LAM RESEARCH CORP 10-K

Item 1. Business Incorporated in 1980, Lam Research Corporation (“Lam Research,” “Lam,” “we,” “our,” “us,” or the “Company”) is a Delaware corporation, headquartered in Fremont, California. We maintain a network of facilities throughout Asia, Europe, and the United States in order to meet the needs of our dynamic customer base. Additional information about Lam Research is available on our website at www.lamresearch.com. The content on any website referred to in this Form 10-K is not a part of or incorporated by reference in this Form 10-K unless expressly noted. Our Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Forms 10-Q, Current Reports on Forms 8-K, Proxy Statements and all other filings we make with the SEC are available on our website, free of charge, as soon as reasonably practical after we file them with or furnish them to the SEC and are also available online at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. The Lam Research logo, Lam Research, and all product and service names used in this report are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Lam Research Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and/or other countries. All other marks mentioned herein are the property of their respective holders. Lam Research Corporation 2023 10-K 3 Table of Contents We are a global supplier of innovative wafer fabrication equipment and services to the semiconductor industry. We have built a strong global presence with core competencies in areas such as nanoscale applications enablement, chemistry, plasma and fluidics, advanced systems engineering, and a broad range of operational disciplines. Our products and services are designed to help our customers build smaller and better performing devices that are used in a variety of electronic products, including mobile phones, personal computers, servers, wearables, automotive vehicles, and data storage devices. Our customer base includes leading semiconductor memory, foundry, and integrated device manufacturers (“IDMs”) that make products such as non-volatile memory (“NVM”), dynamic random-access memory (“DRAM”), and logic devices. Their continued success is part of our commitment to driving semiconductor breakthroughs that define the next generation. Our core technical competency is integrating hardware, process, materials, software, and process control enabling results on the wafer. Semiconductor manufacturing, our customers’ business, involves the complete fabrication of multiple dies or integrated circuits (“ICs”) on a wafer. This involves the repetition of a set of core processes and can require hundreds of individual steps. Fabricating these devices requires highly sophisticated process technologies to integrate an increasing array of new materials with precise control at the atomic scale. Along with meeting technical requirements, wafer processing equipment must deliver high productivity and be cost-effective. Demand from cloud computing (the “Cloud”) , the Internet of Things (“IoT”), and other markets is driving the need for increasingly powerful and cost - efficient semiconductors. At the same time, there are growing technical challenges with traditional two-dimensional scaling. These trends are driving significant inflections in semiconductor manufacturing, such as the increasing importance of vertical scaling strategies like three-dimensional (“3D”) architectures as well as multiple patterning to enable shrinks. We believe we are in a strong position with our leadership and expertise in deposition , etch, and clean to facilitate some of the most significant innovations in semiconductor device manufacturing. Several factors create opportunity for sustainable differentiation for us: (i) our focus on research and development, with several on-going programs relating to sustaining engineering, product and process development, and concept and feasibility; (ii) our ability to effectively leverage cycles of learning from our broad installed base; (iii) our collaborative focus with semi-ecosystem partners; (iv) our ability to identify and invest in the breadth of our product portfolio to meet technology inflections; and (v) our focus on delivering our multi-product solutions with a goal to enhance the value of Lam’s solutions to our customers. We also address processes for back-end wafer-level packaging (“WLP”), which is an alternative to traditional wire bonding and can offer a smaller form factor, increased interconnect speed and bandwidth, and lower power consumption, among other benefits. We offer advanced packaging solutions that support fan-out panel-level packaging, a process in which chips or chiplets are cut from a large format substrate sheet several times the size of a traditional silicon wafer, which increases yield and reduces waste and solutions that meet the need for 3D stacking of high bandwidth memory (“HBM”). In addition, our products are well-suited for related markets that rely on semiconductor processes and require production-proven manufacturing capability, such as complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor image sensors (“CIS”) and micro-electromechanical systems (“MEMS”). Our Customer Support Business Group (“CSBG”) provides products and services to maximize installed equipment performance, predictability, and operational efficiency. We offer a broad range of services to deliver value throughout the lifecycle of our equipment, including customer service, spares, upgrades, and new and refurbished non-leading edge products in our deposition, etch, and clean markets. Many of the technical advances that we introduce in our newest products are also available as upgrades, which provide customers with a cost-effective strategy for extending the performance and capabilities of their existing wafer fabrication lines. Service offerings include addressing productivity needs for our customers including, but not limited to, system uptime or availability optimization, throughput improvements, and defect reduction. Additionally, within CSBG, our Reliant ® product line offers new and refurbished non-leading edge products in deposition, etch and clean markets for those applications that do not require the most advanced wafer processing