Washington, D.C.  20549

For the fiscal year ended September 1, 2016

OR

For the transition period from            to

Commission file number 1-10658

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.  Yes   T    No ¨

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Act.  Yes   ¨    No T

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.  Yes   T    No ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Website, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).  Yes   T    No ¨

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K (§ 229.405 of this chapter) is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant's knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form

10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K.  ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes o  No x

The aggregate market value of the voting stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant, based upon the closing price of such stock on March 3, 2016, as reported by the NASDAQ Global Select Market, was approximately $9.3 billion .  Shares of common stock held by each executive officer and director and by each person who owns 5% or more of the outstanding common stock have been excluded in that such persons may be deemed to be affiliates.  This determination of affiliate status is not necessarily a conclusive determination for other purposes.

The number of outstanding shares of the registrant's common stock as of October 21, 2016, was 1,041,537,057 .

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE: Portions of the Proxy Statement for the registrant's Fiscal 2016 Annual Meeting of Shareholders to be held on January 18, 2017, are incorporated by reference into Part II and Part III of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Definitions of Commonly Used Terms

As used herein, "we," "our," "us," and similar terms include Micron Technology, Inc. and our consolidated subsidiaries, unless the context indicates otherwise. Abbreviations, terms, or acronyms are commonly used or found in multiple locations throughout this report and include the following:

The following discussion contains trend information and other forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties.  Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements such as those made regarding the acquisition of the remaining shares of Inotera, increased sales of DDR4 products, growth in demand for NAND Flash products and SSDs, production of 3D NAND Flash and 3D XPoint ™ memory, and the transition to smaller line-widths and other process technologies. Our actual results could differ materially from our historical results and those discussed in the forward-looking statements.  Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include, but are not limited to, those identified in "Item 1A. Risk Factors." All period references are to our fiscal periods unless otherwise indicated.

Micron Technology, Inc., including its consolidated subsidiaries, is a global leader in advanced semiconductor systems. Our broad portfolio of high-performance memory technologies, including DRAM, NAND Flash, and NOR Flash, is the basis for solid-state drives, modules, multi-chip packages, and other system solutions. Our memory solutions enable the world's most innovative computing, consumer, enterprise storage, networking, mobile, embedded, and automotive applications. We market our products through our internal sales force, independent sales representatives, and distributors primarily to original equipment manufacturers and retailers located around the world. We face intense competition in the semiconductor memory market and in order to remain competitive we must continuously develop and implement new technologies and decrease manufacturing costs. Our success is largely dependent on market acceptance of our diversified portfolio of semiconductor products, efficient utilization of our manufacturing infrastructure, successful ongoing development of advanced product and process technologies, and generating a return on R&D investments.

We obtain products for sale to our customers from our wholly-owned manufacturing facilities and our joint ventures. In recent years, we have increased our manufacturing scale and product diversity through strategic acquisitions and various partnering arrangements.

We make significant investments to develop the proprietary product and process technologies that are implemented in our worldwide manufacturing facilities and joint ventures. We generally reduce the manufacturing cost of each generation of product through advancements in product and process technologies, such as our leading-edge line-width process technology. We continue to introduce new generations of products that offer improved performance characteristics, including higher data transfer rates, reduced package size, lower power consumption, improved read/write reliability, and increased memory density. To leverage our significant investments in R&D, we have formed, and may continue to form, strategic joint ventures that allow us to share the costs of developing memory product and process technologies with joint venture partners. In addition, from time to time, we also sell and/or license technology to other parties. We continue to pursue additional opportunities to monetize our investment in intellectual property through partnering and other arrangements.

Proposed Acquisition of Inotera

In the second quarter of 2016, we entered into agreements to acquire the remaining interest in Inotera for 30 New Taiwan dollars per share in cash (equivalent to approximately $0.95 per share, assuming 31.7 New Taiwan dollars per U.S. dollar, the exchange rate as of September 1, 2016). As of September 1, 2016, we held a 33% ownership interest in Inotera, Nanya and certain of its affiliates held a 32% ownership interest, and the remaining ownership interest in Inotera was publicly held. Based on the exchange rate as of September 1, 2016, we estimate the aggregate consideration payable for the 67% of Inotera shares not owned by us would be approximately $4.1 billion .

On March 29, 2016, the transaction was approved by the shareholders of Inotera, including Nanya and certain of Nanya's affiliates (which approval was provided pursuant to voting and support agreements). Under the voting and support agreements, the parties have further agreed not to transfer any of their Inotera shares so long as the voting and support agreements are in effect. These agreements will terminate automatically upon the termination of the agreement to purchase the Inotera shares. On October 11, 2016, the Inotera board set the date for the closing of the transaction to be December 6, 2016. There can be no assurance that the Inotera transaction will be consummated, which is subject to certain termination rights and various conditions, including but not limited to:

Acquisition Financing : On October 11, 2016, we and Inotera, as co-borrowers, entered into a single-draw term loan facility (the "Term Loan Facility"), from which proceeds will be used to pay a portion of the acquisition consideration and any related transaction costs and to provide working capital for Inotera. In the second and third quarters of 2016, we entered into agreements with Nanya pursuant to which we have the option to issue a combination of shares of our common stock (the "Micron Shares") and 2.00% convertible senior notes due 2021 (the "2021 Convertible Notes") to Nanya, which is subject to regulatory approvals and various other conditions.

Term Loan Facility : The Term Loan Facility can be made in a single draw on or prior to July 10, 2017, subject to the satisfaction of customary conditions, up to a maximum aggregate borrowing amount of 80 billion New Taiwan dollars in cash (equivalent to $2.5 billion). The loan will bear interest at a variable rate equal to the three-month or six-month TAIBOR, at our or Inotera's option, plus a margin of 2.05% per annum, payable monthly in arrears. The loan will mature five years from the date it is made and principal is payable in six equal semi-annual installments, commencing thirty months after such loan is made.

The Term Loan Facility will be collateralized by certain assets including a real estate mortgage on Inotera's main production facility and site, a chattel mortgage over certain equipment of Inotera, all of the stock of our MSTW subsidiary and the approximately 80% of the stock of Inotera held by MSTW following the consummation of the acquisition. Micron will guarantee all of Inotera's and MSTW's obligations under the Term Loan Facility.

