Outset Medical, Inc. 10-Q

Item 1A. Risk Factors. You should carefully consider the risk factors discussed in Part I, “Item 1A. Risk Factors” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020, which could materially affect our business, financial position, or future results of operations. There have been no material changes to the risk factors described in our Annual Report, except as set forth below. The risks described in our Annual Report as updated below are not the only risks that we face. Additional risks and uncertainties not precisely known to us, or that we currently deem to be immaterial, may also arise and materially impact our business. If any of these risks occur, our business, results of operations and financial condition could be materially and adversely affected and the trading price of our common stock could decline. We depend upon third-party suppliers, including contract manufacturers and single source suppliers, making us vulnerable to supply problems and price fluctuations. We rely on third-party suppliers, including in some instances single source suppliers, to provide us with certain components of Tablo. The number of suppliers feeding into Tablo console production is in excess of 250 worldwide. We consider approximately 9% of these suppliers, located in the United States, Europe and China, as critical providers of components such as pumps, motors, valves and PCBA boards. While we are undertaking a second source qualification process for the majority of these critical components, we may not ultimately be successful in securing second sourcing for all of them. In addition, we purchase supplies through purchase orders and do not have long-term supply agreements with, or guaranteed commitments from, our suppliers, including single source suppliers. Moreover, at present, we rely on contract manufacturers for the production of the Tablo cartridge and may continue to use a contract manufacturing partner as a second source for the production of Tablo consoles. Many of our suppliers and contract manufacturers are not obligated to perform services or supply products for any specific period, in any specific quantity or at any specific price, except as may be provided in a particular purchase order. We depend on our suppliers and contract manufacturers to provide us and our customers with materials in a timely manner that meet our and their quality, quantity and cost requirements. These suppliers and contract manufacturers may encounter problems during manufacturing for a variety of reasons, including as a result of public health crises such as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, labor disputes, work stoppages, damage or interruption from fires, severe weather or other natural disasters, vandalism, terrorism or other political hostilities, any of which could delay or impede their ability to meet our demand. These suppliers and contract manufacturers may cease producing the components we purchase from them or otherwise decide to cease doing business with us. Further, we maintain limited volumes of inventory from most of our suppliers and contract manufacturers. If we inaccurately forecast demand for finished goods, we may be unable to meet customer demand which could harm our competitive position and reputation. Further, if we fail to effectively manage our relationships with our suppliers and contract manufacturers, we may be required to change suppliers or contract manufacturers. While we believe replacement suppliers exist for all materials, components and services necessary to continue manufacturing our Tablo system, establishing additional or replacement suppliers for any of these materials, components or services could be time-consuming and expensive, may result in interruptions in our operations and product delivery, may affect the performance specifications of our Tablo system or could require that we modify Tablo’s design. Even if we are able to find replacement suppliers, we will be required to verify that the new supplier maintains facilities, procedures and operations that comply with our quality expectations and applicable regulatory requirements. Any of these events could require that we obtain a new regulatory authority approval before we implement the change, which could result in further delay and which may not be obtained at all. If our third-party suppliers fail to deliver the required commercial quantities of materials on a timely basis and at commercially reasonable prices, and we are unable to find one or more replacement suppliers capable of production at a substantially equivalent cost in substantially equivalent volumes and quality on a timely basis, the continued commercialization of our Tablo system, the supply of our products to customers and the development of any future products will be delayed, limited or prevented, which could have material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the operations of certain of our third-party suppliers, resulting in increased lead-times, higher component costs and lower allocations for our purchases of some components (including certain critical components) and, in certain cases, requiring us to procure materials from alternative sources or incur higher logistical expenses. We have worked closely with our manufacturing partners and suppliers to enable us to source key components and maintain appropriate inventory levels to meet customer demand, and have not experienced material disruptions in our supply chain to date. However, there is no assurance that we will not experience more significant disruptions in our supply chain in the future, particularly if the operations of our contract manufacturing partners, any of our critical single source component providers, or the facility we operate in Tijuana, 24 Mexico in collaboration with our outsourced business administration service provider, Tacna, are more severely impacted by the pandemic and associated containment measures. If these contract manufacturers or suppliers experience disruptions as a result of the pandemic that impede their ability to meet our demand in a timely manner, we may be unable to find alternative sources of supply, be required to pay higher prices, or fail to meet customer demand, any of which would harm our business.