HP Inc.: 10-K Risk Factor Changes

To execute our strategy, we must, among other things, optimize our cost structure, make long-term investments, develop or acquire and appropriately protect intellectual property, commit significant research and development and other resources, evolve our go-to-market strategy and business model to meet changing market dynamics, forces and demand. In addition, we need to innovate, develop and execute on evolutionary strategies in a rapidly changing and increasingly hybrid environment, seize on disruptive opportunities and effectively respond to secular trends and shifts in customer preferences. Our financial performance will depend in part on our ability to remain competitive in offerings geared towards new or emerging market trends, such as artificial intelligence and hybrid consumption. For example, in fiscal year 2024 we experienced continued demand softness in printing products and solutions and we believe we and others in our industry face continuing secular challenges related to, among other things, decreased demand for printing products and solutions as a result of increased digitization and hybrid work, and increasing competition from generic alternatives. We also need to ensure our existing offerings in this space, such as managed services and print software, remain sufficiently differentiated. Our efforts to mitigate the impact of these challenges, such as by seeking to increase our margin and market share and drive demand in subscription services and other recurring-revenue based business models, may not be successful, and shifting to recurring-revenue based business may require us to forego upfront revenue. In addition, we may be unable to successfully execute our strategy, sufficiently invest in, prioritize research and development, market and scale, or accurately project the financial performance of our key growth areas, other strategic growth initiatives and existing offerings, accurately predict technological or business trends or control costs. Moreover, the process of developing new high-technology products, services and solutions and enhancing existing products, services and solutions, including through the introduction of AI capabilities, is complex, costly and uncertain, and we may be unable to anticipate or respond to customers’ changing needs, accurately identify emerging technological trends or accurately project the demand, pricing, or other market dynamics of such trends. Our ability to successfully offer our products, services and solutions in this rapidly evolving market requires an effective planning, forecasting, and management process to enable us to effectively calibrate and adjust our business and business models in response to fluctuating market opportunities and conditions. This effort includes execution of effective go-to-market plans, which may require us to evolve our talent and capabilities, incentive plans (especially for evolution to recurring revenue business), and coverage models. In addition, we may be unable to appropriately prioritize and balance our initiatives or effectively manage change throughout our organization. Our industry is subject to rapid and substantial innovation, technological change and customer preferences. Even if we successfully develop new products, solutions and technologies, future products, solutions and technologies, including those created by our competitors, may eventually supplant ours if we are unable to keep pace with technological advances and end-user requirements and preferences and timely enhancement of our existing products and technologies or develop new ones. As a result, we could lose market share and certain of our products, solutions and technologies may be rendered uneconomical or obsolete. After we develop a product, we must be able to quickly manufacture appropriate volumes while also managing costs and preserving or improving margins. To accomplish this, we must accurately forecast volumes, mixes of products and configurations that meet customer and legal requirements, and we may not succeed in doing so within a given product’s lifecycle or at all. Any delay in the development, production or marketing of a new product, service or solution could result in us not being among the first to market, which could further harm our competitive position. Moreover, new products and services may not be profitable, and even if they are profitable, the operating margins may not be as high as the historical or anticipated margins. 12 12 12 Table of Contents Table of Contents