The Term Loan Facility contains affirmative and negative covenants which are customary for financings of this type, including covenants that limit or restrict the ability to create liens in or dispose of collateral securing obligations under the Term Loan Facility, mergers involving MSTW and/or Inotera, loans or guarantees to third parties by Inotera and/or MSTW, and MSTW's distribution of cash dividends (subject to satisfaction of certain financial conditions). The Term Loan Facility also contains financial covenants as follows, which are tested semi-annually:

If one or more of the required financial ratios is not maintained at the time the ratios are tested, the interest rate will be increased by 0.25% until such time as the required financial ratios are maintained. In addition, if MSTW fails to maintain a required financial ratio for two consecutive semi-annual periods, such failure will constitute an event of default that could result in all obligations owed under the Term Loan Agreement being accelerated to be immediately due and payable. Our failure to maintain a required consolidated financial ratio will only result in an increase to the applicable interest rate and will not constitute an event of default under the Term Loan Facility. The Term Loan Facility also contains customary events of default.

Micron Shares : We have the option to issue Micron Shares in an amount up to 31.5 billion New Taiwan dollars (equivalent to $991 million ) (the "Private Placement"), which would be used to fund a portion of the acquisition consideration. The per-share selling price for the Micron Shares would be equal to the greater of the New Taiwan dollar equivalent of (i) the average of the closing sale price of our common stock during the 30 consecutive trading day period ending on and including the 30 th calendar day prior to the consummation of the Inotera acquisition or (ii) $10.00 .

2021 Convertible Notes : We have the option to issue 12.6 billion New Taiwan dollars (equivalent to $396 million ) in 2021 Convertible Notes in lieu of a corresponding value of Micron Shares so long as we also issue Micron Shares to Nanya of at least 6.3 billion New Taiwan dollars (equivalent to $198 million ) pursuant to the Private Placement.

Technology Transfer and License Agreements with Nanya : In the second quarter of 2016, we entered into technology transfer and license agreements pursuant to which Nanya has the option to require us to transfer to Nanya certain technology and deliverables related to the next DRAM process node generation (the "1X Process Node") after our 20nm process node and the next DRAM process node generation after the 1X Process Node for Nanya's use. Under the terms of the agreements, Nanya would pay royalties to us for a license to the transferred technology based on revenues from products utilizing the technology, subject to an agreed cap, and we would also receive an equity interest in Nanya upon the achievement of certain milestones. Nanya's option becomes exercisable upon the closing of the Inotera acquisition transaction.

Business Segments

We have the following four business units, which are our reportable segments:

Compute and Networking Business Unit ("CNBU") : Includes memory products sold into compute, networking, graphics, and cloud server markets.

Storage Business Unit ("SBU") : Includes memory products sold into enterprise, client, cloud, and removable storage markets. SBU also includes products sold to Intel through our IMFT joint venture.

Mobile Business Unit ("MBU") : Includes memory products sold into smartphone, tablet, and other mobile-device markets.

Embedded Business Unit ("EBU") : Includes memory products sold into automotive, industrial, connected home, and consumer electronics markets.

For more information regarding our segments, see "Part II – Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data – Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements – Segment Information."

DRAM

DRAM products are high-density, low-cost-per-bit, random access memory devices that provide high-speed data storage and retrieval with a variety of performance, pricing, and other characteristics. Sales of DRAM products were 58%, 64%, and 68% of our total net sales in 2016 , 2015 , and 2014 , respectively.

DDR3 and DDR4 DRAM are standardized, high-density, high-volume, DRAM products, which offer high speed and high bandwidth at a relatively low cost. DDR3 and DDR4 products are primarily targeted at computers, servers, networking devices, communications equipment, consumer electronics, automotive, and industrial applications. In 2016, we offered DDR3 and DDR4 products in 1Gb to 8Gb densities. Sales of DDR4 products increased significantly in 2016 and we expect further increases in 2017 as they replace DDR3 DRAM products in many applications. Sales of DDR3 and DDR4 DRAM products were 31%, 38%, and 40% of our total net sales in 2016 , 2015 , and 2014 , respectively.

LPDRAM products offer lower power consumption relative to other DRAM products and are used primarily in smartphones, tablets, automotive applications, laptop computers, and other mobile consumer devices that require low power consumption. We offer DDR4, DDR3, DDR2, and DDR versions of LPDRAM. Sales of LPDRAM products were 18%, 18%, and 20% of our total net sales in 2016 , 2015 , and 2014 , respectively.

We also offer other DRAM products targeted to specialty markets including DDR2 DRAM, DDR DRAM, GDDR5 and GDDR5X DRAM, SDRAM, and RLDRAM. These products are used primarily in networking devices, servers, consumer electronics, communications equipment, computer peripherals, automotive and industrial applications, and computer memory upgrades. We offer HMC products, which are semiconductor memory devices where vertical stacks of DRAM die that are connected using through-silicon-via interconnects are placed above a small, high-speed logic layer. HMC enables ultra-high system performance and is targeted primarily at networking and high performance computing applications.

Non-Volatile Memory

Non-Volatile Memory includes NAND Flash and 3D XPoint™ memory. Through 2016, substantially all of our Non-Volatile Memory sales were from NAND Flash products. NAND Flash products are electrically re-writeable, non-volatile semiconductor memory devices that retain content when power is turned off. NAND Flash sales were 37%, 33%, and 27% of our total net sales in 2016 , 2015 , and 2014 , respectively. NAND Flash is ideal for mass-storage devices due to its fast erase and write times, high density, and low cost per bit relative to other solid-state memories. Embedded NAND Flash-based storage devices are utilized in smartphones, SSDs, tablets, computers, automotive and industrial applications, networking, and other consumer applications. Removable storage devices, such as USB and Flash memory cards, are used with applications such as PCs, digital still cameras, and smartphones. The market for NAND Flash products has grown rapidly and we expect it to continue to grow due to increased demand for these and other embedded and removable storage devices.

Our NAND Flash products feature a small cell structure that enables higher densities for demanding applications. We offer high-speed SLC, MLC, and TLC planar NAND Flash products that are compatible with advanced interfaces in 1Gb to 128Gb densities. MLC and TLC products have two and three times, respectively, the bit density of SLC products. In 2016, we began selling commercial volumes of new products featuring our new 3D NAND Flash technology, which stacks layers of data storage cells vertically to create storage devices with three times higher capacity than competing planar NAND Flash technologies. This enables more storage in a smaller space, bringing significant cost savings, low power usage and high performance to a range of mobile consumer devices as well as the most demanding enterprise deployments. We are currently in production of MLC and TLC versions of 3D NAND Flash and we expect 3D NAND to be the majority of our NAND Flash output beginning in the first quarter of 2017. Our current 3D NAND Flash products feature 32 layers and we expect to offer next generation 3D NAND Flash products with 64 layers in 2017.