capability. Lam Research Corporation 2023 10-K 4 Table of Contents Products Market Process/Application Technology Products Deposition Metal Films Electrochemical Deposition (“ECD”) (Copper & Other) SABRE ® family Chemical Vapor Deposition (“CVD”) Atomic Layer Deposition (“ALD”) (Tungsten) ALTUS ® family Dielectric Films Plasma-enhanced CVD (“PECVD”) ALD Gapfill High-Density Plasma CVD (“HDP-CVD”) VECTOR ® family Striker ® family SPEED ® family Etch Conductor Etch Reactive Ion Etch Kiyo ® family, Versys ® Metal family Dielectric Etch Reactive Ion Etch Flex ® family Vantex ® family Through-silicon Via (“TSV”) Etch Deep Reactive Ion Etch Syndion ® family Clean Wafer Cleaning Wet Clean EOS ® , DV-Prime ® , Da Vinci ® , SP Series Bevel Cleaning Dry Plasma Clean Coronus ® family Deposition Processes and Product Families Deposition processes create layers of dielectric (insulating) and metal (conducting) materials used to build a semiconductor device. Depending on the type of material and structure being made, different techniques are employed. Electrochemical deposition creates the copper wiring (interconnect) that links devices in an integrated circuit (“IC” or “chip”). Plating of copper and other metals is also used for TSV and WLP applications. Tiny tungsten connectors and thin barriers are made with the precision of chemical vapor deposition and atomic layer deposition, which adds only a few layers of atoms at a time. Plasma-enhanced CVD, high-density plasma CVD, and ALD are used to form the critical insulating layers that isolate and protect all of these electrical structures. Lastly, post-deposition treatments such as ultraviolet thermal processing are used to improve dielectric film properties. ALTUS ® Product Family Tungsten and/or Molybdenum deposition is used to form conductive features such as contacts, vias, and wordlines on a chip. These features are small, often narrow, and use only a small amount of metal, so minimizing resistance and achieving complete fill can be difficult. At these nanoscale dimensions, even slight imperfections can impact device performance or cause a chip to fail. Our ALTUS ® systems combine CVD and ALD technologies to deposit the highly conformal or selective films as needed for advanced tungsten metallization applications in both logic and memory. The Multi-Station Sequential Deposition architecture enables nucleation layer formation and bulk CVD/ALD fill to be performed in the same chamber (“in situ”). Our ALD technologies are used in the deposition of barrier films to achieve high step coverage with reduced thickness at lower temperatures relative to a conventional process. SABRE ® Product Family Copper deposition lays down the electrical wiring for most semiconductor devices. Even the smallest defect - say, a microscopic pinhole or dust particle - in these conductive structures can impact device performance, from loss of speed to complete failure. The SABRE ® ECD product family, which helped pioneer the copper interconnect transition, offers the precision needed for copper damascene manufacturing in logic and memory. System capabilities include cobalt deposition for logic applications and copper deposition directly on various liner materials, which is important for next-generation metallization schemes. For advanced WLP applications, such as forming conductive bumps, redistribution layers, TSV filing, and wafer level bonding, the SABRE ® 3D family combines Lam’s SABRE Electrofill ® technology with additional innovation to deliver the high-quality films needed at high productivity. The modular architecture can be configured with multiple plating and pre/post-treatment cells, providing flexibility to address a variety of packaging applications, including HBM. SPEED ® Product Family Dielectric gapfill processes deposit critical insulation layers between conductive and/or active areas by filling openings of various aspect ratios between conducting lines and between devices. With advanced devices, the structures being filled can be very tall and narrow. As a result, high-quality dielectric films are especially important due to the ever-increasing possibility of cross-talk and device failure. Our SPEED ® HDP-CVD products provide a multiple dielectric film solution for high-quality gapfill with industry-leading throughput and reliability. SPEED ® products have excellent particle performance, and their design allows large batch sizes between cleans and faster cleans. Lam Research Corporation 2023 10-K 5 Table of Contents Striker ® Product Family The latest memory, logic, and imaging devices require extremely thin, highly conformal dielectric films for continued device performance improvement and scaling. For example, ALD films are critical for spacer-based multiple patterning schemes where the spacers help define critical dimensions, as well as for insulating liners and gapfill in high aspect ratio features, which have little tolerance for voids and even the smallest defect. The Striker ® single-wafer ALD products provide dielectric film solutions for these challenging requirements through application-specific material, process and hardware options that deliver film technology and defect performance. VECTOR ® Product Family Dielectric film deposition processes are used to form some of the most difficult-to-produce insulating layers in a semiconductor device, including those used in the latest transistors and 3D structures. In some applications, these films require dielectric films to be exceptionally smooth and defect free since slight imperfections are multiplied greatly in subsequent layers. Our VECTOR ® PECVD products are designed to provide the performance and flexibility needed to create these enabling structures within a wide range of challenging device applications. As a result of its design, VECTOR ® produces superior thin film quality, along with exceptional within-wafer and wafer-to-wafer uniformity. Etch Processes and Product Families Etch processes help create chip features by selectively removing dielectric (insulating), metal, silicon and poly silicon (conducting/semiconducting) materials that have been added during deposition. These processes involve fabricating increasingly small, complex, and narrow features using many