ADTRAN Holdings Inc

Company Overview

We are a leading global provider of networking and communications platforms, software, systems and services focused on the broadband access and optical networking market. We are serving a diverse domestic and international customer base in multiple countries that includes large, medium and small Service Providers; alternative Service Providers, such as utilities, municipalities and fiber overbuilders; cable/MSOs; SMBs; distributed enterprises, including Fortune 500 companies with sophisticated business continuity applications; and federal, state and local government agencies. Our innovative solutions and services enable voice, data, video and internet-communications across a variety of network infrastructures and are currently in use by millions worldwide. We support our customers through our direct global sales organization and our distribution networks. Our success depends upon our ability to increase unit volume and market share through the introduction of new products and succeeding generations of products having optimal selling prices and increased functionality as compared to both the prior generation of a product and to the products of competitors in order to gain market share. To service our customers and grow revenue, we are continually conducting research, developing new products addressing customer needs and testing those products for the specific requirements of particular customers. We offer a broad portfolio of flexible software and hardware network solutions and services that enable network operators to meet today’s service demands while also enabling them to transition to the fully converged, scalable, highly automated, cloud-controlled voice, data, internet and video network of the future. In addition to our global headquarters in Huntsville, Alabama, and our European headquarters in Munich, Germany, we have sales, administrative, services and support and research and development facilities in strategic global locations.

The Company solely owns ADTRAN, Inc. and is the majority shareholder of Adtran Networks (formerly ADVA Optical Networking SE). ADTRAN, Inc. is a leading global provider of open, disaggregated networking and communications solutions. Adtran Networks is a global provider of network solutions for data, storage, voice and video services. We believe that the combined technology portfolio can best address current and future customer needs for high-speed connectivity from the network core to the end consumer, especially upon the convergence of solutions at the network edge.

We operate under two reportable segments: (1) Network Solutions, which includes hardware and software products, and (2) Services & Support, which includes a portfolio of network design and implementation services, support services and cloud-hosted SaaS applications that complement our product portfolio and can be utilized to support other platforms as well. These two segments span across our three revenue categories: (1) Subscriber Solutions, (2) Access & Aggregation Solutions and (3) Optical Networking Solutions. See below for a detailed discussion of these reportable segments and revenue categories.

We are focused on being a top global supplier of fiber-based communications infrastructure and SaaS applications spanning from the network core to the cloud edge (data center) to the subscriber edge (customer premise) serving both the residential and enterprise connectivity markets including fiber-based infrastructure for mobile networks. We offer a broad portfolio of flexible network infrastructure solutions, customer premises equipment, software applications, and global services and support that enable Service Providers to meet their service demands now and in the future. These products and services enable Service Providers to transition to a common network supporting the simplified delivery of high-capacity services, regardless of subscriber density, network topology and infrastructure diversity.

We began operations in January 1986. Our global headquarters are located at Cummings Research Park in Huntsville, Alabama, the second largest research park in the U.S. and fourth largest in the world. Our mailing address is 901 Explorer Boulevard, Huntsville, Alabama, 35806. Our telephone number at that location is (800) 923-8726. Our website is www.adtran.com. The information found on our website is not incorporated by reference in this report or any other report that we file or furnish to the SEC.

Domination and Profit and Loss Transfer Agreement

The DPLTA between the Company, as the controlling company, and Adtran Networks, as the controlled company, was executed on December 1, 2022 in connection with the Company’s business combination with Adtran Networks, and became effective on January 16, 2023. Pursuant to the DPLTA, the Company has effective control over Adtran Networks subject to the terms of DPLTA. For more information on the DPLTA, see “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations – Adtran Networks Domination and Profit and Loss Transfer Agreement” in Part II, Item 7 of this report.

Reportable Segments

Our business operates under two reportable segments: (1) Network Solutions and (2) Services & Support. We review our financial performance, specifically revenue and gross profit, based on these two segments.

Network Solutions Segment

The Network Solutions segment includes hardware and software products that enable a digital future which support our Subscriber, Access & Aggregation, and Optical Networking Solutions. Our cloud-managed Wi-Fi gateways, virtualization software, and switches provide a mix of wired and wireless connectivity at the customer premises. In addition, its Carrier Ethernet products support a variety of applications at the network edge ranging from mobile backhaul to connecting enterprise customers (“Subscriber Solutions"). Our portfolio includes products for multi-gigabit service delivery over fiber or alternative media to homes and businesses.

Services & Support Segment

The Services & Support segment offers a comprehensive portfolio of network design, implementation, maintenance and cloud-hosted services supporting its Subscriber, Access & Aggregation, and Optical Networking Solutions. These services assist operators in the deployment of multi-vendor networks while reducing their cost to maintain these networks. The cloud-hosted services include a suite of SaaS applications under our Mosaic One platform that manages end-to-end network and service optimization for both fiber access infrastructure and mesh Wi-Fi connectivity. We back these services with a global support organization that offers on-site and off-site support services with varying SLAs.

