Audiocodes (AUDC) Risk Analysis

We use internally developed and third-party developed machine learning and AI technologies in our offerings and business, and we are making investments in expanding our AI-related capabilities in our products, services, and tools, including ongoing deployment and improvement of existing machine learning and AI technologies. Over the last decade, AudioCodes has developed a range of software-based voice productivity solutions through our Voice.AI business line. These include the Voca range of conversational AI-related solutions that incorporate voice recognition, AI and machine learning technologies, SmartTAP 360° Live, an intelligent, secure enterprise compliance recording solution, Meeting Insights, an innovative tool for easily capturing and organizing all meeting-generated content and Voice.AI Connect a cloud-based solution that simplifies the integration of any cognitive voice service and bot framework with any voice or telephony channel to deliver an enhanced customer service experience. Our success depends on our ability to keep pace with rapid technological changes affecting the development of our products and implementation of our business needs. Emerging technological trends such as AI, machine learning and automation are impacting industries and business operations. If we do not sufficiently invest in new technology and industry developments, appropriately implement new technologies or evolve our business at sufficient speed and scale in response to such developments, or if we do not make the right strategic investments to respond to these developments, our products, results of operations and ability to develop and maintain our business could be negatively affected. Our competitors or other third parties may incorporate AI technologies into their services, products and business more quickly or more successfully than us, which could impair our ability to compete effectively and materially and adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.

Our success and ability to compete depend in part upon protecting our proprietary technology. We rely on a combination of patent, trade secret, copyright and trademark laws, nondisclosure and other contractual agreements and technical measures to protect our proprietary rights. These agreements and measures may not be sufficient to protect our technology from third-party infringement, or to protect us from the claims of others. Enforcement of intellectual property rights may be expensive and may divert attention of management and of research and development personnel away from our business. Intellectual property litigation could also call into question the ownership or scope of rights owned by us. Additionally, our products may be manufactured, sold, or used in countries that provide less protection to intellectual property than that provided under U.S. or Israeli laws or where we do not hold relevant intellectual property rights. Moreover, a number of aspects of intellectual property protection in the field of AI are currently under development, and there is uncertainty and ongoing litigation in different jurisdictions as to the degree and extent of protection warranted for AI and machine learning systems, as well as relevant system input and outputs. If we fail to obtain protection for the intellectual property rights concerning our AI technologies, or later have our intellectual property rights invalidated or otherwise diminished, our competitors may be able to take advantage of our research and development efforts to develop competing products, and our business, financial condition and operations could be materially and adversely impacted. We believe that the frequency of third-party intellectual property claims is increasing, as patent holders, including entities that are not in our industry and that purchase patents as an investment or to monetize such rights by obtaining royalties, use infringement assertions as a competitive tactic and a source of additional revenue. Any intellectual property claims against us, even if without merit, could cost us a significant amount of money to defend and divert management's attention away from our business. We may not be able to secure a license for technology that is used in our products, and we may face injunctive proceedings that prevent distribution and sale of our products even prior to any dispute being concluded. These proceedings may also have a deterrent effect on purchases by customers, who may be unsure about our ability to continue to supply their requirements. We may be forced to repurchase our products and compensate customers that have purchased such infringing products. We may be forced to redesign a product so that it becomes non-infringing, which may have an adverse impact on our results of our operations. In addition, claims alleging that the development, use, or sale of our products infringes third parties' intellectual property rights may be directed either at us or at our direct or indirect customers. We may be required to indemnify such customers against claims made against them. We may be required to indemnify them even if we believe that the claim of infringement is without merit.

