laws and regulations could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, or financial condition.

We are subject to counterparty default risks.

We have numerous arrangements with financial institutions that subject us to counterparty default risks, including cash deposits, investments, capped call contracts on our common stock, and derivative instruments. As a result, we are subject to the risk that the counterparty to one or more of these arrangements will default on its performance obligations. A counterparty may not comply with their contractual commitments which could then lead to their defaulting on their obligations with little or no notice to us, which could limit our ability to take action to mitigate our exposure. Additionally, our ability to mitigate our exposures may be constrained by the terms of our contractual arrangements or because market conditions prevent us from taking effective action. If one of our counterparties becomes insolvent or files for bankruptcy, our ability to recover any losses suffered as a result of that counterparty's default may be limited by the liquidity of the counterparty or the applicable laws governing the bankruptcy proceedings. In the event of such default, we could incur significant losses, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, or financial condition.

The operations of MMJ are subject to continued oversight by the Tokyo District Court during the pendency of the corporate reorganization proceedings.

Because MMJ's plan of reorganization provides for ongoing payments to creditors following the closing of our acquisition of MMJ, the reorganization proceedings in Japan (the "Japan Proceedings") are continuing and MMJ remains subject to the oversight of the Tokyo District Court and of the trustees (including a trustee designated by us, who we refer to as the business trustee, and a trustee designated by the Tokyo District Court, who we refer to as the legal trustee), pending completion of the reorganization proceedings. The business trustee is responsible for overseeing the operation of the business of MMJ, other than oversight in relation to acts that need to be carried out in connection with the Japan Proceedings, which are the responsibility of the legal trustee. MMJ's reorganization proceedings in Japan, and oversight of the Tokyo District Court, will continue until the final creditor payment is made under MMJ's plan of reorganization, which is scheduled to occur in December 2019, but may occur on a later date to the extent any claims of creditors remain unfixed on the final scheduled installment payment date. MMJ may petition the Tokyo District Court for an early termination of the reorganization proceedings once two-thirds of all payments under the plan of reorganization are made. Although such early terminations are customarily granted, there can be no assurance that the Tokyo District Court will grant any such petition in this particular case.

During the pendency of the reorganization proceedings in Japan, MMJ is obligated to provide periodic financial reports to the Tokyo District Court and may be required to obtain the consent of the Tokyo District Court prior to taking a number of significant actions relating to its businesses, including transferring or disposing of, or acquiring, certain material assets, incurring or guaranteeing material indebtedness, settling material disputes, or entering into certain material agreements. The consent of the legal trustee may also be required for matters that would likely have a material impact on the operations or assets of MMJ or for transfers of material assets, to the extent the matters or transfers would reasonably be expected to materially and adversely affect execution of MMJ's plan of reorganization. Accordingly, during the pendency of the reorganization proceedings in Japan, our ability to operate MMJ as part of our global business or to cause MMJ to take certain actions that we deem

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advisable for its business could be adversely affected if the Tokyo District Court or the legal trustee is unwilling to consent to various actions that we may wish to take with respect to MMJ.

The operations of MMJ being subject to the continued oversight by the Tokyo District Court during the pendency of the corporate reorganization proceedings could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, or financial condition.


ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS

None.


ITEM 2. PROPERTIES

Our corporate headquarters are located in Boise, Idaho. The following is a summary of our principal facilities as of August 30, 2018:
Location
 
Principal Operations
Taiwan
 
Wafer fabrication, component assembly and test, module assembly and test
Singapore
 
R&D, wafer fabrication, component assembly and test, module assembly and test
United States
 
R&D, wafer fabrication, reticle manufacturing
Japan
 
R&D and wafer fabrication
China
 
Component assembly and test, module assembly and test
Malaysia
 
Component assembly

We own or lease a number of other facilities in locations throughout the world that are used for design, R&D, and sales and marketing activities. Substantially all of our manufacturing capacity is fully utilized. Certain of our properties are collateral to secured borrowing arrangements. (See "Part II – Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data – Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements – Debt.")

We believe that our existing facilities are suitable and adequate for our present purposes. We do not identify or allocate assets by operating segment, other than goodwill. (See "Part II – Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data – Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements – Geographic Information.")


ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

See "Part II – Financial Information – Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data – Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements – Contingencies" and "Item 1A. Risk Factors" for a discussion of other legal proceedings.

Reorganization Proceedings of the MMJ Companies

In 2013, we completed the acquisition of Elpida Memory, Inc., now known as MMJ, a Japanese corporation, pursuant to the terms and conditions of an Agreement on Support for Reorganization Companies (as amended, the "Sponsor Agreement") that we entered into in 2012 with the trustees of the MMJ Companies' pending corporate reorganization proceedings under the Corporate Reorganization Act of Japan. Under the Sponsor Agreement, we agreed to provide certain support for the reorganization of the MMJ Companies and the trustees agreed to prepare and seek approval from the Tokyo District Court and the MMJ Companies' creditors of plan of reorganization consistent with such support.

The plan of reorganization provides for payments by the MMJ Companies to their secured and unsecured creditors in an aggregate amount of 200 billion yen, less certain expenses of the reorganization proceedings and certain other items. The plan of reorganization also provided for the investment by us pursuant to the Sponsor Agreement of 60 billion yen paid at closing in cash into MMJ in exchange for 100% ownership of MMJ's equity and the use of such investment to fund the initial installment payment by the MMJ Companies to their creditors of 60 billion yen, subject to reduction for certain items specified in the Sponsor Agreement and plan of reorganization.


24




Under MMJ's plan of reorganization, secured creditors will recover 100% of the amount of their fixed claims and unsecured creditors will recover at least 17.4% of the amount of their fixed claims. The actual recovery of unsecured creditors will be higher, however, based in part on events and circumstances occurring following the plan approval. The remaining portion of the unsecured claims will be discharged, without payment, over the period that payments are made pursuant to the plan of reorganization. The secured creditors will be paid in full on or before the sixth installment payment date, while the unsecured creditors will be paid in seven installments. The unsecured creditors of MAI were scheduled to be paid in seven installments; however, in connection with our sale of MAI in 2017, the remaining MAI creditor obligation was paid in full and MAI's reorganization proceedings were closed.

Because MMJ's plan of reorganization provides for ongoing payments to creditors following the closing of the MMJ acquisition, the reorganization proceedings in Japan are continuing and MMJ remains subject to the oversight of the Tokyo District Court and of the trustees (including a trustee designated by us, who we refer to as the business trustee, and a trustee designated by the Tokyo District Court, who we refer to as the legal trustee), pending completion of the reorganization proceedings. The business trustee is responsible for overseeing the operation of the businesses of the MMJ Companies, other than oversight in relation to acts that need to be carried out in connection with the Japan Proceedings, which are the responsibility of the legal trustee. MMJ's reorganization proceedings in Japan, and oversight of the Tokyo District Court, will continue until the final creditor payment is made under MMJ's plan of reorganization, which is scheduled to occur in December 2019, but may occur on a later date to the extent any claims of creditors remain unfixed on the final scheduled installment payment date. MMJ may petition the Tokyo District Court for an early termination of the reorganization proceedings once two-thirds of all payments under the plan of reorganization are made. Although such early terminations are customarily granted, there can be no assurance that the Tokyo District Court will grant any such petition in this particular case.

During the pendency of the reorganization proceedings in Japan, MMJ is obligated to provide periodic financial reports to the Tokyo District Court and may be required to obtain the consent of the Tokyo District Court prior to taking a number of significant actions relating to its businesses, including transferring or disposing of, or acquiring, certain material assets, incurring or guaranteeing material indebtedness, settling material disputes, or entering into certain material agreements. The consent of the legal trustee may also be required for matters that would likely have a material impact on the operations or assets of MMJ or for transfers of material assets, to the extent the matters or transfers would reasonably be expected to materially and adversely affect execution of MMJ's plan of reorganization. Accordingly, during the pendency of the reorganization proceedings in Japan, our ability to effectively integrate MMJ as part of our global operations or to cause MMJ to take certain actions that we deem advisable for its businesses could be adversely affected if the Tokyo District Court or the legal trustee is unwilling to consent to various actions that we may wish to take with respect to MMJ.


ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES

Not Applicable.

25




PART II

ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT'S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS, AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES

Market for Common Stock

Our common stock is listed on the NASDAQ Global Select Market and trades under the symbol "MU." The following table represents the high and low closing prices for our common stock as reported by NASDAQ for each quarter of 2018 and 2017:
 
 
Fourth Quarter
 
Third Quarter
 
Second Quarter
 
First Quarter
2018
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
High
 
$
61.39

 
$
62.62

 
$
48.81

 
$
49.68

Low
 
47.10

 
45.89

 
39.40

 
32.07

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2017
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
High
 
$
32.50

 
$
30.77

 
$
24.79

 
$
20.13

Low
 
27.49

 
25.15

 
18.61

 
16.62


Holders of Record

As of October 8, 2018, there were 2,062 shareholders of record of our common stock.

Dividends

We have not declared or paid cash dividends since 1996 and do not intend to pay cash dividends for the foreseeable future.
 
As a result of the Japan Proceedings, for so long as such proceedings continue, MMJ is subject to certain restrictions on dividends, loans, and advances. Our ability to access IMFT's cash and other assets through dividends, loans, or advances, including to finance our other operations, is subject to agreement by Intel.

Equity Compensation Plan Information

The information required by this item is incorporated by reference from the information to be included in our 2018 Proxy Statement under the section entitled "Equity Compensation Plan Information," which will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission within 120 days after August 30, 2018.

Issuer Purchase of Equity Securities

Common Stock Repurchase Authorization: In May 2018, we announced that our Board of Directors had authorized the discretionary repurchase of up to $10 billion of our outstanding common stock beginning in 2019. We may purchase shares on a discretionary basis through open-market purchases, block trades, privately-negotiated transactions, derivative transactions, and/or pursuant to a Rule 10b5-1 trading plan, subject to market conditions and our ongoing determination of the best use of available cash. The repurchase authorization does not obligate us to acquire any common stock.


26




Period
 
(a) Total number of shares purchased
 
(b) Average price paid per share
 
(c) Total number of shares (or units) purchased as part of publicly announced plans or programs
 
(d) Maximum number (or approximate dollar value) of shares (or units) that may yet be purchased under publicly announced plans or programs
June 1, 2018
July 5, 2018
 

 
$

 
 
 
 
July 6, 2018
August 2, 2018
 

 

 
 
 
 
August 3, 2018
August 30, 2018
 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
$
10,000,000,000

 
For information on repurchases of our common stock subsequent to August 30, 2018, see "Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data – Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements – Equity – Micron Shareholders' Equity."

Shares of common stock withheld as payment of withholding taxes and exercise prices in connection with the vesting or exercise of equity awards are also treated as common stock repurchases. Those withheld shares of common stock are not considered common stock repurchases under an authorized common stock repurchase plan and accordingly are excluded from the amounts in the table above.

Performance Graph

The following graph illustrates a five-year comparison of cumulative total returns for our common stock, the S&P 500 Composite Index, and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) from August 31, 2013, through August 31, 2018. We operate on a 52 or 53 week fiscal year which ends on the Thursday closest to August 31. Accordingly, the last day of our fiscal year varies. For consistent presentation and comparison to the industry indices shown herein, we have calculated our stock performance graph assuming an August 31 year end.
a2013q4_chart-42352a02a09.jpg
Note: Management cautions that the stock price performance information shown in the graph above may not be indicative of current stock price levels or future stock price performance.

The performance graph above assumes $100 was invested on August 31, 2013 in common stock of Micron Technology, Inc., the S&P 500 Composite Index, and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX). Any dividends paid during the period presented were assumed to be reinvested. The performance was plotted using the following data:
 
 
2013
 
2014
 
2015
 
2016
 
2017
 
2018
Micron Technology, Inc.
 
$
100

 
$
240

 
$
121

 
$
122

 
$
236

 
$
387

S&P 500 Composite Index
 
100

 
125

 
126

 
142

 
165

 
197

Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX)
 
100

 
143

 
139

 
186

 
263

 
336


27






ITEM 6. SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA

 
 
2018
 
2017
 
2016
 
2015
 
2014
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(in millions except per share amounts)
Net sales
 
$
30,391

 
$
20,322

 
$
12,399

 
$
16,192

 
$
16,358

Gross margin
 
17,891

 
8,436

 
2,505

 
5,215

 
5,437

Operating income
 
14,994

 
5,868

 
168

 
2,998

 
3,087

Net income (loss)
 
14,138

 
5,090

 
(275
)
 
2,899

 
3,079

Net income (loss) attributable to Micron
 
14,135

 
5,089

 
(276
)
 
2,899

 
3,045

Diluted earnings (loss) per share
 
11.51

 
4.41

 
(0.27
)
 
2.47

 
2.54

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Cash and short-term investments
 
6,802

 
5,428

 
4,398

 
3,521

 
4,534

Total current assets
 
16,039

 
12,457

 
9,495

 
8,596

 
10,245

Property, plant, and equipment
 
23,672

 
19,431

 
14,686

 
10,554

 
8,682

Total assets
 
43,376

 
35,336

 
27,540

 
24,143

 
22,416

Total current liabilities
 
5,754

 
5,334

 
4,835

 
3,905

 
4,791

Long-term debt
 
3,777

 
9,872

 
9,154

 
6,252

 
4,893

Redeemable convertible notes
 
3

 
21

 

 
49

 
68

Redeemable noncontrolling interest
 
97

 

 

 

 

Total Micron shareholders’ equity
 
32,294

 
18,621

 
12,080

 
12,302

 
10,760

Noncontrolling interests in subsidiaries
 
870

 
849

 
848

 
937

 
802

Total equity
 
33,164

 
19,470


12,928


13,239


11,562


In December 2016, we acquired the 67% remaining interest in Inotera and began consolidating Inotera's operating results. In the periods presented above through December 2016, Inotera sold DRAM products exclusively to us through supply agreements. The cash paid for the Inotera Acquisition was funded, in part, with a term loan of 80 billion New Taiwan dollars and $986 million from the sale of 58 million shares of our common stock. (See Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data – Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements – Acquisition of Inotera."


ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

This discussion should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes for the year ended August 30, 2018. All period references are to our fiscal periods unless otherwise indicated. Our fiscal year is the 52 or 53-week period ending on the Thursday closest to August 31. Our fiscal 2018, 2017, and 2016 each contain 52 weeks. All production data includes the production of IMFT and Inotera. All tabular dollar amounts are in millions, except per share amounts.

For an overview of our business, see "Part I – Item 1. Business – Overview."


