Masimo (MASI) Risk Analysis

Our medical devices and business activities are subject to rigorous regulation by the FDA and other federal, state and international governmental authorities. These authorities and members of Congress have been increasing their scrutiny over the medical device industry. In recent years, Congress, the Department of Justice, the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Defense have issued subpoenas and other requests for information to medical device manufacturers, primarily related to financial arrangements with healthcare providers, regulatory compliance and marketing and product promotional practices. Furthermore, certain state governments have enacted legislation to limit and/or increase transparency of interactions with healthcare providers, pursuant to which we are required by law to disclose payments and other transfers of value to healthcare providers licensed by certain states. We anticipate that the government will continue to scrutinize the healthcare industry closely, and any new regulations or statutory provisions could result in delays or increased costs during the periods of product development, clinical trials and regulatory review and approval, as well as increased costs to assure compliance.

We currently market and intend to continue to market our products internationally. Outside of the U.S., we can generally market our healthcare products only if we receive a marketing authorization (and/or meet certain pre-marketing requirements) and, in some cases, pricing approval, from the appropriate regulatory authorities. The regulatory registration/licensing process varies among international jurisdictions and may require additional or different product testing than required to obtain FDA clearance. FDA clearance does not ensure new product registration/licensing by foreign regulatory authorities, and we may be unable to obtain foreign regulatory registration/licensing on a timely basis, if at all. In addition, clearance by one foreign regulatory authority does not ensure clearance by any other foreign regulatory authority or by the FDA. If we fail to receive necessary approvals to commercialize our products in foreign jurisdictions on a timely basis, or at all, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected. Furthermore, foreign regulatory requirements may change from time to time, which could adversely affect our ability to market new products, and/or continue to market existing products, internationally. Certain significant changes in the international regulatory landscape have recently taken place or will take place in the near future. These include the new EU Medical Devices Regulation (EU) 2017/745 (MDR), which came into effect on May 26, 2021 and a regulatory regime in the UK effective since January 1, 2021 as a result of the UK's exit from the EU (Brexit).

We have made modifications to our medical devices in the past and we may make additional modifications in the future. Any modification to a medical device that is cleared by the FDA that could significantly affect its safety or effectiveness or that could constitute a major change in its intended use would require a new clearance or approval and certain modifications to devices cleared or approved by foreign regulatory authorities may also require a new clearance or approval. We may not be able to obtain such clearances or approvals in a timely fashion, or at all. Delays in obtaining future clearances would adversely affect our ability to introduce new or enhanced products in a timely manner, which in turn would have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. For device modifications that we conclude do not require a new regulatory clearance or approval, we may be required to recall and to stop marketing the modified devices if the government agency disagrees with our conclusion and requires new clearances or approvals for the modifications. This could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

From time to time, legislation is drafted and introduced by governments that could significantly change the statutory provisions governing the clearance or approval, manufacture and marketing of medical devices. For example, in December 2022, Congress enacted the Food and Drug Omnibus Reform Act of 2022 (FDORA). FDORA reauthorized the FDA to collect device user fees and contained substantive amendments to the device provisions of the FDCA. Among other changes, FDORA requires premarket submissions for "cyber devices" to include plans to address postmarket cybersecurity vulnerabilities and exploits and other cybersecurity-related information. FDORA also imposes a new requirement for sponsors of medical device clinical trials to develop diversity action plans that must be submitted to the FDA with an IDE application, if an IDE is required for the study, or in the marketing application for the device if an IDE application is not required. The statute also authorizes the FDA to approve or clear predetermined change control plans in PMAs or 510(k) premarket notifications, and once such a plan is approved or cleared, then a supplemental PMA or a new 510(k) is not required for a change to a device that is consistent with such approved or cleared plan. In addition, regulations and guidance are often revised or reinterpreted by the government agency in ways that may significantly affect our business or products. Future regulatory changes could make it more difficult for us to obtain or maintain approval to develop and commercialize our products and technologies. Public health emergencies may also prompt temporary or permanent regulatory reforms that could change the processes governing the clearance or approval, manufacture and marketing of medical devices. In the EU, for example, the new MDR became applicable to our medical devices on May 26, 2021. The MDR requires medical devices and their manufacturers to comply with more stringent standards than before. The MDR also imposes new and enhanced obligations on importers and distributors of medical devices in the EU. Although the MDR is subject to certain transitional periods, both we and others involved in the distribution and commercialization of our medical devices in the EU will need to comply with more stringent EU rules. Due to Brexit, from January 1, 2021, a new regulatory framework applies to medical devices commercialized in Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales). This is now separate from the regime in the EU. Although certain transition periods apply, the medical devices we intend to commercialize in Great Britain may in the future need to conform to different requirements than the requirements in the EU. These factors are likely to add more complexity to our regulatory compliance obligations in Europe and our ability to commercialize medical devices in European markets.