Our strategy is to strengthen our core businesses, innovate and develop new products, services and solutions, expand into adjacencies, and grow organically and inorganically. To execute our strategy, we must, among other things, optimize our cost structure, make long-term investments, develop or acquire and appropriately protect intellectual property, commit significant research and development and other resources, evolve our go-to-market strategy and business model to meet changing market dynamics, forces and demand. In addition, we need to innovate, develop and execute on evolutionary strategies in a rapidly changing and increasingly hybrid environment, seize on disruptive opportunities and effectively respond to secular trends and shifts in customer preferences. Our financial performance will depend in part on our ability to remain competitive in offerings geared towards new or emerging market trends, such as hybrid consumption and artificial intelligence. For example, we believe we and others in our industry face long-term challenges related to, among other things, decreased demand for printing products and solutions as a result of increased digitization and hybrid work, and increasing competition from generic alternatives. Our efforts to mitigate the impact of these challenges, such as by seeking to drive demand to HP+ enabled and profit upfront units, may not be successful. In addition, we may be unable to successfully execute our strategy, sufficiently invest in, prioritize research and development, market and scale, or accurately project the financial performance of our key growth areas or other strategic growth initiatives, accurately predict technological or business trends or control costs. Moreover, the process of developing new high-technology products, services and solutions and enhancing existing products, services and solutions, including through the introduction of AI capabilities, is complex, costly and uncertain, and we may be unable to anticipate or respond to customers’ changing needs, accurately identify emerging technological trends or accurately project the demand, pricing, or other market dynamics of such trends. Our ability to successfully offer our products, services and solutions in this rapidly evolving market requires an effective planning, forecasting, and management process to enable us to effectively calibrate and adjust our business and business models in response to fluctuating market opportunities and conditions. In addition, we may be unable to appropriately prioritize and balance our initiatives or effectively manage change throughout our organization. Our industry is subject to rapid and substantial innovation, technological change and customer preferences. Even if we successfully develop new products and technologies, future products and technologies, including those created by our competitors, may eventually supplant ours if we are unable to keep pace with technological advances and end-user requirements and preferences and timely enhancement of our existing products and technologies or develop new ones. As a result, we could lose market share and certain of our products and technologies may be rendered uneconomical or obsolete. After we develop a product, we must be able to quickly manufacture appropriate volumes while also managing costs and preserving or improving margins. To accomplish this, we must accurately forecast volumes, mixes of products and configurations that meet customer requirements, and we may not succeed in doing so within a given product’s lifecycle or at all. Any delay in the development, production or marketing of a new product, service or solution could result in us not being among the first to market, which could further harm our competitive position. Moreover, new products and services may not be profitable, and even if they are profitable, the operating margins may not be as high as the historical or anticipated margins.

Approximately 65% of our net revenue for fiscal year 2024 came from outside the United States. In addition, we operate in emerging markets, which can be more volatile. Our future business and financial performance could suffer due to a variety of international factors, including: •instability in a country’s or region’s economic, regulatory or political conditions, including inflation, recession, interest rate fluctuations, changes or uncertainty in fiscal or monetary policy, actual or anticipated military or political conflicts, health emergencies or pandemics; •the imposition by governments of additional taxes, tariffs or other restrictions on foreign trade or changes in restrictions on trade between the United States and other countries where HP products are manufactured or sold, including China; •trade sanctions, embargoes, country localization requirements and import restrictions and other policies and regulations affecting production, shipping, pricing and marketing of products, including policies adopted by any country that may favor domestic companies and technologies over foreign competitors; •political sentiment impacting global trade, including the willingness of non-U.S. consumers to purchase from U.S. corporations; •local labor conditions and regulations, including labor issues faced by suppliers and OEMs, or immigration and labor laws which may adversely impact our access to technical and professional talent; •changes or uncertainty in international, national or local legal environments, including tax, data handling, privacy, artificial intelligence, intellectual property, consumer protection, environmental and antitrust laws; •import, export or other business licensing requirements or requirements relating to making foreign direct investments, which could increase our cost of doing business, prevent us from shipping products, affect our ability to obtain favorable terms for components, increase our operating costs or lead to penalties or restrictions; •compliance with the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, U.S. export control and trade sanction laws, and similar anti-corruption and international trade laws, and adverse consequences for any failure to comply, including compliance by recently acquired companies, which may have less robust internal compliance procedures; and •fluctuations in freight costs, limitations on shipping and receiving capacity, and other disruptions in the transportation and shipping infrastructure at important geographic points for our products and shipments. 22 22 22 Table of Contents Table of Contents The factors described above also could disrupt our product and component manufacturing and key suppliers located outside of the United States and our supply chain. For example, we rely on manufacturers in Taiwan to produce notebook computers and other suppliers in Asia for product assembly and manufacture and have manufacturing operations in Israel which support our Industrial Graphics business. The impact of certain geopolitical conflicts (including any escalation or expansion thereof), such as the ongoing military conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East or tensions in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea, and any broadening of ancillary geopolitical, economic, and other effects could adversely impact these operations and could heighten the other risks identified in this report.