28




Results of Operations

Consolidated Results

For the year ended
 
2018
 
2017
 
2016
Net sales
 
$
30,391

 
100
 %
 
$
20,322

 
100
 %
 
$
12,399

 
100
 %
Cost of goods sold
 
12,500

 
41
 %
 
11,886

 
58
 %
 
9,894

 
80
 %
Gross margin
 
17,891

 
59
 %
 
8,436

 
42
 %
 
2,505

 
20
 %
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Selling, general, and administrative
 
813

 
3
 %
 
743

 
4
 %
 
659

 
5
 %
Research and development
 
2,141

 
7
 %
 
1,824

 
9
 %
 
1,617

 
13
 %
Other operating (income) expense, net
 
(57
)
 
 %
 
1

 
 %
 
61

 
 %
Operating income
 
14,994

 
49
 %
 
5,868

 
29
 %
 
168

 
1
 %
 
 
 
 


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Interest income (expense), net
 
(222
)
 
(1
)%
 
(560
)
 
(3
)%
 
(395
)
 
(3
)%
Other non-operating income (expense), net
 
(465
)
 
(2
)%
 
(112
)
 
(1
)%
 
(54
)
 
 %
Income tax provision
 
(168
)
 
(1
)%
 
(114
)
 
(1
)%
 
(19
)
 
 %
Equity in net income (loss) of equity method investees
 
(1
)
 
 %
 
8

 
 %
 
25

 
 %
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests
 
(3
)
 
 %
 
(1
)
 
 %
 
(1
)
 
 %
Net income (loss) attributable to Micron
 
$
14,135

 
47
 %
 
$
5,089

 
25
 %
 
$
(276
)
 
(2
)%

Total Net Sales

Total net sales for 2018 increased 50% as compared to 2017. Higher sales in 2018 for both DRAM and NAND products as compared to 2017 were driven by strong execution in delivering high-value products featuring our 1Xnm DRAM and 64-layer 3D NAND technologies combined with strong demand for products across our primary markets. Sales of DRAM products for 2018 increased 64% from 2017 primarily due to an increase in average selling prices of approximately 35% and an increase in sales volumes of approximately 20% as a result of strong market conditions, particularly for cloud, enterprise, mobile, and graphics markets, combined with increased sales into high-value markets. Sales of trade NAND products for 2018 increased 26% from 2017 despite declines in average selling prices primarily due to an increase in sales volumes of approximately 40% driven by increases in sales of high-value SSD and mobile managed NAND products enabled by strong demand and our execution in delivering 3D NAND products.

Total net sales for 2017 increased 64% as compared to 2016 due to strong conditions across our primary markets, particularly for enterprise, mobile, client, and SSD storage. Sales of DRAM products for 2017 increased 80% from 2016 due to an increase in sales volumes of approximately 50% and an increase in average selling prices of approximately 20% as a result of the strong market conditions. Sales of trade NAND products for 2017 increased approximately 50% as compared to 2016 due to an increase in sales volumes of approximately 65% resulting from strong market demand for our 3D NAND products, which was partially offset by declines in average selling prices. Increases in DRAM and NAND sales volumes for 2017 as compared 2016 were enabled by higher manufacturing output due to improvements in product and process technology and solid execution. Increases in sales volumes for NAND products for 2017 were also enabled by key customer qualifications of new products.

Overall Gross Margin

Our overall gross margin percentage increased to 59% for 2018 from 42% for 2017 primarily due to favorable market conditions across key markets combined with strong execution in delivering products featuring advanced technologies, including 1Xnm DRAM and 64-layer 3D NAND, enabling manufacturing cost reductions. For 2018 as compared to 2017, pricing for DRAM products increased while manufacturing costs declined and, for NAND products, manufacturing cost reductions outpaced declines in average selling prices.

Our overall gross margin percentage increased to 42% for 2017 from 20% for 2016 primarily due to strong markets that drove favorable pricing conditions and solid execution in manufacturing cost reductions from improvements in product and process technology. For 2017 as compared to 2016, pricing for DRAM products increased while manufacturing costs declined

29




and, for NAND products, manufacturing cost reductions outpaced declines in selling prices. We periodically assess the estimated useful lives of our property, plant, and equipment. In the fourth quarter of 2016, we identified factors such as the lengthening period of time between DRAM product technology node transitions, an increased re-use rate of equipment, and industry trends. As a result, we revised the estimated useful lives of equipment in our DRAM wafer fabrication facilities from five to seven years in the fourth quarter of 2016. The effect of the revision was not material for 2016 and reduced depreciation expense at the time by approximately $100 million per quarter.

From January 2013 through December 2015, we purchased all of Inotera's DRAM output under supply agreements at prices reflecting discounts from market prices for our comparable components. After December 2015 through December 6, 2016, the date we acquired the remaining interest in Inotera, the price for DRAM products we purchased from Inotera was based on a formula that equally shared margin between Inotera and us. Under these agreements, we purchased $504 million and $1.43 billion of DRAM products from Inotera in 2017 and 2016, respectively, which represented 9% of our aggregate DRAM gigabit production for 2017 and 30% for 2016.

Net Sales by Business Unit
For the year ended
 
2018
 
2017
 
2016
CNBU
 
$
15,252

 
50
%
 
$
8,624

 
42
%
 
$
4,529

 
37
%
MBU
 
6,579

 
22
%
 
4,424

 
22
%
 
2,569

 
21
%
SBU
 
5,022

 
17
%
 
4,514

 
22
%
 
3,262

 
26
%
EBU
 
3,479

 
11
%
 
2,695

 
13
%
 
1,939

 
16
%
All Other
 
59

 
%
 
65

 
%
 
100

 
1
%
 
 
$
30,391

 

 
$
20,322

 


 
$
12,399

 


Percentages are of total net sales but may not total 100% due to rounding.

CNBU sales for 2018 increased 77% as compared to 2017 due to strong market conditions and demand in key markets, including cloud server, client, enterprise server markets, and graphics markets, which drove increases in pricing and sales volumes. Sales into cloud and graphics markets more than doubled in 2018 as compared to 2017. MBU sales for 2018, which were comprised primarily of mobile LPDRAM and managed NAND products, increased 49% as compared to 2017 primarily due to customer qualifications for LPDRAM and managed NAND products, which combined with higher memory content in smartphones to drive improvements in DRAM pricing and increases in sales volumes. SBU sales of trade NAND products for 2018 increased 13% as compared to 2017 driven by higher sales of SSD storage products, which increased by 72%, partially offset by declines in SBU NAND component sales from a strategic reallocation of supply from component sales to SSD and mobile managed NAND products. Increases in SBU sales volumes for 2018 resulting from strong demand for cloud and enterprise SSD markets more than offset declines in selling prices. SBU sales also include "non-trade" products consisting of products manufactured and sold to Intel through IMFT under a long-term supply agreement at prices approximating cost, which included 3D XPoint memory and NAND products, aggregating $541 million, $553 million, and $501 million, for 2018, 2017, and 2016, respectively. EBU sales for 2018 increased 29% as compared to 2017 primarily due to strong demand across EBU's primary markets including consumer, industrial multimarkets, and automotive. EBU sales were comprised of products incorporating DRAM, NAND, and NOR Flash in decreasing order of revenue.

CNBU sales for 2017 increased 90% as compared to 2016 due to increases in average selling prices due to strong demand across key markets, growth in the cloud market driven by significant increases in DRAM content per server, and increases in sales of our GDDR5 and GDDR5X products into the graphics market driven by strong demand from the gaming industry. MBU sales for 2017 increased 72% as compared to 2016 primarily due to significant increases in sales volumes, driven by customer qualifications for LPDRAM and managed NAND products, combined with higher memory content in smartphones and growth in sales of eMCP products. MBU sales growth in 2017 was partially offset by declines in average selling prices for trade NAND products. SBU sales of trade NAND products for 2017 increased 41% as compared to 2016 primarily due to increases in sales volumes from strong demand, particularly for component NAND and client and cloud SSD storage products, partially offset by declines in average selling prices. SBU sales of SSD storage products increased by 137% for 2017 as compared to 2016 primarily as a result of the launch of new SSD products incorporating our TLC 3D NAND technology. EBU sales for 2017 increased 39% as compared to 2016 primarily due to strong demand and higher sales volumes for DRAM and eMCP in consumer markets and DRAM and eMMC products in the automotive markets.