types of materials. The primary technology, reactive ion etch, bombards the wafer surface with ions (charged particles) to remove material. For the smallest features, atomic-layer etching (“ALE”) removes a few atomic layers of material at a time. While conductor etch processes precisely shape critical electrical components like transistors, dielectric etch forms the insulating structures that protect conducting parts. Flex ® Product Family Dielectric etch carves patterns in insulating materials to create barriers between the electrically conductive parts of a semiconductor device. For advanced devices, these structures can be extremely tall and thin and involve complex, sensitive materials. Slight deviations from the target feature profile - even at the atomic level - can negatively affect electrical properties of the device. To precisely create these challenging structures, our Flex ® product family offers differentiated technologies and application-focused capabilities for critical dielectric etch applications. Uniformity, repeatability, and tunability are enabled by a unique multi-frequency, small-volume, confined plasma design. Flex ® offers in situ multi-step etch and continuous plasma capability that delivers high productivity with low defectivity. Vantex ® Product Family Dielectric etch processes remove non-conductive materials during the manufacturing of a semiconductor device. Leading-edge memory devices have especially challenging structures, such as extremely deep holes and trenches, that must be manufactured with tight tolerances. Our latest dielectric etch system, Vantex ® creates high aspect ratio device features while maintaining critical dimension (“CD”) uniformity and selectivity. Vantex ® is part of our Sense.i ® platform and offers advanced RF technology and repeatable wafer-to-wafer performance enabled by Equipment Intelligence ® to meet the needs of advanced memory manufacturing, primarily in 3D NAND high aspect ratio hole, trench, contact, and capacitor cell applications. Kiyo ® Product Family Conductor etch helps shape the electrically active materials used in the parts of a semiconductor device. Even a slight variation in these miniature structures can degrade device performance. In fact, these structures are so tiny and sensitive that etch processes push the boundaries of the basic laws of physics and chemistry. Our Kiyo ® product family delivers the high-performance capabilities needed to precisely and consistently form these features precisely and with high productivity. Proprietary Hydra technology in Kiyo ® products improves CD uniformity by correcting for incoming pattern variability, and atomic-scale variability control with production-worthy throughput is achieved with plasma-enhanced ALE capability. Syndion ® Product Family Plasma etch processes used to remove single crystal silicon and other materials deep into the wafer are collectively referred to as deep silicon etch. These may be deep trenches for CMOS image sensors, trenches for power and other devices, TSVs for HBM and advanced packaging, and other high aspect ratio features. These are created by etching through multiple materials sequentially, where each new material involves a change in the etch process. The Syndion ® etch product family is optimized for deep silicon etch, providing the fast process switching with depth and cross-wafer uniformity control required to achieve precision etch results. The systems support both conventional single-step etch and rapidly alternating process, which minimizes damage and delivers precise depth uniformity. Lam Research Corporation 2023 10-K 6 Table of Contents Versys ® Metal Product Family Metal etch processes play a key role in connecting the individual components that form an IC, such as forming wires and electrical connections. These processes can also be used to drill through metal hardmasks that are used to form the wiring for advanced devices. To enable these critical etch steps, the Versys ® Metal product family provides high-productivity capability on a flexible platform. Superior CD, profile uniformity, and uniformity control are enabled by a symmetrical chamber design with independent process tuning features. Clean Processes and Product Families Clean techniques are used between manufacturing steps to clear away particles, contaminants, residues and other unwanted material that could later lead to defects and to prepare the wafer surface for subsequent processing. Wet processing technologies can be used for wafer cleaning and etch applications. Plasma bevel cleaning is used to enhance die yield by removing unwanted materials from the wafer’s edge that could impact the device area. Coronus ® Product Family Bevel cleaning removes unwanted masks, residues, and films from the edge of a wafer between manufacturing steps. If not cleaned, these materials become defect sources. For instance, they can flake off and re-deposit on the device area during subsequent processes. Even a single particle that lands on a critical part of a device can ruin the entire chip. By inserting bevel clean processes at strategic points, these potential defect sources can be eliminated and more functional chips produced. By combining the precise control and flexibility of plasma with technology that protects the active die area, the Coronus ® bevel clean family cleans the wafer’s edge to enhance die yield. The systems provide active die area protection by using plasma processing with proprietary confinement technology. Applications include post-etch, pre- and post-deposition, pre-lithography, and metal film removal to prevent arcing during plasma etch or deposition steps. DV-Prime ® , Da Vinci ® , EOS ® , and SP Series Product Families Wafer cleaning is performed repeatedly during semiconductor device manufacturing and is a critical process that affects product yield and reliability. Unwanted microscopic materials - some no bigger than the tiny structures themselves - need to be cleaned effectively. At the same time, these processes must selectively remove residues that are chemically similar to the device films. For advanced WLP, the wet clean steps used between processes that form the package and external wiring have surprisingly complex requirements. These