Approximately 65% of our net revenue for fiscal year 2023 came from outside the United States. In addition, we operate in emerging markets, which can be more volatile. Our future business and financial performance could suffer due to a variety of international factors, including: •instability in a country’s or region’s economic, regulatory or political conditions, including inflation, recession, interest rate fluctuations, changes or uncertainty in fiscal or monetary policy, actual or anticipated military or political conflicts (including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, tensions across the Taiwan Strait, the Israel-Hamas conflict and other hostilities in the Middle East), health emergencies or pandemics; •the imposition by governments of additional taxes, tariffs or other restrictions on foreign trade or changes in restrictions on trade between the United States and other countries, including China and Russia; •trade sanctions, embargoes, country localization requirements and other policies and regulations affecting production, shipping, pricing and marketing of products, including policies adopted by any country that may favor domestic companies and technologies over foreign competitors; •political sentiment impacting global trade, including the willingness of non-U.S. consumers to purchase from U.S. corporations; •local labor conditions and regulations, including labor issues faced by suppliers and Original Equipment Manufacturers (“OEMs”), or immigration and labor laws which may adversely impact our access to technical and professional talent; •changes or uncertainty in international, national or local legal environments, including tax, data handling, privacy, intellectual property, consumer protection, environmental and antitrust laws; 13 13 13 Table of Contents Table of Contents •import, export or other business licensing requirements or requirements relating to making foreign direct investments, which could increase our cost of doing business, prevent us from shipping products, affect our ability to obtain favorable terms for components, increase our operating costs or lead to penalties or restrictions; •compliance with the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, U.S. export control and trade sanction laws, and similar anti-corruption and international trade laws, and adverse consequences, for any failure to comply, including compliance by recently acquired companies, which may have less robust internal compliance procedures; and •fluctuations in freight costs, limitations on shipping and receiving capacity, and other disruptions in the transportation and shipping infrastructure at important geographic points for our products and shipments. The factors described above also could disrupt our product and component manufacturing and key suppliers located outside of the United States and our supply chain. For example, we rely on manufacturers in Taiwan to produce notebook computers and other suppliers in Asia for product assembly and manufacture and have manufacturing operations in Israel which support our Industrial Graphics business. In addition, the impact of certain geopolitical conflicts, such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine or the Israel-Hamas conflict (including any escalation or expansion), and any broadening of ancillary geopolitical, economic, and other effects could also heighten the other risks identified in this report.

The success of our services business (such as our managed print services, digital services, consumer subscriptions and other workforce services in both Printing and Personal Systems) depends to a significant degree on attracting, retaining, and maintaining or increasing the level of revenues from our customers. Our standard services agreements are generally renewable at a customer’s option and/or subject to early termination rights. We may not be able to retain or renew services contracts with our customers, or our customers may reduce the scope of the services for which they contract. Factors that may influence contract termination, non-renewal or reduction include business downturns, dissatisfaction with our services or products, our retirement or lack of support for our services, our customers selecting alternative technologies, the cost of our services as compared to our competitors, general market conditions, a lower than investment grade credit rating or other reasons. We may not be able to replace the revenue and earnings from lost customers or reductions in services. While our services agreements may include penalties for early termination, these penalties may not fully cover our investments in these businesses. Our customers could also delay or terminate implementations or use of our services or choose not to invest in additional services from us in the future. In addition, the pricing and other terms of certain services agreements require us to make estimates and assumptions at the time we enter into these contracts that could differ from actual results. Any increased or unexpected costs or unanticipated delays in connection with the performance of these contracts, which may increase as services become more customized, could make these agreements less profitable or unprofitable. Certain service-oriented business models, such as the “device as a service” model under which customers rent a hardware device for a periodic fee within a managed solution that provides professional services, software, support, monitoring and other services, may not generate net new sales for customers who previously purchased our hardware transactionally. The device as a service model also requires the participation of a third-party financing provider, and we may face challenges in finding such providers who are willing to provide financing on acceptable terms or at all. In addition, from time to time we offer new services for which customer demand and adoption rates are difficult to predict, and we may not be able to scale these services as we expect. As a result, we may not generate the revenues, profits or cash flows we may have anticipated from our services business within the expected timelines, if at all.