We offer client and enterprise SSDs which feature higher performance, reduced-power consumption, and enhanced reliability as compared to typical hard disk drives. Our client SSDs are targeted at notebooks, desktops, workstations, and other consumer applications. Increasingly our SSDs are being utilized in large scale cloud environments. Using our 3D NAND Flash process technology, our SSDs deliver read and write speeds that help improve boot and application load times and deliver higher performance than hard disk drives. Our client SSDs, including our newest line of 3D NAND SSDs, deliver world-class data storage, endurance, power efficiency, reliability, and performance for corporate users and are offered in a 2.5-inch, M.2, SATA, and PCIe NVMe solutions, with densities up to 2 terabytes. Our enterprise SSDs are targeted at server and storage applications and incorporate our Extended Performance and Enhanced Reliability Technology ("XPERT") architecture, which closely incorporates the storage and controller through highly optimized firmware algorithms and hardware enhancements. The end result is a set of market-focused enterprise features that deliver ultra-low latencies, improved data transfer time, power-loss protection, and cost-effectiveness, along with higher capacities and power efficiency. We offer enterprise SSDs with PCIe NVMe, SAS, and SATA interfaces and capacities up to 3.2 terabytes. We expect that demand for both client and enterprise SSDs will continue to increase significantly over the next several years.

We also offer MCP products, which incorporate our NAND Flash. We offer MCP products that combine NAND Flash with LPDRAM to enable small form-factor solutions that combine storage and execution memory. We also offer managed NAND Flash MCP products including e-MMC, e-MCP, and embedded USB. Our e-MMC products combine NAND Flash with a logic controller that performs media management and Error Code Correction ("ECC"), which provides reduced ECC complexity, better system performance, improved reliability, easy integration, and lower overall system costs. Our e-MCP products combine e-MMC with LPDRAM on the same substrate, which improves overall functionality and performance while simplifying system design. MCP products are used in smartphone, automotive, industrial, and other consumer applications.

Through our Lexar ® brand, we sell high-performance digital media products and other flash-based storage products through retail and original equipment manufacturer channels. Our digital media products include a variety of flash memory cards and JumpDrive ® products with a range of speeds, capacities, and value-added features. We offer flash memory cards in a variety of speeds and capacities and in all major media formats, including CompactFlash ® , Memory Stick ® , and Secure Digital ("SD") formats. CompactFlash and Memory Stick products sold by us incorporate our patented controller technology. Other products, including SD memory cards and some JumpDrive products, incorporate third-party controllers. We also manufacture products that are sold under other brand names and resell flash memory products that are purchased from other NAND Flash suppliers.

In 2015, we introduced 3D XPoint technology, a new category of non-volatile memory. 3D XPoint memory's innovative, transistor-less, cross point architecture creates a three-dimensional checkerboard where memory cells sit at the intersection of word lines and bit lines, allowing the cells to be addressed individually. As a result, data can be written and read in small sizes, leading to fast and efficient read/write processes. We began production of 3D XPoint memory products in 2016 and expect to significantly increase production in 2017.

Other

Other products included primarily NOR Flash, which are electrically re-writeable, semiconductor memory devices that offer fast read times and are used in automotive, industrial, connected home, and consumer applications.

The following is a summary of our partnering arrangements as of September 1, 2016 :

Our manufacturing facilities are located in the United States, China, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, and Taiwan. Inotera has a wafer fabrication facility in Taiwan. Nearly all of our products are manufactured on 300mm wafers in facilities that generally operate 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. Semiconductor manufacturing is extremely capital intensive, requiring large investments in sophisticated facilities and equipment. A significant portion of our semiconductor equipment is generally replaced every five to seven years with increasingly advanced equipment. DRAM, NAND Flash, 3D XPoint memory, and NOR Flash products share a number of common manufacturing processes, enabling us to leverage our product and process technologies and manufacturing infrastructure across these product lines. In 2015, we began construction of a significant expansion of our wafer fabrication facilities in Singapore for production of NAND Flash memory and we began utilizing a portion of the facility for production in the second half of 2016.

Our process for manufacturing semiconductor products is complex, involving a number of precise steps, including wafer fabrication, assembly, and test. Efficient production of semiconductor products requires utilization of advanced semiconductor manufacturing techniques and effective deployment of these techniques across multiple facilities. The primary determinants of manufacturing cost are process line-width, number of mask layers, number of fabrication steps, and number of good die produced on each wafer. Other factors that contribute to manufacturing costs are wafer size, cost and sophistication of manufacturing equipment, equipment utilization, process complexity, cost of raw materials, labor productivity, package type, and cleanliness of the manufacturing environment. We continuously enhance our production processes, reducing die sizes, and transitioning to higher density products. In the second half of 2016, the majority of our DRAM production was manufactured on our 20nm line-width process technologies. We expect to ramp volume production of 1Xnm process node DRAM in 2017. Beginning in the first quarter of 2017, we expect a majority of our NAND Flash production to be manufactured using our first generation 3D NAND technology. In 2017, we expect to ramp our second generation 64-layer 3D NAND technology and we expect triple-level-cell to become the majority of our 3D NAND output.

Wafer fabrication occurs in a highly controlled, clean environment to minimize dust and other yield and quality-limiting contaminants. Despite stringent manufacturing controls, individual circuits may be nonfunctional or wafers may need to be scrapped due to equipment errors, minute impurities in materials, defects in photomasks, circuit design marginalities or defects, and dust particles. Success of our manufacturing operations depends largely on minimizing defects to maximize yield of high-quality circuits. In this regard, we employ rigorous quality controls throughout the manufacturing, screening, and testing processes. We are able to recover certain devices by testing and grading them to their highest level of functionality.

We test our products at various stages in the manufacturing process, perform high temperature burn-in on finished products, and conduct numerous quality control inspections throughout the entire production flow. In addition, we use our proprietary AMBYX™ line of intelligent test and burn-in systems to perform simultaneous circuit tests of semiconductor memory die during the burn-in process, capturing quality and reliability data, and reducing testing time and cost. We use subcontractors to perform certain testing services.

We sell semiconductor products in both packaged and unpackaged (i.e. "bare die") forms. Our packaged products include memory modules, SSDs, MCPs, managed NAND, memory cards, USB devices, and HMCs. We assemble many products in-house and, in some cases, outsource assembly services where we can reduce costs and minimize our capital investment. We subcontract assembly services for the production of certain memory modules, SSDs, MCPs, memory cards, and USB devices.