processes are called on to completely remove specific materials and leave other fragile structures undisturbed. In IoT products that include power devices, MEMS and image sensors, there is a unique requirement for wafer backside wet etch to uniformly thin the silicon wafer while protecting the device side of the wafer. Based on our pioneering single-wafer spin technology, the DV-Prime ® and Da Vinci ® products provide the process flexibility needed with high productivity to address a wide range of wafer cleaning steps throughout the manufacturing process flow. As the latest of Lam’s wet clean products, EOS ® delivers exceptionally low on-wafer defectivity and high throughput to address progressively demanding wafer cleaning applications. With a broad range of process capability, our SP Series products deliver cost-efficient, production-proven wet clean and silicon wet etch solutions for challenging WLP and IoT applications. Fiscal Periods Presented All references to fiscal years apply to our fiscal years, which ended June 25, 2023, June 26, 2022, and June 27, 2021. Research and Development The market for semiconductor capital equipment is characterized by rapid technological change and product innovation. Our ability to achieve and maintain our competitive advantage depends in part on our continued and timely development of new products and enhancements to existing products. Accordingly, we devote a significant portion of our personnel and financial resources to research and development (“R&D”) programs and seek to maintain close and responsive relationships with our customers and suppliers. We believe current challenges for customers at various points in the semiconductor manufacturing process present opportunities for us. We expect to continue to make substantial investments in R&D to meet our customers’ product needs, support our growth strategy and enhance our competitive position. Marketing, Sales, and Service Our marketing, sales, and service efforts are focused on building long-term relationships with our customers and targeting product and service solutions designed to meet their needs. These efforts are supported by a team of product marketing and sales professionals as well as equipment and process engineers who work closely with individual customers to develop solutions for their wafer processing needs. We maintain ongoing service relationships with our customers and have an extensive network of service engineers in place throughout the United States, China, Europe, India, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, and Taiwan. We believe that comprehensive support programs and close working relationships with customers are essential to maintaining high customer satisfaction and our competitiveness in the marketplace. Lam Research Corporation 2023 10-K 7 Table of Contents We provide standard warranties for our systems. The warranty provides that systems will be free from defects in material and workmanship and will conform to agreed-upon specifications. The warranty is limited to repair of the defect or replacement with new or like-new equivalent goods and is valid when the buyer provides prompt notification within the warranty period of the claimed defect or non-conformity and also makes the items available for inspection and repair. We also offer extended warranty packages to our customers to purchase as desired. International Sales A significant portion of our sales and operations occur outside the United States (“U.S.”) and, therefore, may be subject to certain risks, including but not limited to compliance with U.S. and international laws and regulations, including U.S. export restrictions; tariffs and other barriers; difficulties in staffing and managing non-U.S. operations; adverse tax consequences; foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations; changes in currency controls; and economic and political conditions. Any of these factors may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial position, and results of operations and cash flows. For geographical reporting, revenue is attributed to the geographic location in which the customers’ facilities are located. Refer to Note 20 of our Consolidated Financial Statements, included in Part II, Item 8 of this 2023 Form 10-K, for the attribution of revenue by geographic region. Long-lived Assets Refer to Note 20 of our Consolidated Financial Statements, included in Part II, Item 8 of this 2023 Form 10-K, for information concerning the geographic locations of long-lived assets. Customers Our customers include many of the world’s leading semiconductor manufacturers. Customers continue to establish joint ventures, alliances, and licensing arrangements which have the potential to positively or negatively impact our competitive position and market opportunities. Refer to Note 9 of our Consolidated Financial Statements, included in Part II, Item 8 of this report, for information concerning customer concentrations. Our most significant customers during the fiscal years ending June 25, 2023, June 26, 2022, and June 27, 2021 included Intel Corporation; Kioxia Corporation; Micron Technology, Inc.; Samsung Electronics Company, Ltd.; and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company. Additionally, SK hynix Inc, and Yangtze Memory Technologies Co., Ltd. were significant customers during the fiscal years ending June 26, 2022, and June 27, 2021. A material reduction in orders from our customers could adversely affect our results of operations and projected financial condition. Our business depends upon the expenditures of semiconductor manufacturers. Semiconductor manufacturers’ businesses, in turn, depend on many factors, including their economic capability, the current and anticipated market demand for ICs, and the availability of equipment capacity to support that demand. Manufacturing Our manufacturing operations mainly consist of assembling and testing components, sub-assemblies, and modules that are then integrated into finished systems prior to shipment to or at the location of our customers. The assembly and testing of our products is conducted predominately in cleanroom environments. We have agreements with third parties to outsource certain aspects of