Revenue Categories

In addition to operating under two reportable segments, we also report revenue across three categories – Subscriber Solutions, Access & Aggregation Solutions and Optical Networking Solutions.

Prior to the Business Combination with Adtran Networks on July 15, 2022, ADTRAN, Inc. reported revenue across the following three categories: (1) Access & Aggregation, (2) Subscriber Solutions & Experience and (3) Traditional & Other Products. Following the Business Combination with Adtran Networks, we recast these revenues such that ADTRAN, Inc.'s former Access & Aggregation revenue is combined with a portion of the applicable Adtran Networks solutions to create Access & Aggregation Solutions, ADTRAN’s former Subscriber Solutions & Experience revenue is combined with a portion of the applicable Adtran Networks solutions to create Subscriber Solutions and the revenue from Traditional & Other products is now included in the applicable Access & Aggregation Solutions or Subscriber Solutions category. Optical Networking Solutions was added as a revenue category to represent a meaningful portion of Adtran Networks' portfolio.

Our Subscriber Solutions portfolio is used by Service Providers to terminate their access services infrastructure at customers' premises while providing an immersive and interactive experience for residential, business and wholesale subscribers. This revenue category includes hardware- and software-based products and services. These solutions include fiber termination solutions for residential, business and wholesale subscribers, Wi-Fi access solutions for residential and business subscribers, Ethernet switching and network edge virtualization solutions for business subscribers, and cloud software solutions covering a mix of subscriber types.

The Subscriber Solutions category includes the following products, software and services:

Our Access & Aggregation Solutions are solutions that are used by communications Service Providers to connect residential subscribers, business subscribers and mobile radio networks to the Service Providers’ metro network, primarily through fiber-based connectivity. This revenue category includes hardware- and software-based products and services. Our solutions within this category are a mix of fiber access and aggregation platforms, precision network synchronization and timing solutions, and access orchestration solutions that ensure highly reliable and efficient network performance.

The Access & Aggregation category includes the following products, software and services:

Our Optical Networking Solutions are used by communications Service Providers, internet content providers and large-scale enterprises to securely interconnect metro and regional networks over fiber. This revenue category includes hardware- and software-based products and services. Our solutions within this category include open optical terminals, open line systems, optical subsystems and modules, network infrastructure assurance systems, and automation platforms that are used to build high-scale, secure and assured optical networks.

The Optical Networking Solutions category includes the following products, software and services:

Industry Overview

The global growth of the cloud and mobility, home office and mobile working, industrial applications and 5G are accelerating the demand for more bandwidth, requiring more flexible provisioning of telecommunications services and more precise network synchronization. Communications Service Providers' investment in their networks is being driven by the pursuit of growth in subscriber acquisition, retention, and average revenue per user, as well as by the aims of streamlining operations, lowering energy consumption and improving their overall ESG position. Drivers facilitating this network investment cycle include the evolution of government funding programs, private equity infrastructure investment appetite, regulatory broadband policies, competition and ever-increasing subscriber demand for higher-speed broadband.

Subscriber demand for greater bandwidth continues to increase as connectivity is being woven ever more tightly into the fabric of everyone’s day-to-day lives. Specifically, subscriber demand for greater bandwidth is being driven by increasing numbers of connected devices, shifting working arrangements, the transition of entertainment over to OTT video, and the evolution of gaming platforms towards subscription models where new hybrids of download and streaming are emerging globally. This is further compounded by the rapid adoption of AI, the prevalence of IoT and the increasing transition of applications over to cloud-based services and internet applications where recurring revenues replace one-time sales. Performance and user satisfaction are directly related to bandwidth availability and service robustness. As the demand for high-definition video and game streaming services, symmetric bandwidth for online collaboration, lower latency for interactive AI and cloud applications and smart home video surveillance applications continue to increase, so too does the need increase for fiber-based broadband to be in every home and business.

In order to satisfy these complex requirements and deliver on the efficiency improvements demanded by operators, communications Service Providers are transitioning to full fiber access networks.

We aim to serve as a trusted partner to our customers. Working side-by-side with our customers, we assist them with maximizing the performance of their networks by providing a flexible path for their networks to evolve cost-effectively over to full fiber while availing themselves of the benefits that web-scale architectures deliver and helping to further monetize their investments.

Our Strategy

Our strategy is to provide innovative and cost-effective solutions for our customers that enable them to address their increasing broadband demand. Our solutions focus on technology transformations that are happening in broadband network infrastructure, home and business CPE and software platforms, and services needed to help our customers address increasing complexity while scaling to meet increasing consumer demands.

