QMCO US Equity☆

ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS

Before investing in any of our securities, you should carefully consider the risks and uncertainties described below, together with all other information in this Annual Report. The risks and uncertainties described below could materially and adversely affect our business, operating results, financial condition, liquidity, or competitive position, and consequently, the value of our securities. The material adverse effects include, but are not limited to, our potential inability to grow our revenue or market share at the pace that they have grown historically or at all, our revenue, market share, stock price, and market capitalization fluctuating on a quarterly and annual basis, our history of losses continuing or our failure to become profitable, our inability to achieve the revenue and net income (loss) guidance that we provide, and the risk of harm to our reputation and brand.

Risks Related to Our Supply Chain and Sales Strategy

Cost increases, supply disruptions, or raw material shortages, including single source components, could harm our business.

We have and may continue to experience cost increases or sustained supply interruptions in raw materials and components necessary for our products. We also have and may continue to experience increased freight charges and reduced capacity from our freight forwarders. Any such increases or interruptions could materially negatively impact our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results, including delays in manufacturing and shipments of our products and canceled orders. While we have implemented price increases intended to offset rising costs, we cannot provide assurance that these increases will have the desired effects on our business model in the expected timeframe.

We outsource our component supply, manufacturing, and service repair operations to third parties. Our business, financial condition, and operating results could face material adverse impacts if we cannot obtain parts, products, and services in a cost effective and timely manner that meets our customers’ expectations.

Many aspects of our supply chain and operational results are dependent on the performance of third-party business partners, including contract manufacturers, service providers, and product integrators. We face a number of risks as a result of these relationships, any or all of which could have a material adverse effect on our business and harm our operating results and financial condition.

Sole source of product supply

In many cases, our business partners may be the sole source of supply for the products or parts they manufacture, or the services they provide to us, and we may not have executed long-term purchase agreements with these partners. Our reliance on a limited number of suppliers and the lack of any guaranteed sources of supply exposes us to several risks, including:

•the inability to obtain an adequate supply of key components;

•price volatility for the components of our products;

•failure of a supplier to meet our quality or production requirements;

•failure of a supplier of key components to remain in business or adjust to market conditions; and

•consolidation among suppliers, resulting in some suppliers exiting the industry, discontinuing the manufacture of components or increasing the price of components.

We cannot assure investors that we will be able to obtain a sufficient supply of these key components or that their costs will not increase. If our component supply is disrupted or delayed, or if we need to replace our existing suppliers or redesign a product to accept different components, we cannot guarantee that additional components will be available when required, on terms that are favorable to us, or at reasonable prices, which could extend our lead times and increase our component costs.

Cost and purchase commitments and processes

We may not be able to control the costs of products or services we obtain from our business partners. We provide a customer demand forecast used to procure inventory to build our products. We could be responsible for the financial impact from any forecast reduction or product mix shift relative to materials already purchased under a prior forecast, including the cost of finished goods in excess of current customer demand or for excess or obsolete inventory.

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In some cases we may retain the responsibility to purchase component inventory to support third-party manufacturing activities, which presents a number of risks that could materially and adversely affect our financial condition. For instance, as part of our component planning, we may place orders with or pay certain suppliers for components in advance of receiving customer purchase orders. We may occasionally enter into large orders with vendors to ensure that we have sufficient components for our products to meet anticipated customer demand. It is possible that we could experience a design or manufacturing flaw that could delay or even prevent the production of the components for which we previously committed to pay.

In addition, in order to reduce manufacturing lead times and plan for adequate component supply, from time to time we may issue non-cancelable and non-returnable component or product orders. Our inventory management systems and related supply chain visibility tools may be inadequate to enable us to make accurate forecasts and effectively manage our component and product supply. If we ultimately determine that we have excess supply, we may have to reduce our prices and write down or write off excess or obsolete inventory. Alternatively, insufficient supply levels may lead to shortages resulting in delayed or lost revenue or reduced product margins. We could experience operating losses based on any of these conditions.

We also maintain service parts inventories to satisfy future warranty obligations and to earn service revenue by providing enhanced and extended technical support and product service during and beyond the warranty period. We estimate service parts inventory needs based on historical usage and forecasts of future warranty and service contract requirements, including estimates of failure rates, costs to repair, and out of warranty revenue. Given the significant levels of judgment inherently involved in the process, we cannot provide assurance that we will be able to maintain service parts inventories appropriate to satisfy customer needs or to avoid inventory purchases that later prove to be unnecessary. If we are unable to maintain appropriate levels of service parts inventories, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely impacted.

Although we have contracts for most of our third-party repair service vendors, the contract period may not be the same as the underlying customer service contract. In such cases, we face risks that the third-party service provider may increase the cost of providing services in later periods already under contract to our customers at a fixed price.

Financial condition and stability

Our third-party business partners may suffer adverse financial or operating results or be negatively impacted by economic conditions. We may face interrupted component, product, or service supply as a result of financial or other volatility affecting our supply chain. As a result, we could suffer production downtime or increased costs to procure alternate products or services.

Quality and supplier conduct

We have limited control over the quality of products and components produced and services provided by our third-party business partners and their supply chains. The quality of the products, parts or services may not be acceptable to our customers and could result in customer dissatisfaction, lost revenue, and increased warranty costs. In addition, we have limited control over the manner in which our business partners conduct their business. We may face negative consequences or publicity as a result of a third-party’s failure to comply with applicable compliance, trade, environmental, or employment regulations.

As a result of our global manufacturing and sales operations, we are subject to a variety of risks related to our business outside of the U.S., any of which could, individually or in the aggregate, have a material adverse effect on our business.

A significant portion of our manufacturing, sales, and supply chain operations occur in countries other than the U.S. We utilize third-party business partners to engineer, produce, sell, and fulfill orders for our products, several of which have operations located in foreign countries including China, Hungary, India, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Mexico, the Philippines, Thailand, and Ukraine. Because of these operations, we are subject to a number of risks in addition to those already described, including:

•increasing import and export duties and value-added taxes, or trade regulation changes that could erode our profit margins or delay or restrict our ability to transport our products;

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•war, military conflict, and geo-political unrest may affect our engineering and support teams outside the U.S. and their ability to perform as well as our sales and services delivery with sanctioned entities and countries.

•reduced or limited protection of our intellectual property;

•difficulty complying with multiple and potentially conflicting regulatory requirements and practices, including laws governing corporate conduct outside the U.S., such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, United Kingdom Bribery Act, and similar regulations;

•commercial laws that favor local businesses and cultural differences that affect how we conduct business;

•differing technology standards or customer requirements;

•exposure to economic uncertainty and fluctuations including inflation, adverse movement of foreign currencies against the U.S. dollar (the currency in which we report our results), restrictions on transferring funds between countries, and continuing sovereign debt risks;

•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;

•inflexible employee contracts and employment laws that may make it difficult to terminate or change the compensation structure for employees in the event of business downturns;

•difficulties attracting and recruiting employees and wage inflation in highly competitive markets;

•political instability, military, social and infrastructure risks, especially in emerging or developing economies, including the war between Russia and Ukraine;

•political or nationalist sentiment impacting global trade, including the willingness of non-U.S. consumers to purchase goods or services from U.S. corporations;

•natural disasters, including earthquakes, flooding, typhoons and tsunamis; and

•pandemics and epidemics, including the impact of COVID-19, and varying and potentially inconsistent governmental restrictions on the operation of businesses, travel and other restrictions.

Any or all of these risks could have a material adverse effect on our business.

We rely on indirect sales channels to market and sell our branded products. The loss of or deterioration in our relationship with one or more of our resellers or distributors, or our inability to establish new indirect sales channels to drive growth of our branded revenue, could negatively affect our operating results.

We sell most of our branded products to distributors, value added resellers, and direct market resellers, who in turn sell our products to end users. We use different distribution channel partners in different countries and regions in the world. The success of these sales channels is hard to predict, particularly over time, and we have no purchase commitments or long-term orders from them that assure us of any baseline sales. Several of our channel partners carry competing product lines they may promote over ours. A channel partner might discontinue our products or fail to effectively market them, and each partner determines the type and amount of our products that it will purchase and the price at which it sells to end users. Establishing new indirect sales channels is an important part of our strategy to drive growth of our branded revenue. Our results of operations could be adversely affected by any number of factors related to our channel partners, including:

•A change in competitive strategy that adversely affects a partner’s willingness or ability to distribute our products;

•The reduction, delay, or cancellation of orders or the return of significant products volume;

•Our inability to gain traction in developing new indirect sales channels for our branded products, or the loss of one or more existing partners; or

•Changes in requirements or programs that allow our products to be sold by third parties to government or other customers.

Because we rely heavily on channel partners to market and sell our products, if one or more of them were to experience a significant deterioration in its financial condition or its relationship with us, this could disrupt our product distribution and reduce our revenue, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, and operating results.

We heavily utilize channel partners to perform the functions necessary to market and sell our products in certain product and geographic segments. To fulfill this role, partners must maintain an acceptable level of financial stability, creditworthiness, and the ability to successfully manage business relationships with the customers they serve directly. If partners are unable to perform in an acceptable manner, we may be required to reduce sales to the partner or terminate the relationship. We may also incur financial losses for product returns from partners or for the failure or refusal of distributors to pay obligations owed to us. Either scenario could result in fewer of our products

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being available to the affected market segments, reduced levels of customer satisfaction and increased expenses, which could in turn have a material and adverse impact on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

A certain percentage of our sales are to a few customers, some of which are also competitors, and these customers generally have no minimum or long-term purchase commitments. The loss of, or a significant reduction in demand from, one or more key customers could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our product sales have been and continue to be concentrated among a small number of channel partners, direct end-users, and original equipment manufacturers. We sell to many end-user customers and channel partners on purchase orders, not under the terms of a binding long-term procurement agreement. Accordingly, they generally are not obligated to purchase any minimum product volume, and our relationships with them are terminable at will. In addition, recently we have focused our direct-sales business on the largest users of hierarchical storage architectures, the so-called “Hyper-scalers”; there are very few of these extremely large storage customers, but their order activity has a significant impact on our results from quarter to quarter.