The success of our services business (such as our managed print services, digital services, consumer subscriptions and other workforce services in both Printing and Personal Systems) depends to a significant degree on attracting, retaining, and maintaining or increasing the level of revenues from our customers. Our standard services agreements are generally renewable at a customer’s option and/or subject to cancellation rights. We may not be able to retain or renew services contracts with our customers, or our customers 18 18 18 Table of Contents Table of Contents may reduce the scope of the services for which they contract. Factors that may influence contract termination, non-renewal or reduction include business downturns, dissatisfaction with our services or products, our retirement or lack of support for our services, our customers selecting alternative technologies, the cost of our services as compared to our competitors, general market conditions, a lower than investment grade credit rating or other reasons. We may not be able to replace the revenue and earnings from lost customers or reductions in services. While our services agreements may include penalties for early termination, these penalties may not fully cover our investments in these businesses. Our customers could also delay or terminate implementations or use of our services or choose not to invest in additional services from us in the future. In addition, the pricing and other terms of certain services agreements require us to make estimates and assumptions at the time we enter into these contracts that could differ from actual results. Any increased or unexpected costs or unanticipated delays in connection with the performance of these contracts, which may increase as services become more customized, could make these agreements less profitable or unprofitable. In addition, from time to time we offer new services for which customer demand and adoption rates are difficult to predict, and we may not be able to scale these services as we expect. As a result, we may not generate the revenues, profits or cash flows we may have anticipated from our services business within the expected timelines, if at all.

Our worldwide operations could be disrupted by natural disasters, telecommunications failures, cybersecurity incidents or other disruptions impacting information technology systems, manufacturing equipment failures, power or water shortages, fires, extreme weather conditions, and other disasters or catastrophic events, for which we are predominantly self-insured. Terrorist acts or armed conflicts, for which we are predominantly uninsured, may also disrupt our operations. Global pandemics, such as COVID-19, or other public health crises may adversely affect, among other things, our supply chain and associated costs; demand for our products and services; our operations and sales, marketing and distribution efforts; our research and development capabilities; our engineering, design, and manufacturing processes; and other important business activities. These events could result in significant losses, adversely affect our competitive position, increase our costs, require substantial expenditures and recovery time, make it difficult or impossible to provide services or deliver products to our customers or to receive components from our suppliers, create delays and inefficiencies in our supply chain and result in the need to impose employee travel restrictions. Our operations and those of our suppliers and distributors could be adversely affected if manufacturing, logistics, or other operations in key locations, are disrupted for any reason, such as those described above or other economic, business, labor, environmental, public health, regulatory or political reasons. In addition, even if our operations are unaffected or recover quickly, if our customers cannot timely resume their own operations, they may reduce or cancel their orders, or these events could otherwise result in a decrease in demand for our products. 23 23 23 Table of Contents Table of Contents

Our worldwide operations could be disrupted by natural disasters, telecommunications failures, manufacturing equipment failures, power or water shortages, fires, extreme weather conditions , and other disasters or catastrophic events, for which we are predominantly self-insured. Terrorist acts or armed conflicts, for which we are predominantly uninsured, may also disrupt our operations. Global pandemics, such as COVID-19, or other public health crises may adversely affect, among other things, our supply chain and associated costs; demand for our products and services; our operations and sales, marketing and distribution efforts; our research and development capabilities; our engineering, design, and manufacturing processes; and other important business activities. These events could result in significant losses, adversely affect our competitive position, increase our costs, require substantial expenditures and recovery time, make it difficult or impossible to provide services or deliver products to our customers or to receive components from our suppliers, create delays and inefficiencies in our supply chain and result in the need to impose employee travel restrictions. Our operations and those of our suppliers and distributors could be adversely affected if manufacturing, logistics, or other operations in key locations, are disrupted for any reason, such as those described above or other economic, business, labor, environmental, public health, regulatory or political reasons. In addition, even if our operations are unaffected or recover quickly, if our customers cannot timely resume their own operations, they may reduce or cancel their orders, or these events could otherwise result in a decrease in demand for our products.