We aspire to be one of the top communication technology players in the world and an innovation leader around the converged edge, enabling the intelligent, self-optimizing, fiber-everywhere future. We plan to achieve this goal through innovation in network, home and business technology paired with a customer-focused organizational structure that tailors solutions to meet the needs of our target customers. We have one of the most comprehensive solutions portfolios that empowers operators to build a converged infrastructure from the metro core to the customer premise, serving all networking applications for residential, business, wholesale and mobile users. We take an approach to our portfolio in which we are focused in specific markets where we can offer competitive differentiation and scale while also having enough diversity and breadth in the portfolio to provide end-to-end connectivity solutions that offer value to our customers. More specifically, our corporate strategy consists of the following elements:

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Leadership in fiber networking: Breadth of portfolio, open and advanced architecture, assured and secure connectivity.

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Growth in focus markets: More turnkey solutions and in-region resources, especially North America and EMEA.

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Investment in converged edge: Innovation in optics, security, AI-driven networking, virtualization, SaaS, etc.

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Transformation through software: Open and cloud-centric systems, end-to-end programmability, simplification through software, and innovative SaaS offerings.

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Diversification of customers: Cross-selling current portfolio, acquisition of new customers and partners based on larger portfolio and trusted supplier status.

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Focus on sustainability: Science-based emissions targets, process-based product eco-design, optimization of operations, logistics and all packaging, circular-economy processes.

On November 6, 2023, due to the uncertainty around the current macroeconomic environment and its impact on customer spending levels, the Company’s management decided to implement a business efficiency program (the “Business Efficiency Program”) targeting the reduction of ongoing operating expenses and focusing on capital efficiency inclusive of certain salary reductions, an early retirement program, a site consolidation plan to include lease impairments and the partial sale of owned real estate (including the potential sale of portions of our headquarters), inventory write downs from product discontinuances, and the suspension of the quarterly dividend. The Business Efficiency Program expands upon other recently implemented restructuring efforts and synergy costs following the Business Combination. For instance, on August 17, 2023, the Company’s management determined to discontinue its copper-based Digital Subscriber Line broadband access technology products and its fixed wireless access products in its Network Solutions segment. Furthermore, on September 29, 2023, the Company’s management decided to exit the "IoT" gateway market (indoor and outdoor), a subset of the broader IoT market (together with the other product discontinuations, the “Discontinuations”). Additionally, on October 25, 2023, all employees were informed of certain personnel measures, which included the reduction of salary for select management, a reduction of approximately 5% of the workforce, an early retirement program and a hiring freeze. For additional information, see “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations – Business Efficiency Program” in Part II, Item 7 of this report.

Customers

We have a diverse global customer base that includes large, medium and small Service Providers, alternative Service Providers, such as utilities, municipalities and fiber overbuilders; cable/MSOs; SMBs and distributed enterprises.

During 2023, we had one customer who comprised greater than 10.0% of our revenue, which was an international Service Provider and our five largest customers comprised 37.0% of our revenue. Additionally, our revenue in the U.S., U.K. and Germany comprised more than 10% of our revenue in 2023. The revenue from this Service Provider and these countries is reported in both our Network Solutions and Services & Support segments.

For a discussion of risks associated with customers, Service Providers and approval processes, see “Risk Factors – The lengthy sales and approval process required by Service Providers for new products could result in fluctuations in our revenue,” “Risk Factors – We depend heavily on sales to certain customers; the loss of any of these customers would significantly reduce our revenue and net income,” in Part I, Item 1A of this report.

Distribution, Sales and Marketing

We sell our products through our direct sales organization and our distribution network. Our direct sales organization supports major accounts and has offices in global locations. Sales to most smaller and independent telephone companies are fulfilled through a combination of direct sales and distributors. Our services offerings can be purchased directly from us or through one of our Service Providers, channel partners or distribution partners.

Before placing an order, Service Providers typically require lengthy product qualification and standardization processes that can extend for several months or even years. Once approved, product orders are typically placed under single or multi-year supply agreements that are generally not subject to minimum volume commitments. Service Providers generally prefer having two or more suppliers for most products. Therefore, individual orders are usually subject to competitive combinations of total value, service, price, delivery and other terms.

Orders for end-user products are fulfilled through a combination of direct sales and distributors. This is supported by a direct sales organization for major accounts and a channel-based sales organization to facilitate sales to our partners. MSPs, VARs and SIs may be affiliated with us as channel partners, or they may purchase from a distributor in an unaffiliated fashion. Affiliated partners participate with us at various program levels, based on sales volume and other factors, to receive benefits such as product discounts, market development funds, technical support and training.