Recently, our partners have started adopting cloud-based architecture or cloud-based software as a service, or SaaS, models. For example, Microsoft offers a cloud-based alternative to Skype for Business and Teams and has encouraged business customers to use that model instead of an on-premise alternative. Moreover, the successor for Skype for Business is Teams, which by definition is cloud-based only. Many of our products are intended for on-premise use with cloud architecture, but in some scenarios, cloud architecture introduces an alternative to on-premise use. Currently, our revenue is generated primarily from on-premise deployments. The transition to cloud-based delivery impacts the architecture and role of our products in the overall solution. We may not succeed in transitioning in time or at all to the new cloud-based technologies, products, solutions and services adopted by our partners and their customers. We may not succeed in aligning our solutions with our partners' solutions and be unable to bring sufficient value to them or their end customers. Our inability to adapt to the ongoing transition to the use of cloud-based software could have an adverse effect on us. Furthermore, SaaS pay-per-use licensing models may have an adverse effect on our short-term revenue recognition.

During 2022 and 2023, the global markets experienced, and continue to experience, higher rates of inflation as a result of several market factors, including in the form of increased costs pertaining to labor, materials, shipping and overhead. As a result of these inflationary pressures, governments in many countries implemented tighter monetary policies (including in the form of higher interest rates), which could slow the growth rate of local economies and restrict the availability of credit and financing. Interest rates may increase further, or they may remain at current levels for the near-term, and this new interest rate environment could materially and adversely affect our business, the counterparties with which we interact and the global economy at large. We believe that our financial condition and results of operations have thus far not been materially impacted by inflationary pressures; however, as a result of inflationary pressures, more organizations have sought to deploy technology on a "pay per use" subscription model, leveraging advances in cloud-based technologies (such as Unified Communications as a Service and Contact Center as a Service). To the extent the current rates of inflation and shifts in fiscal and monetary policy result in prolonged and slower growth or a recession, it could have a material and adverse effect on the demand for our products and services and, in the process, our business, results of operations and financial condition as a whole, including with respect to general and administrative expenses as a percentage of total revenue. Moreover, in the event that a global recession were to occur, it could adversely impact the critical counterparties that we engage, including in the form of a decrease in the products and services they seek to obtain from us. We continue to monitor our operations and will seek to take appropriate actions to mitigate the potential impact of heightened inflation on our business. Nevertheless, there can be no assurances that we will be successful in doing so, if at all.

Epidemics, pandemics, global health crises, or other public health events, threats and concerns, including, but not limited to, the global spread of COVID-19, Ebola, the H1N1 flu virus, the Zika virus, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome and other highly communicable diseases, outbreaks of which have occurred fairly recently in various parts of the world in which we operate, could adversely impact our operations, the operations of our clients and the global economy, including the level of demand for our services. In particular, a resurgence of COVID-19, including its highly contagious variants and sub-lineages, could present significant and additional challenges and risks to businesses around the world. Governmental authorities of many countries, including Israel and the United States, previously implemented, and could elect to re-implement, significant measures to control any resurgence of COVID-19, including temporary closure of businesses, severe restrictions on travel and the movement of people, and other material limitations on the conduct of businesses. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we previously implemented remote working and workplace protocols for our employees in Israel in accordance with Israeli Ministry of Health requirements and similar arrangements in other countries in which we operate. Similarly, to ensure business continuity, other companies and contact centers were compelled to transition their employees quickly from a physical office to a Work from Home, or WFH environment. This in turn led to increased demand for UCaaS (UC as a Service) and video conferencing solutions, such as Microsoft Teams and Zoom, as well as WFH agent solutions for contact centers. As a result of these recent trends, we have experienced an increased demand for our related products and solutions. In response to such increased demand, we previously launched WFH promotions and solutions aimed at helping companies offer reliable and high-quality voice communications for WFH employees and contact center agents. Businesses that previously were unable to transition to WFH, or faced challenges in their implementation of WFH arrangements due to aging or inappropriate communications solutions, have begun, and will likely continue, to adopt policies and technologies to better prepare them for future foreseeable and unforeseeable events that prevent employees from working in a physical on-site office, a trend which has provided a direct benefit to our business. While we believe that more businesses may ultimately decide to transition to WFH, either fully or partially, as a continuing alternative to the manner in which they conducted their operations before the COVID-19 pandemic, any material decreases to the use of WFH could have a material and adverse effect on our business, operations and financial condition. The resurgence or discovery of any new strains of COVID-19, the development, availability and effectiveness of treatments or vaccines for COVID-19 or any other global health crisis could materially impact our business and operations. Therefore, we can give no assurances that any resurgence of COVID-19 or any other global health crisis will not have a material adverse effect on our financial position or results of operations in 2024 and beyond. To the extent a resurgence of COVID-19 or any other global health crisis adversely affects our business and financial results, it may also have the effect of heightening many of the other risks described in this "Risk Factors" section, such as those relating to our ability to comply with the covenants contained in the agreements that govern our indebtedness or our ability to access additional capital should the need arise.

