Item 1A. Risk Factors
Item 1A. Risk Factors.
Other than the risk factors listed below, there have been no material changes from the risk factors previously described under Part 1, Item 1A of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024, filed with the SEC on April 15, 2025.
Risks Related to our Business and Industry
If we fail to retain our key personnel or if we fail to attract additional qualified personnel, we may not be able to achieve our anticipated level of growth and our business could suffer.
Our success depends to a significant extent on our and our joint ventures’ ability to attract and retain talent, specifically in senior management and skilled technical, engineering, project management and other key roles. Macroeconomic conditions, specifically labor shortages, increased competition for employees and wage inflation could have a material impact on our ability to attract and retain talent, our turnover rate and the cost of operating our business. If we are unable to attract and retain sufficient talent, minimize employee turnover or manage wage inflation, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations or prospects.
Further, we rely on certain external partners for critical manufacturing steps, including our wafer fabrication and assembly and testing processes which exposes us to significant risks. These processes are highly sensitive, and even minor contamination or technical glitches during wafer fabrication can render a substantial portion of the component unusable. Identifying such problems early in the production cycle and resolving them in a timely manner is often difficult, expensive and time consuming. Therefore, any issues that arise from our third-party manufacturers could lead to production delays, increased costs, and could potentially lead to a compromise in the quality and performance of our products, which could significantly impact our business and financial results.
Macroeconomic conditions could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects.
Macroeconomic conditions, such as persistent inflation, changes to monetary policy, high interest rates, volatile currency exchange rates, credit and debt concerns, decreasing consumer confidence and spending, including capital spending, concerns about the stability and liquidity of certain financial institutions, the introduction of or changes in tariffs or trade barriers, pandemics and other health crises, and global recessions can adversely impact demand for our products, which could negatively impact our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects. Recent macroeconomic conditions have been adversely impacted by geopolitical instability and military hostilities in multiple geographies, including tariffs, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the conflicts in the Middle East, and monetary and financial uncertainties.
The impacts of these macroeconomic conditions, and the actions taken by governments, central banks, companies, and consumers in response, have resulted in, and may continue to result in, higher inflation in the United States and globally, which is likely, in turn, to lead to an increase in costs and may cause changes in fiscal and monetary policy, including additional increases in interest rates. Tariffs on equipment or materials that we may rely on or use for our products could cause our costs to increase. Other adverse impacts of recent macroeconomic conditions have been, and may continue to be, supply chain constraints, logistics challenges, liquidity concerns in the broader financial services industry, and fluctuations in labor availability.
In a higher inflationary environment, we may be unable to raise the prices of our products sufficiently to keep up with the rate of inflation. A higher inflationary environment can also negatively impact equipment, material, and logistics costs that, in turn, may increase the costs of producing and distributing our products.
We depend on third-party manufacturers, including Samsung Foundry and Plexus, for producing our products, and in the event of a disruption in our supply chain, any efforts to develop alternative supply sources may not be successful or may take longer to take effect than anticipated.
As a fabless company, Blaize does not manufacture its own semiconductor or System-on-a-Chip (“SoC”) products and currently relies on third-party manufacturers, including Samsung Foundry and Plexus, to produce our products. Additionally, Blaize has a design, manufacturing and sales agreement with VeriSilicon, Inc. (“VeriSilicon”) that provides Blaize with design expertise, support and assistance, and certain deliverables, prototypes, products and services from VeriSilicon. Blaize cannot be sure that these manufacturers will remain in business, or that they will not be purchased by one of Blaize’s competitors or another company that is not interested in continuing to produce these products for Blaize’s intended purpose.
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Our reliance on these third-party manufacturers subjects us to a number of risks that include, among other things:
• the interruption of supply resulting from modifications to or discontinuation of a manufacturer’s operations;
• delays in product shipments resulting from uncorrected defects, reliability issues or a manufacturer’s variation in a component;
• a lack of long-term supply arrangements with our manufacturers;
• a delay in delivery due to its suppliers’ prioritizing other customer orders over Blaize’s;
• damage to our reputation caused by defective products produced by our suppliers;
• fluctuation in delivery by our suppliers due to changes in demand from our or their other customers;
• interruptions, shortages, delivery delays and potential discontinuation of supply as a result of reasons outside Blaize’s control;
• political, legal and economic changes, crises or instability and civil unrest in the jurisdictions where Blaize’s manufacturers’ plants are located, such as changes in China-Taiwan relations that may adversely affect Blaize’s manufacturers’ and suppliers’ operations;
• currency conversion risks and exchange rate fluctuations; and
• compliance requirements of U.S. customs and international trade regulations.
Although Blaize’s semiconductor or SoC products could be produced by other manufacturers, any attempt to transition our supply arrangement to one or more other manufacturers could entail significant coordination and expense and could lead to delays in production. If Blaize is unable to arrange for sufficient production capacity among our contract manufacturers or if our contract manufacturers encounter production, quality, financial, or other difficulties, Blaize may encounter difficulty in meeting customer demands as it seeks alternative sources of supply, or it may have to make financial accommodations to such contract manufacturers or otherwise take steps to mitigate supply disruption. Any alternative manufacturers may be unable or unwilling to meet Blaize’s and its customers’ specifications. Any disruption in supply from any supplier or manufacturing location could lead to supply delays or interruptions that could damage Blaize’s business or financial condition. If any of the risks discussed above materialize, costs could significantly increase, and Blaize’s ability to meet demand for its products could be impacted.
We cannot predict what additional actions, if any, may be taken with respect to tariffs or trade relations between the United States and China, what products may be subject to such actions, or what actions may be taken by the China in retaliation. The adoption and expansion of trade restrictions, the occurrence of a trade war, or other governmental action related to tariffs, trade agreements or related policies have the potential to adversely impact our supply chain and access to equipment, our costs and our product margins. The additional tariffs imposed on components or equipment that we source from China will increase our costs and could have an adverse impact on our operating results and financial conditions in future periods. Blaize's supply chain and product assembly is global in nature. While most of the goods movement, including imports and exports, required to manufacture and test Blaize products are restricted to Asian countries, there are certain components that must enter or exit the US. Those components are at the highest risk of being affected by the aforementioned changes, and in turn disrupting the supply chain and Blaize's products pipeline.
We depend on a select number of customers for a significant portion of our revenue .
Historically, a relatively small number of customers have accounted for a significant portion of the Company’s revenue. As of June 30, 2025, two customers, one a related party, accounted for approximately 58% and 30% of the Company's accounts receivable. As of December 31, 2024, one customer accounted for approximately 98% of the Company's total accounts receivable. This customer concentration exposes us to a material adverse effect if any of these significant customers were to significantly reduce purchases for any reason or favor competitors or new market participants, and we can provide no assurance that any of these customers or any of our other customers will continue to utilize our products or our services at current levels. Our customer concentration may also subject us to perceived or actual bargaining leverage that our key customers may have, given their importance to us. If our key customers seek to negotiate their agreements on terms less favorable to us and we accept such unfavorable terms, such unfavorable terms may have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. Furthermore, industry consolidation and company failures could decrease the number of potential significant customers for our products and services. The decrease in the number of potential significant customers will increase our reliance on key customers and, due to the relative importance to us, may negatively impact our bargaining position and thus our profit margins. If we were to lose one of our key customers or have a key customer cancel a key program or otherwise significantly reduce its volume of business with us or fail to pay us in full for the goods or services purchased from us, our sales and profitability would be materially reduced and our business and financial condition would be seriously harmed.
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