Outside of the U.S., most Service Provider products are sold through our direct sales organization and end-user products are sold direct or through distribution arrangements customized for each region. Some regions are supported from a field office that offers sales and support functions, and in some cases, warehousing and manufacturing support. Our field sales organizations, distributors and Service Provider customers receive support from regional-based marketing, sales and customer support groups.

Our marketing organization promotes all brands associated with us to key stakeholders, including customers, partners and prospects throughout the world. Marketing is complemented by product marketing and management teams that work with our engineering teams to develop and promote new products and services, as well as product enhancements.

Research and Development

Rapidly changing technologies, evolving industry standards, changing customer requirements, supply constraints and continuing developments in communications service offerings characterize the markets for our products. Our on-going ability to adapt to these changes and to develop new and enhanced products that meet or anticipate market demand is the main factor influencing our competitive position and our ability to grow.

Our product development activities are a central part of our strategy. We plan to maintain our emphasis on product development to enable us to respond to rapidly changing technology and evolving industry standards. Our research and development and engineering functions are global. We maintain research and development functions at multiple sites in the U.S., Europe, Israel and Asia. During the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, research and development expenditures totaled $258.3 million, $173.8 million and $108.7 million, respectively.

While we develop the majority of our products internally, we also leverage partners for some solutions. Additionally, we license intellectual property or acquire technologies. Internal development on advanced technology products gives us more control over design and manufacturing issues, while for traditional designs, ODM and/or licensed intellectual property provides us with the ability to leverage the economies of scale of our technology partners. This balanced approach ensures we provide best-in-class solutions for our customers.

As we continue to create more software-based intellectual property, such as our SDN/Edge Cloud portfolio, our use of lean agile practices in research and development ensures we remain responsive and customer-focused. This enables us to deliver products faster, at higher quality and more economically to our customers and the market on a continuous basis.

Our ability to continually reduce product costs, while focusing on delivery and quality, are important parts of our overall business strategy. Our product development efforts are often centered on entering a market with improved technology, enabling us to offer products at competitive prices and compete for market share. See Inventory included in Part I, Item 1 of this report for additional information regarding our supply chain disruptions.

Development activities focus on solutions that support both existing and emerging communications industry technologies in segments that we consider viable revenue opportunities. We are actively engaged in developing and refining technologies to support data, voice and video transport primarily over IP/Ethernet and optical network architectures. This includes optical transport, packet demarcation and aggregation, synchronization and fiber-optic access, DSL, access routing, ethernet switching, wireless LANs, integrated access, converged services, VoIP, network management and professional services. In addition, we focus on vertical optical technologies like Silicon Photonics, as well as microelectronics in order to differentiate and fully control the vertical value stack of our solutions. In 2023, we released many market-leading products like additions to our SDX OLT range, new residential gateway and ONT families, outdoor packet demarcation devices, packet demarcation, encryption/security products, edge and core transport solutions. We enhanced our market leading synchronization & timing portfolio, as well as our SaaS delivery abilities and Mosaic One software.

Our research function and advanced technology team is driving many specific research projects in the fields of sustainable optical transmission, security, quantum communications, SDN and access technologies. This research fosters differentiated product concepts and guides our various product design and engineering teams in IPR creation, industry and network standards and technological forecasting.

We are an active participant in several SDOs and have assisted with the development of worldwide standards in many technologies. Our SDO activities are primarily in the areas of broadband access, optical networking and synchronization. This includes involvement with the ITU-T, ATIS, ETSI, ONF and the BBF. We are involved in the evolution of optical access technologies on next-generation PON. We also continue to be involved in driving optical networking, synchronization and SDN standardization and participate in industry-wide interoperability, performance-testing and system-level projects related to those standards in BBF and ONF. We are also members of MEF, TIA, CableLabs and TIP.

For a discussion of risks associated with our research and development activities, see “Risk Factors – We must continue to update and improve our products and develop new products to compete and to keep pace with improvements in communications technology” and “Risk Factors – We engage in research and development activities to develop new, innovative solutions and to improve the application of developed technologies, and as a consequence may miss certain market opportunities enjoyed by larger companies with substantially greater research and development effort and which may focus on more leading edge development,” in Part I, Item 1A of this report.

Manufacturing and Operations

The principal steps in our manufacturing process include the purchase and management of materials, assembly, testing, final inspection, packing and shipping. We purchase parts and components for the assembly of some products from a large number of suppliers through a worldwide sourcing program. Additionally, we manage a process that identifies the components that are best purchased directly by contract manufacturers for use in the assembly of our products to achieve manufacturing efficiency, quality and cost objectives. Certain key components used in our products are currently available from a single source, and other key components are available from only a limited number of sources. In the past, we have experienced delays in the receipt of certain key components, which has resulted in delays in related product deliveries. We attempt to manage these risks through developing alternative sources, by staging inventories at strategic locations, through engineering efforts designed to prevent the necessity of certain components and by maintaining close contact and building long-term relationships with our suppliers. See Inventory included in Part I, Item 1 of this report for additional information.