Competition in our industry is intense and we expect competition to increase in the future. Our competitors currently sell products that provide similar benefits to those that we sell. There has been a significant amount of merger and acquisition activity, frequently involving major telecommunications equipment manufacturers acquiring smaller companies, as well as strategic alliances entered into by competitors. We expect that these activities will result in an increasing concentration of market share among these companies, many of whom are our customers. Our competitors in the area of enterprise session border controllers include, among others, Oracle, Ribbon Communications, Metaswitch (acquired by Microsoft Azure for Operators), TE-Systems and Ingate. Our competitors in the area of low and mid-density digital gateways include, among others, Ribbon Communications, Cisco, Dialogic, NewRock, Patton, Ferrari and Sangoma. Our competitors in the area of multi-service business routers include, among others, Cisco, Juniper, Adtran, One-Access (acquired by Ekinops), Patton, Huawei, HP/3COM and Alcatel-Lucent. Our competitors in the area of call recording, Compliance recording and Convenient include, among others, Verint, NICE, ACS, Red Box (acquired by Uniphore), Teleware and Dubber. Our competitors in the area of applications leveraging speech recognition and conversational AI technology include, among others, Twilio, Nuance (acquired by Microsoft) and IBM, as well as Contact Center vendors (including Genesys, NICE and Five9s). Some public cloud providers offer technology and services that partially overlap with ours and several smaller start-up companies are also developing competing solutions. Our competitors in the area of Conversational IVR and Speech Attendants include companies such as Nuance, Parlance, and other contact center vendors IVR solutions. Our competitors in the area of contact center include, but are not limited to, Anywhere365, Luware, Landis, ComputerTalk and other contact center vendors, primarily focused on the Microsoft Teams product. Our competitors in the area of SmartTAP360 live which focuses mainly on compliance and quality recording in conjunction with Microsoft Teams are listed in the certified list of Microsoft vendors although we mainly see in the mid-market projects ASC, Red Box (acquired by Uniphore), NICE, Dybber, CallCabinet and Verint. Our competitors in the area of Meeting Insights, which is focused on productivity enhancement, organization repository and sharing for meetings in the Microsoft Teams environment, include, but are not limited to, Avoma, Otter and Fireflies.AI. Our principal competitors in the area of IP phones and meeting room devices are device-focused vendors that also certified on MSFT or ZOOM. These competitors include Poly (acquired by HP Inc.), Yealink, Logitech, Crestron and many others. Our competitors for AudioCodes Live for Microsoft Teams are companies that offer a variety managed services for business customers. These companies include systems integrators, service providers and some cloud-based solution providers. In certain cases, some companies buy AudioCodes products and/or services, and use them to offer managed services to their customers. AudioCodes sometimes works in partnership with such companies to complement their offering or even leverage some of their capabilities to offer managed services. Our main competitor in the area of Live is the in-house implementation of projects (after buying products either directly or through an integrator). Competition is also in the form of system integrators such as Converge One in USA, NTT or BT and numerous others in various sizes and locations and specialties. Some of our competitors have the ability to offer vendor-sponsored financing programs to customers. Those with broad product portfolios may also be able to offer lower prices on products that compete with ours because of their ability to recoup a loss of margin through sales of other products or services. Additionally, voice, audio and other communications alternatives that compete with our products are constantly being introduced. Our competitors in Content delivery and connectivity platform, as well as Operator Connect Accelerate, Zoom exchange providers and WebEx enablement, are SIPIO, DSTNY Group and Nuwave. Some of our competitors are also customers of our products and technologies. In the future, we may also develop and introduce other products or services with new or additional telecommunications capabilities or services. As a result, we may compete directly with voice over-IP, or VoIP, companies, system integrators, value-added resellers, or VARs, and other telecommunications infrastructure and solution providers, some of which may be our current customers. Additional competitors may include companies that currently provide communication software products and services. The ability of some of our competitors to bundle other enhanced services or complete solutions with VoIP products could give these competitors an advantage over us.