our manufacturing, production warehousing, and logistics functions. These outsourcing contracts may provide us more flexibility to scale our operations up or down in a timely and cost-effective manner. We believe that we have selected reputable providers and have secured their performance on terms documented in written contracts. However, it is possible that one or more of these providers could fail to perform as we expect, and such failure could have an adverse impact on our business and have a negative effect on our operating results and financial condition. Overall, we believe we have effective mechanisms to manage risks associated with our outsourcing relationships. Refer to Note 17 of our Consolidated Financial Statements, included in Part II, Item 8 of this report, for further information concerning our outsourcing commitments, reported as a component of purchase obligations. Certain components and sub-assemblies that we include in our products may only be obtained from a single supplier. In response to supply chain constraints, we are engaged in efforts to obtain and qualify alternative sources to supply these products and in some circumstances protect against potential supply challenges by carrying inventory in excess of current need. Any prolonged inability to obtain these components could have an adverse effect on our operating results and could unfavorably impact our customer relationships. Compliance with Government Regulations As a public company with global operations, we are subject to a variety of governmental regulations across multiple jurisdictions, including those related to export controls, financial and other disclosures, corporate governance, anti-trust, intellectual property, privacy, anti-bribery, anti-corruption, anti-boycott, tax, labor, health and safety, conflict minerals, human trafficking, the management of hazardous materials, and carbon emissions, among others. Each of these regulations imposes costs on our business and has the potential to divert our management’s time and attention from revenue-generating and other profit maximizing activities to those associated with compliance. Efforts to comply with new and changing regulations have resulted in, and are likely to continue to result in, decreased net income and increased capital expenditures. If we are alleged or found by a court or regulatory agency not to be in compliance with regulations, we may be subject to fines, restrictions on our actions, reputational damage, and harm to our Lam Research Corporation 2023 10-K 8 Table of Contents competitive position, and our business, financial condition, and/or results of operations could be adversely affected. For additional details, please refer to “Legal, Regulatory and Tax Risks – We Are Exposed to Various Risks from Our Regulatory Environment” in Item 1A: Risk Factors . Regulations that impact trade, including tariffs, export controls, taxes, trade barriers, sanctions, the termination or modification of trade agreements, trade zones, and other duty mitigation initiatives, have the potential to increase our manufacturing costs, decrease margins, reduce the competitiveness of our products, or inhibit our ability to sell products or purchase necessary equipment and supplies, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, or financial conditions. For additional details regarding the impacts of compliance with trade laws and regulations, please refer to “Business and Operational Risks – Our Future Success Depends Heavily on International Sales and the Management of Global Operations” and “Legal, Regulatory and Tax Risks – Our Sales to Customers in China, a Significant Region for Us, Have Been Impacted, and are Likely to be Materially and Adversely Affected by Export License Requirements and Other Regulatory Changes, or Other Governmental Actions in the Course of the Trade Relationship Between the U.S. and China” in Item 1A: Risk Factors . We are subject to income, transaction, and other taxes in the United States and various foreign jurisdictions that impact our tax rate and profitability. For additional details regarding the impacts of compliance with tax laws and regulations, please refer to “Legal, Regulatory and Tax Risks – Our Financial Results May Be Adversely Impacted by Higher than Expected Tax Rates or Exposure to Additional Tax Liabilities” in Item 1A: Risk Factors . An important element of our management strategy is to review acquisition prospects that would complement our existing products, augment our market coverage and distribution ability, enhance our technological capabilities, or accomplish other strategic objectives. However, for regulatory reasons, we may not be successful in our attempts to acquire or dispose of businesses, products, or technologies. For additional details regarding the impacts of regulations on acquisitions or dispositions we may attempt, please refer to “Business and Operational Risks – If We Choose to Acquire or Dispose of Businesses, Product Lines, and Technologies, We May Encounter Unforeseen Costs and Difficulties That Could Impair Our Financial Performance” in Item 1A: Risk Factors . We are subject to a variety of domestic and international governmental regulations related to the handling, discharge, and disposal of toxic, volatile, or otherwise hazardous chemicals. For additional details regarding the impacts of compliance with environmental laws and regulations, please refer to “Legal, Regulatory and Tax Risks – A Failure to Comply with Environmental Regulations May Adversely Affect Our Operating Results” in Item 1A: Risk Factors . Environmental, Social, and Governance We strive to incorporate environmental, social and governance ("ESG") consi derations into everything we do – from our operations and workplace practices, to how we source our materials and design our products. Our ESG report for calendar year 2022 details, among other items, a number of ESG goals. One such goal is to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, which we intend to achieve in part by meeting a number of interim targets related to our environmental impact. There have been no material impacts to capital expenditures or our results of operations associated with this goal, and there are no material