Regulatory agencies in many countries require us to report anytime our healthcare products cause or contribute to a death or serious injury, or malfunction in a way that would likely cause or contribute to a death or serious injury. For example, under the FDA medical device reporting regulations, we are required to report to the FDA any incident in which a product of ours may have caused or contributed to a death or serious injury or in which a product of ours malfunctioned and, if the malfunction were to recur, would be likely to cause or contribute to death or serious injury. In addition, all manufacturers placing medical devices on the market in the EU are legally required to report any serious or potentially serious incidents involving devices produced or sold by the manufacturer to the relevant authority in those jurisdictions where any such incident occurred. The FDA and similar foreign regulatory authorities have the authority to require the recall of our commercialized healthcare products in the event of material deficiencies or defects in, for example, design, labeling or manufacture. The FDA must find that there is a reasonable probability that the device would cause serious adverse health consequences or death in order to require a recall. The standard for recalling deficient products may be different in foreign jurisdictions. Manufacturers may, under their own initiative, recall a product if any material deficiency is found in a device or they become aware of a safety issue involving a marketed product. A government-mandated or voluntary recall by us or by one of our distributors could occur as a result of component failures, manufacturing errors, design or labeling defects or other deficiencies and issues. We may initiate certain field actions, such as a product correction or removal of our products in the future. In addition, third- parties that commercialize products incorporating our technologies may initiate similar actions or product corrections. Any correction or removal initiated by us to reduce a health risk posed by our device, or to remedy a violation of the FDCA or other regulations caused by the device that may present a risk to health, must be reported to the FDA. If the FDA subsequently determines that a report was required for a correction or removal of our products that we did not believe required a report, we could be subject to enforcement actions. In addition, our non-healthcare products, including components we source from third parties, may be found to have design or manufacturing defects. Such defects may result in additional costs for product modifications, voluntary or mandated product recalls or other liabilities resulting from product malfunctions. For example, defects in our audio products may result in overheating or electrical shock, creating a risk of personal injury or property damage. Any recalls or corrections of our products or third-party products that incorporate our technologies, or enforcement actions would divert managerial and financial resources and could have an adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. In addition, given our dependence upon patient, physician and consumer perceptions, any negative publicity associated with any recalls could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects.