Media gateway products are primarily intended to transmit voice from traditional telephony networks to IP networks and vice versa. Along with the growth and adoption of IP networks, there has been an increase in the amount of information that is sent directly from one IP network to another IP network. This direct network communication potentially obviates the need to use a media gateway. A reduction in the demand for media gateways may adversely affect the demand for our media gateway products and, in turn, adversely affect our results of operations. This transition is ongoing and has resulted in a decline in our revenues from such products. Various regulators and service providers have announced planned deadlines for transition to all-IP networks. While this transition could result in new sales opportunities, we believe the overall trend is a decline in revenues in the media gateway business.

Some of our customers expect us to permit them to return some or all of the products they purchase from us. If we contractually agree to allow a customer to return products, the customer may be entitled to a refund for the returned products or to receive credit for the purchase of replacement products. If we agree to this type of contractual obligation, it could affect our ability to recognize revenues. In addition, if we are not able to resell any products that are returned, we would have to write-off this inventory. This could adversely affect our results of operations.

VoIP and other services are not currently subject to all of the same regulations that apply to traditional telephony. Nevertheless, it is possible that foreign or U.S. federal or state legislatures may seek to impose increased fees and administrative burdens on VoIP, data, and video providers. The FCC requires VoIP service providers to meet various emergency service requirements relating to delivery of 911 calls, known as E911, and to accommodate law enforcement interception or wiretapping requirements, such as the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, or CALEA. In addition, the FCC may seek to impose other traditional telephony requirements such as disability access requirements, consumer protection requirements, number assignment and portability requirements, and other obligations, including additional obligations regarding E911 and CALEA. The cost of complying with FCC regulations or similar regulations in other countries could increase the cost of providing Internet phone service which could result in slower growth and decreased profitability for this industry, which would adversely affect our business. The enactment of any additional regulation or taxation of communications over the Internet in the United States or elsewhere in the world could have a material adverse effect on our customers' (and their customers') businesses and could therefore adversely affect sales of our products. We do not know what effect, if any, possible legislation or regulatory actions in the United States or elsewhere in the world may have on private telecommunication networks, the provision of VoIP services and purchases of our products.

Because we operate in several countries, we are subject to taxation in multiple jurisdictions, including Israel, the United States and certain other countries where we have operations. We are required to report to and are subject to local tax authorities in the countries in which we operate. In addition, our income that is derived from sales to customers in one country might also be subject to taxation in other countries. We cannot be sure of the amount of tax we may become obligated to pay in the countries in which we operate. The tax authorities in the countries in which we operate may not agree with our tax position. Our tax benefits from carryforward tax losses and other tax planning benefits, such as Israeli Technological Preferred Enterprise and Approved Enterprise programs, may prove to be insufficient due to Israeli tax limitations or may prove to be insufficient to offset tax liabilities from foreign tax authorities. Foreign tax authorities may also use our gross profit or our revenues in each territory as the basis for determining our income tax, and our operating expenses might not be considered for related tax calculations, which could adversely affect our results of operations.