We rely on subcontractors for the assembly and testing of certain printed circuit board assemblies, sub-assemblies, chassis, enclosures and equipment shelves, and to purchase some of the raw materials used in such assemblies. We typically manufacture our lower-volume, higher-mix products and build and test product prototypes and many of our initial production units at our manufacturing site in Huntsville, Alabama. We later transfer the production of higher-volume, lower-mix assemblies to our subcontractors. Subcontract assembly operations can lengthen fulfillment cycle times, but we believe we can respond more rapidly to uncertainties in incoming order rates by selecting assembly subcontractors that have significant reserve capacity and flexibility. Our subcontractors have generally proven to be flexible and able to meet our quality requirements.

We ship the majority of products to our U.S. customers from our facilities in Huntsville, Alabama. The majority of international customers are being served from our logistics hubs in Meiningen, Germany and York, United Kingdom. We also ship directly from subcontractors to a number of customers in the U.S. and international locations. Most of our facilities are certified pursuant to the most current releases of ISO 9001, TL 9000, ISO 14001 and ISO 27001. Our Huntsville, Alabama facilities and many of our key suppliers are C-TPAT certified. Our products are also certified to certain other customers' industry and privacy standards, including those relating to the emission of electromagnetic energy and safety specifications.

Our dependence on a limited number of suppliers for certain raw materials, key components and ODM products, has prevented and may in the future prevent us from delivering our products on a timely basis, which has had and may continue to have a material adverse effect on operating results and could have a material adverse effect on customer relations.

For a discussion of risks associated with manufacturing activities, see “Risk Factors – Our strategy of outsourcing a portion of our manufacturing requirements to subcontractors located in various international regions may result in us not meeting our cost, quality or performance standards” and “Risk Factors – Our dependence on a limited number of suppliers for certain raw materials, key components and ODM products, combined with supply shortages, have prevented and may continue to prevent us from delivering our products on a timely basis, which has had and may continue to have a material adverse effect on operating results and could have a material adverse effect on customer relations,” in Part I, Item 1A of this report.

Competition

We compete in markets for networking and communications services and solutions for Service Providers, businesses, government agencies and other organizations worldwide. Our products and services provide solutions supporting voice, data and video communications across fiber-, copper-, coaxial- and wireless-based infrastructure, as well as across wide area networks, local area networks and the internet.

We compete with a number of companies in the markets we serve. In the Subscriber Solutions & Experience category, our primary competitors include Calix, Cisco, CommScope, and Ribbon Communications. In our Access & Aggregation solutions category, key competitors include Calix, Casa Systems, Ciena, CommScope, DZS, Harmonic, Huawei, Nokia, Reliance/Radisys, Vecima Networks and ZTE. Main competitors of our Optical Networking solutions portfolio are Ciena, Cisco, Ekinops, Huawei, Infinera, Nokia, Ribbon Communications and ZTE Corporation.

Across our markets and segments, the principal competitive factors can include, among others:

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differentiated feature functionality of our products and solutions;

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price performance of our solutions and lowest total cost of ownership for customers;

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quality and reliability of our products;

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financial stability and health of our company;

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ability to manage supply chains and produce and deliver products in accordance with customer wish date;

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ability to innovate and provide customers with differentiated solutions, advantageous to their business model;

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compelling technology roadmap and research and development power;

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industry thought leadership and time to market with innovative solutions;

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country of origin for products and solutions and trusted supplier status;

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security of enterprise value chain, from design to product development, support processes, to products and solutions;

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energy consumption of our products and commitment to sustainability, supporting customers in achieving their climate goals;

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customer relationship and incumbency;

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ability to deliver comprehensive solutions with a high degree of automation and ease-of-use, including hardware, software and services; and

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broad range of services and support capabilities.

For further discussion of risks associated with our competition, see “Risk Factors – We must continue to update and improve our products and develop new products to compete and to keep pace with improvements in communications technology” and “Risk Factors – We compete in markets that have become increasingly competitive, which may result in reduced gross profit margins and market share,” in Part I, Item 1A of this report.