30




Operating Income (Loss) by Business Unit
For the year ended
 
2018
 
2017
 
2016
CNBU
 
$
9,773

 
64
%
 
$
3,755

 
44
%
 
$
(25
)
 
(1
)%
MBU
 
3,033

 
46
%
 
927

 
21
%
 
97

 
4
 %
SBU
 
964

 
19
%
 
552

 
12
%
 
(123
)
 
(4
)%
EBU
 
1,473

 
42
%
 
975

 
36
%
 
473

 
24
 %
All Other
 

 
%
 
23

 
35
%
 
28

 
28
 %
 
 
$
15,243

 
 
 
$
6,232

 
 
 
$
450

 
 
Percentages reflect operating income (loss) as a percentage of net sales for each business unit.

CNBU operating income for 2018 improved from 2017 primarily due to improved pricing and higher sales volumes resulting from strong demand for our products combined with manufacturing cost reductions. MBU operating income for 2018 improved from 2017 primarily due to increases in pricing and sales volumes for LPDRAM products, higher sales of high-value managed NAND products, and manufacturing cost reductions. SBU operating income for 2018 improved from 2017 primarily due to manufacturing cost reductions enabled by our execution in transitioning to 64-layer TLC 3D NAND products and improvements in product mix. SBU operating income for 2018 was adversely impacted by higher costs associated with IMFT's production of 3D XPoint memory products at less than full capacity. EBU operating income for 2018 increased as compared to 2017 as a result of increases in average selling prices, manufacturing cost reductions, and increases in sales volumes, partially offset by higher R&D costs.

CNBU operating margin for 2017 improved from 2016 primarily due to improved pricing from strong market conditions, manufacturing cost reductions, and product mix. MBU operating income for 2017 improved from 2016 primarily due to manufacturing cost reductions and higher sales volumes, partially offset by higher R&D costs and declines in average selling prices for trade NAND products. SBU operating margin for 2017 improved from 2016 primarily due to manufacturing cost reductions, partially offset by declines in average selling prices. EBU operating income for 2017 increased as compared to 2016 as a result of manufacturing cost reductions, which outpaced declines in average selling prices, and increases in sales volumes.

Operating Expenses and Other

Selling, General, and Administrative

SG&A expenses for 2018 were 9% higher than 2017 primarily due to increases in legal costs, technical and consulting fees, and employee compensation. SG&A expenses for 2017 were 13% higher than 2016 primarily due to increases in employee compensation as well as transaction costs related to the Inotera Acquisition.

Research and Development

R&D expenses vary primarily with the number of development wafers processed, the cost of advanced equipment dedicated to new product and process development, and personnel costs. Because of the lead times necessary to manufacture our products, we typically begin to process wafers before completion of performance and reliability testing. Development of a product is deemed complete when it is qualified through reviews and tests for performance and reliability. R&D expenses can vary significantly depending on the timing of product qualification.

R&D expenses for 2018 were 17% higher than 2017 primarily due to increases in employee compensation, volumes of development and pre-qualification wafers, and depreciation expense as a result of increases in capital spending. R&D expenses for 2017 were 13% higher than 2016 primarily due to higher volumes of development and pre-qualification wafers and increases in employee compensation, partially offset by lower engineering and other professional services costs.

We share the cost of certain product and process development activities under development agreements with partners, including agreements to jointly develop NAND and 3D XPoint technologies with Intel. We continue to jointly develop NAND technologies with Intel through the third generation of 3D NAND, which is expected to be completed in the second half of 2019. In the second quarter of 2018, we and Intel agreed to independently develop subsequent generations of 3D NAND in order to better optimize the technology and products for our respective business needs. We continue to jointly develop 3D XPoint technologies with Intel through the second generation of 3D XPoint technology, which is expected to be completed in the second half of 2019. To better optimize 3D XPoint technology for our product roadmap and maximize the benefits for our customers and shareholders, in the fourth quarter of 2018, we announced that we will no longer jointly develop with Intel

31




subsequent generations of 3D XPoint technology. As a result of the above actions, we expect reimbursements under our cost-sharing agreements to decrease in early fiscal 2019. Our R&D expenses were reduced by reimbursements under these development partner arrangements by $201 million, $213 million, and $205 million for 2018, 2017, and 2016, respectively.

Income Taxes

On December 22, 2017, the United States enacted comprehensive tax legislation commonly referred to as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the "Tax Act") which lowered the U.S. corporate income tax rate from 35% to 21% and significantly affects how income from foreign operations is taxed in the United States. Our U.S. statutory federal rate was 25.7% for 2018 (based on the 35% corporate rate through December 31, 2017 and 21% from that date through the end of fiscal year 2018) and will be 21% beginning in 2019. The Tax Act imposed a one-time transition tax in 2018 on accumulated foreign income (the "Repatriation Tax"); provided a U.S. federal tax exemption on foreign earnings distributed to the United States after January 1, 2018; and beginning in 2019, created a new minimum tax on certain foreign earnings in excess of a deemed return on tangible assets (the "Foreign Minimum Tax"). The Tax Act allows us to elect to pay any Repatriation Tax due in eight annual, interest-free payments in increasing amounts beginning in December 2018. In connection with the provisions of the Tax Act, we made an accounting policy election to treat the Foreign Minimum Tax provision as a period cost in the period the tax is incurred.

SEC Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 118 ("SAB 118") allows the use of provisional amounts (reasonable estimates) if our analyses of the impacts of the Tax Act have not been completed when our financial statements are issued. The provisional amounts below for 2018 represent reasonable estimates of the effects of the Tax Act for which our analysis is not yet complete. As we complete our analysis of the Tax Act, including collecting, preparing, and analyzing necessary information, performing and refining calculations, and obtaining additional guidance from the IRS, U.S. Treasury Department, FASB, or other standard setting and regulatory bodies on the Tax Act, we may record adjustments to the provisional amounts, which may be material. In accordance with SAB 118, our accounting for the tax effects of the Tax Act will be completed during the measurement period, which should not extend beyond one year from the enactment date. At August 30, 2018, there were no provisions for which we were unable to record a reasonable estimate of the impact.

Our income tax (provision) benefit consisted of the following:
For the year ended
 
2018
 
2017
 
2016
Provisional estimate for the Repatriation Tax, net of adjustments related to uncertain tax positions
 
$
(1,030
)
 
$

 
$

Remeasurement of deferred tax assets and liabilities reflecting lower U.S. corporate tax rates
 
(133
)
 

 

Provisional estimate for the release of the valuation allowance on the net deferred tax assets of our U.S. operations
 
1,337

 

 

Utilization of and other changes in net deferred tax assets of MMJ, MMT, and MTTW
 
(68
)
 
54

 
(114
)
U.S. valuation allowance release resulting from business acquisition
 

 

 
41

Other income tax (provision) benefit
 
(274
)
 
(168
)
 
54

 
 
$
(168
)
 
$
(114
)
 
$
(19
)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Effective tax rate
 
1.2
%
 
2.2
%
 
(6.8
)%

Our income taxes reflect various impacts of the Tax Act, including the remeasurement of deferred tax assets and liabilities at the lower U.S. corporate rate of 25.7% for 2018 and 21% for subsequent years and provisional estimates for the Repatriation Tax and the release of a substantial portion of the valuation allowance on the net deferred tax assets of our U.S. operations. Our income tax rates also include operations outside the United States, including Singapore, where we have tax incentive arrangements that further decrease our effective tax rates. Beginning in 2019, our effective tax rate may increase to the low teens percentage depending on the amount and geographic mix of taxable income. Income taxes for 2018, 2017, and 2016 included tax benefits of $1 million, $28 million, and $58 million, respectively, related to the favorable resolution of certain tax matters, which were previously reserved as uncertain tax positions.

During 2018, we reassessed our capital structure, including our Board of Directors' authorization to repurchase up to $10 billion of our outstanding common stock beginning in 2019, the future cash needs of our global operations, and the effects of the Tax Act. As a result of this reassessment, we deemed a portion of our foreign earnings to be no longer indefinitely reinvested. As a result of the Repatriation Tax, substantially all of our accumulated foreign earnings prior to December 31, 2017

32




were subject to U.S. federal taxation. Although these earnings have been subject to U.S. federal income tax under the Repatriation Tax, the repatriation to the United States of all or a portion of these earnings would potentially be subject to foreign withholding and state income tax. As of August 30, 2018, we had a deferred tax liability of $82 million associated with our undistributed earnings.

