CAPSTONE COMPANIES INC

Described below and throughout this Form 10-K report are certain factors and risks that the Company’s management believes are applicable to the Company’s business and the industries in which it operates. If any of the described events occur, the Company’s business, results of operations, financial condition, liquidity, or access to funding could be materially adversely affected. When stated below that a risk or factor may have a material adverse effect on the Company business, it means that such risk may have one or more of these effects. There may be additional risks that are not presently material or known. There are also risks within the economy, the industry, and the capital markets that could have a material adverse effect on the Company, including those associated with an economic recession, inflation, a global economic slowdown, political instability, government regulation (including tax regulation), employee attraction and retention, and customers’ inability or refusal to pay for the products and services provided by the company. There are also risks associated with the occurrence of extraordinary events, such as terrorist attacks or natural disasters (such as tsunamis, hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods) and pandemics or epidemics. These risks and factors affect businesses generally, including the Company, its customers and suppliers and, as a result, are not discussed in detail below, but are applicable to the Company. As a “penny stock” without primary market maker support, any investment in our Common Stock is highly risky and should only be considered by investors who can afford to lose their entire investment and do not require immediate liquidity. These risk factors are not the only risks that we or our subsidiaries may face. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or not currently believed to be important also may adversely affect our business.

Business and Operational Risks

Our auditors have issued a going concern opinion, and we will not be able to achieve our objectives and will have to cease operations if we cannot adequately fund our operations.

Our public auditors issued a going concern opinion in connection with the audit of our annual financial statements for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023. A going concern opinion means that there is substantial doubt that the company can continue as an ongoing business for the next 12 months. If we are unable to continue as a going concern, we might have to liquidate our assets and the values we receive for our assets in liquidation or dissolution could be significantly lower than the values reflected in our financial statements. In addition, the inclusion of an explanatory paragraph regarding substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern and our lack of cash resources may materially adversely affect our share price and our ability to raise new capital or to enter into critical contractual relations with third parties. There is no assurance that we will be able to adequately fund our operations in the future.

The declining revenues in 2023 and 2022 of our primary business line of LED lighting products ceasing to be a revenue source in 2023, and the Connected Surfaces product line not becoming a replacement revenue source have resulted in significant operating losses and imposed a need to sustain operations with outside funding of working capital. If the Company cannot obtain adequate, affordable funding, whether equity or debt, as needed, the Company will have difficulty sustaining the Company as a going concern.

Cash flow from operations was and is not sufficient to sustain operations and support optimal marketing efforts of Connected Surfaces Smart Mirror product line as a primary revenue source. In order to attempt to secure adequate working capital in 2023, we took the actions detailed below. These actions are not deemed sufficient to meet all expected working capital needs for 2024 for a full implementation of our plan to establish the Connected Surfaces product lines as viable product lines and to meet general operating overhead needs. We anticipate the need to raise working capital funding to meet our funding needs in 2024 and supplement any cash flow from operations. Because of the low market price and liquidity of our Common Stock, our declining financial performance, lack of hard assets required for asset based loans, and our transition from a declining product line and primary source to a new, unproven product line, we may be unable to raise necessary, affordable and timely working capital in 2024 and that failure could be fatal to our ability to sustain the Company as an operating company.

During the year ended December 31, 2023, the Company used cash in operations of approximately $614,527 and generated net operating losses of approximately $1,634,000. As of December 31, 2023, the Company has working capital deficit of $3,279,303 and an accumulated deficit of $10,797,216. The Company’s cash balance decreased approximately $25,000 from $61,463 as of December 31, 2022 to $36,466 as of December 31, 2023. Although we have cash on hand, the Company does not have sufficient cash on hand to finance its plan of operations for the next 12 months from the filing of this report and we will need to seek additional capital through debt and/or equity financing to fully fund operational overhead and fully fund the effort to launch the Connected Chef product line as the primary revenue source in 2024. While certain directors have provided working capital funding to the Company in the past, including 2023, there is no guarantee, and none can be given that these insiders will do so when and as required by the Company in 2024.