Unless an exemption applies, each medical device that we market in the U.S. must first undergo premarket review pursuant to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) by receiving clearance of a 510(k) premarket notification, receiving clearance through the de novo classification review process or obtaining approval of a premarket approval (PMA) application. Even if regulatory clearance or approval of a product is granted, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) may clear or approve our products only for limited indications for use. Additionally, the FDA may not grant 510(k) clearance on a timely basis, if at all, for new products or new uses that we propose for Masimo SET or licensed rainbow technology. The traditional FDA 510(k) clearance process for our medical devices has generally taken between four to nine months. However, our more recent experience and interactions with the FDA, along with information we have received from other medical device manufacturers, suggests that, in some cases, the FDA is requiring applicants to provide additional or different information and data for 510(k) clearance than it had previously required, and that the FDA may not rely on approaches that it had previously accepted to support 510(k) clearance. As a result, FDA 510(k) clearance can be delayed for our products in some cases. To support our product applications to the FDA, we frequently are required to conduct clinical testing of our products. Such clinical testing must be conducted in compliance with FDA requirements pertaining to human research. Among other requirements, we must obtain informed consent from study subjects and approval by institutional review boards before such studies may begin. We must also comply with other FDA requirements such as monitoring, record-keeping, reporting and the submission of information regarding certain clinical trials to a public database maintained by the National Institutes of Health. In addition, if the study involves a significant risk device, we are required to obtain the FDA's approval of the study under an Investigational Device Exemption (IDE). Compliance with these requirements can require significant time and resources. In addition, public health emergencies and other extraordinary circumstances may disrupt the conduct of our clinical trials. If the FDA determines that we have not complied with such requirements, the FDA may refuse to consider the data to support our applications or may initiate enforcement actions. Even though 510(k) clearances have been obtained, if safety or effectiveness problems are identified with our products, we may need to initiate a recall of such products. Furthermore, our new products or significantly modified marketed products could be denied 510(k) clearance and be required to undergo the more burdensome PMA or de novo classification review processes. The process of obtaining a de novo classification or PMA approval is much more costly, lengthy and uncertain than the process for obtaining 510(k) clearance. De novo classification review generally takes six months to one year from the time of submission of the de novo request, although it can take longer. Approval of a PMA generally takes one year from the time of submission of the PMA, but may be longer. We sell consumer versions of our iSpO2 and MightySat pulse oximeters, as well as our W1™ Health Watch and Stork™ baby monitor, that are not intended for medical use. Some of our products or product features may not be subject to the 510(k) process and/or other regulatory requirements in accordance with specific FDA guidance and policies, such as the FDA guidance related to mobile medical applications. In additions, some of our products or product features may not be subject to device regulation pursuant to Section 520(o) of the FDCA, which excludes certain software functions from the statutory definition of a device. If the FDA changes its policies or concludes that our marketing of these products is not in accordance with its current policies and/or Section 520(o) of the FDCA, we may be required to seek clearance or approval of these devices through the 510(k), de novo classification review or PMA processes.

Our healthcare OEM partners are required to obtain their own FDA clearances in the U.S. for most products incorporating our technologies. The FDA clearances we have obtained may not make it easier for our OEM partners to obtain clearances of products incorporating these technologies, or the FDA may not grant clearances on a timely basis, if at all, for any future products incorporating our technologies that our OEM partners propose to market.

Changing laws, regulations and standards relating to corporate governance and public disclosure, including the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act), the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act, the UK Modern Slavery Act and new regulations issued by the SEC and The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC, have created, and will create, additional compliance requirements for us. For example, the Dodd-Frank Act includes provisions regarding, among other things, advisory votes on named executive officer compensation and "conflict minerals" reporting. Complying with these rules and regulations has increased and will increase our legal and financial compliance costs, make some activities more difficult, time-consuming or costly and increase demand on our systems and resources. As a result, management's attention may be diverted from other business concerns, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. We may also need to hire additional employees or engage outside consultants to comply with these requirements, which will increase our costs and expenses. To maintain high standards of corporate governance and public disclosure, we have invested in, and intend to continue to invest in, reasonably necessary resources to comply with evolving standards. In addition, stockholder litigation surrounding executive compensation and disclosure of executive compensation has increased with the passage of the Dodd-Frank Act. Furthermore, our stockholders in certain instances have not approved our advisory vote on named executive officer compensation that is being voted on by our stockholders annually pursuant to the Dodd-Frank Act. If we are involved in a lawsuit related to compensation matters or any other matters not covered by our directors' and officers' liability insurance, we may incur significant expenses in defending against such lawsuits, or be subject to significant fines or required to take significant remedial actions, each of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