We operate in a number of tax jurisdictions outside the Unites States, including Singapore, where we have tax incentive arrangements, which expire in whole or in part at various dates through 2031, that are conditional, in part, upon meeting certain business operations and employment thresholds. The effect of tax incentive arrangements reduced our tax provision by $1.96 billion (benefiting our diluted earnings per share by $1.59) for 2018, by $742 million ($0.64 per diluted share) for 2017, and were not material in 2016.

(See "Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data – Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements – Income Taxes.")

Other

Net interest expense decreased 60% for 2018 as compared to 2017 due to decreases in debt obligations and increases in interest income. Net interest expense increased 42% for 2017 as compared to 2016 primarily due to increases in debt obligations, including our borrowings of 80 billion New Taiwan dollars in December 2016 in connection with our acquisition of Inotera and $1.25 billion from the issuance of our 2023 Secured Notes in April 2016.

Further discussion of other operating and non-operating income and expenses can be found in the following notes contained in "Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data – Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements":

Equity Plans
Research and Development
Other Operating Income (Expense), Net
Other Non-Operating Income (Expense), Net


Liquidity and Capital Resources

Our primary sources of liquidity are cash generated from operations and financing obtained from capital markets and financial institutions. Cash generated from operations is highly dependent on selling prices for our products, which can vary significantly from period to period. We are continuously evaluating alternatives for efficiently funding our capital expenditures and ongoing operations. We expect, from time to time, to engage in a variety of financing transactions for such purposes, including the issuance of securities. We have an undrawn revolving credit facility that expires in July 2023 and provides for borrowings of up to $2.00 billion. We expect that our cash and investments, cash flows from operations, and available financing will be sufficient to meet our requirements at least through the next 12 months.

To develop new product and process technology, support future growth, achieve operating efficiencies, and maintain product quality, we must continue to invest in manufacturing technologies, facilities and equipment, and R&D. We estimate that capital expenditures in 2019 for property, plant, and equipment, net of partner contributions, to be $10.5 billion plus or minus 5%, focused on technology transitions and product enablement. The actual amounts for 2019 will vary depending on market conditions. As of August 30, 2018, we had commitments of approximately $1.8 billion for the acquisition of property, plant, and equipment, substantially all of which is expected to be paid within one year.

In May 2018, we announced that our Board of Directors had authorized the discretionary repurchase of up to $10 billion of our outstanding common stock beginning in 2019. We may purchase shares on a discretionary basis through open-market purchases, block trades, privately-negotiated transactions, derivative transactions, and/or pursuant to a Rule 10b5-1 trading plan, subject to market conditions and our ongoing determination of the best use of available cash. The repurchase authorization does not obligate us to acquire any common stock.

From August 31, 2018 through October 12, 2018, we repurchased an aggregate of $1.65 billion of our common stock under an accelerated share repurchase ("ASR") agreement, a Rule 10b5-1plan, and through open market repurchases. Pursuant to the ASR, we entered into an agreement with a financial institution to purchase $1.00 billion of our common stock in the first quarter of fiscal 2019. The number of shares ultimately purchased will be calculated by dividing $1.00 billion by a volume-weighted average price of our common stock from September 5, 2018 through as late as November 29, 2018 (the

33




"Measurement Period"), subject to an agreed-upon discount. On September 5, 2018, we paid $1.00 billion to the financial institution and received an initial installment of 14 million shares, with the final share amount to be determined as of the end of the Measurement Period.

See "Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data – Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements – Equity."

Cash and marketable investments totaled $7.28 billion and $6.05 billion as of August 30, 2018 and August 31, 2017, respectively. Our investments consist primarily of money market funds and liquid investment-grade, fixed-income securities, diversified among industries and individual issuers. To mitigate credit risk, we invest through high-credit-quality financial institutions and by policy generally limit the concentration of credit exposure by restricting the amount of investments with any single obligor. As of August 30, 2018, $3.08 billion of our cash and marketable investments was held by our foreign subsidiaries.

Limitations on the Use of Cash and Investments

MMJ Group: Cash and marketable investments as of August 30, 2018 included $1.67 billion held by the MMJ Group. As a result of the corporate reorganization proceedings of MMJ initiated in March 2012, and for so long as such proceedings are continuing, the MMJ Group is prohibited from paying dividends to us. In addition, pursuant to an order of the Tokyo District Court, the MMJ Group cannot make loans or advances, other than certain ordinary course advances, to us without the consent of the Tokyo District Court and may, under certain circumstances, be subject to the approval of the legal trustee. As a result, the assets of the MMJ Group are not available for use by us in our other operations. Furthermore, certain uses of the assets of the MMJ Group, including investments in certain capital expenditures, may require consent of MMJ's trustees and/or the Tokyo District Court.

IMFT: Cash and marketable investments included $91 million held by IMFT as of August 30, 2018. Our ability to access funds held by IMFT to finance our other operations is subject to agreement by Intel and contractual limitations. Amounts held by IMFT are not anticipated to be available to finance our other operations.

Indefinitely Reinvested: As of August 30, 2018, $1.71 billion of cash and marketable investments, including substantially all of the amounts held by MMJ, was held by foreign subsidiaries whose earnings were considered to be indefinitely reinvested. Determination of the amount of unrecognized deferred tax liabilities related to investments in these foreign subsidiaries is not practicable.

Cash Flows

For the year ended
 
2018
 
2017
 
2016
Net cash provided by operating activities
 
$
17,400

 
$
8,153

 
$
3,168

Net cash provided by (used for) investing activities
 
(8,216
)
 
(7,537
)
 
(3,044
)
Net cash provided by (used for) financing activities
 
(7,776
)
 
349

 
1,745

Effect of changes in currency exchange rates on cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash
 
(37
)
 
(12
)
 
19

Net increase (decrease) in cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash
 
$
1,371

 
$
953

 
$
1,888


Operating Activities: For 2018, cash provided by operating activities was due primarily to cash generated by our operations and the effect of working capital adjustments, which included a $1.73 billion increase in receivables due to a higher level of net sales.

For 2017, cash provided by operating activities was due primarily to cash generated by our operations and the effect of working capital adjustments, which included a $1.65 billion increase in receivables due to a higher level of net sales, $361 million of payments attributed to intercompany balances in connection with the Inotera Acquisition, and a $564 million increase in accounts payable and accrued expenses.

For 2016, cash provided by operating activities was due primarily to cash generated by our operations and the effect of working capital adjustments, which included a $465 million decrease in receivables due to a lower level of net sales, offset by an increase of $549 million in inventories.


34




Investing Activities: For 2018, net cash used for investing activities consisted primarily of $7.99 billion of expenditures for property, plant, and equipment (net of partner contributions), partially offset by $164 million of net inflows from sales, maturities, and purchases of available-for-sale securities.

For 2017, net cash used for investing activities consisted primarily of $4.73 billion of expenditures for property, plant, and equipment (net of partner contributions), $2.63 billion of net cash paid for the Inotera Acquisition (net of $361 million of payments attributed to intercompany balances with Inotera included in operating activities), and $269 million of net outflows from sales, maturities, and purchases of available-for-sale securities.

For 2016, net cash used for investing activities consisted primarily of $5.75 billion of expenditures for property, plant, and equipment (net of partner contributions) and $148 million for the acquisition of Tidal Systems, Ltd., partially offset by $2.66 billion of net inflows from sales, maturities, and purchases of available-for-sale securities.