Some of our tape and disk products are incorporated into larger storage systems or solutions that are marketed and sold to end users by third parties. Because of this, we may have limited market access to those end users, limiting our ability to influence and forecast their future purchasing decisions. In addition, revenue from OEM customers has decreased in recent years. Certain of our large OEM customers are also our competitors, and could decide to reduce or terminate purchasing our products for competitive reasons.

In addition, our sales efforts may involve long sales cycles during which we incur expenses to educate our customers about product use and benefits and support customer-driven product evaluations. These cycles may make it difficult for us to predict when, or if, future sales will occur.

During the fiscal years ended March 31, 2022 and March 31, 2021, no single customer represented 10% or more of our total revenue. However, a significant reduction in orders from, or a loss of, one or more large customers would have a material adverse effect on our operating results.

The U.S. federal government is an important customer, and our business may be materially and adversely harmed by changes in government purchasing activity.

A portion of our sales are to various agencies and departments of the U.S. federal government, and federal spending funding cuts and temporary government shutdowns have previously impacted and may continue to impact our revenue in the future. Future spending cuts by the U.S. federal government, temporary shutdowns of the U.S. federal government, or changes in its procurement processes or criteria could decrease our sales to the federal government and could materially and adversely affect our operating results. In addition, changes in government certification requirements applicable to our products could impact our ability to see to U.S. federal customers.

Risks Related to Our Operating Results, Financial Condition, or Stock Price

We continue to face risks related to inflation, economic uncertainty, and slow economic growth.

Uncertainty about economic conditions, particularly due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, pose risks as businesses may further reduce or postpone spending in response to reduced budgets, tightening of credit markets, increases in inflation and interest rates, negative financial news, and declines in income or asset values which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results. Recent inflationary increases have driven up the prices at which we are able to purchase necessary components, products, and services, as well as the cost of contract labor. In addition, we continue to face risks related to uncertain tariff levels between countries where our products are manufactured and sold, unstable political and economic conditions in Europe, including the war between Russia and Ukraine, and concerns about sovereign debt, which could negatively impact the U.S. and global economies and adversely affect our financial results. In addition, our ability to access capital markets may be restricted or result in unfavorable financing terms, impacting our ability to react to changing economic and business conditions and could also materially and adversely affect our ability to sustain our operations at their current levels.

Our stock price has experienced significant volatility in the recent past, and continued volatility may cause our common stock trading price to remain volatile or decline.

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Our stock price has been extremely volatile in the recent past. For example, the closing price of our common stock between January 3, 2022 and June 3, 2022 ranged from $1.56 to $5.64. The trading price of our common stock may continue to fluctuate in response to a number of events and factors, many of which may be beyond our control, such as:

•quarterly variations in our operating results;

•failure to meet our financial guidance or the expectations of securities analysts and investors;

•new products, services, innovations, strategic developments, or business combinations and investments by our competitors or us;

•changes in our capital structure, including incurring new debt, issuing additional debt or equity to the public, and issuing common stock upon exercise of our outstanding warrants or subscribing to our recent rights offering;

•large or sudden purchases or sales of stock by existing or new investors;

•changes in interest and exchange rates;

•a continued widespread decline in the U.S. or global economy as a result of the continued impact of COVID-19, supply chain constraints, or other factors;

•fluctuations in the stock market in general and market prices for technology companies in particular;

•tariffs imposed by the U.S. government on sales originating in or being shipped to countries with which we have on-going trade or other political conflicts;

•investigations or enforcement actions related to a potential or actual failure to comply with applicable regulations;

•costs of new or ongoing commercial litigation; and

•significant changes in our brand or reputation.

Any of these events and factors may cause our stock price to rise or fall and may adversely affect our business and financing opportunities.

We may be unable to attract and retain key talent necessary to effectively meet our business objectives.

The market for skilled engineering, sales, and administrative talent is very competitive and recently we are seeing delays in recruiting and hiring timeframes. We believe our ability to recruit and hire new talent, and retain existing key personnel, may be negatively impacted by prior and ongoing fluctuations in our operating results, stock price, and ability to offer competitive benefits and total compensation programs. Our business results may be harmed if we are unable to attract and retain key talent in the future.

Our quarterly operating results have fluctuated significantly, and past results should not be used to predict future performance.

Our quarterly operating results have fluctuated significantly in the past and could fluctuate significantly in the future. As a result, our quarterly operating results should not be used to predict future performance. Quarterly results could be materially and adversely affected by a number of factors, including, but not limited to:

•IT spending fluctuations resulting from economic conditions or changes in U.S. federal government spending;

•supply chain constraints or other failures by our contract manufacturers to complete shipments in a timely manner;

•new product announcements by us or our competitors which may cause purchasing delays or cancellations;

•customers canceling, reducing, deferring, or rescheduling significant orders as a result of excess inventory levels, weak economic conditions, reduced demand, or other factors;

•seasonality, including customer and government fiscal year-ends and budget availability impacting demand for our products;

•reduced demand, declines in large orders, royalty, or software revenues, or other changes in product mix;

•product development and ramp cycle delays or product performance or quality issues;

•poor execution of and performance against expected sales and marketing plans and strategies;

•increased competition which may, among other things, increase pricing pressure or reduce sales;

•restructuring actions or unexpected costs; and

•foreign exchange fluctuations.

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Our operating results depend on continuing and increasing market acceptance of our existing products and on new product introductions, which may be unsuccessful, in which case our business, financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

A limited number of products comprise a significant majority of our sales, and due to rapid technological change in our industry, our future operating results depend on our ability to improve existing products and develop and successfully introduce new products. We have devoted and expect to continue to devote considerable management and financial resources to these efforts.

When we introduce new products to the market, they may not achieve market acceptance or significant market share. In addition, the target markets for our new products may not continue or grow as we anticipate. Our new products may not be successfully or timely qualified by new customers, and if they are qualified, we may not achieve high volume production in a timely manner, if at all. In addition, we may experience technical, quality, performance-related, or other difficulties that could prevent or delay the introduction and market acceptance of new products.

If we are not successful in timely completing our new product qualifications and ramping sales to our key customers, our revenue and operating results could be adversely impacted. In addition, if the quality of our products is not acceptable to our customers, customer dissatisfaction, lost revenue, and increased warranty and repair costs could result.

We derive significant revenue from products incorporating tape technology. Our future operating results depend in part on continued market acceptance and use of tape products; in the past, decreases in the market have materially and adversely impacted our business, financial condition and operating results.

We currently derive significant revenue from products that incorporate some form of tape technology, and we expect to continue to do so in the next several years. As a result, our future operating results depend in part on continued market acceptance and use of tape products. Decreased market acceptance or use of products employing tape technology has materially and adversely impacted our business, financial condition, and operating results, and we expect that our revenues from certain types of tape products could continue to decline in the future.

Disk, solid-state, and flash storage products, as well as various software solutions and alternative technologies have eroded the demand for tape products. We expect that, over time, many of our tape customers could migrate toward these other products and solutions and their proportionate contribution to our revenue will increase in the future. While we are making targeted investments in software, disk backup systems, and other alternative technologies, these markets are characterized by rapid innovation, evolving customer demands, and strong competition, including competition with companies who are also significant customers. If we are not successful in our efforts, we may not be able to attract or retain customers, and our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

A significant decline in our media royalty or branded software revenues could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

Our media royalties and branded software revenues generate relatively greater profit margins than some of our other products and can significantly impact our overall profitability. We receive media royalty revenue based on tape media cartridges sold by various tape media manufacturers and resellers. Under our patent and technology license agreements with these companies, each of the licensees determines the pricing and number of units of tape media cartridges that it sells. Our media royalty revenue varies based on the licensees’ media sales and other factors, including:

•Our customers’ continued use of storage tape media, including the size of the installed base of devices and similar products that use tape media cartridges;

•The relative growth in units of newer device products, since the associated media cartridges for newer products typically sell at higher prices compared with the media cartridges associated with older products;

•The media consumption habits and rates of end users and pattern of device retirements;

•The level of channel inventories; and

•Agreement on standards for newer generations of the tape media that generates our royalty revenue.

Risks Related to Our Indebtedness

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We have significant indebtedness, which imposes upon us debt service obligations, and our term loan and revolving credit facilities contain various operating and financial covenants that limit our discretion in operating our business. If we are unable to generate sufficient cash flows from operations and overall operating results to meet these debt obligations or remain in compliance with the covenants, our business, financial condition and operating results could be materially and adversely affected.

Our level of indebtedness presents significant risks to our business and investors, both in terms of the constraints that it places on our ability to operate our business and because of the possibility that we may not generate sufficient cash and operating results to remain in compliance with our covenants and pay the principal and interest on our indebtedness as it becomes due. As recently as March 2022, we were in danger of failing to meet certain financial covenants in our debt agreements, which could have resulted in a default under these agreements if we had not obtained a waiver of noncompliance from our lenders. For further description of our outstanding debt, see the section captioned “Liquidity and Capital Resources” in Part II, Item 7Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.