There is an increasing focus on ESG risks. Our customers, including distributors and retail partners have adopted, or may adopt, procurement policies that include ESG provisions that their suppliers or manufacturers must comply with, or they may seek to include such provisions in their terms and conditions. An increasing number of participants in our industries are also joining voluntary ESG groups or organizations. These ESG provisions and initiatives are subject to change, can be unpredictable, and may be difficult and expensive for us to comply with, given the complexity of our supply chain and the outsourced manufacturing of certain components of our products. If we are unable to comply, or are unable to cause our suppliers to comply, with such policies or provisions, a customer may cease purchasing products from us, and may take legal action against us, which could harm our reputation, revenue and results of operations. Further, increased public awareness and concern regarding global climate change may result in new or enhanced legal requirements. There continues to be a lack of consistent climate legislation, which creates economic and regulatory uncertainty. Such uncertainty may have an impact on our business, from the demand for our products to our costs of compliance in the manufacturing and servicing of our products, all of which may impact our results of operations. In addition, climate change initiatives and legislation could also disrupt our operations by impacting the availability and cost of materials within our supply chain, and could also increase insurance and other operating costs. In addition, the SEC has announced proposed rules that, among other matters, will establish a framework for reporting climate related risks. To the extent that any proposed rules impose additional reporting obligations, we could face increased costs. Separately, the SEC has also announced that it is scrutinizing existing climate change related disclosures in public filings, increasing the potential for enforcement if the SEC were to allege our existing climate disclosures are misleading or deficient. Investors, stockholders, consumers, customers, suppliers and other third-parties are increasingly focusing on ESG and corporate social responsibility endeavors and reporting and transparency. Certain institutional investors, investment funds, other influential investors, customers, suppliers and other third-parties are also increasingly focused on ESG practices. If we do not adapt to or comply with evolving investor or stakeholder expectations and standards, or if we are perceived to have not responded appropriately, we may suffer from reputational damage and our business, financial condition and/or stock price may be materially and adversely affected. Further, this increased focus on ESG issues may result in new regulations and/or third-party requirements that could adversely impact our business, or certain shareholders reducing or eliminating their holdings of our stock, causing our stock price to decline.