Financing Activities: For 2018, net cash used for financing activities consisted primarily of cash payments to reduce our debt, including $9.42 billion to prepay or repurchase debt and settle conversions of notes and $774 million for scheduled repayment of other notes and capital leases. Cash used for financing activities was partially offset by net proceeds of $1.36 billion from the issuance of 34 million shares of our common stock for $41.00 per share in a public offering and $1.01 billion of proceeds from IMFT Member Debt.

For 2017, net cash provided by financing activities consisted primarily of $2.48 billion of net proceeds from the 2021 MSTW Term Loan, and $795 million of net proceeds from the 2021 MSAC Term Loan, partially offset by $1.63 billion to repurchase notes, repayments of $381 million of capital lease obligations, repayments of $550 million of other debt and convertible notes, and payments of $519 million on equipment purchase contracts.

For 2016, net cash provided by financing activities consisted primarily of $2.20 billion of proceeds from issuance of notes and $765 million from equipment sale-leaseback financing transactions, partially offset by repurchase of $870 million of debt and $125 million for the open-market repurchase of 7 million shares of our common stock.

See "Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data – Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements – Debt."

Potential Settlement Obligations of Convertible Notes

Since the closing price of our common stock exceeded 130% of the conversion price per share of all our convertible notes for at least 20 trading days in the 30 trading day period ended on September 30, 2018, holders may convert these notes through the calendar quarter ended December 31, 2018. The following table summarizes the potential settlements that we could be required to make for the calendar quarter ending December 31, 2018 if all holders converted their notes. The amounts in the table below are based on our closing share price of $52.76 as of August 30, 2018.
 
 
Settlement Option
 
 
 
If Settled With Minimum Cash Required
 
If Settled Entirely With Cash
 
 
Principal Amount
 
Amount in Excess of Principal
 
Underlying Shares
 
Cash
 
Remainder in Shares
 
2032D Notes
 
Cash and/or shares
 
Cash and/or shares
 
14

 
$

 
14

 
$
758

2033F Notes
 
Cash
 
Cash and/or shares
 
10

 
239

 
5

 
515

2043G Notes
 
Cash and/or shares
 
Cash and/or shares
 
35

 

 
35

 
1,843

 
 
 
 

 
59

 
$
239

 
54

 
$
3,116


As of August 30, 2018, convertible notes in the table above included an aggregate of $165 million for the settlement obligation (including principal and amounts in excess of principal) for conversions of 2033F Notes that will settle in cash in the first quarter of 2019.


35




Contractual Obligations
 
 
Payments Due by Period
As of August 30, 2018
 
Total
 
Less than 1 year
 
1-3 years

 
3-5 years

 
More than 5 years
Notes payable(1)(2)
 
$
4,705

 
$
592

 
$
609

 
$
853

 
$
2,651

Capital lease obligations(2)
 
965

 
339

 
331

 
108

 
187

Operating leases(3)
 
616

 
37

 
93

 
95

 
391

Purchase obligations(4)
 
3,350

 
2,892

 
385

 
17

 
56

Other long-term liabilities(5)
 
596

 
375

 
192

 
10

 
19

Total
 
$
10,232

 
$
4,235

 
$
1,610

 
$
1,083

 
$
3,304

(1) 
Amounts include MMJ Creditor Payments, convertible notes, and other notes.
(2) 
Amounts include principal and interest.
(3) 
Amounts include contractually obligated minimum lease payments for operating leases having an initial noncancelable term in excess of one year.
(4) 
Purchase obligations include all commitments to purchase goods or services of either a fixed or minimum quantity that meet any of the following criteria: (1) they are noncancelable, (2) we would incur a penalty if the agreement was canceled, or (3) we must make specified minimum payments even if we do not take delivery of the contracted products or services. If the obligation to purchase goods or services is noncancelable, the entire value of the contract was included in the above table. If the obligation is cancelable, but we would incur a penalty if canceled, only the dollar amount of the penalty was included as a purchase obligation. Contracted minimum amounts specified in any take-or-pay contracts were included in the above table as they represent the portion of each contract that is a firm commitment.
(5) 
Amounts represent future cash payments to satisfy other long-term liabilities recorded on our consolidated balance sheet, including $375 million for the current portion of these long-term liabilities. We are unable to reliably estimate the timing of future certain payments related to uncertain tax positions and deferred tax liabilities; therefore, the amount has been excluded from the preceding table. However, other noncurrent liabilities recorded on our consolidated balance sheet included these uncertain tax positions and deferred tax liabilities.

The timing of payment amounts of the obligations discussed above is based on current information. Any redemptions, repurchases, or conversions of debt could impact the amount and timing of our cash payments.


Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

We have capped calls which are intended to reduce the effect of potential dilution, see "Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data – Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements – Equity – Micron Shareholders' Equity – Outstanding Capped Calls."

We have an ASR agreement with a financial institution to purchase $1.00 billion of our common stock in the first quarter of fiscal 2019. See "Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data – Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements – Equity – Micron Shareholders' Equity – Common Stock Repurchase Authorization – Accelerated Share Repurchase."


Critical Accounting Estimates

The preparation of financial statements and related disclosures in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues, expenses, and related disclosures. Estimates and judgments are based on historical experience, forecasted events, and various other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances. Estimates and judgments may vary under different assumptions or conditions. We evaluate our estimates and judgments on an ongoing basis. Our management believes the accounting policies below are critical in the portrayal of our financial condition and results of operations and require management's most difficult, subjective, or complex judgments.

Business acquisitions: Accounting for acquisitions requires us to estimate the fair value of consideration paid and the individual assets and liabilities acquired, which involves a number of judgments, assumptions, and estimates that could materially affect the amount and timing of costs recognized in subsequent periods. Accounting for acquisitions can also involve significant judgment to determine when control of the acquired entity is transferred. We typically obtain independent third party

36




valuation studies to assist in determining fair values, including assistance in determining future cash flows, discount rates, and comparable market values. Items involving significant assumptions, estimates, and judgments include the following:

Debt, including discount rate and timing of payments;
Deferred tax assets, including projections of future taxable income and tax rates;
Fair value of consideration paid or transferred;
Intangible assets, including valuation methodology, estimations of future revenue and costs, profit allocation rates attributable to the acquired technology, and discount rates;
Inventory, including estimated future selling prices, timing of product sales, and completion costs for work in process; and
Property, plant, and equipment, including determination of values in a continued-use model.

Consolidation: We have interests in entities that are VIEs. Determining whether to consolidate a VIE requires judgment in assessing whether an entity is a VIE and if we are the entity's primary beneficiary. If we are the primary beneficiary of a VIE, we are required to consolidate it. To determine if we are the primary beneficiary, we evaluate whether we have the power to direct the activities that most significantly impact the VIE's economic performance and the obligation to absorb losses or the right to receive benefits of the VIE that could potentially be significant to the VIE. Our evaluation includes identification of significant activities and an assessment of our ability to direct those activities based on governance provisions and arrangements to provide or receive product and process technology, product supply, operations services, equity funding, financing, and other applicable agreements and circumstances. Our assessments of whether we are the primary beneficiary of our VIEs require significant assumptions and judgments.

Contingencies: We are subject to the possibility of losses from various contingencies. Significant judgment is necessary to estimate the probability and amount of a loss, if any, from such contingencies. An accrual is made when it is probable that a liability has been incurred or an asset has been impaired and the amount of loss can be reasonably estimated. We accrue a liability and charge operations for the estimated costs of adjudication or settlement of asserted and unasserted claims existing as of the balance sheet date. In accounting for the resolution of contingencies, significant judgment may be necessary to estimate amounts pertaining to periods prior to the resolution that are charged to operations in the period of resolution and amounts related to future periods.