The Company does not have an alternative product line to replace the Connected Chef product line in 2024. If the Connected Chef product line does not become a viable revenue source in 2024, the Company will need funding to sustain operations and efforts to establish the Connected Chef product line as a viable revenue source. The Company has not received pre-production orders for the Connected Chef product line and the Company lacks the working capital to extensively market the Connected Chef, which is not in production.

The Company does not have an alternative product line to the Connected Surfaces Connected Chef product line and would be unable to develop an alternative in 2024 due to a lack of adequate working capital. The financial condition of the Company has caused the Company to seek to effect an extraordinary corporate transaction to protect shareholder value and sustain the Company as an operating company. This effort is being pursued in conjunction with efforts to secure pre-production orders for the Connected Chef. An extraordinary corporate transaction could include a merger or sale of the Company or reorganization of the Company under bankruptcy protection or otherwise or could result in the liquidation of the current business and efforts to fund a new business line in 2024 if adequate, affordable funding is available. The Company may be unable to effect, if necessary, an extraordinary corporate transaction or obtain significant funding for a new product line in 2024 to sustain the Company as an operating company. Reorganization under the protection of the bankruptcy code is one possible extraordinary corporate transaction if the Connected Chef product lines does not become a viable revenue source and other extraordinary corporate transactions are not possible. While the Company is continuing efforts to establish the Connected Chef product line as a viable revenue source, the Company is exploring possible alternative new business lines, which alternative business lines could be internally developed with sufficient funding or acquired in a merger or asset acquisition. If the Company receives a pre-production bulk order for the Connected Chef, the Company would have to raise working capital to fund production and the Company may be unable to raise that funding on affordable terms or at all.

Our operating results and sustainability as an operating company are substantially dependent on the acceptance of new products or finding a new business line.

If the Company does not located a new business line capable for sustaining the Company as an operating company, then the Connected Chef product line is the only available product line to replace the matured LED product line and the success of the Connected Chef product line is critical to our continued operation as a consumer product company. Even if the Connected Chef receives pre-production orders, there can be no assurance that the Connected Chef would generate sufficient sales or continued sales to fund ongoing operations of the Company. Our future success depends on our ability to deliver innovative, higher performing and lower cost solutions for existing and new markets and for customers to accept those solutions. As a small company, innovation is critical to our ability to compete with larger competitors. We must introduce new products in a timely and cost-effective manner, and we must secure production orders for those products from our customers. The development of new products is a highly complex process, and we have in some instances experienced delays in completing the development and introduction of new products. Our research and development efforts are aimed at solving increasingly complex problems, and we do not expect that all our projects will be successful. The successful development, introduction and acceptance of new products depend on a number of factors, including the following:

If any of these or other similar factors becomes problematic, we may not be able to deliver and introduce new products in a timely or cost-effective manner and be unable to effectively compete in the product market segment.

Our operations depend on a small number of personnel and the loss of key personnel or the inability to replace or add key personnel could have a significant impact on our ability to grow or sustain operations.

We operate the executive operations with a relatively small number of personnel. Company has not developed personnel to readily replace key personnel. The loss of key personnel, being Stewart Wallach, Company’s Chief Executive Officer, would severely harm the business. As of December 31, 2022, James McClinton, our Chief Financial Officer for over 30 years, elected to retire. The Company hired Dana Eschenburg Perez, as an external consultant as of January 1, 2023 to perform the functions of Chief Financial Officer. We do not have key man life insurance.

Our personnel are focused on executive management or marketing. Our marketing is supplemented by contractor sales agencies, and we have a relatively small research and development capability overseas. We rely on OEMs for certain technical development and design, and we have no current plans to develop an in-house technical development staff. The loss of an OEM would disrupt our business operations if we could not find a suitable replacement in short order. Company evaluates potential OEM’s from time to time to identify possible alternative production and technical development resources. If our operations grow, we may have to increase the number of our personnel in the future to handle any growth or expansion of product lines or product categories. Our ability to find and retain qualified personnel when needed by our growth or existing operations will be an important factor in determining our success in coping with any growth or efficiently handling existing operational burdens.