As a result of our indebtedness:

•Our ability to invest in growing our business is constrained by the financial covenants contained in our credit facilities, which require us to maintain certain maximum total net leverage ratio levels, a minimum fixed charge coverage ratio, and liquidity levels and restrict our ability to:

◦Incur debt and liens;

◦Acquire businesses or entities or sell certain assets;

◦Make investments, including loans, guarantees, and advances;

◦Engage in transactions with affiliates;

◦Pay dividends or repurchase stock; and

◦Enter into certain restrictive agreements;

•We must dedicate a significant portion of our cash flow from operations and other capital resources to debt service, thereby reducing our ability to fund working capital, capital expenditures, research and development, mergers and acquisitions, and other cash-based activities, all of which may place us at a competitive disadvantage;

•We are subject to mandatory field audits and control of cash receipts by the lenders if we do not maintain liquidity above certain thresholds;

•We may be more vulnerable to adverse economic and industry conditions; and

•We may be unable to make payments on other indebtedness or obligations.

Our ability to make scheduled payments of the principal, to pay interest on, or refinance our debt, or to make cash payments in connection with our credit facilities, depends on our future performance, which is subject to economic, financial, competitive and other factors beyond our control. Further, as our debt reaches maturity, we will be required to make large cash payments or adopt one or more alternatives, such as restructuring indebtedness or obtaining additional debt or equity financing on terms that may be onerous or highly dilutive. Our ability to restructure or refinance our debt will depend on the capital markets and our financial condition at such time. We may be unable to incur additional debt or refinance our existing debt on acceptable terms, if at all.

Our credit facilities are collateralized by a pledge of all our assets. If we were to default and be unable to cure it within any applicable grace periods or obtain a waiver of such default, the lenders would have a right to foreclose on our assets to satisfy our obligations under these agreements. Any such action on the part of the lenders could have a materially adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

In connection with entering into our prior credit facilities and certain amendments to our prior credit facilities, we were required to issue to our lenders thereunder, certain warrants to purchase our common stock. When exercised, these warrants will result in significant dilution to our stockholders. As a result, the issuance of common stock upon the exercise of our outstanding warrants may cause our stock price to decline.

Risks Related to Our Business and Industry

If we do not successfully manage the changes that we have made and may continue to make to our business model, infrastructure, and management, our business could be disrupted, and that could adversely impact our operating results and financial condition.

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Managing change is an important focus for us. In recent years, we have implemented several significant initiatives involving our sales and marketing, product engineering, and operations organizations, aimed at transitioning our revenue model from discrete hardware sales to recurring software revenue, increasing our efficiency, and better aligning internal operations with our corporate strategy. In addition, we have reduced headcount to streamline and consolidate our supporting functions as appropriate following recent acquisitions and in response to market or competitive conditions, and have increased our reliance on certain third-party business relationships. If we are unable to successfully manage the changes that we implement and detect and address issues as they arise, our business could be disrupted, and our results of operations and financial condition could be materially and adversely impacted.

In addition, given that we are relatively new to offering products and services on a subscription basis, and those models in the storage industry continue to evolve, we may not be able to effectively compete, drive expected revenue and margin growth, or obtain profitability for the foreseeable future. Demand for subscription-based products could also erode one-time sales of our hardware products that might not be immediately offset by increased recurring revenue.

We have taken considerable steps towards reducing our cost structure. The steps we have taken may not reduce our cost structure to a level appropriate in relation to our future sales and therefore, these cost reductions may be insufficient to achieve profitability.

In the last several years, we have recorded significant restructuring charges and made cash payments to reduce our cost of sales and operating expenses to respond to adverse economic and industry conditions, to execute strategic management decisions, and to rationalize our operations following acquisitions. These restructuring plans may result in decreases to our revenues or adversely affect our ability to grow our business in the future. Workforce reductions may also adversely affect employee morale and our ability to retain our employees. We may take future steps to further reduce our operating costs, including additional restructurings in response to strategic decisions, increased operating and product costs due to inflation, supply chain constraints, and other external factors, adverse changes in our business or industry, or future acquisitions. We may be unable to reduce our cost of sales and operating expenses at a rate and to a level appropriate in relation to our future sales, which may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

In addition, our ability to achieve the anticipated cost savings and other benefits from these restructuring plans within the expected time frame is subject to many estimates and assumptions which may be adversely impacted by significant economic, competitive and other uncertainties, some of which are beyond our control. If these estimates and assumptions are incorrect, if we experience delays, or if other unforeseen events occur, our business, financial condition, and operating results could be adversely affected.

From time to time we have made acquisitions. The failure to successfully integrate future acquisitions could harm our business, financial condition, and operating results.

As a part of our business strategy, we have in the past and may make acquisitions in the future. We may also make significant investments in complementary companies, products or technologies. If we fail to successfully integrate such acquisitions or significant investments, it could harm our business, financial condition, and operating results. Risks that we may face in our efforts to integrate any recent or future acquisitions include, among others:

•failure to realize anticipated synergies or return on investment from the acquisition;

•difficulties assimilating and retaining employees, business culture incompatibility, or resistance to change;

•diverting management’s attention from ongoing business concerns;

•coordinating geographically separate organizations and infrastructure operations in a rapid and efficient manner;

•the potential inability to maximize our financial and strategic position through the successful incorporation of acquired technology and rights into our products and services;

•failure of acquired technology or products to provide anticipated revenue or margin contribution;

•insufficient revenues to offset increased expenses associated with the acquisition;

•costs and delays in implementing or integrating common systems and procedures;

•reduction or loss of customer orders due to the potential for market confusion, hesitation and delay;

•impairment of existing customer, supplier and strategic relationships of either company;

•insufficient cash flows from operations to fund the working capital and investment requirements;

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•difficulties in entering markets in which we have no or limited direct prior experience and where competitors in such markets have stronger market positions;

•dissatisfaction or performance problems with the acquired company;

•the assumption of risks, unknown liabilities, or other unanticipated adverse circumstances of the acquired company that are difficult to quantify; and

•the cost associated with the acquisition, including restructuring actions, which may require cash payments that, if large enough, could materially and adversely affect our liquidity.

A cybersecurity breach of our internal infrastructure or our products could adversely affect our ability to conduct our business, harm our reputation, expose us to significant liability, or otherwise damage our financial results.

We maintain sensitive data related to our employees, strategic partners, and customers, including personally identifiable information, intellectual property, and proprietary business information on our own systems. In addition, many of our customers and partners store sensitive data on our products.

It is critical to our business that our employees’, strategic partners’ and customers’ sensitive information remains and is perceived as secure. While we employ sophisticated security measures in our own environment and our product features, we may face internal and external threats including unauthorized access, ransomware attacks, security breaches, and other system disruptions. A cybersecurity breach of our own IT infrastructure or products sold to our customers could result in unauthorized access to, loss of, or unauthorized disclosure of such information and expose us to litigation, indemnity obligations, government investigations, and other possible liabilities. Additionally, a cyber-attack, whether actual or perceived, could result in negative publicity which could harm our reputation and reduce our customers’ confidence in the effectiveness of our solutions, which could materially and adversely affect our business and operating results. A breach could also expose us to increased costs from remediation, disruption of operations, or increased cybersecurity protection costs that may have a material adverse effect on our business. Although we maintain cybersecurity liability insurance, our insurance may not cover potential claims of these types or may not be adequate to indemnify us for inability that may be imposed. Any imposition or liability or litigation costs that are not covered by insurance could harm our business.

If our products fail to meet our or our customers’ specifications for quality and reliability, we may face liability and reputational or financial harm which may adversely impact our operating results and our competitive position may suffer.

We may from time to time experience problems with the performance of our products, which could result in one or more of the following:

•Increased costs related to fulfilling our warranty obligations;

•Reduced, delayed, or cancelled orders or the return of a significant amount of products; or

•The loss of reputation in the market and customer goodwill.

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These factors could cause our business, financial condition and results of operations to be materially and adversely affected.

In addition, we face potential liability for product performance problems because our end users employ our technologies to store and backup important data and to satisfy regulatory requirements. Loss of this data could cost our customers significant amounts of money, directly and indirectly as a result of lost revenues, intellectual property, proprietary business information, or other harm to their business. In some cases, the failure of our products may be caused by third-party technology that we incorporate into them. Even if failures are caused by third-party technology, we may be required to expend resources to address the failure and preserve customer relationships. We could also potentially face claims for product liability from our customers if our products cause property damage or bodily injury. Although there are limitations of liability in our commercial agreements and we maintain technology errors and omissions liability and general liability insurance, our insurance may not cover potential claims of these types or may not be adequate to indemnify us for all liability that may be imposed. Any imposition of liability or litigation costs that are not covered by insurance or could harm our business.

Competition is intensifying in the data storage and protection market as a result of competitors introducing products based on new technology standards and merger and acquisition activity, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, and operating results.

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Our competitors in the data storage and protection market are aggressively trying to advance and develop new technologies and products to compete against us. Consequently, we face the risk that customers could choose competitor products over ours. As a result of competition and new technology standards, our sales or gross margins could decline, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, and operating results. Some of those competitors, are much larger, financially stronger, and have more diverse product offerings, and aggressively compete based on their reputations and greater size.

Technological developments, industry consolidation, and storage market competition over the years have resulted in decreased prices and increased commoditization for tape device and automation products and our other product offerings. Pricing pressure is more pronounced for entry-level products and less pronounced for enterprise products. Over time, the prices of our and competitor products have decreased, but such products often incorporate new or different features and technologies from what we offered in prior years. We face risks that customers could choose competitors’ products over ours due to these features and technologies or pricing differences. If competition further intensifies, our product sales and gross margins could decline, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Additional industry consolidation may further result in:

•competitors consolidating, having greater resources and becoming more competitive with us;

•new entrants into one or more of our primary markets increasing competition;

•customers that are also competitors becoming more competitive with us and/or reducing their purchase of our products;

•competitors acquiring our current suppliers or business partners and negatively impacting our business model; and

•market uncertainty and disruption due to the impact and timing of announced and completed transactions.