Our use and handling of personally identifiable data is regulated at the international, federal and state levels, and we are subject to a variety of local and international privacy laws and regulations that govern the collection, use, retention, sharing, processing, export and security of personal information. The regulatory environment surrounding information security and privacy is increasingly demanding. For example, the General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, which came into effect on May 25, 2018, implemented stringent operational requirements for companies that are established in the EU or, where not established in the EU, offer goods or services to individuals in the EU or monitor the behavior of individuals in the EU. Failure to comply with the GDPR can result in fines of up to EUR 20 million or up to 4% of the total worldwide annual turnover of the preceding financial year, whichever is higher. The related UK GDPR and the UK Data Protection Act of 2018, which ensures that the United Kingdom has in effect the same high standards for data protection in place as under the GDPR, impose stringent operational requirements in the United Kingdom (including through restrictions on processing of personal data and cross-border transfers of personal data, and mandatory breach reporting to regulators and, under certain circumstances, to the individuals whose personal data was compromised in the breach). The requirements of the GDPR include, for example, expanded disclosures about how personal data is processed, mandatory data breach notification requirements, a strengthened data subject rights regime and higher standards for obtaining consent from individuals to process their personal data (including in certain circumstances for marketing), all of which involve significant ongoing expenditure. The principle of accountability likewise requires us to put significant documentation in place to demonstrate compliance. While the GDPR in large part harmonizes data protection requirements across EU countries, some provisions allow EU Member States to adopt additional or different requirements, which could limit our ability to use and share personal data or could require localized changes. We may also be affected by legal challenges to the validity of EU mechanisms for transfers of personal data outside the EU, and our business could be impacted by changes in law as a result of future review of these mechanisms by European regulators under the GDPR, as well as current challenges to these mechanisms in the European courts. Other new laws and regulations are rapidly coming into effect while existing legislation is quickly evolving. In the United States, the SEC adopted new rules requiring public companies to disclose information about a material cybersecurity incident, including any breach of personal data, within four business days of determining that it has experienced a material cybersecurity incident. The final rule applicable to the cybersecurity disclosure to be included in our (i) Current Reports on Form 6-K became effective on December 18, 2023 and (ii) Annual Report on Form 20-F became effective for any fiscal year ending on or after December 15, 2023. Likewise, several privacy laws in the United States came into effect in 2023, including in California, Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut and Utah, and new state privacy laws will come into effect in 2024, including in Montana, Oregon and Texas, all of which give new data privacy rights to their respective residents and impose significant obligations on controllers and processors of consumer data. There is additionally increasing U.S. and foreign activity in the regulation of AI, and other similar uses of technology. For example, in Europe, there is a proposed regulation (the Artificial Intelligence Act) that, if adopted and approved, could impose onerous and substantial obligations related to the use of AI-related systems. Additionally, several states and localities in the United States have enacted measures related to the use of AI and machine learning in products and services. In October 2023, the President of the United States issued an executive order on the Safe, Secure and Trustworthy Development and Use of AI, emphasizing the need for transparency, accountability and fairness in the development and use of AI tools, and AI is the subject of evolving review by various governmental and regulatory agencies, including the SEC and the Federal Trade Commission. Depending on how these AI laws and regulations are interpreted, and to the extent that our business practices, products and services utilize AI, we could be subject to, and need to comply with, such obligations. Moreover, our development and use of AI, and the uncertain regulatory environment, could result in reputational harm, liability or other material and adverse consequences to our financial condition and business operations. The introduction of AI technologies into new or existing products may also result in new or enhanced governmental or regulatory scrutiny, litigation, confidentiality or security risks, ethical concerns, or other complications that could adversely affect our business, reputation, or financial results. The intellectual property ownership and license rights, including copyright, surrounding AI technologies has not been fully addressed by courts or national or local laws or regulations, and the use or adoption of third-party AI technologies into our products and services may result in exposure to claims of copyright infringement or other intellectual property misappropriation. Uncertainty around new and emerging AI technologies, such as generative AI, may require additional investment in the development and maintenance of proprietary datasets and machine learning models, development of new approaches and processes to provide attribution or remuneration to creators of training data, and development of appropriate protections and safeguards for handling the use of customer data with AI technologies, which may be costly and could impact our expenses if we decide to expand generative AI into our product offerings. AI technologies, including generative AI, may create content that appears correct but is factually inaccurate or flawed. Our customers or others may rely on or use this flawed content to their detriment, which may expose us to brand or reputational harm, competitive harm, and/or legal liability. The use of AI technologies presents emerging ethical and social issues, and if we enable or offer solutions that draw scrutiny or controversy due to their perceived or actual impact on customers or on society as a whole, we may experience brand or reputational harm, competitive harm, and/or legal liability. Existing privacy-related laws and regulations in the United States and other countries are evolving and are subject to potentially differing interpretations, and various U.S. federal and state or other international legislative and regulatory bodies may expand or enact laws regarding privacy and data security-related matters. Due to the fact that privacy and information security laws and regulations are subject to change from time to time, our compliance with them may result in cost increases due to necessary systems changes and the development of new processes. Any new or modified laws and regulations may require that we modify our data processing practices and policies, and incur substantial costs and expenses in an effort to comply with such laws and regulations. These laws are complex and there is no ubiquitous approach to maintaining compliance. Requirements may be interpreted and applied in a manner that is inconsistent from one jurisdiction to another or may conflict with other rules or our practices. If we fail to comply with any of these laws and regulations, we could be subjected to legal risk and other adverse effects to our business and operations.