During a downturn in the economy, or periods of increased inflation, consumer purchases of discretionary items are usually affected, which could materially harm our sales, profitability and financial condition and our prospects for growth. Historic inflation in 2022 has created uncertainty about consumer confidence and its impact on demand for our products in 2023.

Many of our products may be considered discretionary items for consumers, including the Connected Chef. Factors affecting the level of consumer spending for such discretionary items include general economic conditions, unemployment, the hyper-inflation affecting the U.S. in 2023, the availability of consumer credit and consumer confidence in future economic conditions. Uncertainty in U.S. economic conditions continues, particularly considering the impacts rising inflation, and trends in consumer discretionary spending remain unpredictable. Historically, consumer purchases of discretionary items tend to decline during recessionary periods periods of high inflation, when disposable income is lower or during other periods of economic instability or uncertainty, which may lead to declines in sales and slow our long-term growth expectations. Any near or long-term downturn in the U.S. market in which we sell most of our products, or other key markets, may materially harm our sales, profitability and financial condition and our prospects for growth. The “Big Box” retailers that are the traditional buyers of our products would be less inclined to purchase our products, including the Connected Chef, if economic concerns (including inflation concerns) are predicted to reduce consumer purchases of discretionary items. Continued inflationary pressure on essentials, like food prices, will reduce consumer purchases of discretionary items.

If we are unable to effectively develop, manage and expand our marketing programs and sales channels for our products, our operating results may suffer.

When we actively market a product line in production, or for a new product line like Connected Chef, then developing, maintaining and expanding marketing programs and sales channel will be a significant challenge and risk factor for the Company. Since we typically seek to target niche markets for a product line, then effective marketing and use of sales channels becomes critical to the successful launch of a new product line, especially with limited working capital. We do not have an extensive staff devoted to e-commerce and social media promotions and we have not retained outside firms to assist on a regular basis in this effort. The Company is seeking funding to support the promotion of the Connected Chef product line. Attaining affordable funding of the marketing effort may be critical to success of the marketing and promotion of the Connected Chef. The cost and difficulty of establishing a new product line is difficult to estimate and difficult to fund by a small company like the Company, especially when that effort is faced with the inherent difficulties of penetrating a new product segment like smart devices, which has a growing number of competitors and has an ongoing, evolving need to meet changing consumer expectations and demands for enhanced or new technologies and functions; and against numerous competitors with significantly greater financial and technology resources, brand recognition and brand loyalty by consumers and logistical and marketing capabilities than our company.

The markets in which we operate are highly competitive and have evolving technical or consumer requirements.

In the consumer lighting market, which is a maturing market for us, we compete with companies that manufacture and sell traditional lighting products and we compete with companies that make smart mirrors for residential use, we compete with companies that have greater market share, name recognition and technical resources than we do. Competitors continue to offer new products with aggressive pricing. Aggressive pricing actions by our competitors in our businesses could reduce margins if we are not able to reduce costs at an equal or greater rate than the sales price decline.

With the increased demand for consumer smart products, including the Connected Surfaces, which is the focus of our business, we will continue to face increased competition in the future across our businesses. If the investment in capacity exceeds the growth in demand the electronic consumer market is likely to become more competitive with additional pricing pressures. With the emerging and evolving smart mirror market, we face growing competition and rapidly changing product technology and functionalities.

As competition increases in smart products, including connected surfaces, we need to continue to develop new products that meet or exceed the needs of our customers. Adequate, affordable and available funding is key to our ability to compete in the smart mirror markets. Competitors may also try to align with some of our strategic customers. This could lead to lower prices for our products, reduced demand for our products and a corresponding reduction in our ability to recover development, engineering and manufacturing costs. Any of these developments could have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations or financial condition.

As is true in any consumer product industry, the ability of a company to respond to changing consumer tastes and purchasing habits is key to success in consumer products. Introduction of new products brings the risk of increased development, production and marketing costs as well as that investment failing to produce revenues or profits that justify the investment in new products.

If our products fail to perform or fail to meet customer requirements or expectations, we could incur significant additional costs, including costs associated with the recall of those items.