Goodwill and intangible assets: We test goodwill for impairment in the fourth quarter of our fiscal year, or more frequently if indicators of an impairment exist, to determine whether it is more likely than not that the fair value of the reporting unit with goodwill is less than its carrying value. For reporting units for which this assessment concludes that it is more likely than not that the fair value is more than its carrying value, goodwill is considered not impaired and we are not required to perform the goodwill impairment test. Qualitative factors considered in this assessment include industry and market considerations, overall financial performance, and other relevant events and factors affecting the fair value of the reporting unit. For reporting units for which this assessment concludes that it is more likely than not that the fair value is below the carrying value, goodwill is tested for impairment by determining the fair value of each reporting unit and comparing it to the carrying value of the net assets assigned to the reporting unit. If the fair value of the reporting unit exceeds its carrying value, goodwill is considered not impaired. If the carrying value of the reporting unit exceeds its fair value, then we would record an impairment loss up to the difference between the carrying value and implied fair value.

Determining when to test for impairment, the reporting units, the assets and liabilities of the reporting unit, and the fair value of the reporting unit requires significant judgment and involves the use of significant estimates and assumptions. These estimates and assumptions include revenue growth rates, forecasted manufacturing costs, and other expenses and are developed as part of our long-range planning process. The same estimates are used in business planning, forecasting, and capital budgeting as part of our long-term manufacturing capacity analysis. We test the reasonableness of the output of our long-range planning process by calculating an implied value per share and comparing that to current stock prices, analysts' consensus pricing, and management's expectations. These estimates and assumptions are used to calculate projected future cash flows for the reporting unit, which are discounted using a risk-adjusted rate to estimate a fair value. The discount rate requires determination of appropriate market comparables. We base fair value estimates on assumptions we believe to be reasonable but that are unpredictable and inherently uncertain. Actual future results may differ from those estimates.

We test other identified intangible assets with definite useful lives when events and circumstances indicate the carrying value may not be recoverable by comparing the carrying amount to the sum of undiscounted cash flows expected to be generated by the asset. We test intangible assets with indefinite lives annually for impairment using a fair value method such as discounted cash flows. Estimating fair values involves significant assumptions, including future sales prices, sales volumes, costs, and discount rates.

37





Income taxes: We are required to estimate our provision for income taxes and amounts ultimately payable or recoverable in numerous tax jurisdictions around the world. These estimates involve significant judgment and interpretations of regulations and are inherently complex. Resolution of income tax treatments in individual jurisdictions may not be known for many years after completion of the applicable fiscal year. We are also required to evaluate the realizability of our deferred tax assets on an ongoing basis in accordance with U.S. GAAP, which requires the assessment of our performance and other relevant factors. Realization of deferred tax assets is dependent on our ability to generate future taxable income. In recent periods, our results of operations have benefitted from increases in the amount of deferred taxes we expect to realize, primarily from the levels of capital spending and increases in the amount of taxable income we expect to realize in Japan and the United States. Our income tax provision or benefit is dependent, in part, on our ability to forecast future taxable income in these and other jurisdictions. Such forecasts are inherently difficult and involve significant judgments including, among others, projecting future average selling prices and sales volumes, manufacturing and overhead costs, levels of capital spending, and other factors that significantly impact our analyses of the amount of net deferred tax assets that are more likely than not to be realized.

Inventories: Inventories are stated at the lower of average cost or net realizable value. Cost includes depreciation, labor, material, and overhead costs, including product and process technology costs. Determining net realizable value of inventories involves significant judgments, including projecting future average selling prices, sales volumes, and costs to complete products in work in process inventories. To project average selling prices and sales volumes, we review recent sales volumes, existing customer orders, current contract prices, industry analyses of supply and demand, seasonal factors, general economic trends, and other information. When these analyses reflect estimated net realizable values below our manufacturing costs, we record a charge to cost of goods sold in advance of when inventories are actually sold. Differences in forecasted average selling prices used in calculating lower of cost or net realizable value adjustments can result in significant changes in the estimated net realizable value of product inventories and accordingly the amount of write-down recorded. For example, a 5% variance in the estimated selling prices would have changed the estimated net realizable value of our inventory by approximately $577 million as of August 30, 2018. Due to the volatile nature of the semiconductor memory and storage markets, actual selling prices and volumes often vary significantly from projected prices and volumes; as a result, the timing of when product costs are charged to operations can vary significantly.

U.S. GAAP provides for products to be grouped into categories in order to compare costs to net realizable values. The amount of any inventory write-down can vary significantly depending on the determination of inventory categories. We review the major characteristics of product type and markets in determining the unit of account for which we perform the lower of average cost or net realizable value analysis and categorize inventories primarily as memory (including DRAM, NAND, and other memory).

Property, plant, and equipment: We review the carrying value of property, plant, and equipment for impairment when events and circumstances indicate that the carrying value of an asset or group of assets may not be recoverable from the estimated future cash flows expected to result from its use and/or disposition. In cases where undiscounted expected future cash flows are less than the carrying value, an impairment loss is recognized equal to the amount by which the carrying value exceeds the estimated fair value of the assets. The estimate of future cash flows involves numerous assumptions which require significant judgment by us, including, but not limited to, future use of the assets for our operations versus sale or disposal of the assets, future selling prices for our products and future production and sales volumes. In addition, significant judgment is required in determining the groups of assets for which impairment tests are separately performed.

We periodically assess the estimated useful lives of our property, plant, and equipment. We revised the estimated useful lives of equipment in our DRAM wafer fabrication facilities from five to seven years in the fourth quarter of 2016. The effect of the revision was not material for 2016 and reduced depreciation expense at the time by approximately $100 million per quarter. (See "Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data – Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements – Significant Accounting Policies.")

Research and development: Costs related to the conceptual formulation and design of products and processes are expensed as R&D as incurred. Determining when product development is complete requires significant judgment by us. We deem development of a product complete once the product has been thoroughly reviewed and tested for performance and reliability. Subsequent to product qualification, product costs are included in cost of goods sold.

Stock-based compensation: Stock-based compensation is estimated at the grant date based on the fair value of the award and is recognized as expense using the straight-line amortization method over the requisite service period. For performance-based stock awards, the expense recognized is dependent on our assessment of the likelihood of the performance measure being

38




achieved. We utilize forecasts of future performance to assess these probabilities and this assessment requires significant judgment.

Determining the appropriate fair-value model and calculating the fair value of stock-based awards at the grant date requires significant judgment, including estimating stock price volatility and expected option life. We develop these estimates based on historical data and market information which can change significantly over time. A small change in the estimates used can result in a relatively large change in the estimated valuation. We use the Black-Scholes option valuation model to value employee stock options and awards granted under our employee stock purchase plan ("ESPP"). We estimate stock price volatility based on an average of historical volatility and the implied volatility derived from traded options on our stock.


Recently Issued Accounting Standards

See "Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data – Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements – Recently Issued Accounting Standards."


ITEM 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK

Interest Rate Risk

We are exposed to interest rate risk related to our indebtedness and our investment portfolio. As of August 30, 2018 and August 31, 2017, we had fixed-rate debt of $3.1 billion and $5.7 billion, respectively, and as a result, the fair value of our debt fluctuates with changes in market interest rates. We estimate that, as of August 30, 2018 and August 31, 2017, a decrease in market interest rates of 1% would increase the fair value of our fixed-rate debt by approximately $79 million and $273 million, respectively. As of August 30, 2018 and August 31, 2017, we had variable-rate debt of $725 million and $4.2 billion, respectively. As of August 30, 2018 and August 31, 2017, a 1% increase in the interest rates of our variable-rate debt would result in an increase in annual interest expense of approximately $7 million and $43 million, respectively.

Foreign Currency Exchange Rate Risk

The information in this section should be read in conjunction with the information related to changes in the currency exchange rates in "Part I – Item 1A. Risk Factors." Changes in currency exchange rates could materially adversely affect our results of operations or financial condition.