Personal privacy and data security have become significant issues in the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, Canada, China and many other jurisdictions where we offer our products. The regulatory framework for privacy and security issues worldwide is rapidly evolving and is likely to remain uncertain for the foreseeable future. Several U.S. states have passed comprehensive privacy laws. For example, the California Consumer Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) amended and expanded the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) effective January 1, 2023. Other states have also enacted data privacy laws, including the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act, the Colorado Privacy Act, Utah's Consumer Privacy Act, and the Connecticut Data Privacy Act, all of which became effective in 2023. The Iowa Consumer Data Protection Act will go into effect on January 1, 2025. On May 1, 2023, Indiana became the seventh state to pass similar data privacy legislation, the Indiana Data Privacy Law, which will become effective January 1, 2026. The Tennessee Information Protection Act, enacted on May 11, 2023, will go into effect on July 1, 2024. On May 19, 2023, Montana became the ninth state to enact a comprehensive consumer privacy law, the Montana Consumer Data Privacy Act, which goes into effect October 1, 2024. These state laws govern the processing of residents' personal information. Among many new requirements, some of the state privacy laws expand consumers' rights (such as opting out of certain data sales to third parties and targeted advertising, restricting certain uses and disclosures of sensitive data, and requesting access, deletion, or correction of personal information). These state laws also minimize what data that can be collected from consumers and how businesses may use and disclose it. These state privacy laws also require businesses to make disclosures to consumers about data collection, use and sharing practices. In addition, some of these laws (including the CPRA) subject health-related information to additional safeguards and disclosures and some specifically regulate consumer health data, such as the Washington My Health My Data Act, which will become effective in 2024. There is significant uncertainty regarding how regulators will interpret and enforce this patchwork of new laws, particularly to the extent there are inconsistencies or differences in their requirements. We continue to be subject to federal privacy laws such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), in certain circumstances, in connection with any personal health information or medical information that we may obtain or have access to in connection with the operation of our business. Moreover, a comprehensive federal data privacy legislation has been proposed and, if passed, will further change the privacy and data security compliance landscape. In addition, on July 26, 2023, the SEC adopted rules requiring registrants to disclose material cybersecurity incidents they experience and to disclose on an annual basis material information regarding their cybersecurity risk management, strategy and governance. All 50 U.S. states have data breach notification laws that, if violated, could result in penalties, fines and litigation. In addition, many states have implemented or are in the process of implementing related legislation, including state-specific biometric privacy laws that have resulted in class-action lawsuits against businesses. The full impact of these laws on our business is yet to be determined, but it could result in increased operating expenses as well as additional exposure to the risk of litigation by or on behalf of consumers. Internationally, in 2022, the European Data Protection Board released new guidelines on enforcement and fines related to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The new guidelines suggest a tougher stance on enforcement and stiffer fines for companies that violate the GDPR. This is in addition to the continued complexities involving the transfer of personal data from Europe to the U.S. following the Schrems II decision. On July 10, 2023, the European Commission adopted its adequacy decision on the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework (DPF). The decision, which took effect on the day of its adoption, concludes that the United States ensures an adequate level of protection for personal data transferred from the EEA to companies certified to the DPF. However, it is too soon to tell how the future of Privacy Shield 2.0 will evolve and what impact it will have on our international activities. The new framework is expected to be challenged in the EU now that is has been approved. Further, Brexit has led and could also lead to legislative and regulatory changes that may increase our compliance costs. As of January 1, 2021 and the expiry of transitional arrangements agreed to between the UK and the EU, data processing in the UK is governed by a UK version of the GDPR (combining the GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018), exposing us to two parallel regimes, each of which authorizes similar fines and other potentially divergent enforcement actions for certain violations. On June 28, 2021, the European Commission adopted an Adequacy Decision for the UK, allowing for the relatively free exchange of personal information between the EU and the UK, (as the UK correspondingly allows transfers back to the EU). However, the European Commission may suspend the Adequacy Decision if it considers that the UK no longer provides for an adequate level of data protection. Other international jurisdictions, including Canada, China, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, the UAE, and Brazil, among others, have also implemented laws relating to data privacy and protection that are all already in effect or are anticipated to go into effect in 2023. In 2023, we anticipate Australia, Argentina and India to propose new data privacy and protection laws. In addition, several jurisdictions such as South Korea have shown increased enforcement of their existing data privacy and security laws. Although we believe that we are complying with the GDPR and similar laws, these laws are still relatively new. Therefore, as international data privacy and protection laws continue to evolve, and as new regulations, interpretive guidance and enforcement information become available, we may incur additional costs to modify our business practices to comply with these requirements. We may be required to make costly system modifications to comply with applicable data privacy and security laws. Violations of these laws, or allegations of such violations, could subject us to criminal or civil, monetary or and non-monetary penalties, disrupt our operations, involve significant management distraction, negatively impact our brand image, subject us to class action lawsuits and result in a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our healthcare customers are facing growing levels of uncertainties, including variations in overall hospital census for paying patients and the impact of such census variations on hospital budgets. As a result, many hospitals are reevaluating their entire cost structure, including the amount of capital they allocate to medical device technologies and products. In addition, certain of our products, including our rainbow measurements such as carbon monoxide, methemoglobin and hemoglobin, that are sold with upfront license fees and more complex and expensive sensors, could also be impacted by hospital budget reductions. Any reductions in capital spending budgets by hospitals could have a significant negative impact on our OEM customers who, due to their traditionally larger capital equipment sales model, could see declines in purchases from their hospital customers. This, in turn, could reduce our board sales to our OEM customers. From time to time, states and other local regulatory authorities may issue guidelines regarding the appropriate scope and use of our products. For example, some of our noninvasive monitoring devices may be subject to authorization by individual states as part of the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) scope of practice procedures. A lack of inclusion into scope of practice procedures may limit adoption of our products. Additionally, increases in demand resulting from global medical crises, such as the increase in demand we experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic, may be short lived. If the increased demand results in a stockpiling of our healthcare products by, or excess inventory at, our customers, future orders may be delayed or canceled until such on-hand inventory is consumed. We may be unable to accurately forecast our financial and operating results and appropriately plan our expenses in the future or we may fail to meet our publicly announced guidance about our business and future operating results. For example, during the second and third quarters of 2023, customers maintained elevated levels of single-patient use sensors and consumables in inventory due to the softer demand and lower hospital census, which had an adverse impact on our second and third quarter 2023 healthcare revenue. Continued stockpiling or excess inventory as a result of lower hospital census in future quarters could also negatively impact our healthcare revenue.

Our healthcare business has a concentration of OEM, distributor and direct customers. For example, sales to one just-in-time distributor represented 10% or more of our healthcare product sales for the third quarter of 2023. Similarly, within our non-healthcare business, we sell products through distributors, resellers, direct-to-consumer and to large retailers. No individual retailer represented more than 10% of our non-healthcare product sales for the third quarter of 2023. We cannot provide any assurances that we will retain our current customers, groups of customers or distributors, that they will maintain their current or forecasted demand for our products, or that we will be able to attract and retain additional customers in the future. If for any reason we were to lose our ability to sell to a specific group or class of customers or through a distributor, we could experience a significant reduction in revenue or loss of market share, which would adversely impact our operating results. Our revenues could also be negatively affected by any rebates, discounts or fees that are required by, or offered to, GPOs and customers, including wholesalers or distributors. Additionally, some just-in-time distributors of our healthcare products have been demanding higher fees, which we may be obligated to pay in order to continue to offer products to our customers through these distributors or which may obligate us to distribute our products directly to our customers. The loss of any large customer or distributor, an increase in distributor fees, or the risks associated with selling directly to our customers could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