Risks Related to Intellectual Property

Some of our products contain licensed, third-party technology that provides important product functionality and features. The loss or inability to obtain any such license could have a material adverse effect on our business.

Certain of our products contain technology licensed from third parties that provides important product functionality and features. We cannot provide assurance that we will have continued access to this technology in the future. In some cases, we may seek to enforce our technology access via litigation against the licensing company itself, which may cause us to incur significant legal or other costs and may not be resolved in our favor. Other legal actions against the licensing company, such as for intellectual property infringement, could also impact our future access to the technology. We also have limited visibility or control of the technology roadmap at the licensing company and cannot ensure that the licensing company will advance the roadmap of the licensed technology in the manner best for us. We also face the risk of not being able to quickly implement a replacement technology or otherwise mitigate the risks associated with not having access to this licensed technology. Any of these actions could negatively impact our available technology portfolio, thereby reducing the functionality or features of our products, and could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, and operating results.

Third-party intellectual property infringement claims could result in substantial liability and significant costs, and, as a result, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

From time to time, third parties allege that our products infringe their patented or proprietary technology and demand that we purchase a license from them. The ultimate outcome of any license discussion or litigation, is uncertain. Adverse resolution of any third-party infringement claim could subject us to substantial liabilities and require us to refrain from manufacturing and selling certain products. In addition, the costs incurred in intellectual property litigation can be substantial, regardless of the outcome. As a result, our business, financial condition, and operating result could be materially and adversely affected.

If we fail to protect our intellectual property or if others use our proprietary technology without authorization, our competitive position may suffer.

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Our future success and ability to compete depends in part on our proprietary technology. We rely on a combination of copyright, patent, trademark, and trade secrets laws and nondisclosure agreements to establish and protect our proprietary technology. However, we cannot provide assurance that patents will be issued with respect to pending or future patent applications that we have filed or plan to file, that our patents will be upheld as valid, or that our patents will prevent the development of competitive products, or that any actions we have taken will adequately protect our intellectual property rights.

Despite our efforts to protect our proprietary rights, unauthorized parties may attempt to copy or otherwise obtain or use our products or technology. Enforcing our intellectual property rights can sometimes only be accomplished through litigation, which is expensive and can divert management’s attention away from our business. In addition, the laws of some foreign countries do not protect our proprietary rights to the same extent as the laws of the U.S.

We license certain of our software under “open source” licenses. Because of the characteristics of opensource software licenses, it may be relatively easy for competitors, some of whom have greater resources than we have, to enter our markets and compete with us. In addition, our failure to comply with the terms of open source licenses could have a material adverse effect on our competitive position and financial results.

One of the characteristics of open source software is that the source code is typically publicly available at no charge, and anyone who obtains copies has a license under certain of our intellectual property rights. Depending on the license, that may include access to certain of our patents, to modify and redistribute the software, and use it to compete in the marketplace. Certain open source software licenses require users to license to other any software that is based on, incorporates, or interacts with the open source software. Although we endeavor to comply fully with those requirements, third parties could claim we are required to license larger portions of our software than we intended. If such claims were successful, they could adversely impact our competitive position and financial results by providing our competitors with access to sensitive information that may help them develop competitive products without the degree of overhead and lead time required by traditional proprietary software development.

It is possible for competitors to use our open source project software to develop their own software, potentially reducing the demand for our solution and putting price pressure on our subscription offerings. We cannot guarantee that competitive pressure or the availability of new open source software will not result in price reductions, reduced operating margins and loss of market share, any one of which could harm our business, financial condition, operating results, and cash flows.

In addition, we use our own open source project software in our proprietary products. As a result, there is a risk that we may inadvertently release as open source certain code that was intended to be kept as proprietary, that reveals confidential information regarding the inner workings of our proprietary products, or that could enable competitors to more readily reverse engineer or replicate aspects of our proprietary technology that we would otherwise protect as trade secrets. We may also accept contributions from third parties to our open source projects, and it may be difficult for us to accurately determine the origin of the contributions and whether their use, including in our proprietary products, infringes, misappropriates, or violates third-party intellectual property or other rights. The availability of certain of our own software in source code form may also enable others to detect and exploit security vulnerabilities in our products. In addition, our use of open source software may harm our business and subject us to intellectual property claims, litigation, or proceedings in the future.

Risks Related to Regulatory Matters

We are subject to many laws and regulations, and violation of or changes in those requirements could materially and adversely affect our business.

We are subject to numerous U.S. and international laws and requirements regarding corporate conduct, fair competition, corruption prevention, import and export practices, and hazardous or restricted material use, storage, discharge, and disposal, including laws applicable to U.S. government contractors. We have incurred, and will continue to incur, costs and business process changes to comply with such regulations. While we maintain a rigorous corporate ethics and compliance program, we may be subject to increased regulatory scrutiny, significant monetary fines or penalties, suspension of business opportunities, loss of jurisdictional operating rights, and increased litigation and investigation costs as a result of any failure to comply with those requirements. If we identify that we have fallen out of compliance, we may proactively take corrective actions, including the filing of voluntary self-disclosure statements with applicable agencies, which could cause us to incur additional expenses and subject

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us to penalties and other consequences that could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and operating results. Our supply and distribution models may be reliant upon the actions of our third-party business partners and we may also be exposed to potential liability resulting from their violation of these or other compliance requirements. Further, our U.S. and international business models are based on currently applicable regulatory requirements and exceptions. Changes in those requirements or exceptions could necessitate changes to our business model. Any of these consequences could materially and adversely impact our business and results of operations.

Our actual or perceived failure to adequately protect personally identifiable information could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and operating results.

A variety of state, national, foreign, and international laws and regulations apply to the collection, use, retention, protection, disclosure, transfer, deletion, and other processing of personally identifiable information. These privacy- and data protection-related laws and regulations are evolving, with new or modified laws and regulations proposed and implemented frequently and existing laws and regulations subject to new or different interpretations. Compliance with these laws and regulations can be costly and can delay or impede the development or implementation of new products or internal systems. Failure to comply could result in enforcement actions and significant penalties against us, which could result in negative publicity, increase our operating costs, and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and operating results.

General Risk Factors

We face risks related to health epidemics, including the COVID-19 pandemic, which could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

We face various risks related to public health issues, including epidemics, pandemics, and other outbreaks, including the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic and efforts to control its spread have impacted and may continue to impact our workforce and operations, and those of our strategic partners, customers, suppliers, and logistics providers. These impacts have included and may include increased component, product, transportation, and overhead costs, increased logistics capacity and flexibility needs, decreased workforce availability, component supply, and product output, increased cybersecurity threats from remote work, and general economic downturns. We or our third-party business partners have been and may continue to be subject to government restrictions that impact our ability to continue efficient business operations. While we have taken many actions to mitigate the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, we cannot guarantee that they will be sufficient to mitigate all related risks.

To the extent the COVID-19 pandemic adversely affects our business and financial results, it may also have the effect of heightening many of the other risks described in more detail in this “Risk Factors” section, such as those relating to adverse global or regional conditions, our highly competitive industry, supply chain disruption, customer demand conditions and our ability to forecast demand, cost saving initiatives, our indebtedness and liquidity, and cyber-attacks.

If we fail to maintain proper and effective internal controls, material misstatements in our financial statements could occur, impairing our ability to produce accurate and timely financial statements and adversely affecting investor confidence in our financial reports, which could negatively affect our business.

If we fail to maintain proper and effective internal controls, our consolidated financial statements may contain material misstatements and we could be required to restate our financial results in the future. Moreover, because of the inherent limitations of any control system, material misstatements due to error or fraud may not be prevented or detected on a timely basis, or at all. If we are unable to provide reliable and timely financial reports in the future, our business and reputation may be further harmed. Restated financial statements and failures in internal control may also cause us to fail to meet reporting obligations or debt covenants, negatively affect investor confidence in our management and the accuracy of our financial statements and disclosures, or result in adverse publicity, any of which could have a negative effect on the price of our common stock, subject us to further regulatory investigations and penalties or stockholder litigation, and materially and adversely impact our business and financial condition.

We are exposed to fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates, and an adverse change in foreign currency exchange rates relative to our position in such currencies could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

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We do not currently use derivative financial instruments for speculative purposes. To the extent that we have assets or liabilities denominated in a foreign currency that are inadequately hedged or not hedged at all, we may be subject to foreign currency losses, which could be significant. Our international operations can act as a natural hedge when both operating expenses and sales are denominated in local currencies. In these instances, although an unfavorable change in the exchange rate of a foreign currency against the U.S. dollar would result in lower sales when translated to U.S. dollars, operating expenses would also be lower in these circumstances. The competitive price of our products relative to others could also be negatively impacted by changes in the rate at which a foreign currency is exchanged for U.S. dollars. Such fluctuations in currency exchange rates could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

If the future outcomes related to the estimates used in recording tax liabilities to various taxing authorities result in higher tax liabilities than estimated, then we would have to record tax charges, which could be material.

We have provided amounts and recorded liabilities for probable and estimable tax adjustments required by various taxing authorities in the U.S. and foreign jurisdictions. If events occur that indicate payments of these amounts will be less than estimated, then reversals of these liabilities would create tax benefits recognized in the periods when we determine the liabilities have reduced. Conversely, if events occur which indicate that payments of these amounts will be greater than estimated, then tax charges and additional liabilities would be recorded. In particular, various foreign jurisdictions could challenge the characterization or transfer pricing of certain intercompany transactions. In the event of an unfavorable outcome of such challenge, material tax charges and adverse impacts on operating results could occur in the period in which the matter is resolved or an unfavorable outcome becomes probable and estimable.