Seasonality

We experience quarterly fluctuations in our revenue that occur due to many factors, including the varying budget cycles and seasonal buying patterns of our customers. More specifically, our customers tend to spend less in the first fiscal quarter as they are finalizing their annual capital spending budgets. These seasonal effects may continue to vary and do not always correlate to our operating results. Accordingly, they should not be considered a reliable indicator of our future revenue or operating results. Additionally, the effects of the dynamic supply and demand environment we have experienced in recent periods may impact the traditional seasonality in our business. Due to the improved supply situation and the associated reduction in lead times, our customers began to optimize their inventories in the past fiscal year. This has led to a slowdown in ordering behavior. In addition, the current macroeconomic environment, related to continued elevated interest rates and ongoing inflationary pressures, has negatively impacted customer behavior in the Large and Medium/Small Service Provider segment. We expect these trends to continue in 2024.

Foreign Currency

Transactions with customers that are denominated in foreign currencies are recorded using the appropriate exchange rates from throughout the year. Assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies are remeasured at the balance sheet dates using the closing rates of exchange between those foreign currencies and the functional currency with any transaction gains or losses reported in other income, net. Our primary exposures to foreign currency exchange rate movements are with the euro and the British pound sterling. Adjustments resulting from translating financial statements of international subsidiaries are recorded as a component of accumulated other comprehensive income.

A substantial portion of our shipments in any fiscal period relate to orders received and shipped within that fiscal period for customers under agreements containing non-binding purchase commitments. Further, a significant percentage of orders require delivery within a few days. However, with the current global supply chain and transportation constraints, and limited availability of semiconductor chips and other components of our products, we have experienced and may continue to experience extended lead times, increased logistics intervals and costs, and lower volume of products deliveries, which have had and may continue to have a material adverse effect on our operating results and could have a material adverse effect on our customer relations and our financial condition.

We maintain substantial inventories of raw materials for long lead time components to support this demand and avoid expedite fees. In recent years, inflationary pressures on input costs, such as raw materials and labor, and distribution costs negatively impacted our operating results. However, inflationary pressures on our supply chain have eased somewhat, which has led to reductions in cost premiums on raw material costs and freight. We continue to support our customer demand for our products by working with our suppliers, contract manufacturers, distributors, and customers to address and to limit the disruption to our operations and order fulfillment. Additionally, maintaining sufficient inventory levels to assure prompt delivery of our products increases the amount of inventory that may become obsolete and increases the risk that the obsolescence of this inventory may have an adverse effect on our business and operating results. Also, not maintaining sufficient inventory levels to ensure prompt delivery of our products may cause us to incur expediting costs to meet customer delivery requirements, which may negatively impact our operating results.

For further discussion of risks associated with managing our inventory, see “Risk Factors – Managing our inventory is complex and may include write-downs of excess or obsolete inventory,” in Part I, Item 1A of this report.

Government Regulation

Telecommunications Matters

Our products that are incorporated into wireless communications systems must comply with various government regulations, including those of the FCC. We strive to deliver innovative network access solutions that lower the total cost and reduce the time of deploying services, increase the level of performance achievable with established infrastructures, reduce operating and capital expenses for our customers, increase network bandwidth and functionality, and extend network reach. Our development process is conducted in accordance with ISO 9001, TL 9000, ISO 14001, and ISO 27001, all of which are international standards for quality and environmental management systems.

Environmental Matters

Our products must comply with various regulations and standards established by communications authorities in various countries, as well as those of certain international bodies. Environmental legislation within the EU may increase our cost of doing business as we amend our products to comply with these requirements. For example, the EU issued the RoHS directive, the WEEE directive and the REACH regulation. We are also subject to disclosure and related requirements that apply to the presence of conflict minerals in our products or supply chain. We continue to implement measures to comply with these and other similar directives and regulations from additional countries.

Other Regulations

As a company with global operations, we are subject to complex foreign and U.S. laws and regulations, including trade regulations; tariffs; import and export regulations; anti-bribery and corruption laws; antitrust or competition laws; data privacy laws and regulations, such as the GDPR and the California Consumer Privacy Act; and cybersecurity laws and regulations, among others. We have policies and procedures in place to promote compliance with these laws and regulations. To date, our compliance actions and costs relating to these laws, rules and regulations have not resulted in a material cost or effect on our capital expenditures, earnings or competitive position. Government regulations are subject to change and, accordingly, we are unable to assess the possible effect of compliance with future requirements or whether our compliance with such regulations will materially impact our business in the future.

For further discussion of risks associated with government regulation, see “Risk Factors – We are subject to complex and evolving U.S. and foreign laws, regulations and standards governing the conduct of our business. Violations of these laws and regulations may harm our business, subject us to penalties and to other adverse consequences,” in Part 1, Item 1A of this report.