cash commitments associated with the goal as of the fiscal year ended June 25, 2023. Information contained on our website or in our annual ESG Report is not incorporated by reference into this or any other report we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC. Refer to “Item 1A. Risk Factors” for a discussion of risks and uncertainties we face related to ESG. Competition The semiconductor capital equipment industry is characterized by rapid change and is highly competitive throughout the world. To compete effectively, we invest significant financial resources targeted to strengthen and enhance our product and services portfolio and to maintain customer service and support locations globally. Semiconductor manufacturers evaluate capital equipment suppliers in many areas, including but not limited to process performance, productivity, defect control, customer support, and overall cost of ownership, which can be affected by many factors such as equipment design, reliability, software advancements, and similar factors. Our ability to succeed in the marketplace depends upon our ability to manufacture and ship products on a timeline that meets our customers’ needs, maintain existing products, and introduce product enhancements and new products that meet customer requirements on a timely basis. In addition, semiconductor manufacturers must make a substantial investment to qualify and integrate new capital equipment into semiconductor production lines. As a result, once a semiconductor manufacturer has selected a particular supplier’s equipment and qualified it for production, the manufacturer generally maintains that selection for that specific production application and technology node as long as the supplier’s products demonstrate performance to specification in the installed base. Accordingly, we may experience difficulty in selling to a given customer if that customer has qualified a competitor’s equipment. We must also continue to meet the expectations of our installed base of customers through the delivery of high-quality and cost-efficient spare parts in the presence of competition from third-party spare parts providers. We face significant competition with all of our products and services. Our primary competitor in the dielectric and metals deposition market is Applied Materials, Inc. For ALD and PECVD, we also compete against ASM International and Wonik IPS. In the etch market, our primary competitors are Applied Materials, Inc.; Hitachi, Ltd.; and Tokyo Electron, Ltd., and our primary competitors in the wet clean market are Screen Holding Co., Ltd.; Semes Co., Ltd.; and Tokyo Electron, Ltd. Lam Research Corporation 2023 10-K 9 Table of Contents We face competition from a number of established and emerging companies in the industry. We expect our competitors to continue to improve the design and performance of their current products and processes, to introduce new products and processes with enhanced price/performance characteristics, and to provide more comprehensive offerings of products. If our competitors make acquisitions or enter into strategic relationships with leading semiconductor manufacturers, or other entities, covering products similar to those we sell, our ability to sell our products to those customers could be adversely affected. Strategic investments to encourage local semiconductor manufacturing and supply chain in China could increase competition from domestic equipment manufacturers in China. Additionally, the U.S. Government has enacted a number of export controls regulating the sales of certain technologies to customers in China, which provides an advantage to our international competitors. There can be no assurance that we will continue to compete successfully in the future. Patents and Licenses Our policy is to seek patents on inventions relating to new or enhanced products and processes developed as part of our ongoing research, engineering, manufacturing, and support activities. We currently hold a number of U.S. and foreign patents and applications covering various aspects of our products and processes. Our patents, which cover material aspects of our past and present core products, have current durations ranging from approximately one to twenty years. We believe that, although the patents we own and may obtain in the future will be of value, they alone will not determine our success. Our success depends principally upon our research and development, engineering, marketing, support, and delivery skills. However, in the absence of patent protection, we may be vulnerable to competitors who attempt to imitate our products, manufacturing techniques, and processes and may be more limited in our ability to exclude competitors than would otherwise be the case. In addition, other companies and inventors may receive patents that contain claims applicable to our products and processes. The sale of products covered by patents of others could require licenses that may not be available on terms acceptable to us, or at all. For further discussion of legal matters, see Item 3, “Legal Proceedings,” of this report. Human Capital We endeavor to be a great place to work globally by investing in a multi-faceted strategy that is rooted in building an inclusive and diverse workplace. To support our employees, we tailor our programs to meet the unique cultural needs and priorities within different regions around the world. As of August 10, 2023, we had approximately 17,200 regular full-time employees, of which over 28% were engaged in research and development. Approximately 45% of our regular full-time employees are located in the United States, 48% in Asia, and 7% in Europe. Inclusion and Diversity To achieve their full potential, we believe it is important for every employee to feel valued, included, and empowered. We embrace inclusion and diversity (“I&D”) and proactively create opportunities to attract, retain, develop, and reward our employees. I&D is one of our strategic focus areas for the company. The three core pillars of our strategy include fostering inclusion, increasing diversity, and sharing our progress. We employ an executive leader of I&D who is responsible for driving our I&D strategy, building partnerships, and aligning