Certain changes in stock ownership could result in a limitation on the amount of net operating loss and tax credit carryovers that can be utilized each year. Should we undergo such a change in stock ownership, it would severely limit the usage of these carryover tax attributes against future income, resulting in additional tax charges, which could be material.

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ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS

None.

ITEM 2. PROPERTIES

Our headquarters are located in San Jose, California. We lease facilities in North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific. We believe that our facilities are adequate to meet our needs for the immediate future, and that, should it be needed, suitable additional space will be available to accommodate expansion of our operations.

ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

See Item 8 of Part II, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data—Note 10: Commitments and Contingencies.”

ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURE

None.

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PART II

ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES

Market Information

Our common stock is traded on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol "QMCO".

Holders of Record, and Dividends

As of June 1, 2022, we had 229 holders of record of our common stock.

Dividends

We have no intention of paying cash dividends in the foreseeable future. Our ability to pay dividends is restricted by the covenants in our senior secured term loan and amended credit facility agreements. See the section captioned “Liquidity and Capital Resources” in Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations and Note 5: Debt to the consolidated financial statements.

Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities

During the period covered by this annual report, we did not sell any equity securities that were not registered under the Securities Act of 1933.

Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

During the quarter ended March 31, 2022, there were no purchases of our common stock by or on behalf of us or any of our affiliated purchasers, as such term is defined in Rule 10b-18(a)(3) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended ("the "Exchange Act").

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Stock Performance Graph

The graph below compares the cumulative total return of a $100 investment in our common stock with the cumulative total return of the same investment in the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 Index from March 31, 2017 through March 31, 2022.

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ITEM 6. [RESERVED]

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ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read together with our consolidated financial statements, the accompanying notes, and other information included in this Annual Report. In particular, the risk factors contained in Item 1A may reflect trends, demands, commitments, events, or uncertainties that could materially impact our results of operations and liquidity and capital resources.

The following discussion contains forward-looking statements, such as statements regarding COVID-19's anticipated impacts on our business, our future operating results and financial position, our business strategy and plans, our market growth and trends, and our objectives for future operations. Please see "Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements" for more information about relying on these forward-looking statements.

Overview and Fiscal Year 2022 Highlights

We are a technology company whose mission is to deliver innovative solutions to forward-thinking organizations across the world. We design, manufacture and sell technology and services that help customers capture, create and share digital content, and protect it for decades. We emphasize innovative technology in the design and manufacture of our products to help our customers unlock the value in their video and unstructured data in new ways to solve their most pressing business challenges.

We generate revenue by designing, manufacturing, and selling technology and services. Our most significant expenses are related to compensating employees; designing, manufacturing, marketing, and selling our products and services; data center costs in support of our cloud-based services; and income taxes.

Highlights from fiscal year 2022 included:

•We announced a new partnership with Supermicro and our ActiveScale 6.0 software and storage platform, as we expand our Object Storage line of business.

•We completed the Pivot3 business acquisition, which adds a portfolio of industry leading hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) and intelligent software solutions for the security and surveillance markets.

•We completed the EnClouden assets acquisition which will enable us to expand the addressable market for our video surveillance portfolio, offering customers a solution using their server hardware of choice with a flexible subscription-based software model.

•We completed the refinancing of our term loan, significantly reducing our annual debt service and greatly increasing our financial flexibility related to covenants and restrictions.

•We brought on industry veteran John Hurley as Chief Revenue Officer. John brings extensive experience working with the largest global enterprise, commercial, and service provider customers.

•We announced a new collaboration and Remote Editing Solution for Adobe Premiere Pro Users.

•We announced a partnership with IBM on the next generation of LTO technology in which we will collaborate with IBM in its development of LTO-10 tape drives and media in order to accelerate time-to-market, capacity, and performance.

•We were awarded one Platinum and one Gold 'ASTORS' Homeland Security Award from American Security Today. The Annual 'ASTORS' Awards Program, is specifically designed to honor distinguished government and vendor solutions that deliver enhanced value, benefit, and intelligence to end-users in a variety of government, homeland security, enterprise, and public safety vertical markets.

COVID-19 IMPACT AND ASSOCIATED ACTIONS

Since the beginning of March 2020, COVID-19 has led governments and other authorities around the world, including federal, state and local authorities in the United States, to impose measures intended to reduce its spread,

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including restrictions on freedom of movement and business operations such as travel bans, border closings, business limitations and closures (subject to exceptions for essential operations and businesses), quarantines and shelter-in-place orders. These measures may remain in place for a significant period of time.

In light of these events, we have taken actions to protect the health and safety of our employees while continuing to serve our global customers as an essential business. We have implemented more thorough sanitation practices as outlined by health organizations and instituted mitigation practices at our locations around the world, including working from home, limiting the number of employees attending meetings, reducing the number of people in our sites at any one time, and decreasing employee travel.

We have seen a gradual stabilization in our business during the second half of fiscal 2021 and into fiscal 2022 as customers increasingly adapted to the COVID-19 environment. However, COVID-19 has caused a significant disruption to the global supply chain, which continues to have a negative impact on our business. Before the current disruptions in the global supply chain our historical backlog was very limited and typically represented less than 5% of quarterly revenues. During our fourth fiscal quarter our backlog remained above $60 million for the second consecutive quarter, up from $50 million as of September 30, 2021, and $30 million as of June 30, 2021. Approximately 80% of the ending backlog represented tape products a majority of which is for orders from our hyperscale customers. We anticipate that supply chain constraints will remain challenging, limiting our ability to ship against all customer demand and recognize a meaningful portion of the current backlog.

We will continue to actively monitor the impact of COVID-19 and may take further actions altering our business operations that we determine are in the best interests of our employees, customers, partners, suppliers, and stakeholders, or as required by federal, state, or local authorities. See “The recent COVID-19 pandemic could adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition” in Item 1A for more information regarding the risks we face as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

Year Ended March 31,

Operating expenses

Loss on debt extinguishment, net (4,960) (14,789) —

(1) Includes stock-based compensation as follows:

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Year Ended March 31,

Comparison of the Years Ended March 31, 2022 and 2021

Revenue

Year Ended March 31,

(in thousands) 2022 % ofrevenue 2021 % ofrevenue $ Change % Change

Product revenue

Product Revenue

In fiscal 2022, product revenue increased $14.0 million, or 7%, as compared to fiscal 2021. Secondary storage systems increased by 32%, driven by increased demand from our large hyperscale customers, as well as continued strong demand globally for data protection and archive solutions. Primary storage systems decreased 20%, driven by large end-of-life purchases in the prior year. Devices and media decreased $1.1 million driven partially by decreased supply of LTO tape drives.

Service and Subscription Revenue

Service and subscription revenue increased $8.8 million, or 7%, in fiscal 2022 compared to fiscal 2021. This increase was due in part to acquisitions made during fiscal 2022. The increase also reflects a shift to subscription-based software licensing.

Royalty Revenue

We receive royalties from third parties that license our LTO media patents through our membership in the LTO consortium. Royalty revenue increased $0.5 million, or 3%, in fiscal 2022, as compared to fiscal 2021, related to shifts in market unit volumes towards more recent technologies such as LTO9 and LTO8.

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Gross Profit and Margin

Year Ended March 31,

(in thousands) 2022 Grossmargin % 2021 Grossmargin % $ Change Basis point change

Product Gross Margin

Product gross margin decreased 430 basis points for fiscal 2022, as compared with the same period in 2021. This decrease was due primarily to an increase in materials cost and freight, as global supply chain constraints disrupted normal procurement channels. Our product mix was also more heavily weighted to lower margin solutions.

Service and subscription gross margin decreased 300 basis points for fiscal 2022, as compared with the same period in 2021. This decrease was due primarily to increased costs for freight and repair on replacement parts.

Royalty Gross Margin

Royalties do not have significant related cost of sales.

Operating expenses

Year Ended March 31,

(in thousands) 2022 % ofrevenue 2021 % ofrevenue $ Change % Change

In fiscal 2022, research and development expense increased $10.1 million, or 24%, as compared with fiscal 2021. This increase was partially attributable to acquisitions made during fiscal 2022 which broaden our portfolio in the video surveillance and media and entertainment markets. We have also invested in a partnership with IBM to develop the next generation LTO technology.

In fiscal 2022, sales and marketing expenses increased $8.0 million, or 15%, as compared with fiscal 2021. This increase was partially driven by acquisitions made during fiscal 2022, expanding us into new markets. Marketing program spend also increased as in-person events started to occur again after a halt in the previous year.

In fiscal 2022, general and administrative expenses increased $3.3 million, or 8%, as compared with fiscal 2021. This increase was driven primarily by one-time legal and financial expenses related to acquisitions.

In fiscal 2022, restructuring expenses decreased $2.9 million, or 77%, as compared with fiscal 2021. This decrease is driven by corporate restructuring activities in the prior year as we consolidated our physical footprint and operations in certain markets.

Other expense, net

Year Ended March 31,

(in thousands) 2022 % ofrevenue 2021 % ofrevenue $ Change % Change

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In fiscal 2022, other expense, net decreased $1.1 million or 81%, compared to fiscal 2021. The decrease was primarily related to differences in foreign currency gains and losses during each period.

Interest expense

Year Ended March 31,

(in thousands) 2022 % ofrevenue 2021 % ofrevenue $ Change % Change

In fiscal 2022, interest expense decreased $15.6 million, or 57%, as compared to fiscal 2021. This decrease was primarily due to a lower principal balance and a lower effective interest rate on our Term Loan.