Environmental, Social, and Governance

We believe that as we follow our corporate vision to enable a fully connected world, we must continue to be responsible corporate citizens. As more people are connected, work and life can be accomplished using fewer resources. We have established ESG and sustainability programs and policies that encompass the elements of Environmental, Health & Safety, Ethics, Labor, and the related management systems in alignment with the ISO 26000 Guidelines. We are committed to operating in full compliance with the laws, rules and regulations of all the countries in which we operate. The major aims of our program are reducing waste and emissions, maximizing energy efficiency and productivity and minimizing practices that can adversely affect utilization of natural resources by coming generations. Our ESG programs are important to us, consequently, ESG is a dedicated focus throughout the company. We have Board oversight including an ESG Committee, strong management support and engagement from our employees.

Areas of focus in our environmental sustainability program include:

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established an ESG Committee of the Board of Directors;

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maintained our mature environmental management system certified to ISO 14001 from 2015;

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advanced our Energy Management program with ISO 50001 readiness for the Huntsville site for 2024;

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submitted our detailed Net Zero targets to SBTi in 2023;

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continued purchase of Renewable Energy Credits, equaling ~20% of total Adtran energy consumption;

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purchased certified carbon offsets to achieve Net Zero for our Scope 1 emissions;

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continued using IntegrityNext, a platform to engage suppliers to obtain an ESG assessment aligned with international standards, allowing us to monitor ESG risks in our supply chain;

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established Eco-Design guidelines in the Technology organization;

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continued with Life Cycle Assessments across the portfolio;

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continued with packaging optimization to reduce related materials and waste;

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increased visibility of our program internally and externally through customer engagement, joining peer sustainability groups, offering training to team members and web site enhancements;

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switched from the GRI reporting standard to the newer and more comprehensive ESRS standard; and

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actively engaged our stakeholders with investor and supply chain assessments.

We will issue an ESG report for 2023 in order to fulfill the reporting obligations set forth in the German commercial code applicable to Adtran Networks. Within the report is information on our environmental, social and governance programs, including quantitative and qualitative data for both Adtran Networks and the Company. This information can also be found on our website at: www.adtran.com/en/about-us/esg/environmental. The information found on our website is not incorporated by reference in this report or any other report that we file or furnish to the SEC.

For further discussion of risks associated with government regulation, see “Risk Factors – Expectations relating to environmental, social and governance considerations expose the Company to potential liabilities, increased costs, reputational harm, and other adverse effects on the Company’s business,” in Part 1, Item 1A of this report.

Human Capital

We believe that our most valuable asset is our people. To ensure we continue to succeed, our objective is to be able to recruit, hire and retain top talent. Our ability to attract and retain a high-quality workforce is dependent on our ability to maintain a diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace that provides opportunities for our employees to learn and grow in their careers. This is supported by competitive compensation and benefits, along with strong community service and other programs that enable employees to build connections within the community.

As part of our Business Efficiency Program, on October 25, 2023, all employees were informed of certain personnel measures, which included the reduction of salary for select management, a reduction of approximately 5% of the workforce, an early retirement program and a hiring freeze. The Company provided the employees subject to the salary reductions with stock option awards for retention purposes. Our Chief Executive Officer voluntarily reduced his salary by 50% and did not receive any stock option awards under the Business Efficiency Program. For additional information, see “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations – Business Efficiency Program” in Part II, Item 7 of this report.

As of December 31, 2023, we had 3,227 full-time employees, with 1,249 in the U.S. and 1,978 in our international subsidiaries located in North America, Latin America, EMEA and APAC regions. 2,027 of these full-time employees are employees of Adtran Networks and its subsidiaries. We also utilized 192 contractors and 160 temporary employees domestically and internationally in various manufacturing, engineering, sales and general and administrative capacities. We believe that our relationship with our employees is good. We have a diverse employee base located in 36 countries. We pride ourselves on a highly educated workforce, and the majority of our employees serve in engineering, information technology and technical roles within the organization.

As of December 31, 2023, approximately 167 employees (75%) of ADTRAN GmbH were subject to collective bargaining agreements of either the Association of Metal and Electrical Industry in Berlin and Brandenburg e.V. or NORDMETALL Association of Metal and Electrical Industry e.V. Although these collective bargaining agreements will expire on September 30, 2024, negotiations with the employees of ADTRAN GmbH for a new collective bargaining agreement are ongoing and we have not experienced any work stoppage. As of December 31, 2023, Adtran Networks had 91 employees in Switzerland, France, Italy, Finland and Spain that were subject to collective bargaining agreements of different associations. None of our other employees are subject to collective bargaining agreements.