In recent years, we have produced an increasingly broad portfolio of products, which enhances our ability to allocate resources to our most profitable products but also increases the complexity of our manufacturing operations. Although our product lines generally use similar manufacturing processes, our overall cost efficiency can be affected by frequent conversions to new products, the allocation of manufacturing capacity to more complex, smaller-volume parts, and the reallocation of manufacturing capacity across various product lines.

Our operations require raw materials that meet exacting standards. We generally have multiple sources of supply for our raw materials; however, only a limited number of suppliers are capable of delivering certain raw materials that meet our standards. In some cases, materials are provided by a single supplier. Various factors could reduce the availability and increase the cost of raw materials such as silicon wafers, photomasks, chemicals, gases, photoresist, lead frames, and molding compound. Shortages may occur from time to time in the future. We and our suppliers could be affected by laws and regulations enacted in response to concerns regarding climate change, which could increase the cost and limit the supply of our raw materials. In addition, disruptions in transportation lines could delay our receipt of raw materials. Lead times for the supply of raw materials have been extended in the past. If our supply of raw materials is disrupted or our lead times extended, our business, results of operations, or financial condition could be materially adversely affected.

Our manufacturing processes are also dependent on our relationships with outsourced semiconductor assembly and test providers, contract manufacturers, logistic carriers, and other service providers.  We have made significant investments in supply chain risk monitoring and management to mitigate our risks associated with raw materials and service providers.

Market concentrations from 2016 net sales were approximately as follows: 20% for compute and graphics (including desktop PCs, notebooks, and workstations); 20% for mobile; 20% for SSD and other storage; 15% for automotive, industrial, medical, and other embedded; and 10% for server. Sales to Intel, including Non-Volatile Memory through IMFT, were 14% of our net sales in 2016 , 8% of our net sales in 2015 , and 8% of our net sales in 2014 . Sales to Kingston, primarily DRAM, were 7% of our net sales in 2016 , 11% of our net sales in 2015 , and 10% of our net sales in 2014 .

Our semiconductor memory products are offered under the Micron ® , Lexar, Crucial ® , SpecTek ® , and Elpida ® brand names and private labels. We market our semiconductor memory products primarily through our own direct sales force and maintain sales or representative offices in our primary markets around the world. We sell Lexar-branded NAND Flash memory products primarily through retail channels and our Crucial-branded products through a web-based customer direct sales channel as well as through channel and distribution partners. Our products are also offered through independent sales representatives and distributors. Independent sales representatives obtain orders subject to final acceptance by us and are compensated on a commission basis. We make shipments against these orders directly to the customer. Distributors carry our products in inventory and typically sell a variety of other semiconductor products, including competitors' products. We maintain inventory at locations in close proximity to certain key customers to facilitate rapid delivery of products. Many of our customers require a thorough review or qualification of semiconductor products, which may take several months.

Because of volatile industry conditions, customers are reluctant to enter into long-term, fixed-price contracts.  Accordingly, new order volumes for our semiconductor products fluctuate significantly.  We typically accept orders with acknowledgment that the terms may be adjusted to reflect market conditions at the date of shipment.  For these reasons, we do not believe that our order backlog as of any particular date is a reliable indicator of actual sales for any succeeding period.

Because the design and manufacturing process for semiconductor products is highly complex, it is possible that we may produce products that do not comply with customer specifications, contain defects, or are otherwise incompatible with end uses.  In accordance with industry practice, we generally provide a limited warranty that our products are in compliance with our specifications existing at the time of delivery.  Under our standard terms and conditions of sale, liability for certain failures of product during a stated warranty period is usually limited to repair or replacement of defective items or return of, or a credit with respect to, amounts paid for such items.  Under certain circumstances, we provide more extensive limited warranty coverage than that provided under our standard terms and conditions.

We face intense competition in the semiconductor memory market from a number of companies, including Intel; Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.; SK Hynix Inc.; Toshiba Corporation; and Western Digital Corporation. Some of our competitors are large corporations or conglomerates that may have greater resources to invest in technology, capitalize on growth opportunities, and withstand downturns in the semiconductor markets in which we compete. Consolidation of industry competitors could put us at a competitive disadvantage. In addition, some governments, such as China, have provided, and may continue to provide, significant financial assistance to some of our competitors or to new entrants. Our competitors seek to increase silicon capacity, improve yields, reduce die size, and minimize mask levels in their product designs resulting in significant increases in the worldwide supply of semiconductor memory and downward pressure on prices. Increases in worldwide supply of semiconductor memory also result from semiconductor memory fab capacity expansions, either by way of new facilities, increased capacity utilization, or reallocation of other semiconductor production to semiconductor memory production. Our competitors may increase capital expenditures resulting in future increases in worldwide supply. We and some of our competitors have plans to or are constructing or ramping production at new fabrication facilities. Increases in worldwide supply of semiconductor memory, if not accompanied by commensurate increases in demand, would lead to further declines in average selling prices for our products and would materially adversely affect our business, results of operations, or financial condition. Many of our high-volume memory products are manufactured to industry standard specifications and as such have similar performance characteristics to those of our competitors. For these high-volume memory products, the principal competitive factors are generally price and performance characteristics including: operating speed, power consumption, reliability, compatibility, size, and form factors. For our other memory products, the aforementioned performance characteristics generally take precedence over pricing.

Our process technology R&D efforts are focused primarily on development of process technologies that enable successively smaller line-widths, additional 3D memory layers, and additional bits per cell (i.e., cell levels).  We are also focused on developing new fundamentally different memory structures, materials, and packages, which are designed to facilitate our transition to next generation memory products. Additional process technology R&D efforts focus on the enablement of advanced computing and mobile memory architectures, the investigation of new opportunities that leverage our core semiconductor expertise, and the development of new manufacturing materials. Product design and development efforts include our high density DDR4 and DDR5 DRAM and LPDRAM products as well as high density and mobile 3D NAND Flash memory (including TLC and QLC technologies), 3D XPoint memory, SSDs (including firmware and controllers), Managed NAND, specialty memory, NOR Flash memory, and other memory technologies and systems.

Our R&D expenses were $1.62 billion , $1.54 billion , and $1.37 billion in 2016 , 2015 , and 2014 , respectively. We generally share with Intel the costs of product design and process development activities for NAND Flash memory and 3D XPoint memory. Our R&D expenses reflect net reductions of $208 million, $231 million, and $162 million in 2016 , 2015 , and 2014 , respectively, as a result of reimbursements under our cost-sharing arrangements with Intel and others.