The functional currency for all of our operations is the U.S. dollar. The substantial majority of our sales are transacted in the U.S. dollar; however, significant amounts of our debt, operating expenditures, and capital purchases are incurred in or exposed to other currencies, primarily the euro, New Taiwan dollar, Singapore dollar, and yen. We have established currency risk management programs for our monetary assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies to hedge against fluctuations in the fair value and volatility of future cash flows caused by changes in currency exchange rates. We generally utilize currency forward contracts in these hedging programs, which reduce, but do not always entirely eliminate, the impact of currency exchange rate movements. We do not use derivative financial instruments for trading or speculative purposes.

Based on monetary assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies, we estimate that a 10% adverse change in exchange rates versus the U.S. dollar would result in losses of approximately $78 million as of August 30, 2018 and $391 million as of August 31, 2017. We hedge our exposure to changes in currency exchange rates by utilizing a rolling hedge strategy for our primary currency exposures with currency forward contracts that generally mature within nine months. The effectiveness of our hedges is dependent, among other factors, upon our ability to accurately forecast our monetary assets and liabilities. To hedge the exposure of changes in cash flows from changes in currency exchange rates for certain capital expenditures, we may utilize currency forward contracts that generally mature within 12 months. (See "Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data – Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements – Derivative Instruments.")

39




ITEM 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA

Index to Consolidated Financial Statements

 
Page
 
 
Consolidated Financial Statements as of August 30, 2018 and August 31, 2017 and for the fiscal years ended August 30, 2018, August 31, 2017, and September 1, 2016
 
 
 
Consolidated Statements of Operations
 
 
Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss)
 
 
Consolidated Balance Sheets
 
 
Consolidated Statements of Changes in Equity
 
 
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
 
 
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements
 
 
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm


40




MICRON TECHNOLOGY, INC.

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
(in millions except per share amounts)

For the year ended
 
August 30,
2018
 
August 31,
2017
 
September 1,
2016
Net sales
 
$
30,391

 
$
20,322

 
$
12,399

Cost of goods sold
 
12,500

 
11,886

 
9,894

Gross margin
 
17,891

 
8,436

 
2,505

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Selling, general, and administrative
 
813

 
743

 
659

Research and development
 
2,141

 
1,824

 
1,617

Other operating (income) expense, net
 
(57
)
 
1

 
61

Operating income
 
14,994

 
5,868

 
168

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Interest income
 
120

 
41

 
42

Interest expense
 
(342
)
 
(601
)
 
(437
)
Other non-operating income (expense), net
 
(465
)
 
(112
)
 
(54
)
 
 
14,307

 
5,196

 
(281
)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Income tax provision
 
(168
)
 
(114
)
 
(19
)
Equity in net income (loss) of equity method investees
 
(1
)
 
8

 
25

Net income (loss)
 
14,138

 
5,090

 
(275
)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests
 
(3
)
 
(1
)
 
(1
)
Net income (loss) attributable to Micron
 
$
14,135

 
$
5,089

 
$
(276
)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Earnings (loss) per share
 
 
 
 
 
 
Basic
 
$
12.27

 
$
4.67

 
$
(0.27
)
Diluted
 
11.51

 
4.41

 
(0.27
)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Number of shares used in per share calculations
 
 
 
 
 
 
Basic
 
1,152

 
1,089

 
1,036

Diluted
 
1,229

 
1,154

 
1,036


















See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements.

41




MICRON TECHNOLOGY, INC.

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME (LOSS)
(in millions)

For the year ended
 
August 30,
2018
 
August 31,
2017
 
September 1,
2016
Net income (loss)
 
$
14,138

 
$
5,090

 
$
(275
)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Other comprehensive income (loss), net of tax
 
 
 
 
 
 
Gains (losses) on derivative instruments
 
(15
)
 
15

 
7

Pension liability adjustments
 
(3
)
 
1

 
(9
)
Unrealized gains (losses) on investments
 
(2
)
 

 
3

Foreign currency translation adjustments
 
1

 
48

 
(49
)
Other comprehensive income (loss)
 
(19
)
 
64

 
(48
)
Total comprehensive income (loss)
 
14,119

 
5,154

 
(323
)
Comprehensive (income) attributable to noncontrolling interests
 
(3
)
 
(1
)
 
(1
)
Comprehensive income (loss) attributable to Micron
 
$
14,116

 
$
5,153

 
$
(324
)





































See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements.

42




MICRON TECHNOLOGY, INC.

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
(in millions except par value amounts)

As of
 
August 30,
2018
 
August 31,
2017
Assets
 
 
 
 
Cash and equivalents
 
$
6,506

 
$
5,109

Short-term investments
 
296

 
319

Receivables
 
5,478

 
3,759

Inventories
 
3,595

 
3,123

Other current assets
 
164

 
147

Total current assets
 
16,039

 
12,457

Long-term marketable investments
 
473

 
617

Property, plant, and equipment
 
23,672

 
19,431

Intangible assets
 
331

 
387

Deferred tax assets
 
1,022

 
766

Goodwill
 
1,228

 
1,228

Other noncurrent assets
 
611

 
450

Total assets
 
$
43,376

 
$
35,336

 
 
 
 
 
Liabilities and equity
 
 
 
 
Accounts payable and accrued expenses
 
$
4,611

 
$
3,664

Deferred income
 
284

 
408

Current debt
 
859

 
1,262

Total current liabilities
 
5,754

 
5,334

Long-term debt
 
3,777

 
9,872

Other noncurrent liabilities
 
581

 
639

Total liabilities
 
10,112

 
15,845

 
 
 
 
 
Commitments and contingencies
 


 


 
 
 
 
 
Redeemable convertible notes
 
3

 
21

Redeemable noncontrolling interest
 
97

 

 
 
 
 
 
Micron shareholders' equity
 
 
 
 
Common stock, $0.10 par value, 3,000 shares authorized, 1,170 shares issued and 1,161 outstanding (1,116 shares issued and 1,112 outstanding as of August 31, 2017)
 
117

 
112

Additional capital
 
8,201

 
8,287

Retained earnings
 
24,395

 
10,260

Treasury stock, 9 shares held (4 shares as of August 31, 2017)
 
(429
)
 
(67
)
Accumulated other comprehensive income
 
10

 
29

Total Micron shareholders' equity
 
32,294

 
18,621

Noncontrolling interests in subsidiaries
 
870

 
849

Total equity
 
33,164

 
19,470

Total liabilities and equity
 
$
43,376

 
$
35,336




See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements.

43




MICRON TECHNOLOGY, INC.

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN EQUITY
(in millions)

 
 
Micron Shareholders
 
 
 
 
 
 
Common Stock
 
Additional Capital
 
Retained Earnings
 
Treasury Stock
 
Accumulated Other Comprehensive
Income (Loss)
 
Total Micron Shareholders' Equity
 
Noncontrolling Interests in Subsidiaries
 
Total Equity
 
 
Number
of Shares
 
Amount
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Balance at September 3, 2015
 
1,084

 
$
108

 
$
7,474

 
$
5,588

 
$
(881
)
 
$
13

 
$
12,302

 
$
937

 
$
13,239

Net income (loss)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(276
)
 
 
 
 
 
(276
)
 
1

 
(275
)
Other comprehensive income (loss), net
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(48
)
 
(48
)
 

 
(48
)
Stock issued under stock plans
 
11

 
1

 
47

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
48

 
 
 
48

Stock-based compensation expense
 
 
 
 
 
191

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
191

 
 
 
191

Contributions from noncontrolling interests
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
37

 
37

Distributions to noncontrolling interests
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
(34
)
 
(34
)
Acquisitions of noncontrolling interests
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
(93
)
 
(93
)
Repurchase and retirement of stock
 
(1
)
 

 
(10
)
 
(13
)
 
 
 
 
 
(23
)
 
 
 
(23
)
Repurchase of treasury stock
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(125
)
 
 
 
(125
)
 
 
 
(125
)
Settlement of capped calls