with best practices. Employment, Recruitment and Development Our talented people are what makes our success possible. Many of our recruitment efforts are carried out through partnerships with key universities. In fact, many of our senior executives began their careers with us right out of college, demonstrating that programs that recruit university students have the potential to contribute to our leadership pipeline. To tap into the best and brightest students, we prioritize core initiatives including an internship program, campus events, and thesis awards and scholarships. We accelerate employee development, broaden career opportunities, and expand professional networks for employees through our mentorship, coaching, and rotation programs. Additionally, we offer leadership development programs which are designed to scale leadership across our business by guiding managers to motivate, inspire, and lead employees through change. Employee Engagement Employee engagement (i.e. satisfaction) and voice are critical to Lam’s culture. We conduct a global survey at a regular cadence to gather input from employees on culture, I&D, career opportunity, and manager effectiveness. We also solicit employee feedback through in-person and online employee forums, engagement sessions, all-employee meetings, conversations with managers, and our Human Resource Support and Employee Relations programs. Total Rewards Our Total Rewards program incorporates a comprehensive compensation and benefits package aimed at supporting employees’ financial, physical, and mental well-being. We conduct an annual review of salaries and benefits packages using third-party benchmarking surveys to ensure that our offerings are aligned with the marketplace and attractive to top talent. We offer our employees a competitive 401(k) benefit, an employee stock purchase plan, and annual cash bonuses. Stock awards are offered to executives and select employees. Lam Research Corporation 2023 10-K 10 Table of Contents We recognize the importance of time away from work for personal reasons, and we offer annual paid holidays and time off. Additionally, we offer paid parental leave benefits for parents welcoming a new child to the family through birth, adoption, or foster care placement. Employee Health and Safety Prioritizing the health, safety, and well-being of our employees is critical to our ongoing success. We invest in education, awareness, monitoring, and prevention programs to help recognize and control safety hazards. Our goal is to apply our environmental health and safety (“EHS”) policies, programs, and response plans to anywhere we operate and to extend them to anyone who works on our sites with the intent to provide a safe environment during both routine and extraordinary circumstances. People managers in field support, manufacturing, R&D, warehouse, and logistics operations undergo formal safety leadership training biannually to enhance their skills in safety management and communication. We screen contractors’ safety performance and require contractor compliance with specified safety standards. We monitor our safety performance at the enterprise, regional, and site levels. By using our global incident tracking system, our corporate EHS team can assess and monitor safety trends to report to business units and executive leadership as a part of quarterly reviews. We maintain multi-site certifications for ISO 45001, the globally recognized standard for occupational health and safety management systems. Information about our Executive Officers As of August 10, 2023, the executive officers of Lam Research were as follows: Name Age Title Timothy M. Archer 56 President and Chief Executive Officer Douglas R. Bettinger 56 Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Patrick J. Lord 57 Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Neil J. Fernandes 56 Senior Vice President, Global Customer Operations Ava M. Hahn 50 Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Secretary Vahid Vahedi 57 Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer Seshasayee (Sesha) Varadarajan 48 Senior Vice President Global Products Group Timothy M. Archer has been our president and chief executive officer since December 2018. Prior to this, he served as our president and chief operating officer, from January 2018 to November 2018. Mr. Archer joined us in June 2012 as our executive vice president, chief operating officer. Prior to joining us, he spent 18 years at Novellus Systems, Inc., (“Novellus”) in various technology development and business leadership roles, including most recently as chief operating officer from January 2011 to June 2012; executive vice president of Worldwide Sales, Marketing, and Customer Satisfaction from September 2009 to January 2011; and executive vice president of the PECVD and Electrofill Business Units from November 2008 to September 2009. His tenure at Novellus also included assignments as senior director of technology for Novellus Systems Japan from 1999 to 2001 and senior director of technology for the Electrofill Business Unit from April 2001 to April 2002. He started his career in 1989 at Tektronix, where he was responsible for process development for high-speed bipolar ICs. Mr. Archer currently serves on the International Board of Directors for SEMI, the global industry association representing the electronics manufacturing and design supply chain. From 2020 to 2022, Mr. Archer served as chairman of the board for the National GEM Consortium, a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to increasing the participation of underrepresented groups at the master’s and doctoral levels in engineering and science. Mr. Archer completed the Program for Management Development at the Harvard Graduate School of Business and earned a B.S. degree in applied physics from the California Institute of Technology. Douglas R. Bettinger is our executive vice president and chief financial officer with responsibility for Finance, Tax, Treasury, and Investor Relations. Prior to joining the Company in 2013, Mr. Bettinger served as senior vice president and chief financial officer of Avago Technologies from 2008 to 2013. From 2007 to 2008, he served as vice president of Finance and corporate