In connection with the Sound United Acquisition, we have expanded our business and product strategy to additionally focus on non-healthcare consumer products to integrate with our successful medical technology businesses. Further, we may introduce certain changes to our existing healthcare products or introduce new and unproven products. Prior to the Sound United Acquisition, we did not have significant experience with consumer hardware products, and Sound United does not have experience with healthcare products, which may adversely affect our ability to successfully develop and market these products and technologies and integrate them with our existing products and platforms. We expect this will be a complex, evolving, and long-term strategic initiative that will involve the development of new and emerging technologies, continued investment in medical technology and consumer products, and collaboration with other companies, developers, partners and other participants. However, our non-healthcare business may not develop in accordance with our vision and expectations, and market acceptance of features, products or services we build for our consumer business may be uncertain. We may be unsuccessful in our research and product development efforts, including if we are unable to develop relationships with key participants in the consumer products business. Our new strategic efforts may also divert resources and management attention from other areas of our business. In addition, as our non-healthcare business continues to evolve, we may be subject to a variety of laws and regulations in the U.S. and international jurisdictions, which we were not previously affected by, including in the areas of privacy, which may delay or impede the development of our products and services, increase our operating costs, require significant management time and attention, or otherwise harm our business. As a result of these or other factors, our non-healthcare expansion and investments may not be successful in the foreseeable future, or at all, which could adversely affect our business, reputation, or financial results.

Our healthcare business is highly dependent upon the continued success and market acceptance of our proprietary Masimo SET and Masimo rainbow SET technologies that serve as the basis of our primary healthcare product offerings. Continued market acceptance of products incorporating these technologies will depend upon us continuing to provide evidence to the medical community that our products are cost-effective and offer significantly improved performance compared to conventional pulse oximeters. Healthcare providers that currently have significant investments in competitive pulse oximetry products may be reluctant to purchase our products. If hospitals and other healthcare providers do not believe our Masimo SET and Masimo rainbow SET platforms are cost-effective, safe or more accurate or reliable than competitive pulse oximetry products, they may not buy our healthcare products in sufficient quantities to enable us to generate revenue growth from the sale of these products. In addition, allegations regarding the safety and effectiveness of our products, whether or not substantiated, may impair or impede the acceptance of our products.