We believe the proliferation of AI, especially as it relates to our product and solutions offerings, will have a significant impact on customer preferences and market dynamics in our industry, and our ability to effectively compete in this space will be critical to our financial performance. We also believe that the effective use of AI in our internal operations is important to our long-term success. We are working to incorporate AI capabilities into our consumer and commercial products and solutions, as well as across the company in our own internal operations, and our research into and continued development of such technologies remain ongoing. As with many innovations, AI presents risks, challenges, and unintended consequences that could affect its rate and success of adoption, and therefore our business, and there is no guarantee that our use of AI or incorporation of AI capabilities into our products and solutions will benefit our business operations or result in products and solutions that are preferred by our customers. We have invested, and expect to continue to invest, significant resources to build and support our AI products. If our AI products fail to operate as anticipated or as well as competing products or otherwise do not meet customer needs or if we are unable to bring AI-enabled products and solutions to market as effectively, or with the same speed or in the same volumes, as our competitors, we may fail to recoup our investments in AI or improve our financial performance, our competitive position may be harmed, and our business and reputation may be adversely impacted. Moreover, our actions to drive demand to AI products may result in cannibalization of demand for our traditional, non-AI products. In addition, AI algorithms may be flawed. Datasets may be insufficient or contain biased information. AI models deployed by us or our partners may lead to unexpected or unintended outcomes that could erode trust in our AI products and solutions and potentially cause harm to individuals or society. These deficiencies and other failures of AI systems could subject us to competitive harm, regulatory action, legal liability, including under new proposed legislation regulating AI in jurisdictions such as the U.S. and European Union, new applications of existing data protection, privacy, intellectual property, and other laws, and brand or reputational harm. Additionally, our obligations to comply with the evolving legal and regulatory landscape could entail significant costs or limit our ability to incorporate certain AI capabilities into our products and solutions. Some AI capabilities also present ethical issues, and we may be unsuccessful in identifying or resolving issues before they arise. If we enable or offer AI products or solutions or implement AI capabilities in our internal operations that are controversial because of their impact on human rights, the environment, privacy, employment, or other social, economic, or political issues, we may experience brand or reputational harm or greater employee attrition.

We believe the proliferation of AI, especially as it relates to our product and solutions offerings, will have a significant impact on customer preferences and market dynamics in our industry, and our ability to effectively compete in this space will be critical to our financial performance. We also believe that the effective use of AI in our internal operations is important to our long-term success. We are working to incorporate AI capabilities into certain of our products and solutions and apply AI in our own internal operations, and our research into and continued development of such technologies remain ongoing. As with many innovations, AI presents risks, challenges, and unintended consequences that could affect its rate and success of adoption, and therefore our business. We may be unable to bring AI-enabled products and solutions to market as effectively, or with the same speed or in the same volumes, as our competitors, which may hurt our competitive position. In addition, AI algorithms may be flawed. Datasets may be insufficient or contain biased information. Ineffective or inadequate AI development or deployment practices by us or others we rely on or partner with could result in incidents that impair the acceptance of AI solutions or cause harm to individuals or society. These deficiencies and other failures of AI systems could subject us to competitive harm, regulatory action, legal liability, including under new proposed legislation regulating AI in jurisdictions such as the European Union, new applications of existing data protection, privacy, intellectual property, and other laws, and brand or reputational harm. Some AI capabilities present ethical issues, and we may be unsuccessful in identifying or resolving issues before they arise. If we enable or offer AI products or solutions or implement AI capabilities in our internal operations that are controversial because of their impact on human rights, privacy, employment, or other social, economic, or political issues, we may experience brand or reputational harm or greater employee attrition.