Loss on debt extinguishment, net

Year Ended March 31,

(in thousands) 2022 % ofrevenue 2021 % ofrevenue $ Change % Change

In fiscal 2022, loss on debt extinguishment, net was related to prepayment of our Senior Secured Term Loan that occurred during the period offset by the $10.0 million gain on the forgiveness of the Paycheck Protection Program loan. In fiscal 2021, we incurred a loss on debt extinguishment related to our Senior Secured Term Loan.

Income tax provision

Year Ended March 31,

(in thousands) 2022 % ofrevenue 2021 % ofrevenue $ Change % Change

Our income tax provision is primarily influenced by foreign and state income taxes. In fiscal 2022, the income tax provision increased $1.1 million or 461%, compared to fiscal 2021, related primarily to higher current foreign taxes as a result of an increase in foreign taxable income.

Due to our history of net losses in the U.S., the protracted period for utilizing tax attributes in certain foreign jurisdictions, and the difficulty in predicting future results, we believe that we cannot rely on projections of future taxable income to realize most of our deferred tax assets. Accordingly, we have established a full valuation allowance against our U.S. and certain foreign net deferred tax assets. Significant management judgement is required in assessing our ability to realize any future benefit from our net deferred tax assets. We intend to maintain this valuation allowance until sufficient positive evidence exists to support its reversal. Our income tax expense recorded in the future will be reduced to the extent that sufficient positive evidence materializes to support a reversal of, or decrease in, our valuation allowance.

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Comparison of the Years Ended March 31, 2021 and 2020

Revenue

Year Ended March 31,

(in thousands) 2021 % ofrevenue 2020 % ofrevenue $ Change % Change

Product revenue

Product Revenue

In fiscal 2021, product revenue decreased $41.4 million, or 16%, as compared to fiscal 2020. Secondary storage systems decreased by 20%, driven by fluctuating purchase cycles with our hyperscale customers. Primary storage systems decreased 10%, driven by early disruption in the media and entertainment market as COVID-19 significantly decreased major television and film production. Devices and media decreased $11.2 million driven partially by unusually high demand in fiscal 2020 following the resolution of a legal dispute, which had caused a constraint on LTO tape supply between the two principal suppliers in the market.

Service and Subscription Revenue

Service revenue decreased $6.1 million, or 5%, in fiscal 2021 compared to fiscal 2020. This decrease was due to reduced support renewals from our legacy backup customers, partially offset by new customer support agreements and installations.

Royalty Revenue

We receive royalties from third parties that license our LTO media patents through our membership in the LTO consortium. Royalty revenue decreased $5.9 million, or 28%, in fiscal 2021, as compared to fiscal 2020, related to overall declines in market unit volumes as the primary use of tape transitions from backup to archive workflows.

Gross Profit and Margin

Year Ended March 31,

(in thousands) 2021 Grossmargin % 2020 Grossmargin % $ Change Basis point change

Product Gross Margin

Product gross margin was flat comparing fiscal 2021 to fiscal 2020.

Service and Subscription Gross Margin

Service and subscription gross margin decreased 20 basis points for fiscal 2021, as compared with the same period in 2020. This decrease was due primarily to reduced service and subscription revenues from some of our legacy backup customers, partially offset by a reduction in service and subscription costs.

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Royalty Gross Margin

Royalties do not have significant related cost of sales.

Operating expenses

Year Ended March 31,

(in thousands) 2021 % ofrevenue 2020 % ofrevenue $ Change % Change

In fiscal 2021, research and development expense increased $5.4 million, or 15%, as compared with fiscal 2020. This increase was partially attributable to an increase in research and development headcount and professional services cost related to new product development. Most notably this includes headcount related to business acquisitions and integration of the associated development teams.

In fiscal 2021, sales and marketing expenses decreased $4.6 million, or 8%, as compared with fiscal 2020. This decrease was driven by a decrease in compensation as the result of lower sales performance and a decrease in marketing programs and professional services costs. Travel expenses were also significantly reduced during the fiscal year due to restrictions from the COVID-19 pandemic.

In fiscal 2021, general and administrative expenses decreased $12.5 million, or 23%, as compared with fiscal 2020. This decrease was driven primarily by lower costs related to our prior financial restatement and related activities, which we primarily incurred during fiscal 2019 and fiscal 2020 and decreased facilities expenses as we consolidate our physical footprint. These decreases were partially offset by increases to software expense as we modernize our existing IT infrastructure.

In fiscal 2021, restructuring expenses increased $2.7 million, or 262%, as compared with fiscal 2020. This increase was primarily due to footprint and associated headcount reductions that occurred in fiscal 2021, as well as changes in key leadership positions.

Other expense, net

Year Ended March 31,

(in thousands) 2021 % ofrevenue 2020 % ofrevenue $ Change % Change

In fiscal 2021, other expense, net increased $1.1 million or 403%, compared to fiscal 2020. The increase was primarily related to differences in foreign currency gains and losses during each period.

Interest expense

Year Ended March 31,

(in thousands) 2021 % ofrevenue 2020 % ofrevenue $ Change % Change

In fiscal 2021, interest expense increased $2.2 million, or 9%, as compared to fiscal 2020. This increase was primarily due to a higher average principal balance of our outstanding debt.

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Loss on debt extinguishment, net

Year Ended March 31,

(in thousands) 2021 % ofrevenue 2020 % ofrevenue $ Change % Change

In fiscal 2021, we incurred a loss on debt extinguishment related to our Senior Secured Term Loan.

Income tax provision

Year Ended March 31,

(in thousands) 2021 % ofrevenue 2020 % ofrevenue $ Change % Change

Our income tax provision is primarily influenced by foreign and state income taxes. In fiscal 2021, the income tax provision decreased $0.6 million or 70%, compared to fiscal 2020, related primarily to a valuation allowance recorded in fiscal 2020 for certain foreign deferred tax assets.

Due to our history of net losses in the U.S., the protracted period for utilizing tax attributes in certain foreign jurisdictions, and the difficulty in predicting future results, we believe that we cannot rely on projections of future taxable income to realize most of our deferred tax assets. Accordingly, we have established a full valuation allowance against our U.S. and certain foreign net deferred tax assets. Significant management judgement is required in assessing our ability to realize any future benefit from our net deferred tax assets. We intend to maintain this valuation allowance until sufficient positive evidence exists to support its reversal. Our income tax expense recorded in the future will be reduced to the extent that sufficient positive evidence materializes to support a reversal of, or decrease in, our valuation allowance.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

We consider liquidity in terms of the sufficiency of internal and external cash resources to fund our operating, investing and financing activities. Our principal sources of liquidity include cash from operating activities, cash and cash equivalents on our balance sheet and amounts available under our Amended PNC Credit Facility (as defined below). We require significant cash resources to meet obligations to pay principal and interest on our outstanding debt, provide for our research and development activities, fund our working capital needs, and make capital expenditures. Our future liquidity requirements will depend on multiple factors, including our research and development plans and capital asset needs. We are subject to the risks arising from COVID-19 which have caused substantial financial market volatility and have adversely affected both the U.S. and the global economy. We believe that these social and economic impacts have had a negative effect on sales due to the decline in certain of our customers' ability or willingness to purchase our products and services. We have also experienced negative impacts on sales due to global supply chain constraints which has resulted in a significant increase in our sales backlog compared to our historical levels. The extent of the impacts will depend, in part, on how long the negative trends in customer demand and supply chain levels will continue. We expect the impact of COVID-19 to continue to have a significant impact on our liquidity and capital resources.

We had cash and cash equivalents of $5.2 million as of March 31, 2022, compared to $27.4 million as of March 31, 2021. These amounts exclude $0.0 and $5.0 million in long-term restricted cash that we were required to maintain under our PNC Credit Facility, and $0.3 million and $0.7 million of short-term restricted cash as of March 31, 2022 and March 31, 2021, respectively. As of March 31, 2022 we had $5.0 million available to borrow under the PNC Credit Agreement.

We generated negative cash flows from operations of approximately $33.7 million, $0.8 million and $1.2 million for the fiscal years ended March 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020, respectively, and generated net losses of approximately

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$32.3 million, $35.5 million, and $5.2 million for the fiscal years ended March 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020, respectively. We have funded operations through the sale of common stock, term debt borrowings, revolving credit facility borrowings and proceeds from the Paycheck Protection Program Loan described in Note 5: Debt. Management believes that it has the ability to obtain additional debt or equity financing, if required, and has historically been able to do so. Management also believes that current working capital, borrowings available under the revolving credit facility and future equity financing (including the April 22, 2022 sale of 30 million shares of our common stock for gross proceeds of $67.5 million) or debt financing will provide the Company with sufficient capital to fund operations for at least one year from the financial statement issuance date. There is no assurance that we would be able to obtain sufficient additional funds when needed or that such funds, if available, will be obtainable on terms satisfactory to us.

Our outstanding long-term debt amounted to $107.2 million as of March 31, 2022, net of $4.9 million in unamortized debt issuance costs and $4.4 million in current portion of long-term debt, and $90.9 million as of March 31, 2021 net of $9.7 million in unamortized debt issuance costs and $1.9 million in current portion of long-term debt.

We are subject to various debt covenants under our debt agreements. Our failure to comply with our debt covenants could materially and adversely affect our financial condition and ability to service our obligations. On March 15, 2022, we received waivers of our financial covenants under our term debt and PNC Credit Facility. We believe we were in compliance with all covenants under our debt agreements as of the date of filing of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. See "Risks Related to our Indebtedness" section of Item 1A. Risk Factors.

Cash Flows

The following table summarizes our consolidated cash flows for the periods indicated.

Year Ended March 31,

Cash provided by (used in):

Effect of exchange rate changes (108) (108) (16)

Net Cash Used in Operating Activities

Net cash used in operating activities was $33.7 million for the year ended March 31, 2022, primarily attributable to $30.5 million of changes in assets and liabilities due primarily to working capital requirements due to higher inventories and prepaid expenses.