The manufacturing of our products involves complex processes. We do not have sufficient consumer experience with our products to determine the extent of any customer service problems or product returns and defects and those factors impact on revenues. Our customers specify quality, performance and reliability standards that we must meet. If our products do not meet these standards, we may be required to replace or rework the products. In some cases, our products may contain undetected defects that only become evident after shipment and used by consumers. Even if our products meet standard specifications, our customers may attempt to use our products in applications for which they were not designed resulting in product failures and creating customer satisfaction issues. For a small company, identifying and meeting consumer demand and product quality standards are critical to our business and financial performance.

If failures or defects occur, they could result in significant losses or product recalls due to:

For any products being sold and purchased by consumers, a significant product recall could also result in adverse publicity, damage to our reputation and a loss of customer or consumer confidence in our products and could substantially undermine or delay any success in the critical Connected Surfaces product launch. Further, while we believe that product liability for consumer electronic products is not significant or widespread, we could face product liability lawsuits or regulatory proceedings by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and could suffer losses from a significant product liability judgment or adverse CPSC finding against us if the use of our products at issue is determined to have caused injury or contained a substantial product hazard to the public. We provide warranty periods of 1 year on our products. Although we believe our warranty reserves are appropriate, we are making projections about the future reliability of new products and technologies, and we may experience increased variability in warranty claims. Increased warranty claims could result in significant losses due to a rise in warranty expense and costs associated with customer support.

If we do not accurately predict consumer demand for products, we may be unable to produce products that are in demand and our financial performance will suffer.

To ensure adequate inventory supply for the new product categories and to support e-commerce, we must forecast inventory needs and place orders with our manufacturers before firm orders are placed by our customers. If we fail to accurately forecast customer demand, we may experience excess inventory levels or a shortage of products to deliver to our online customers. With the logistical problems referenced above, the forecast of inventory needs is even more crucial to our business and financial performance and efforts to establish a viable Connected Chef product line and revenue source. We could accurately predict inventory needs and timely place orders for products and then have logistical problems delay delivering of products and result in a lack of inventory to fill orders. The ability to timely fill orders for the Connected Chef is an important achievement in the effort to establish the product line as a viable revenue source.

Factors that could affect our ability to accurately forecast demand for our products include:

Inventory levels in excess of customer demand may result in inventory write-downs or write-offs and the sale of excess inventory at discounted prices or in less preferred distribution channels, which could have an adverse effect on gross margin. In addition, if we underestimate the demand for our products, our manufacturers may not be able to produce products to meet our customer requirements, and this could result in delays in the shipment of our products and our ability to recognize revenue, lost sales, as well as damage to our reputation and retailer and distributor relationships.

The consumer electronics industry is subject to significant pricing pressure caused by many factors, including technological advancements, intense competition, consolidation in the retail industry, pressure from retailers to reduce the costs of products and changes in consumer demand.

Fluctuations in the cost of products could negatively affect our operating results.

The components used by our suppliers and manufacturers are made of raw materials that may be subject to significant price fluctuations or shortages that could materially adversely affect our cost of goods sold. In addition, certain of our manufacturers are subject to government regulations related to wage rates, and therefore the labor costs to produce our products may fluctuate. The cost of transporting our products for distribution and sale is also subject to fluctuation. Because our products are manufactured abroad, our products must be transported by third parties over large geographical distances, increased demand for freight services at a time of reduced ocean freight capacity, can significantly increase costs. Manufacturing delays or unexpected transportation delays, can also cause us to rely more heavily on airfreight to achieve timely delivery to our customers, which significantly increases freight costs. Any of these fluctuations may increase our cost of products and have an adverse effect on our profit margins, results of operations and financial condition.

Regulatory and Legal Risks

Our business may be impaired by claims that we infringe the intellectual property rights of others.

Litigation between competitors over intellectual property rights can be a common business practice in an industry as a means to protect or gain market share. Litigation to determine the validity of patents or claims by third parties of infringement of patents or other intellectual property rights could result in significant legal expense and divert the efforts of our technical personnel and management, even if the litigation results in a determination favorable to us. In the event of an adverse result in such litigation, we could be required to:

The risk of infringement claims may be greater in emerging products and technologies like smart devices.