We develop complex and evolving products. Despite testing by us and our customers, undetected errors or defects may be found in existing or new products. The introduction of products with reliability, quality or compatibility problems could result in reduced revenues, additional costs, increased product returns and difficulty or delays in collecting accounts receivable. The risk is higher with products still in the development stage, where full testing or certification is not yet completed. This could result in, among other things, a delay in recognition or loss of revenues, loss of market share or failure to achieve market acceptance. We could also be subject to material claims by customers that are not covered by our insurance.

The success of our business depends in large part upon the continuing contributions of our management and key personnel. Specifically, we rely heavily on the services of Shabtai Adlersberg, our President and Chief Executive Officer, and Lior Aldema, our Chief Business Officer. Mr. Adlersberg is also a director. If our President and Chief Executive Officer or our Chief Business Officer are unable or unwilling to continue with us, our results of operations could be materially and adversely affected. We do not carry key person insurance for our key personnel. The success of our business also depends upon our continuing ability to attract and retain other highly qualified management, technical, sales and marketing personnel. We require highly qualified technical personnel who are capable of developing technologies and products and providing the technical support required by our customers. We experience competitive pressure with respect to retaining and hiring employees in the high technology sector in Israel. In 2023, Israel faced a shortage of qualified technical personnel with the requisite experience in the industry in which we operate. Specifically, there was a notable shortage of engineers who were familiar with the intricacies and bespoke aspects of our products and services. To the extent that such trends continue in 2024 (and beyond) and we fail to hire and retain skilled employees, our business may be adversely affected, including our ability to deliver products and services on a timely basis. Moreover, to the extent we are able to successfully recruit and retain additional technical personnel, we may be required to incur significant costs due to steep salary increases. Given the substantial demand for such services, we may be unsuccessful in attracting and retaining an adequate number of technical personnel to support our current operations and the potential expansion of our business.

Our products are assembled and tested by third-party subcontractors. As a result of our reliance on third-party subcontractors, we cannot directly control product delivery schedules. We have in the past experienced delays in delivery schedules. Any problems that occur and persist in connection with the delivery, quality or cost of the assembly and testing of our products could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. This reliance could also lead to product shortages or quality assurance problems, which, in turn, could lead to an increase in the costs of manufacturing or assembling our products. In addition, we have engaged several ODMs based in Asia to design and manufacture some of our products and may engage additional ODMs in the future. Any problems that occur and persist in connection with the delivery, quality, cost of the assembly or testing of our products, as well as the termination of our commercial relationship with an ODM or the discontinuance of the manufacturing of the respective products could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.