in duration and substantially all of our customers renew their software license updates and product support contracts annually. The growth of software license updates and product support revenues is primarily influenced by three factors: (1) the percentage of our software support contract customer base that renews its software support contracts, (2) the amount of new software support contracts sold in connection with the sale of new software licenses and (3) the amount of software support contracts assumed from companies we have acquired.

Software license updates and product support revenues, which represented 47%, 46% and 43% of our total revenues in fiscal 2014, 2013 and 2012, respectively, is our highest margin business unit. Our software support margins during fiscal 2014 were 89% and accounted for 77% of our total margins over the same period. Our software license updates and product support margins have been affected by fair value adjustments relating to software support obligations assumed in business combinations (described further below) and by amortization of intangible assets. However, over the longer term, we believe that software license updates and product support revenues and margins will grow for the following reasons:

 

 	•	 	substantially all of our customers, including customers from acquired companies, renew their software support contracts when eligible for renewal;

 

 	•	 	substantially all of our customers purchase software license updates and product support contracts when they buy new software licenses, resulting in a further increase in our software support contract base. Even if new software licenses revenues growth was flat, software license updates and product support revenues would continue to grow in comparison to the corresponding prior year periods assuming contract renewal and cancellation rates and foreign currency rates remained relatively constant since substantially all new software licenses transactions result in the sale of software license updates and product support contracts, which add to our software support contract base; and

 

 	•	 	our acquisitions have increased our software support contract base, as well as the portfolio of products available to be licensed and supported.

We recorded adjustments to reduce software support obligations assumed in business combinations to their estimated fair values at the acquisition dates. As a result, as required by business combination accounting rules, we did not recognize software license updates and product support revenues related to software support contracts that would have been otherwise recorded by the acquired businesses as independent entities in the amounts of $3 million, $14 million and $48 million in fiscal 2014, 2013 and 2012, respectively. To the extent underlying software support contracts are renewed with us following an acquisition, we will recognize the revenues for the full values of the software support contracts over the respective support periods, the majority of which are one year.

Hardware Systems Business

Our hardware systems business is comprised of two operating segments: (1) hardware systems products and (2) hardware