There can be no assurance that third parties will not attempt to assert infringement claims against us with respect to our products. Additionally, if an infringement claim against the Company or its customers is successful, the Company may be required to pay damages or seek royalty or license arrangements, which may not be available on commercially reasonable terms. The payment of any such damages or royalties may significantly increase the Company’s operating expenses and materially harm the company’s operating results and financial condition. Further, royalty or license arrangements may not be available at all, which would then require the company to stop selling certain products or using certain technologies, which could negatively affect the company’s ability to compete effectively. We do not have reserves for litigation or insurance for infringement litigation costs. This kind of litigation is typically very expensive to litigate, and we may lack the funds to aggressively litigate infringement claims against us or against competitors, which could lead to a materially adverse impact on our business.

Our operations in foreign countries expose us to certain risks inherent in doing business internationally, which may adversely affect our business, results of operations or financial condition.

We have revenue, operations and contract manufacturing arrangements in overseas that expose us to certain risks. Fluctuations in exchange rates may affect our revenue, expenses and results of operations as well as the value of our assets and liabilities as reflected in our financial statements. We are also subject to other types of risks, including the following:

Changes in regulatory, geopolitical, social, economic, or monetary policies and other factors may have a material adverse effect on our business in the future or may require us to significantly modify our current business practices. Abrupt political change, terrorist activity and armed conflict pose a risk of general economic disruption in affected countries, which could also result in an adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

We do not have extensive prior experience in conducting business in Thailand, which is the location of our product development and production (supplemented by contractors in China). This lack of experience may delay accomplishing our business milestones for development or production of product from our Thailand OEM’s.

Our financial results and ability to grow our business may be negatively impacted by economic, regulatory and political risks beyond our control.

All of our manufacturers are located outside of the United States in 2023. As a result, we are subject to risks associated with doing business abroad, including:

These risks could negatively affect the ability of our manufacturers to produce or deliver our products or procure materials and increase our cost of doing business generally, any of which could have an adverse effect on our results of operations, cash flows and financial condition. If one or more of these factors, make it undesirable or impractical for us to conduct business in a particular country our business could be adversely affected.

Additional Financial Risk Factors

Our inadequate or expensive funding and financing alternatives.

Our current short-term debt level as of December 31, 2023 and 2022 was $2,540,476 and $620,137, respectively.

The Company will need additional outside working capital funding in fiscal year 2024 to support the Company’s operations and develop and market the Connected Chef product line.

Cash flow from operations are primarily dependent on our net income adjusted for non-cash expenses and the timing of collections of receivables, level of inventory and payments to suppliers.

Other adverse consequences could include:

Since we are transitioning our product focus to Connected Surfaces products past financial performance is not indicative of any future growth or future financial performance. We will have to establish our Connected Surfaces product line in the face of extensive competition as an entirely new segment within the Smart Home category.

Currency fluctuations may significantly increase our expenses and affect the results of operations, especially where the currency is subject to intense political and other outside pressure.

All our sales in 2023 were transacted in U.S. dollars. The weakening of the U.S. dollar relative to foreign currencies can negatively impact our operating profits, through higher unit costs. However, as the Company volumes increase, the leveraged buying power has enabled the Company to minimize the impact on costs. Changes in currency exchange rates may also affect the relative prices at which we and our competitors sell products in the same market. There can be no assurance that the U.S. dollar foreign exchange rates will be stable in the future or that fluctuations in such rates will not have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, or financial condition.

As a public company we are required to maintain internal control over financial reporting and to report any material weaknesses in such internal control. Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires that we evaluate and determine the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting and provide a management report on our internal control over financial reporting. If we identify material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting, we will be unable to assert that our internal control over financial reporting is effective. If we are unable to assert that our internal control over financial reporting is effective, if our independent registered public accounting firm is unable to express an opinion as to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting, or if we are unable to comply with the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in a timely manner, then, we may be late with the filing of our periodic reports, investors may lose confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports and the market price of our common stock could be negatively affected.

Risk Factors for our Common Stock

Penny Stock and Volatile Market Price.