Additionally, we continually work to recruit technical talent in diverse communities through our cooperative education program. This program seeks to identify college students that major in relevant technological areas and expose them to our work environment on an alternating semester basis. Our goal is to retain as many of these students as possible for full-time employment after graduation to build our organization's future.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

We believe that maintaining a diverse and inclusive workforce is critical to the success of our business. We encourage an environment where individuality is embraced regardless of age, gender, identity, race, sexual orientation, physical or mental ability, ethnicity and perspective and where each employee is accepted and respected and can, therefore, bring their most authentic self to work.

In addition to diversity in our workforce, we seek to ensure diversity in our Board of Directors with respect to skills, experience, gender, race and ethnicity. Our Board of Directors is comprised of nine members, two of which are females and three of which are ethnically diverse. Additionally, the Board of Directors has a diversity of skills and experience with respect to accounting and finance, management and leadership, vision and strategy, business operations, business judgment, crisis management, risk assessment, industry knowledge, corporate governance and global markets.

Health, Safety and Wellness

The well-being of our employees is paramount to the continued success of our business. To this end, we are committed to each of our employees' health, safety and wellness. We provide our employees with access to various health and wellness benefits designed to enable them and their family members to have affordable access to health, dental and vision insurance. Additionally, we offer access to many programs that provide additional monetary support in the event of a qualifying incident, including accident insurance, life insurance and hospital indemnity insurance, among others. We understand that mental health is an essential aspect of our employees’ wellbeing and we offer an employee assistance program at no charge to employees and their family members. This program provides access to qualified personnel to address various issues such as grief, financial stress, family and emotional issues.

Compensation and Benefits

We continually work to provide a competitive compensation and benefits program as this plays a key role in our ability to attract and retain a highly skilled workforce. In addition to salaries, these programs, which vary by country/region, include long-term equity incentive awards with certain vesting requirements, deferred compensation plans (which are offered to certain members of executive management), a 401(k) plan, healthcare and insurance benefits, health savings and flexible spending accounts, paid time off, paid volunteer time off, employee assistance program and tuition assistance. Additionally, at our global headquarters in Alabama, we offer our employees certain on-site services, including nurse practitioner care and a fitness center, among others.

Talent Development

We invest significant resources to develop the talent needed to remain a market-leading global supplier of broadband infrastructure. We offer numerous training opportunities on both technical and professional development topics. We utilize tools and processes to provide performance feedback which helps develop high potential employees into becoming our future leaders.

Our Career Development Program provides an opportunity for employees to shape their career journey. The program provides opportunities for employees to develop competencies in areas including technology, business acumen, emotional intelligence, design and systems thinking. As employees increase their competencies in these areas and master skills within their individual roles, this program offers a variety of career advancement paths. Employees also have access to the Learning module available in Workday. This platform houses all required training, as well as optional training in a variety of areas.

Intellectual Property

We develop and own a significant amount of intellectual property. We hold over 1,000 patents worldwide related to our products and over 50 additional pending patent applications. Our patents expire at various dates between 2024 and 2041. We continue to seek additional patents related to our research and development activities. We do not derive any material amount of revenue from the licensing of our patents.

The name "ADTRAN" is a registered trademark of ours, as is the name “SmartRG” and a number of our product identifiers and names. We also claim rights to a number of unregistered trademarks.

We protect our intellectual property and proprietary rights in accordance with good legal and business practices. We believe, however, that our competitive success will not fully depend on the ownership of intellectual property, but instead will depend primarily on the innovative skills, technical competence and marketing abilities of our personnel.

The communications industry is characterized by the existence of an ever-increasing volume of patent litigation and licensing activities. We have received, and may continue to receive, notices of claims alleging that we are infringing upon patents or other intellectual property. We cannot predict whether we will prevail in any claims or litigation over alleged infringements, or whether we will be able to license any valid and infringed patents, or other intellectual property, on commercially reasonable terms. It is possible that such litigation may result in significant legal costs and judgments and that intellectual property infringement claims, or related litigation against or by us could have a material adverse effect on our business and operating results.

For a discussion of risks associated with our intellectual property and proprietary rights, see “Risk Factors – Our failure to maintain rights to intellectual property used in our business could adversely affect the development, functionality, and commercial value of our products” in Part I, Item 1A of this report.

Information about our Executive Officers

Set forth below is certain information regarding our current executive officers. The age of each executive set forth below is as of February 29, 2024.

There are no family relationships among our directors or executive officers. Adtran Networks is a majority-owned subsidiary of the Company.

Availability of Information

We file annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, proxy statements and other information as required with the SEC. The SEC maintains an internet website, http://www.sec.gov, that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers, including ADTRAN, that file electronically with them. Additionally, our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and amendments to those reports, if applicable, filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, are available free of charge under the Investor Relations section of our website, www.adtran.com, as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file them with, or furnish them to, the SEC. The reference to our website address does not constitute incorporation by reference of the information contained on the website, which information should not be considered part of this report.