Our credit risk is evaluated by the major independent rating agencies. A downgrade of our current credit rating could increase the cost of borrowing under our credit facilities, reduce access to capital markets and/or market capacity for our commercial paper or require the posting of additional collateral under some of our derivative contracts. In addition, a downgrade of our credit rating could have an adverse impact on our subscription, other recurring revenue business and other offerings and our strategy related to such businesses due to higher borrowing costs and customer preferences when deciding to purchase our subscription based and other offerings. We have in the past, and may from time to time in the future, take actions to manage our capital structure, including reducing our outstanding debt, in order to maintain our credit rating. Such actions may reduce the funds we would otherwise have available for working capital, capital expenditures, dividends, stock repurchases, acquisitions, and other general corporate purposes. We cannot be assured that we will be able to maintain our current credit ratings, and any additional actual or anticipated changes or downgrades in our credit ratings, including any announcement that our ratings are under further review for a downgrade, may impact us in a similar manner and have a negative impact on our liquidity, capital position, access to capital markets and our subscription based and other offerings.

Our credit risk is evaluated by the major independent rating agencies. A downgrade of our current credit rating could increase the cost of borrowing under our credit facilities, reduce access to capital markets and/or market capacity for our commercial paper or require the posting of additional collateral under some of our derivative contracts. In addition, a downgrade of our credit rating could have an adverse impact on our contractual business and our strategy to increase our contractual business due to higher borrowing costs and customer preferences when deciding to purchase our subscription based offerings. We cannot be assured that we will be able to maintain our current credit ratings, and any additional actual or anticipated changes or downgrades in our credit ratings, including any announcement that our ratings are under further review for a downgrade, may impact us in a similar manner and have a negative impact on our liquidity, capital position, access to capital markets and our subscription based offerings.

We face legal claims or regulatory matters involving stockholder, consumer, competition, commercial, IP, employment, and other issues on a global basis. There is an increasingly active litigation and regulatory environment, including but not limited to employment and patent-monetization claims in the United States, Germany and Brazil, and litigation and regulatory matters focused on consumer protection, privacy, and competition regulation globally. Patent monetization campaigns have become increasingly aggressive, including those by patent holders for standardized technology, such as WiFi and video and other standardized technology in PCs, who have sued in venues that allow injunctions despite commitments to license patents on fair and reasonable terms. If we are unsuccessful in defending against such claims, we may be exposed to exorbitant licensing demands in order to avoid potential disruptions to our business. As described in Note 14, “Litigation and Contingencies” to the Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8, we are engaged in a number of litigation and regulatory matters that may have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, cash flows or results of operations, if decided adversely to or settled by us. Litigation and regulatory proceedings are inherently uncertain, and adverse rulings have occurred and may occur, including awards of monetary damages, imposition of fines, issuance of injunctions or cease-and-desist orders directing us to cease engaging in certain business practices, cease manufacturing or selling certain products, requiring the compulsory licensing of patents, or requiring other remedies. In addition, regardless of the outcome, litigation and regulatory proceedings can be costly, time-consuming, disruptive to our operations, and distracting to management. We and Hewlett Packard Enterprise entered into a separation and distribution agreement and various other agreements in connection with the separation of the two businesses. The separation and distribution agreement provides for cross-indemnities between HP and Hewlett Packard Enterprise for liabilities allocated to the respective party pursuant to the terms of such agreement. If Hewlett Packard Enterprise or its successor entities (including spun off businesses to which obligations have been transferred) are unable to satisfy their obligations under these agreements, we could incur operational difficulties or losses.