The Company’s Common Stock is subject to possible volatile trading, including rapid increases and decreases in market price due to trading in the open market. Company’s declining business and financial condition has depressed the already low market price and trading of the Company’s Common Stock in 2023. The Company’s Common Stock lacks the primary market makers and institutional investors who can protect the market price from volatility in trading and market price. Company does not have any research analyst issuing recommendations. The common stock is also a “penny stock” under SEC rules and suffers the limitations and burdens in trading of penny stocks. This lack of market support and penny stock status means that trading, especially by day traders, can cause a rapid increase or decrease in market price of the common stock and makes any investment in the common stock extremely risky and unsuitable for investors who cannot withstand the loss of their entire investment and requires liquidity in the investment. An investment in the Common Stock remains an extremely risky investment that is not suitable for investors who cannot afford the loss of investment and can withstand or tolerate a lack of liquidity.

We are also a former shell company under current SEC rules and interpretations thereof. As such, our stock transfer agent requires a legal opinion as well as other paperwork to lift restrictive legends from stock certificates for non-affiliated as well as affiliated shareholders. The restrictive legends can only be lifted for at most a 90-day period for sales under Rule 144 for affiliated and non-affiliated shareholders. Further, our stock transfer agent will not permanently remove restrictive legends on stock certificates held by shareholders. absent registration of the shareholder’s shares of common stock under the Securities Act. This status may make our common stock even more unappealing to investors and potential purchasers and more difficult to sell or trade. “Affiliated shareholders” are generally Company officers, directors, and holders of more than 10% of the issued shares of the Common Stock.

Further, our common stock is quoted on The OTC Markets Group, Inc. QB venture market. Many brokerage houses will not accept OTC stocks for deposit or for trading due to the compliance burdens and reduced financial benefits of trading in OTC stocks. Some shareholders may hold paper stock certificates and experience difficulty in finding a broker who will accept such stock or experience difficulty in meeting the requirements for deposit of such stock in a brokerage account. These difficulties further decreases the appeal of our common stock to investors.

No Dividends.

We have not paid, and we do not intend to pay dividends on our Common Stock in the foreseeable future. We currently intend to retain all future earnings, if any, to finance our current and proposed business activities. We may also incur indebtedness in the future that may further prohibit or effectively restrict the payment of cash dividends on our Common Stock.

Our controlling stockholders may take actions that conflict with your interests.

Certain of our officers and directors beneficially own approximately 40% of our outstanding common stock as of the date hereof. Assuming support from public shareholders with a sufficient voting power, then our officers and directors will be able to exercise control over all matters requiring stockholder approval, including the election of directors, amendment of our certificate of incorporation and approval of significant corporate transactions, and they will have significant control over our management and policies. The directors elected by these stockholders will be able to influence decisions affecting our capital structure significantly. This control may have the effect of delaying or preventing changes in control or changes in management or limiting the ability of our other stockholders to approve transactions that they may deem to be in their best interest. For example, our controlling stockholders will be able to control the sale or other disposition of our operating businesses and subsidiaries to another entity.

General Risk Factors

Consumer shopping preferences and shifts in distribution channels continue to evolve and could negatively impact our results of operations or our future growth.

Consumer preferences regarding the shopping experience continue to rapidly evolve. If we or our wholesale customers do not provide consumers with an attractive shopping experience, our brand image and results of operations could be negatively impacted. If we do not successfully execute this strategy or continue to provide an engaging and user-friendly digital commerce platform that attracts consumers, our brand image and results of operations could be negatively impacted as well as our opportunities for future growth.

The Company’s operations are subject to disruption from natural or human causes beyond its control, including physical risks from hurricanes, severe storms, floods and other forms of severe weather, accidents, fires, earthquakes, terrorist acts and epidemic or pandemic diseases such as the COVID-19 or variants of that virus, any of which could result in suspension of operations or harm to people or the environment. While all of the Company’s corporate operations are located in the United States, the Company participates in a Chinese and Thailand product supply chain, and if a disease spreads sufficiently to cause a pandemic (or to cause the fear of a pandemic to rise) or governments regulate or restrict the flow of labor or products or impede the travel of Company personnel, the Company’s ability to conduct normal business operations could be impacted which could adversely affect the Company’s results of operations and liquidity. Most of the Company products are sourced and made in China and Thailand and an increased or prolonged disruption could substantially and adversely impact the Company’s production of products. Currently, the Company’s Chinese and Thailand suppliers have reopened and building to full production capabilities.