Net cash used in operating activities was $0.8 million for the year ended March 31, 2021, primarily attributable to cash provided by operating activities excluding changes in assets and liabilities of $3.6 million offset by working capital changes.

Net cash used in operating activities was $1.2 million for the year ended March 31, 2020, primarily attributable $20.9 million of changes in assets and liabilities due primarily to lower deferred revenue and an increase in manufacturing inventories offset by cash provided by operating activities excluding changes in assets and liabilities.

Net Cash Used in Investing Activities

Net cash used in investing activities was $14.1 million for the year ended March 31, 2022, primarily attributable to $7.8 million of business acquisitions and $6.3 million of capital expenditures.

Net cash used in investing activities was $9.6 million for the year ended March 31, 2021, primarily attributable to $6.9 million of capital expenditures and $2.7 million for a business acquisition.

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Net cash used in investing activities was $4.6 million for the year ended March 31, 2020, primarily attributable to $2.6 million of capital expenditures and $2.0 million for a business acquisition.

Net Cash Provided by Financing Activities

Net cash provided by financing activities was $20.2 million for the year ended March 31, 2022 due primarily to $17.7 million of borrowings under PNC Credit Facility.

Net cash provided by financing activities was $31.3 million for the year ended March 31, 2021 due primarily to a secondary equity offering which generated net proceeds of $96.8 million, term loan borrowings of $19.4 million (net of lender fees of $0.6 million), $10.0 million in borrowings under the Paycheck Protection Program, offset in part by the prepayment of $92.3 million of our term debt.

Net cash provided by financing activities was $1.2 million for the year ended March 31, 2020 related primarily to net borrowings under the Amended PNC Credit Facility offset by principal repayments on our term debt.

Commitments and Contingencies

Our contingent liabilities consist primarily of certain financial guarantees, both express and implied, related to product liability and potential infringement of intellectual property. We have little history of costs associated with such indemnification requirements and contingent liabilities associated with product liability may be mitigated by our insurance coverage. In the normal course of business to facilitate transactions of our services and products, we indemnify certain parties with respect to certain matters, such as intellectual property infringement or other claims. We also have indemnification agreements with our current and former officers and directors. It is not possible to determine the maximum potential amount under these indemnification agreements due to the limited history of our indemnification claims, and the unique facts and circumstances involved in each particular agreement. Historically, payments made by us under these agreements have not had a material impact on our operating results, financial position or cash flows.

We are also subject to ordinary course of business litigation, See Note 10: Commitments and Contingencies, to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Contractual Obligations

Contractual obligations are cash amounts that we are obligated to pay as part of certain contracts that we have entered into during the normal course of business. Below is a table that shows our contractual obligations as of March 31, 2022 (in thousands):

Payments Due by Period

(in thousands) Total 1 year or less 1 – 3 Years 3 –5 Years More than5 years

(1)Consists of (i) principal and interest payments on our term loan based on the amount outstanding and interest rates in effect at March 31, 2022, and (ii) principal, interest, and unused commitment fees on our PNC Credit Facility based on the amount outstanding and rates in effect at March 31, 2022.

(2)Represents aggregate future minimum lease payments under non-cancelable operating leases.

(3)Includes primarily non-cancelable inventory purchase commitments.

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Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

We do not currently have any other off-balance sheet arrangements and do not have any holdings in variable interest entities.

CRITICAL ACCOUNTING ESTIMATES AND POLICIES

The preparation of our consolidated financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP requires management to make judgments, estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. On an ongoing basis, we evaluate estimates, which are based on historical experience and on various other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances. We consider the following accounting policies to be critical to understanding our financial statements because the application of these policies requires significant judgment on the part of management, which could have a material impact on our financial statements if actual performance should differ from historical experience or if our assumptions were to change. The following accounting policies include estimates that require management’s subjective or complex judgments about the effects of matters that are inherently uncertain. For information on our significant accounting policies, including the policies discussed below, see Note 1: Description of Business and Significant Accounting Policies, to our consolidated financial statements.

Revenue Recognition

Our revenue is derived from three main sources: (a) products, (b) service and subscription, and (c) royalties. Our performance obligations are satisfied at a point in time or over time as stand ready obligations. Product revenue is recognized at the point in time when the customer takes control of the product, which typically occurs at the point of shipment. Service and subscription revenue consists of customer support agreements, software subscriptions, installation, and consulting & training. Our software subscriptions include term licenses which are recognized as revenue when the license has been delivered to the customer and related customer support which is recognized ratably over the service period. Revenue from customer support agreements is recognized ratably over the contractual term of the agreement. Installation services are typically completed within a short period of time and revenue from these services are recognized at the point when installation is complete. A majority of the Company's consulting and training revenue does not take significant time to complete therefore these obligations are satisfied upon completion of such services at a point in time. We license certain products under royalty arrangements, pursuant to which our licensees periodically provide us with reports containing units sold to end users subject to the royalties. The reports substantiate that our performance obligation has been satisfied and we recognize royalty revenue based on the reports or when amounts can be reasonably estimated.

There are significant judgements used when applying ASC Topic 606 to contracts with customers. Most of our contracts contain multiple goods and services designed to meet each customers’ unique storage needs. For contracts with multiple performance obligations, we allocate the transaction price to each performance obligation based on the relative standalone selling price of the good or service underlying each performance obligation. Where standalone selling price may not be directly observable (e.g., the performance obligation is not sold separately), we maximize the use of observable inputs by using information including reviewing discounting practices, performance obligations with similar customers and product groupings. We determined that invoice price is the best representation of what we expect to receive from the delivery of each performance obligation. This judgment is based on the fact that each storage solution is customizable to meet an individual customer’s needs and every product’s transaction price can vary depending on the mix of other products included in the same purchase order and there are no identifiable trends that provide a good representation of expected margin for each product.

Product revenue may be impacted by a variety of price adjustments or other factors, including rebates, returns and stock rotation. We use the expected value method to estimate the net consideration expected to be returned by the customer. We use historical data and current trends to drive our estimates. We record a reduction to revenue to account for these items that may result in variable consideration. We initially measure a returned asset at the carrying amount of the inventory, less any expected costs to recover the goods including potential decreases in value of the returned goods.

Income Taxes

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Deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized based on temporary differences between the financial reporting and tax bases of assets and liabilities, measured at the enacted tax rates expected to apply to taxable income in the years in which those tax assets or liabilities are expected to be realized or settled. Based on the evaluation of available evidence, both positive and negative, we recognize future tax benefits, such as net operating loss carryforwards and tax credit carryforwards, to the extent that realizing these benefits is considered to be more likely than not.

A valuation allowance is provided if we believe it is more likely than not that all or some portion of the deferred tax asset will not be realized. An increase or decrease in the valuation allowance, if any, that results from a change in circumstances, and which causes a change in our judgment about the realizability of the related deferred tax asset, is included in the tax provision.

We recognize the financial statement effects of an uncertain income tax position when it is more likely than not, based on technical merits, that the position will be sustained upon examination. We reevaluate these uncertain tax positions on a quarterly basis. This evaluation is based on factors including, but not limited to, changes in facts or circumstances and changes in tax law. We recognize penalties and tax-related interest expense as a component of income tax expense in our consolidated statements of operations. See Note 9: Income Taxes, to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Inventories

Manufacturing Inventories

Our manufacturing inventory is recorded at the lower of cost or net realizable value, with cost being determined on a first-in, first-out (“FIFO”) basis. Costs include material, direct labor, and an allocation of overhead. Adjustments to reduce the cost of manufacturing inventory to its net realizable value, if required, are made for estimated excess, obsolete or impaired balances. Factors influencing these adjustments include declines in demand, rapid technological changes, product life cycle and development plans, component cost trends, product pricing, physical deterioration and quality issues. Revisions to these adjustments would be required if these factors differ from our estimates.

Service Parts Inventories

Our service parts inventories are recorded at the lower of cost or net realizable value, with cost being determined on a FIFO basis. Service parts inventories consist of both component parts, which are primarily used to repair defective units, and finished units, which are provided for customer use permanently or on a temporary basis while the defective unit is being repaired. We record adjustments to reduce the carrying value of service parts inventory to its net realizable value and dispose of parts with no use and a net realizable value of zero. Factors influencing these adjustments include product life cycles, end of service life plans and the volume of enhanced or extended warranty service contracts. Estimates of net realizable value involve significant estimates and judgments about the future, and revisions would be required if these factors differ from our estimates.

Business Acquisitions, Goodwill and Acquisition-Related Intangible Assets

We allocate the purchase price to the intangible and tangible assets acquired and liabilities assumed in a business combination at their estimated fair values on the date of acquisition, with the excess recorded to goodwill. We use our best estimates and assumptions to assign fair value to the assets acquired and liabilities assumed as well as the useful lives of the acquired intangible assets. Examples of critical estimates in valuing certain intangible assets we have acquired include, but are not limited to, future expected cash flows, expected technology life cycle, attrition rates of customers, and discount rates. We estimate the useful lives of each intangible asset based on the expected period over which we anticipate generating economic benefit from the asset. The amounts and useful lives assigned to acquired intangible assets impact the amount and timing of future amortization expense.

While we use our best estimates and assumptions as part of the purchase price allocation process to value assets acquired and liabilities assumed, these estimates are inherently uncertain and subject to refinement. As a result, during the measurement period, which may be up to one year from the acquisition date, we may record adjustments to the estimated fair value of the assets acquired and liabilities assumed, with the corresponding offset to goodwill. Upon the conclusion of the measurement period, any subsequent adjustments are recorded to the consolidated statements of operations.