To compete in the semiconductor memory industry, we must continue to develop technologically advanced products and processes. We believe that expansion of our semiconductor product offerings is necessary to meet expected market demand for specific memory solutions. Our process, design, and package development efforts occur at multiple locations across the world, with our largest R&D center located in Boise, Idaho, and other significant R&D centers in Japan, China, Italy, Singapore and other sites in the U.S. In 2016, we commenced construction on an expansion of our R&D facility in Boise.

R&D expenses vary primarily with the number of development wafers processed, the cost of advanced equipment dedicated to new product and process development, and personnel costs. Because of the lead times necessary to manufacture our products, we typically begin to process wafers before completion of performance and reliability testing. We deem development of a product complete once the product has been thoroughly reviewed and tested for performance and reliability. R&D expenses can vary significantly depending on the timing of product qualification.

Sales to customers outside the United States totaled $10.47 billion for 2016 and included sales of $5.30 billion in China, $1.52 billion in Taiwan, $937 million in Europe, $831 million in Japan, and $1.61 billion in the rest of the Asia Pacific region (excluding China, Taiwan, and Japan).  Sales to customers outside the United States totaled $13.63 billion for 2015 and $13.81 billion for 2014 .  As of September 1, 2016 , we had net property, plant, and equipment of $5.44 billion in Singapore, $3.89 billion in the United States, $2.69 billion in Japan, $2.08 billion in Taiwan, $491 million in China, and $97 million in other countries.  (See "Part II – Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data – Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements – Geographic Information" and "Item 1A. Risk Factors.")

In recent years, we have been recognized as a leader in per capita and quality of patents issued.  As of September 1, 2016 , we owned approximately 16,100 U.S. patents and 4,300 foreign patents.  In addition, we have thousands of U.S. and foreign patent applications pending.  Our patents have various terms expiring through 2036.

We have a number of patent and intellectual property license agreements and have from time to time licensed or sold our intellectual property to third parties.  Some of these license agreements require us to make one-time or periodic payments while others have resulted in us receiving payments. We may need to obtain additional patent licenses or renew existing license agreements in the future and we may enter into additional sales or licenses of intellectual property and partnering arrangements.  We are unable to predict whether these license agreements can be obtained or renewed on acceptable terms.

As of September 1, 2016 , we had approximately 31,400 employees.

Government regulations impose various environmental controls on raw materials and discharges, emissions, and solid wastes from our manufacturing processes.  In 2016, our wafer fabrication facilities continued to conform to the requirements of ISO 14001 certification.  To continue certification, we must meet annual requirements in environmental policy, compliance, planning, management, structure and responsibility, training, communication, document control, operational control, emergency preparedness and response, record keeping, and management review.  While we have not experienced any material adverse effects to our operations from environmental regulations, changes in the regulations could necessitate additional capital expenditures, modification of our operations, or other compliance actions.

Our executive officers are appointed annually by the Board of Directors and our directors are elected annually by our shareholders. Any directors appointed by the Board of Directors to fill vacancies on the Board serve until the next election by the shareholders. All officers and directors serve until their successors are duly chosen or elected and qualified, except in the case of earlier death, resignation, or removal.

As of September 1, 2016 , the following executive officers and directors were subject to the reporting requirements of Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.

April S. Arnzen joined us in December 1996 and has served in various leadership positions since that time. Ms. Arnzen was appointed our Vice President, Human Resources in January 2015. Ms. Arnzen holds a BS in Human Resource Management and Marketing from the University of Idaho.

Scott J. DeBoer joined us in February 1995 and has served in various leadership positions since that time. Dr. DeBoer became an officer in May 2007 and, in January 2013, he was appointed our Vice President, Technology Development. Dr. DeBoer holds a PhD in Electrical Engineering and an MS in Physics from Iowa State University. He completed his undergraduate degree at Hastings College.

D. Mark Durcan joined us in June 1984 and has served in various positions since that time.  Mr. Durcan was appointed our Chief Operating Officer in February 2006, President in June 2007, and Director and Chief Executive Officer in February 2012. Mr. Durcan has been an officer since 1996.  Within the past five years, Mr. Durcan served on the Board of Directors of Freescale Semiconductor, Inc. and MWI Veterinary Supply, Inc. Mr. Durcan is currently a member of the Board of Directors of AmerisourceBergen Corporation. Mr. Durcan holds a BS and MChE in Chemical Engineering from Rice University.

Ernest E. Maddock joined us in June 2015 as our Chief Financial Officer and Vice President, Finance. From April 2013 until he joined us, Mr. Maddock served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Riverbed Technology. From October 2008 to April 2013, Mr. Maddock served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Lam Research Corporation after serving as Lam's Vice President of Global Operations from October 2003 to September 2008. Mr. Maddock currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors for Intersil Corporation. Mr. Maddock holds a BS in Industrial Management from the Georgia Institute of Technology and an MBA from Georgia State University.

Joel L. Poppen joined us in October 1995 and has held various leadership positions since that time.  He was appointed Vice President, Legal Affairs, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary in December 2013. Mr. Poppen holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois and a JD from the Duke University School of Law.

Brian M. Shirley joined us in August 1992 and has served in various leadership positions since that time.  Mr. Shirley became Vice President of Memory in February 2006, Vice President of DRAM Solutions in June 2010 and has served as Vice President, Memory Solutions since April 2014.  Mr. Shirley holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University.

Steven L. Thorsen, Jr. joined us in September 1988 and has served in various leadership positions since that time including Vice President and Chief Procurement Officer. Mr. Thorsen became Vice President, Worldwide Sales in April 2012. Mr. Thorsen holds a BA in Business Administration from Washington State University.

Robert L. Bailey was the Chairman of the Board of Directors of PMC-Sierra, Inc. from 2005 until May 2011 and also served as PMC's Chairman from February 2000 until February 2003.  Mr. Bailey served as a director of PMC from October 1996 to May 2011.  He also served as the Chief Executive Officer of PMC from July 1997 until May 2008.  PMC is a leading provider of broadband communication and semiconductor storage solutions for the next-generation Internet.  Within the past five years, Mr. Bailey served on the Board of Entropic Communications. Mr. Bailey holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Bridgeport and an MBA from the University of Dallas.  Mr. Bailey has served on our Board of Directors since 2007.