We may not successfully execute our long-term strategies, which may negatively impact our results of operations.

Our ability to execute on our long-term strategies depends, in part, on successfully executing on strategic growth initiatives in key areas, such as our new Connected Chef product. Our growth in these areas depends on our ability to continue to successfully market these new products to existing customers, grow our e-commerce and mobile application offerings in the U.S. market and continue to successfully increase our product offerings in the Connected Surfaces category. Our long-term strategy depends on our ability to successfully drive expansion of our gross margins, manage our cost structure and drive return on our investments. If we cannot effectively execute our long-term growth strategies while managing costs effectively, our business could be negatively impacted, and we may not achieve our expected results of operations.

If we fail to adequately protect intellectual property rights, competitors may manufacture and market similar products, which could adversely affect our market share and results of operations.

We rely on trademark, trade secret, patent and copyright laws to protect our intellectual property rights. Our trademarks are of material importance to our business and are among our most important assets. Accordingly, our future success may depend, in part, upon the goodwill associated with our trademarks and brand names. We own a number of patents; patent applications and other technology which we believe are significant to our business.

Our products are made in China and Thailand. We face risks that our proprietary information may not be afforded the same protection in China as it is in countries with well-developed intellectual property laws, and local laws may not provide an adequate remedy in the event of unauthorized disclosure of confidential information. Costly and time-consuming litigation could be necessary to enforce and determine the scope of our proprietary rights in China, and failure to obtain or maintain trade secret protection could adversely affect our competitive business position. We cannot be sure that these intellectual property rights will be maximized or that they can be successfully asserted. There is a risk that we will not be able to obtain and perfect, or maintain our own intellectual property rights or, where appropriate, license intellectual property rights necessary to support new product introductions. We cannot be certain that these rights, if obtained, will not be invalidated, circumvented or challenged in the future, and we could incur significant costs in connection with legal actions to defend our intellectual property rights.

Even if such rights are obtained in the United States, the laws of some of the other countries in which our products are or may be sold do not protect intellectual property rights to the same extent as the laws of the United States. If other parties infringe our intellectual property rights, they may dilute the value of our brands in the marketplace, which could diminish the value that consumers associate with our brands and harm our sales. The failure to perfect or successfully assert our intellectual property rights could make us less competitive and could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results, and financial condition.

There may be emerging, or new technologies patented by others. These new technologies may be critical to competing in a product niche, especially one like the emerging smart devices in smart home industry. We may be unable to license or affordably license new technologies owned by others and critical to competing in the product niche.

Our results of operations and financial condition could be seriously impacted by security breaches, including cybersecurity incidents.

Failure to effectively prevent, detect and recover from security breaches, including attacks on information technology and infrastructure by hackers; viruses; breaches due to employee error or actions; or other disruptions could result in misuse of our assets, business disruptions, loss of property, and confidential business information. Such attacks could result in unauthorized parties gaining access to at least certain confidential business information. However, to date, we have not experienced any financial impact, changes in the competitive environment or business operations that we attribute to such attacks. Although management does not believe that we have experienced any security breaches or cybersecurity incidents, there can be no assurance that we will not suffer such attacks in the future. We actively manage the risks within our control that could lead to business disruptions and security breaches and have expended significant resources to enhance our control environment, processes, practices and other protective measures. Despite these efforts, as these threats continue to evolve, particularly around cybersecurity, such events could adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.

We expect our results of operations to fluctuate on a quarterly and annual basis.

Company’s revenue and results of operations could vary significantly from period to period and may fail to match expectations because of a variety of factors, some of which are outside of our control. As a result of the potential variations in our revenue and results of operations, period-to-period comparisons may not be meaningful and the results of any one period should not be relied on as an indication of future performance. In addition, our results of operations may not meet the expectations of investors or public market analysts who follow us, which may adversely affect our stock price. Since the Connected Chef is a new product line, we lack the operational experience to determine if Connected Chef has seasonal sales cycles.