Our non-healthcare business in the premium audio market depends on the reputation associated with our brands, including Bowers & Wilkins™, Denon™, Marantz™, HEOS™, Classé™, Polk Audio™, Boston Acoustics™ and Definitive Technology™, for providing high-quality products and consumer experiences. The reputation of our brands is dependent on a number of factors, including product quality, research and development, trademark protection and sales and marketing initiatives, each of which requires a wide variety of talented professionals and significant expenditures. The value of our brands could be damaged by a number of factors, including defects or other quality issues, perceived lack of innovation, evolving consumer tastes, or ineffective marketing strategies. Further, certain third-parties, such as installers of home audio systems or independent retailers over which we exert no control may damage our reputation if their services or business practices negatively impact the consumer experience with our products. Damage to our brands' reputation or other negative consumer perceptions may adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Many of our noninvasive measurement technologies are considered disruptive. These technologies have performance levels that we believe are acceptable for many clinical environments but may be insufficient in others. In addition, these technologies may perform better in some patients and settings than others. Over time, we hope to continue to improve the performance of these technologies and educate the clinical community on how to properly evaluate them. If we are successful in these endeavors, we expect these technologies will become more useful in more environments and will become more widely adopted. Our product portfolio continues to expand, and we are investing significant resources to enter into, and in some cases create, new markets for our products. For example, our acquisition of Sound United expanded our business and product strategy to additionally focus on non-healthcare products to integrate with our successful medical technology. See the risk factor with the heading "Our new products and changes to existing products, including as a result of our acquisition of Sound United could fail to attract or retain users or generate revenue and profits. Further, we may not be successful in our non-healthcare expansion, which could adversely affect our business, reputation or financial results" for additional risks related to this expansion of our business. We are continuing to invest in sales and marketing resources to achieve market acceptance of our products, but are unable to guarantee that our technologies will achieve general market acceptance. The degree of market acceptance of our healthcare products will depend on a number of factors, including but not limited to: - perceived clinical benefits from our products;- perceived cost effectiveness of our products;- perceived safety and effectiveness of our products;- reimbursement available through government and private healthcare programs for using some of our products; and - introduction and acceptance of competing products or technologies. Further, market acceptance of our non-healthcare products will depend on certain additional factors, including but not limited to: - perceived quality of our non-healthcare brands and technology;- our ability to accurately forecast consumer demand and maintain manufacturing capacity to meet such demand;- our ability to introduce new innovative products that align with rapidly changing consumer tastes; and - implementation of pricing and marketing strategies that drive consumer adoption without eroding our premium market position. If our products do not gain market acceptance or if our customers prefer our competitors' products, our potential revenue growth would be limited, which would adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Searching for existing intellectual property rights may not reveal important intellectual property and our competitors may also have filed for patent protection, which may not be publicly-available information, or claimed trademark rights that have not been revealed through our searches. In addition, some of our employees were previously employed at our competitors. We may be subject to claims that our employees have disclosed, or that we have used, trade secrets or other proprietary information of our employees' former employers. Our efforts to identify and avoid infringing on third-parties' intellectual property rights may not always be successful. Any claims of patent or other intellectual property infringement against us, even those without merit, could: - be expensive and time-consuming to defend and result in payment of significant damages to third-parties;- force us to stop making or selling products that incorporate the intellectual property;- require us to redesign, reengineer or rebrand our products, product candidates and technologies;- require us to enter into royalty agreements that would increase the costs of our products;- require us to indemnify third-parties pursuant to contracts in which we have agreed to provide indemnification for intellectual property infringement claims;- divert the attention of our management and other key employees; and - result in our customers or potential customers deferring or limiting their purchase or use of the affected products impacted by the claims until the claims are resolved;any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, new patents obtained by our competitors could threaten the continued commercialization of our products in the market even after they have already been introduced.

We believe that the success of our business depends, in part, on obtaining patent protection for our products and technologies, defending our patents and preserving our trade secrets. We were previously involved in significant litigation to protect our patent positions related to some of our pulse oximetry signal processing patents that resulted in various settlements. We believe some of the new market entrants in the healthcare and monitoring space, including some of the world's largest technology companies, and some consumer audio companies may be infringing our intellectual property, and we may be required to engage in additional litigation to protect our intellectual property in the future. In addition, we believe that certain individuals who previously held high level technical and clinical positions with us misappropriated our intellectual property for the benefit of themselves and other companies. For example, on January 9, 2020, we initiated litigation against Apple Inc. for infringement of a number of patents, for trade secret misappropriation and for ownership and correction of inventorship of a number of Apple Inc. patents that list one of our former employees as an inventor. A trial on the trade secret, ownership, and inventorship claims was held from April 4, 2023 through May 1, 2023. On May 1, 2023, the court declared a mistrial because the jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict. A new trial has not yet been scheduled. In addition, on June 30, 2021, we filed a complaint with the ITC against Apple Inc. for infringement of a number of other patents. On October 20, 2022, Apple filed two complaints against us and Sound United alleging that the Masimo W1™ watch infringes a number of patents. On January 10, 2023, an Administrative Law Judge ruled that Apple Inc. violated Section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended, by importing and selling within the United States certain Apple Watches with light-based pulse oximetry functionality and components, which infringe one of our pulse oximeter patents. On January 24, 2023, the United States Administrative Law Judge further recommended that the ITC issue an exclusion order and a cease and desist order on certain Apple Watches. On October 26, 2023, the ITC issued a Notice of Final Determination finding a violation of Section 337 by Apple Inc. The ITC determined that the appropriate form of relief is a Limited Exclusion Order (LEO) prohibiting the unlicensed entry of infringing wearable electronic devices with light-based pulse oximetry functionality manufactured by or on behalf of Apple Inc., and a Cease and Desist Order (CDO). The LEO and CDO are scheduled to go into effect after a 60-day Presidential review period. For additional information related to these litigations, please see Note 24, "Commitments and Contingencies", to our accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements included in Part I, Item 1 of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. Our ongoing and future litigation could result in significant additional costs and further divert the attention of our management and key personnel from our business operations and the implementation of our business strategy and may not be successful or adequate to protect our intellectual property rights.