Richard M. Beyer was Chairman and CEO of Freescale Semiconductor, Inc. from 2008 through June 2012 and served as a director with Freescale until April 2013. Prior to Freescale, Mr. Beyer was President, Chief Executive Officer and a Director of Intersil Corporation from 2002 to 2008. He has also previously served in executive management roles at FVC.com, VLSI Technology, and National Semiconductor Corporation. Within the past five years, Mr. Beyer served on the Board of Directors of Freescale Semiconductor, Inc. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Dialog Semiconductor and Analog Devices, Inc. Mr. Beyer served three years as an officer in the United States Marine Corps. He holds a BA and an MA in Russian from Georgetown University and an MBA in Marketing and International Business from Columbia University Graduate School of Business. Mr. Beyer has served on our Board of Directors since 2013.

Patrick J. Byrne has served as Senior Vice President of Fortive Corporation since July 2016 when Danaher Corporation completed the separation of its Test & Measurement and Industrial Technologies segments. Mr. Byrne was President of Tektronix, a subsidiary of Danaher Corporation, from July 2014 to July 2016. Previously, he was Vice President of Strategy and Business Development and Chief Technical Officer of Danaher from November 2012 to July 2014. Danaher designs, manufactures, and markets innovative products and services to professional, medical, industrial, and commercial customers. Prior to that, Mr. Byrne served as Director, President and Chief Executive Officer of Intermec, Inc. from 2007 to May 2012. Within the past five years, Mr. Byrne served on the Board of Directors of Flow International and Intermec, Inc. Mr. Byrne holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, and an MS in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University.  Mr. Byrne has served on our Board of Directors since 2011.

Mercedes Johnson was the Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Avago Technologies Limited, a supplier of analog interface components for communications, industrial and consumer applications, from December 2005 to August 2008.  She also served as the Senior Vice President, Finance, of Lam Research Corporation from June 2004 to January 2005 and as Lam's Chief Financial Officer from May 1997 to May 2004.  Ms. Johnson holds a degree in Accounting from the University of Buenos Aires and currently serves on the Board of Directors for Intersil Corporation, Juniper Networks, Inc., and Teradyne, Inc.  Ms. Johnson is the Chairman of the Board's Audit Committee and Finance Committee and has served on our Board of Directors since 2005.

Lawrence N. Mondry has served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Stream Gas & Electric, Ltd. a provider of energy, mobile, and protective services, since February 2016. Mr Mondry was the Chief Executive Officer of Apollo Brands, a consumer products portfolio company, from February 2014 to February 2015. Mr. Mondry was the Chief Executive Officer of Flexi Compras Corporation, a rent-to-own retailer, from June 2013 to February 2014. Mr. Mondry was the President and Chief Executive Officer of CSK Auto Corporation, a specialty retailer of automotive aftermarket parts, from August 2007 to July 2008.  Prior to his appointment at CSK, Mr. Mondry served as the Chief Executive Officer of CompUSA Inc. from November 2003 to May 2006.  Mr. Mondry holds a BA degree from Boston University.  Mr. Mondry is the Chairman of the Board's Compensation Committee and Governance Committee and has served on our Board of Directors since 2005.

Robert E. Switz was the Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of ADC Telecommunications, Inc., a supplier of network infrastructure products and services from August 2003 until December 2010, when Tyco Electronics Ltd. acquired ADC.  Mr. Switz joined ADC in 1994 and throughout his career there held numerous leadership positions.  Within the past five years, Mr. Switz served on the Board of Directors of GT Advanced Technologies Inc., Broadcom Corporation, Cyan, Inc., Pulse Electronics Corporation, and Leap Wireless International, Inc. Mr. Switz currently serves on the Board of Directors for Marvell Technology Group Ltd. and Gigamon, Inc.  Mr. Switz holds an MBA from the University of Bridgeport and a BS in Business Administration from Quinnipiac University.  Mr. Switz was appointed Chairman of the Board in 2012 and has served on our Board of Directors since 2006.

There are no family relationships between any of our directors or executive officers.

Micron, a Delaware corporation, was incorporated in 1978.  Our executive offices are located at 8000 South Federal Way, Boise, Idaho 83716-9632 and our telephone number is (208) 368-4000.  Information about us is available at our website, www.micron.com.  Also available on our website are our:  Corporate Governance Guidelines, Governance Committee Charter, Compensation Committee Charter, Audit Committee Charter, Finance Committee Charter, and Code of Business Conduct and Ethics.  Any amendments or waivers of our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics will also be posted on our website within four business days of the amendment or waiver.  Copies of these documents are available to shareholders upon request.   Information contained or referenced on our website is not incorporated by reference and does not form a part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

We use our investor relations website, http://investors.micron.com, as a routine channel for distribution of important information, including news releases, analyst presentations, and financial information. We post filings free of charge on our website as soon as reasonably practicable after they are electronically filed with, or furnished to, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including our annual and quarterly reports on Forms 10-K and 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K; our proxy statements; and any amendments to those reports or statements. The SEC's website, www.sec.gov, contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC. Materials filed or furnished by us with the SEC are also available at the SEC's Public Reference Room at 100 F Street, NE, Washington, D.C. 20549.  Information on the operation of the Public Reference Room is available by calling (800) SEC-0330. The content on any website referred to in this Form 10-K is not incorporated by reference in this Form 10-K unless expressly noted.

Micron, Lexar, Crucial, SpecTek, Elpida, JumpDrive, any associated logos, and all other Micron trademarks are the property of Micron. 3D XPoint is a trademark of Intel in the U.S. and/or other countries. Other product names or trademarks that are not owned by Micron are for identification purposes only and may be the registered or unregistered trademarks of their respective owners.

In addition to the factors discussed elsewhere in this Form 10-K, the following are important factors which could cause actual results or events to differ materially from past results and those contained in any forward-looking statements made by us.  The order of these factors is not necessarily indicative of the level of risk that each poses to us.  Our operations could also be affected by other factors that are presently unknown to us or not considered significant.  The factors below could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, and stock price.

We have experienced dramatic declines in average selling prices for our semiconductor memory products which have adversely affected our business.

If average selling prices for our memory products decrease faster than we can decrease per gigabit costs, our business, results of operations, or financial condition could be materially adversely affected. We have experienced significant decreases in our average selling prices per gigabit in previous years as noted in the table below and may continue to experience such decreases in the future. In some prior periods, average selling prices for our memory products have been below our manufacturing costs and we may experience such circumstances in the future.

We may be unable to maintain or improve gross margins.