controller at Xilinx, Inc., and from 2004 to 2007, he was chief financial officer at 24/7 Customer, a privately held company. Mr. Bettinger worked at Intel Corporation from 1993 to 2004, where he held several senior-level finance positions, including corporate planning and reporting controller and Malaysia site operations controller. Mr. Bettinger currently serves on the Board of Directors of Lattice Semiconductor Corporation, the SEMI Board of Industry Leaders, and the Industrial Advisory Board of the University of Wisconsin School of Engineering. Mr. Bettinger earned an M.B.A. degree in finance from the University of Michigan and a B.S. degree in economics from the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Patrick J. Lord is our executive vice president and chief operating officer, a position he has held since March 2023. In this role, Dr. Lord is responsible for several functions including, Global Operations; Customer Support; Global Quality; Environmental Health and Safety; Information Technology; and Global Resilience, Security, and Transformation. Dr. Lord previously served as executive vice president of CSBG and Global Operations from September 2020 to February 2023; and senior vice president and general manager of CSBG from December 2016 to September 2020. Prior to that, Dr. Lord held the position of group vice president and deputy general manager of the Global Products Group from September 2013 to December 2016. He served as the head of the Direct Metals, GapFill, Surface Integrity Group, and Integrated Metals (“DGSI”) Business Units between June 2012 and September 2013. Prior to Lam Research Corporation 2023 10-K 11 Table of Contents our acquisition of Novellus in June 2012, Dr. Lord was senior vice president and general manager of the DGSI Business Units at Novellus. Additionally, Dr. Lord held the position of senior vice president of Business Development and Strategic Planning. He joined Novellus in 2001 and held a number of other positions, including senior vice president and general manager of the CMP Business Unit, senior director of Business Development, senior director of Strategic Marketing, and acting vice president of Corporate Marketing. Before joining Novellus, Dr. Lord spent six years at KLA-Tencor in various product marketing and management roles. He earned his Ph.D., M.S., and B.S. degrees in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Neil J. Fernandes is our senior vice president of Global Customer Operations, a position he has held since March 2023. Previously, he was global vice president of business development and sales operations and held other senior sales and customer-focused leadership positions at Lam. He joined the company in 2012 through the acquisition of Novellus, where he was the vice president of sales operations. Prior to that role, he held range of management positions in product marketing and process engineering at Novellus, Gasonics and Watkins-Johnson. Neil earned an M.S. degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and a B.E. in mechanical engineering from the Manipal Institute of Technology. Ava M. Hahn is our senior vice president, chief legal officer and secretary. She joined us in January 2020 and is responsible for global legal matters, ethics and compliance, global trade and government affairs. Prior to joining us, Ms. Hahn served as executive vice president, chief compliance officer, general counsel and secretary of CA Technologies, an enterprise software company, from February 2019 to November 2019 (until its acquisition by Broadcom Corp.), general counsel and secretary of Aruba Networks from April 2013 to June 2016 (until its acquisition by Hewlett Packard Enterprise), general counsel and secretary of ShoreTel, Inc. from 2007 to 2013, and general counsel and secretary of Genesis Microchip from 2002 to 2007. Ms. Hahn also served as general counsel of venture capital firms Kleiner Perkins and Felicis Ventures. She started her career at the law firm of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, where she practiced corporate and securities law. Ms. Hahn earned a J.D. from Columbia Law School and a B.A. in history from the University of California at Berkeley. Vahid Vahedi is our senior vice president and chief technology officer, a position he has held since March 2023. Dr. Vahedi previously served as senior vice president and general manager of the Etch business unit beginning February 2018; and group vice president of the Etch product group beginning March 2012. Previously, he served as vice president of Etch Business Product Management and Marketing, vice president of Dielectric Etch, vice president of Conductor and 3DIC Etch, and director of Conductor Etch Technology Development. He joined us in 1995. He earned his Ph.D., M.S., and B.S. degrees in electrical engineering and computer science from the University of California at Berkeley. Sesha Varadarajan is our senior vice president of the Global Products Group, a position he has held since March 2023. Mr. Varadarajan previously served as senior vice president and general manager of the Deposition Business Unit beginning February 2018; and group vice president of the Deposition product group beginning September 2013. Previously, he served as the head of the PECVD/Electrofill Business Unit between June 2012 and September 2013. Prior to our acquisition of Novellus in June 2012, Mr. Varadarajan was senior vice president and general manager of Novellus’ PECVD and Electrofill Business Units. He joined Novellus in 1999 as a process engineer with the Electrofill Business Unit and held various roles in that business unit before being appointed director of technology in 2004. Between 2006 and 2008, he worked in the PECVD Business Unit, initially as director of technology, until being promoted to product general manager. In 2009, he returned to the Electrofill Business Unit as vice president and general manager. In mid-2011, he was promoted to senior vice president and general manager, where he was also responsible for the PECVD Business Unit. Mr. Varadarajan earned an M.S. degree in manufacturing engineering and material science from Boston University and a B.S. degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Mysore.