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Commitments and Contingencies | 3 Months Ended
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Jan. 31, 2021
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] |
Commitments and Contingencies | Commitments and Contingencies Commitments The following table summarizes contractual obligations and commitments as of January 31, 2021 that materially changed from the end of fiscal year 2020:
Fiscal Year: |  | Debt Principal, Interest and Fees |  | Purchase Commitments |  | Other Contractual Commitments |  |
|  | (In millions) |  |
2021 (remainder) |  | $ | 1,439 |  |  | $ | 883 |  |  | $ | 173 |  |  |
2022 |  | 2,506 |  |  | 76 |  |  | 227 |  |  |
2023 |  | 1,977 |  |  | 19 |  |  | 216 |  |  |
2024 |  | 4,053 |  |  | — |  |  | 157 |  |  |
2025 |  | 4,655 |  |  | — |  |  | 63 |  |  |
Thereafter |  | 42,259 |  |  | — |  |  | 239 |  |  |
Total |  | $ | 56,889 |  |  | $ | 978 |  |  | $ | 1,075 |  |  |
Debt Principal, Interest and Fees. Represents principal, interest and fees on our borrowings. Purchase Commitments. Represents unconditional purchase obligations that include agreements to purchase goods or services, primarily inventory, that are enforceable and legally binding on us and that specify all significant terms, including fixed or minimum quantities to be purchased, fixed, minimum or variable price provisions, and the approximate timing of the transaction. Purchase obligations exclude agreements that are cancelable without penalty. Cancellation for outstanding purchase orders for capital expenditures in connection with construction of our new campuses is generally allowed but requires payment of all costs incurred through the date of cancellation and, therefore, cancelable purchase orders for these capital expenditures are included in the table above. Other Contractual Commitments. Represents amounts payable pursuant to agreements related to IT, human resources, and other service agreements. Due to the inherent uncertainty with respect to the timing of future cash outflows associated with our unrecognized tax benefits at January 31, 2021, we are unable to reliably estimate the timing of cash settlement with the respective taxing authorities. Therefore, $3,210 million of unrecognized tax benefits and accrued interest classified within other long-term liabilities on our condensed consolidated balance sheet as of January 31, 2021 have been excluded from the contractual obligations table above. Standby Letters of Credit As of January 31, 2021 and November 1, 2020, we had standby letters of credit of $62 million and $65 million, respectively. Standby letters of credit are financial guarantees provided by third parties for leases, customs, taxes and certain self-insured risks. If the guarantees are called, we must reimburse the provider of the guarantees. Contingencies From time to time, we are involved in litigation that we believe is of the type common to companies engaged in our lines of business, including commercial disputes, employment issues, tax disputes and disputes involving claims by third parties that our activities infringe their patent, copyright, trademark or other IP rights, as well as regulatory investigations or inquiries. Legal proceedings and regulatory investigations or inquiries are often complex, may require the expenditure of significant funds and other resources, and the outcome of such proceedings is inherently uncertain, with material adverse outcomes possible. IP property claims generally involve the demand by a third-party that we cease the manufacture, use or sale of the allegedly infringing products, processes or technologies and/or pay substantial damages or royalties for past, present and future use of the allegedly infringing IP. Claims that our products or processes infringe or misappropriate any third-party IP rights (including claims arising through our contractual indemnification of our customers) often involve highly complex, technical issues, the outcome of which is inherently uncertain. Moreover, from time to time, we pursue litigation to assert our IP rights. Regardless of the merit or resolution of any such litigation, complex IP litigation is generally costly and diverts the efforts and attention of our management and technical personnel. Lawsuits Relating to California Institute of Technology California Institute of Technology ("Caltech") filed a complaint against Broadcom and Apple Inc. on May 26, 2016 in the United States District Court for the Central District of California (the “U.S. Central District Court”), and an amended complaint adding Cypress Semiconductor Corporation as a defendant on August 15, 2016. The amended complaint alleged that chips that support certain error correction codes as specified in IEEE Standards 802.11n and 802.11ac willfully infringed four patents related to error correction coding: U.S. Patent Nos. 7,116,710; 7,421,032; 7,916,781; and 8,284,833 (“’833 patent”). Prior to trial, Caltech dismissed its claims against Cypress and withdrew its infringement allegations as to ‘833 patent. The complaint sought a preliminary and permanent injunction, damages, pre- and post-judgment interest, as well as attorneys’ fees, costs, and expenses. The trial was held in January 2020, and on January 29, 2020, the jury issued its verdict finding infringement and awarding Caltech past damages of $270.2 million from Broadcom and $837.8 million from Apple, for which Apple is seeking indemnification from Broadcom. On August 3, 2020, the U.S. Central District Court issued its judgment, awarding Caltech past damages in the amounts awarded by the jury, as well as pre- and post-judgment interest. Additionally, the U.S. Central District Court awarded Caltech an unspecified amount of ongoing royalties to be determined after the anticipated appeals process is resolved. Neither the jury nor the U.S. Central District Court found willful infringement, which if it had, could have resulted in enhanced damages up to three times the amount awarded. Broadcom and Apple have appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. We believe that the evidence and the law do not support the U.S. Central District Court’s findings of infringement or the award of damages, including ongoing royalties, and do not believe a material loss is probable at this time. We believe that there are strong grounds for appeal, and we intend to vigorously challenge the U.S. Central District Court’s judgment and rulings. As a result, we have not recorded a reserve with respect to this litigation, in accordance with the applicable accounting standards. We believe the low end of the possible range of loss is zero, but we cannot reasonably estimate the ultimate outcome, as a number of factors (including the appeal by Broadcom and Apple) could significantly change the assessment of damages. Other Matters In addition to the matters discussed above, we are currently engaged in a number of legal actions in the ordinary course of our business. Contingency Assessment We do not believe, based on currently available facts and circumstances, that the final outcome of any pending legal proceedings or ongoing regulatory investigations, taken individually or as a whole, will have a material adverse effect on our condensed consolidated financial statements. However, lawsuits may involve complex questions of fact and law and may require the expenditure of significant funds and other resources to defend. The results of litigation or regulatory investigations are inherently uncertain, and material adverse outcomes are possible. From time to time, we may enter into confidential discussions regarding the potential settlement of such lawsuits. Any settlement of pending litigation could require us to incur substantial costs and other ongoing expenses, such as future royalty payments in the case of an intellectual property dispute. During the periods presented, no material amounts have been accrued or disclosed in the accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements with respect to loss contingencies associated with any other legal proceedings or regulatory investigations, as potential losses for such matters are not considered probable and ranges of losses are not reasonably estimable. These matters are subject to many uncertainties and the ultimate outcomes are not predictable. There can be no assurances that the actual amounts required to satisfy any liabilities arising from the matters described above will not have a material adverse effect on our condensed consolidated financial statements. Other Indemnifications As is customary in our industry and as provided for in local law in the U.S. and other jurisdictions, many of our standard contracts provide remedies to our customers and others with whom we enter into contracts, such as defense, settlement, or payment of judgment for IP claims related to the use of our products. From time to time, we indemnify customers, as well as our suppliers, contractors, lessors, lessees, companies that purchase our businesses or assets and others with whom we enter into contracts, against combinations of loss, expense, or liability arising from various triggering events related to the sale and the use of our products, the use of their goods and services, the use of facilities and state of our owned facilities, the state of the assets and businesses that we sell and other matters covered by such contracts, usually up to a specified maximum amount. In addition, from time to time we also provide protection to these parties against claims related to undiscovered liabilities, additional product liabilities or environmental obligations. In our experience, claims made under such indemnifications are rare and the associated estimated fair value of the liability is not material.

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