Our gross margins are dependent upon continuing decreases in per gigabit manufacturing costs achieved through improvements in our manufacturing processes and product designs, including, but not limited to, process line-width, additional 3D memory layers, additional bits per cell (i.e., cell levels), architecture, number of mask layers, number of fabrication steps, and yield. In future periods, we may be unable to reduce our per gigabit manufacturing costs at sufficient levels to maintain or improve gross margins. Factors that may limit our ability to reduce costs include, but are not limited to, strategic product diversification decisions affecting product mix, the increasing complexity of manufacturing processes, difficulties in transitioning to smaller line-width process technologies, technological barriers, and changes in process technologies or products that may require relatively larger die sizes. Per gigabit manufacturing costs may also be affected by the relatively smaller production quantities and shorter product lifecycles of certain specialty memory products.

The semiconductor memory industry is highly competitive.

We face intense competition in the semiconductor memory market from a number of companies, including Intel; Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.; SK Hynix Inc.; Toshiba Corporation; and Western Digital Corporation. Some of our competitors are large corporations or conglomerates that may have greater resources to invest in technology, capitalize on growth opportunities, and withstand downturns in the semiconductor markets in which we compete. Consolidation of industry competitors could put us at a competitive disadvantage. In addition, some governments, such as China, have provided, and may continue to provide, significant financial assistance to some of our competitors or to new entrants. Our competitors seek to increase silicon capacity, improve yields, reduce die size, and minimize mask levels in their product designs resulting in significant increases in the worldwide supply of semiconductor memory and downward pressure on prices. Increases in worldwide supply of semiconductor memory also result from semiconductor memory fab capacity expansions, either by way of new facilities, increased capacity utilization, or reallocation of other semiconductor production to semiconductor memory production. Our competitors may increase capital expenditures resulting in future increases in worldwide supply. We and some of our competitors have plans to or are constructing or ramping production at new fabrication facilities. Increases in worldwide supply of semiconductor memory, if not accompanied by commensurate increases in demand, would lead to further declines in average selling prices for our products and would materially adversely affect our business, results of operations, or financial condition. If competitors are more successful at developing or implementing new product or process technology their products could have cost or performance advantages.

Debt obligations could adversely affect our financial condition.

In recent periods, our debt levels have increased due to the capital intensive nature of our business, business acquisitions, and restructuring of our capital structure. As of September 1, 2016 , we had debt with a carrying value of $9.91 billion . In 2016, 2015, and 2014 we paid $94 million , $1.43 billion, $2.30 billion, respectively, to repurchase and settle conversion obligations for convertible notes with principal amounts of and $57 million, $489 million, and $1.09 billion, respectively. As of September 1, 2016 , we had a revolving credit facility available for up to $488 million of additional financing. The availability of this revolving facility is subject to certain conditions, including outstanding balances of eligible receivables. Events and circumstances may occur which would cause us to not be able to satisfy these applicable draw-down conditions and utilize this facility. We have incurred in the past, and expect to incur in the future, debt to finance our capital investments, business acquisitions, and restructuring of our capital structure. In 2016, we issued $1.25 billion of our 2023 Secured Notes and $750 million of our 2022 Term Loan B, and received an aggregate of $765 million in equipment sale-leaseback financing transactions. In connection with our proposed acquisition of the remaining interest in Inotera, we plan to fund a portion of the acquisition with a loan of up to 80 billion New Taiwan Dollars (equivalent to $2.5 billion) under the Term Loan Facility and, at our option, 12.6 billion New Taiwan dollars (equivalent to $396 million) of 2021 Convertible Notes. The date for the closing of the Inotera transaction has been set by the Inotera board for December 6, 2016.  Consummation of the Inotera transaction remains subject to certain closing conditions and there can be no assurance that the Inotera transaction will be consummated.

Our debt obligations could adversely impact us. For example, these obligations could:

Our ability to meet our payment obligations under our debt instruments depends on our ability to generate significant cash flows in the future. This, to some extent, is subject to market, economic, financial, competitive, legislative, and regulatory factors as well as other factors that are beyond our control. There can be no assurance that our business will generate cash flow from operations, or that additional capital will be available to us, in an amount sufficient to enable us to meet our debt payment obligations and to fund other liquidity needs. If we are unable to generate sufficient cash flow to service our debt obligations, we may need to refinance or restructure our debt, sell assets, reduce or delay capital investments, or seek to raise additional capital. If we were unable to implement one or more of these alternatives, we may be unable to meet our debt payment obligations, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, or financial condition.

We may be unable to generate sufficient cash flows or obtain access to external financing necessary to fund our operations, make scheduled debt payments, and make adequate capital investments.

Our cash flows from operations depend primarily on the volume of semiconductor memory sold, average selling prices, and manufacturing costs. To develop new product and process technologies, support future growth, achieve operating efficiencies, and maintain product quality, we must make significant capital investments in manufacturing technology, capital equipment, facilities, R&D, and product and process technology. We estimate that net cash expenditures in 2017 for property, plant, and equipment will be approximately $4.8 billion to $5.2 billion, which reflects the offset of amounts we expect to be funded by our partners. Investments in capital expenditures, offset by amounts funded by our partners, were $5.40 billion for 2016. As of September 1, 2016 , we had cash and marketable investments of $4.81 billion . As of September 1, 2016 , $919 million of cash and equivalents and short-term investments, including substantially all of the $896 million held by the MMJ Group, were held by foreign subsidiaries whose earnings were considered to be indefinitely reinvested and repatriation of these funds to the U.S. would subject these funds to U.S. federal income taxes. In addition, cash held by IMFT of $98 million was generally not available to finance our other operations.

As a result of the Japan Proceedings, for so long as such proceedings are continuing, the MMJ Companies and their subsidiaries are subject to certain restrictions on dividends, loans, and advances. The plans of reorganization of the MMJ Companies prohibit the MMJ Companies from paying dividends, including any cash dividends, to us and require that excess earnings be used in their businesses or to fund the MMJ Companies' installment payments. These prohibitions would also effectively prevent the subsidiaries of the MMJ Companies from paying cash dividends to us in respect of the shares of such subsidiaries owned by the MMJ Companies, as any such dividends would have to be first paid to the MMJ Companies which are prohibited from repaying those amounts to us as dividends under the plans of reorganization. In addition, pursuant to an order of the Japan Court, the MMJ Companies cannot make loans or advances, other than certain ordinary course advances, to us without the consent of the Japan Court. Moreover, loans or advances by subsidiaries of the MMJ Companies may be considered outside of the ordinary course of business and subject to approval of the legal trustees and Japan Court. As a result, the assets of the MMJ Companies and their subsidiaries, while available to satisfy the MMJ Companies' installment payments and the other obligations, capital expenditures, and other operating needs of the MMJ Companies and their subsidiaries, are not available for use by us in our other operations. Furthermore, certain uses of the assets of the MMJ Group, including investments in certain capital expenditures and in MMT, may require consent of MMJ's trustees and/or the Japan Court.

