across product types and a “build-to-order” manufacturing process in which products generally are built only after customers have placed firm orders. We continue to evolve hardware systems support processes that are intended to proactively identify and solve quality issues and to increase the amount of new and renewed hardware systems support contracts sold in connection with the sales of our hardware systems products.

Our hardware systems products revenues, cost of hardware systems products and hardware systems operating margins that we report are affected by our strategy for and the competitive position of our hardware systems products, the strength of general economic and business conditions, governmental budgetary constraints, certain of our acquisitions and foreign currency rate fluctuations. In addition, our operating margins for our hardware systems products segment have been and will be affected by the amortization of intangible assets.

We have limited experience in predicting our quarterly hardware systems products revenues. The timing of customer orders and delays in our ability to timely manufacture or deliver a few large hardware transactions could substantially affect the amount of hardware systems products revenues, expenses and operating margins that we report.

Hardware Systems Support:     Our hardware systems support offerings provide customers with software updates for software components that are essential to the functionality of our server and storage products, such as Oracle Solaris and certain other software products, and can include product repairs, maintenance services and technical support services. Typically, our hardware systems support contract arrangements are invoiced to the customer at the beginning of the support period and are one year in duration. Our hardware systems support revenues that we report are influenced by a number of factors, including the volume of purchases of hardware products, the mix of hardware products purchased, whether customers decide to purchase hardware systems support contracts at or in close proximity to the time of sale, and the percentage of our hardware systems support contract customer base that renews its support contracts. All of these factors are heavily influenced by our customers’ decisions to either maintain or upgrade their existing hardware systems’ infrastructure to newly developed technologies that are available.

Our hardware systems support margins have been and will be affected by certain of our acquisitions and related accounting including fair value adjustments relating to hardware systems support obligations assumed and by the amortization of intangible assets. As required by business combination accounting rules, we recorded adjustments to reduce our hardware systems support revenues for contracts assumed from our acquisitions to their estimated fair values. These amounts would have been recorded as hardware systems support revenues by the acquired businesses as independent entities in the amounts of $14 million, $30 million and $148 million for fiscal 2013, 2012 and 2011, respectively. To the extent underlying hardware systems support contracts are renewed