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Recently Issued and Adopted Accounting Pronouncements

For recently issued and adopted accounting pronouncements, see Note 1: Description of Business and Significant Accounting Policies, to our consolidated financial statements.

ITEM 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK

Market risk represents the risk of loss that may impact our financial position due to adverse changes in financial market prices and rates. Our market risk exposure is primarily a result of exposure due to potential changes in inflation or interest rates. We do not hold financial instruments for trading purposes.

Interest Rate Risk

We are subject to interest rate risk on borrowings under our variable interest rate term debt and PNC Credit Facility. See Note 5: Debt to our consolidated financial statements for a description of our long term debt. Changes in the market interest rate will increase or decrease our interest expense. Assuming no change in the outstanding borrowings under the term debt and the PNC Credit Facility during fiscal 2023, a hypothetical 100-basis point increase or decrease in market interest rates sustained throughout the year would not result in a material change to our annual interest expense. Our other long-term debt related to lease obligations have fixed interest rates and terms, and as such, we consider the associated risk to our results of operations from changes in market rates of interest applied to our lease obligations to be minimal.

Foreign Exchange Risk

We conduct business in certain international markets. Because we operate in international markets, we have exposure to different economic climates, political arenas, tax systems and regulations that could affect foreign exchange rates. Our primary exposure to foreign currency risk relates to transacting in foreign currency and recording the activity in U.S. dollars. Changes in exchange rates between the U.S. dollar and these other currencies will result in transaction gains or losses, which we recognize in our consolidated statements of operations.

To the extent practicable, we minimize our foreign currency exposures by maintaining natural hedges between our assets and liabilities and revenues and expenses denominated in foreign currencies. We may enter into foreign exchange derivative contracts or other economic hedges in the future. Our goal in managing our foreign exchange risk is to reduce to the extent practicable our potential exposure to the changes that exchange rates might have on our earnings.

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ITEM 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA

INDEX TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Page

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm (PCAOB ID: 32) 43

Consolidated Balance Sheets 47

Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Loss 48

Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows 49

Consolidated Statements of Stockholders’ Deficit 50

Index to Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements 51

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Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

To the Board of Directors and Stockholders

Quantum Corporation

San Jose, California

Opinions on the Consolidated Financial Statements and Internal Control over Financial Reporting

We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Quantum Corporation and its subsidiaries (the Company) as of March 31, 2022 and 2021 and the related consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss, stockholders' deficit, and cash flows for each of the years in the three year period ended March 31, 2022, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the consolidated financial statements). We also have audited the Company's internal control over financial reporting as of March 31, 2022, based on criteria established in Internal Control-Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO).

In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of March 31, 2022 and 2021, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the years in the three-year period ended March 31, 2022 in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. Also, in our opinion, the Company maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of March 31, 2022, based on the criteria established in Internal Control - Integrated Framework (2013) issued by COSO.

Basis for Opinions

The Company's management is responsible for these consolidated financial statements, for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting, and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting, included in the accompanying Management Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting appearing under Item 9A. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company's consolidated financial statements and an opinion on the Company's internal control over financial reporting based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB) and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the consolidated financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud, and whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects.

Our audits of the consolidated financial statements included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the consolidated financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the consolidated financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the consolidated financial statements. Our audit of internal control over financial reporting included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, and testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk. Our audit also included performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinions.

Definition and Limitations of Internal Control over Financial Reporting

A company's internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company's internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (2) provide reasonable

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assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company's assets that could have a material effect on the consolidated financial statements.

Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.

Critical Audit Matters

The critical audit matters communicated below are matters arising from the current period audit of the financial statements that were communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee and that: (1) relate to accounts or disclosures that are material to the financial statements and (2) involved our especially challenging, subjective, or complex judgments. The communication of critical audit matters does not alter in any way our opinion on the financial statements, taken as a whole, and we are not, by communicating the critical audit matters below, providing separate opinions on the critical audit matters or on the accounts or disclosures to which they relate.

Revenue Recognition — Refer to Note 1 to the Consolidated Financial Statements

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/s/ ArmaninoLLP

San Ramon, California

June 8, 2022

We have served as the Company's auditor since 2019.

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QUANTUM CORPORATION

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

(in thousands, except per share amounts)

Assets

Current assets:

Restricted cash — 5,000

Liabilities and Stockholders’ Deficit

Current liabilities:

Long-term debt, current portion 4,375 1,850

Revolving credit facility 17,735 —

Long-term debt, net of current portion 89,448 90,890

Commitments and Contingencies (Note 10)

Stockholders’ deficit

Preferred stock:

Common stock:

Accumulated other comprehensive loss (1,423) (856)

Total liabilities and stockholders' deficit $ 201,635 $ 194,924

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.

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QUANTUM CORPORATION

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS AND COMPREHENSIVE LOSS

(in thousands, except per share amounts)

Year Ended March 31,

Revenue

Cost of revenue

Operating expenses

Loss on debt extinguishment, net (4,960) (14,789) —

Net loss per share - basic and diluted $ (0.55) $ (0.83) $ (0.14)

Foreign currency translation adjustments, net (567) 666 (112)

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.

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QUANTUM CORPORATION

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

(In thousands)

Year Ended March 31,

Operating activities

Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities:

Long-term debt related costs 8,471 167 —

Paid-in-kind interest — — 1,858

Provision for manufacturing and service inventories 5,740 6,334 6,255

Gain on PPP loan extinguishment (10,000) — —

Non-cash income tax benefit — (577) —

Non-cash loss on debt extinguishment — 10,087 —

Changes in assets and liabilities, net of effect of acquisitions:

Investing activities

Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities (14,124) (9,586) (4,599)

Financing activities

Borrowings of paycheck protection program — 10,000 —

Proceeds from secondary offering, net — 96,756 —

Payment of taxes due upon vesting of restricted stock — (236) (171)

Proceeds from issuance of common stock 1,762 1,335 —

Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents 51 (108) (16)

Supplemental disclosure of cash flow information

Cash paid for income taxes, net of refunds $ 944 $ (2,283) $ (490)

Non-cash transactions

Transfer of property and equipment to manufacturing inventory $ 818 $ 429 $ 400

Payment of litigation settlements with insurance proceeds $ — $ — $ 8,950

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.

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QUANTUM CORPORATION

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF STOCKHOLDERS’ DEFICIT

(in thousands)

Shares Amount

Foreign currency translation adjustments, net — — — — (112) (112)

Shares issued under employee incentive plans, net 1,082 11 (182) — — (171)

Shares issued from warrants exercised, net 2,783 28 (28) — — —

Stock-based compensation — — 6,748 — — 6,748

Foreign currency translation adjustments, net of income taxes — — — — 666 666

Shares issued under employee stock purchase plan 320 4 1,331 — — 1,335

Shares issued under employee incentive plans, net 1,264 13 (13) — — —

Shares issued in connection with business acquisition 361 3 2,077 — — 2,080

Warrants issued related to long-term debt — — 11,515 — — 11,515

Stock-based compensation — — 9,624 — — 9,624

Shares issued under employee stock purchase plan 389 4 1,758 — — 1,762

Shares issued under employee incentive plans, net 2,308 23 (23) — — —

Shares issued in connection with business acquisition 821 8 2,810 — — 2,818

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.

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INDEX TO NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Page

Note 2: Revenue Recognition 60

Note 3: Business Acquisitions 61

Note 4: Balance Sheet Information 63

Note 6: Leases 67

Note 7: Common Stock 68

Note 8: Net Loss Per Share 71

Note 9: Income Taxes 72

Note 10: Commitments and Contingencies 74

Note 11: Fair Value of Financial Instruments 76

Note 12: Subsequent Events 76

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

NOTE 1: DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Description of Business

Quantum Corporation, together with its consolidated subsidiaries (“Quantum” or the “Company”), is a leader in storing and managing digital video and other forms of unstructured data, delivering top streaming performance for video and rich media applications, along with low-cost, long-term storage systems for data protection and archiving. The Company helps customers around the world capture, create and share digital data and preserve and protect it for decades. The Company’s software-defined, hyperconverged storage solutions span from non-violate memory express (“NVMe”), to solid state drives, (“SSD”), hard disk drives, (“HDD”), tape and the cloud and are tied together leveraging a single namespace view of the entire data environment. The Company works closely with a broad network of distributors, value-added resellers (“VARs”), direct marketing resellers (“DMRs”), original equipment manufacturers (“OEMs”) and other suppliers to meet customers’ evolving needs.

Basis of Presentation

The consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America (“GAAP”). All intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated. The Company reviews subsidiaries and affiliates, as well as other entities, to determine if they should be considered variable interest entities (“VIE”), and whether it should change the consolidation determinations based on changes in their characteristics. The Company considers an entity a VIE if its equity investors own an interest therein that lacks the characteristics of a controlling financial interest or if such investors do not have sufficient equity at risk for the entity to finance its activities without additional subordinated financial support or if the entity is structured with non-substantive voting interests. To determine whether or not the entity is consolidated with the Company’s results, the Company also evaluates which interests are variable interests in the VIE and which party is the primary beneficiary of the VIE.

Liquidity

The accompanying consolidated financial statements of the Company have been prepared in conformity with GAAP, which contemplate continuation of the Company as a going concern. The Company generated negative cash flows from operations of approximately $33.7 million, $0.8 million and $1.2 million for the fiscal years ended March 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020, respectively, and generated net losses of approximately $32.3 million, $35.5 million, and $5.2 million for the fiscal years ended March 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020, respectively. The Company has funded operations through the sale of common stock, term debt borrowings, revolving credit facility borrowings and proceeds from the Paycheck Protection Program Loan described in Note 5: Debt. Management believes that it has

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