Intellectual property protection laws in foreign countries differ substantially from those in the U.S. If we fail to apply for intellectual property protection in foreign countries, or if we cannot adequately protect our intellectual property rights in these foreign countries, our competitors may be able to compete more effectively against us, which could adversely affect our competitive position, as well as our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We are highly dependent on our senior management, especially Joe Kiani, our CEO, and other key officers. We are also heavily dependent on our engineers and field sales team, including sales representatives and clinical specialists. We believe certain of our competitors with greater financial resources than us have targeted our key personnel for recruitment and will likely continue to do so in the future. To the extent that key personnel depart, we may be required to bring on new hires that require training and take time before they achieve full productivity. New employees may not become as productive as we expect, and we may be unable to hire or retain sufficient numbers of qualified individuals. The loss of the services of members of our key personnel or the inability to attract and retain qualified personnel in the future could prevent the implementation and completion of our objectives, including the development and introduction of our products. In general, our key personnel may terminate their employment at any time and for any reason without notice, unless the individual is a participant in our 2007 Severance Protection Plan, in which case the individual has agreed to provide us with six months' notice if such individual decides to voluntarily resign. In addition, Politan Capital Management LP and Politan Capital NY LLC, which are managed by Quentin Koffey, a member of our Board, previously filed a lawsuit against us and members of our Board seeking to invalidate the employment agreement of Mr. Kiani, our Chief Executive Officer. Although Politan subsequently filed a motion to dismiss the complaint without prejudice, which was approved by the court in September 2023, Politan can refile this or any other complaint against us, our Board or any individual director at any time. We do not maintain any "key person" life insurance policies with respect to any of our key personnel. In addition, regulation or legislation impacting the workforce, such as the proposed rule published by the Federal Trade Commission which would, if issued, generally prevent employers from entering into non-compete with employees and require employers to rescind existing non-competes, may lead to increased uncertainty in hiring and competition for talent.

Our healthcare products, along with the manufacturing processes, labeling and promotional activities for those products, are subject to continual review and periodic inspections by the FDA and other regulatory bodies. Among other requirements, we and certain of our suppliers are required to comply with the FDA's Quality System Regulation (QSR), which governs the methods and documentation of the design, control testing, production, component suppliers control, quality assurance, complaint handling, labeling control, packaging, storage and shipping of our healthcare products. The FDA enforces the QSR through announced and unannounced inspections. We are also subject to similar state requirements and licenses. In addition to the FDA, from time to time we are subject to inspections by the California Food and Drug Branch, international regulatory authorities and other similar governmental agencies. The standards used by these regulatory authorities are complex and may differ from those used by the FDA. Failure by us or one of our suppliers to comply with statutes and regulations administered by the FDA and other regulatory bodies or failure to adequately respond to any FDA Form 483 observations, any California Food and Drug Branch notices of violation or any similar reports could result in, among other things, any of the following: - warning letters or untitled letters issued by the FDA;- fines, civil penalties, in rem forfeiture proceedings, injunctions, consent decrees and criminal prosecution;- import alerts;- unanticipated expenditures to address or defend such actions;- delays in clearing or approving, or refusal to clear or approve, our products;- withdrawals or suspensions of clearance or approval of our products or those of our third-party suppliers by the FDA or other regulatory bodies;- product recalls or seizures;- orders for physician notification or device repair, replacement or refund;- interruptions of production or inability to export to certain foreign countries; and - operating restrictions. In addition, many of our healthcare and non-healthcare products are subject to various laws, regulations and legal requirements, including those governing consumer protection, product import and export, hazardous materials usage and discharge, product related energy consumption, electrical safety, wireless emissions, e-commerce, packaging and recycling. Compliance with these requirements, which vary widely depending on jurisdiction, is time consuming and expensive. If we fail to comply with applicable legal requirements, it would harm our reputation and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.