We face legal claims or regulatory matters involving stockholder, consumer, competition, commercial, IP, employment, and other issues on a global basis. There is an increasingly active litigation and regulatory environment, including but not limited to employment and patent-monetization claims in the United States, Germany and Brazil, and litigation and regulatory matters focused 25 25 25 Table of Contents Table of Contents on consumer protection, privacy, and competition regulation globally. Patent monetization campaigns have become increasingly aggressive, including those by patent holders for standardized technology, such as WiFi and video, who have sued in venues that allow injunctions despite commitments to license patents on fair and reasonable terms. If we are unsuccessful in defending against such claims, we may be exposed to exorbitant licensing demands in order to avoid potential disruptions to our business. As described in Note 14, “Litigation and Contingencies” to the Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8, we are engaged in a number of litigation and regulatory matters that may have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, cash flows or results of operations, if decided adversely to or settled by us. Litigation and regulatory proceedings are inherently uncertain, and adverse rulings have occurred and may occur, including awards of monetary damages, imposition of fines, issuance of injunctions or cease-and-desist orders directing us to cease engaging in certain business practices, cease manufacturing or selling certain products, requiring the compulsory licensing of patents, or requiring other remedies. In addition, regardless of the outcome, litigation and regulatory proceedings can be costly, time-consuming, disruptive to our operations, and distracting to management.

We are subject to third party claims that we or customers indemnified by us are infringing upon such parties’ IP rights. We have seen an increasing trend of patent assertion entities and operating companies with licensing businesses engaging in claims of infringement and assertion of patents to extract settlements to avoid significant business disruption, including the assertion of patents related to standardized technologies, such as Wi-Fi or video. The patent litigation environment has also become more challenging due to the emergence of venues adopting procedural and substantive rules and practices that make them more favorable for patent asserters, including the availability of preliminary and permanent injunctions for non-competitors. If we cannot or do not license allegedly infringed IP at all or on reasonable terms, or if we are required to substitute technology from another source, our operations could be adversely affected. Even if we believe that IP claims are without merit, they can be time-consuming and costly to defend against and may divert management’s attention and resources away from our business. Claims of IP infringement have and may require us to redesign affected products, enter into costly settlements or license agreements, pay damage awards, or face a temporary or permanent injunction prohibiting us from importing, marketing or selling certain products. Additionally, claims of IP infringement may adversely impact our brand and reputation and imperil new and existing customer relationships. In certain countries (primarily in Europe), proceedings are ongoing or have been concluded in which groups representing copyright owners seek to impose upon and collect from us levies upon IT equipment (such as PCs and printers). There have also been efforts to introduce, modify or extend existing levy schemes and to increase the amount of the levies that can be collected from us. The total amount of the copyright levies depends on several factors, and could be substantial. The ultimate impact of these copyright levies or similar fees, and our ability to recover such amounts through increased prices, remains uncertain. The terms of the separation of Hewlett Packard Enterprise and us include licenses and other arrangements to provide for certain ongoing use of intellectual property in the operations of both Hewlett Packard Enterprise and us. For example, through a joint brand holding structure, both Hewlett Packard Enterprise and we retain the ability to make ongoing use of certain variations of the legacy Hewlett-Packard and HP branding, respectively. As a result of this continuing shared use of the legacy branding there is a risk that conduct or events adversely affecting the reputation of Hewlett Packard Enterprise could also adversely affect our reputation.

We are subject to third party claims that we or customers indemnified by us are infringing upon such parties’ IP rights. We have seen an increasing trend of patent assertion entities engaging in claims of infringement and assertion of patents to extract settlements, including the assertion of patents related to standardized technologies, such as Wi-Fi or video. If we cannot or do not license allegedly infringed IP at all or on reasonable terms, or if we are required to substitute technology from another source, our operations could be adversely affected. Even if we believe that IP claims are without merit, they can be time-consuming and costly to defend against and may divert management’s attention and resources away from our business. Claims of IP infringement also might require us to redesign affected products, enter into costly settlements or license agreements, pay damage awards, or face a temporary or permanent injunction prohibiting us from importing, marketing or selling certain products. Additionally, claims of IP infringement may adversely impact our brand and reputation and imperil new and existing customer relationships. In certain countries (primarily in Europe), proceedings are ongoing or have been concluded in which groups representing copyright owners seek to impose upon and collect from us levies upon IT equipment (such as PCs and printers). There have also been efforts to introduce, modify or extend existing levy schemes and to increase the amount of the levies that can be collected from us. The total amount of the copyright levies depends on several factors, and could be substantial. The ultimate impact of these copyright levies or similar fees, and our ability to recover such amounts through increased prices, remains uncertain.