In the past we have utilized external sources of financing when needed. As a result of our debt levels, expected debt amortization, and general economic conditions, it may be difficult for us to obtain financing on terms acceptable to us. There can be no assurance that we will be able to generate sufficient cash flows, use cash held by MMJ to fund its capital expenditures, access capital markets or find other sources of financing to fund our operations, make debt payments, and make adequate capital investments to remain competitive in terms of technology development and cost efficiency. Our inability to do the foregoing could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, or financial conditions.

Our proposed acquisition of the remaining shares of Inotera involves numerous risks.

In the second quarter of 2016, we entered into agreements to acquire the remaining interest in Inotera for 30 New Taiwan dollars per share in cash (equivalent to approximately $0.95 per share). As of September 1, 2016 , we held a 33% ownership interest in Inotera, Nanya and certain of its affiliates held a 32% ownership interest, and the remaining ownership interest in Inotera was publicly held. Based on the exchange rate as of September 1, 2016 , we estimate the aggregate consideration payable for the 67% of Inotera shares not owned by us would be approximately $4.1 billion . We anticipate financing the acquisition with a combination of the following:

On March 29, 2016, the transaction was approved by the shareholders of Inotera, including Nanya and certain of Nanya's affiliates (which approval was provided pursuant to voting and support agreements). On October 11, 2016, the Inotera board set the date for the closing of the transaction to be December 6, 2016. Consummation of the Inotera transaction is subject to significant uncertainties, certain termination rights, and various conditions, including regulatory approvals and the consummation of debt financing. There can be no assurance that the various conditions will be satisfied or that the Inotera transaction will ultimately be consummated. If the remaining closing conditions are not satisfied or waived, we will be unable to close the acquisition.

In addition to the acquisition risks described elsewhere, the acquisition is expected to involve the following significant risks:

Our proposed acquisition of the remaining shares of Inotera is inherently risky, may not be successful, and may materially adversely affect our business, results of operations, or financial condition. (See "Part II – Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data – Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements – Proposed Acquisition of Inotera.")

Our future success depends on our ability to develop and produce competitive new memory technologies.

Our key semiconductor memory technologies of DRAM and NAND Flash face technological barriers to continue to meet long-term customer needs. These barriers include potential limitations on the ability to shrink products in order to reduce costs, meet higher density requirements, and improve power consumption and reliability. To meet these requirements, we expect that new memory technologies will be developed by the semiconductor memory industry. Our competitors are working to develop new memory technologies that may offer performance and cost advantages to our existing memory technologies and render existing technologies obsolete. Accordingly, our future success may depend on our ability to develop and produce viable and competitive new memory technologies . There can be no assurance of the following:

In 2015, we announced the development of new 3D XPoint technology, which is an entirely new class of non-volatile memory. There is no assurance that our efforts to develop and market this new product technology will be successful. If our efforts to develop new semiconductor memory technologies are unsuccessful, our business, results of operations, or financial condition may be materially adversely affected.

New product development may be unsuccessful.

We are developing new products, including system-level memory products, which complement our traditional memory products or leverage their underlying design or process technology. We have made significant investments in product and process technologies and anticipate expending significant resources for new semiconductor product development over the next several years. The process to develop DRAM, NAND Flash, and certain specialty memory products, requires us to demonstrate advanced functionality and performance, many times well in advance of a planned ramp of production, in order to secure design wins with our customers. There can be no assurance of the following:

• that our product development efforts will be successful;

• that we will be able to cost-effectively manufacture new products;

• that we will be able to successfully market these products;

• that we will be able to qualify new products with our customers on a timely basis; or

• that margins generated from sales of these products will allow us to recover costs of development efforts.

If our efforts to develop new products are unsuccessful, our business, results of operations, or financial condition may be materially adversely affected.

Products that fail to meet specifications, are defective, or that are otherwise incompatible with end uses could impose significant costs on us.

Products that do not meet specifications or that contain, or are perceived by our customers to contain, defects or that are otherwise incompatible with end uses could impose significant costs on us or otherwise materially adversely affect our business, results of operations, or financial condition. From time to time we experience problems with nonconforming, defective or incompatible products after we have shipped such products. In recent periods we have further diversified and expanded our product offerings which could potentially increase the chance that one or more of our products could fail to meet specifications in a particular application. As a result of these problems we could be adversely affected in several ways, including the following:

A determination that our products or manufacturing processes infringe the intellectual property rights of others or entering into a license agreement covering such intellectual property could materially adversely affect our business, results of operations, or financial condition.

As is typical in the semiconductor and other high technology industries, from time to time others have asserted, and may in the future assert, that our products or manufacturing processes infringe their intellectual property rights. We are unable to predict the outcome of assertions of infringement made against us. A determination that our products or manufacturing processes infringe the intellectual property rights of others, or entering a license agreement covering such intellectual property, could result in significant liability and/or require us to make material changes to our products and/or manufacturing processes. Any of the foregoing results could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, or financial condition. (See "Part II – Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data – Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements – Contingencies.")

We have a number of intellectual property license agreements. Some of these license agreements require us to make one-time or periodic payments. We may need to obtain additional patent licenses or renew existing license agreements in the future. We are unable to predict whether these license agreements can be obtained or renewed on acceptable terms.

The acquisition of our ownership interest in Inotera from Qimonda has been challenged by the administrator of the insolvency proceedings for Qimonda.

On January 20, 2011, Dr. Michael Jaffé, administrator for Qimonda insolvency proceedings, filed suit against Micron and Micron Semiconductor B.V., our Netherlands subsidiary ("Micron B.V."), in the District Court of Munich, Civil Chamber. The complaint seeks to void under Section 133 of the German Insolvency Act a share purchase agreement between Micron B.V. and Qimonda signed in fall 2008 pursuant to which Micron B.V. purchased substantially all of Qimonda's shares of Inotera Memories, Inc. (the "Inotera Shares"), representing approximately 55% of our total shares in Inotera as of September 1, 2016, and seeks an order requiring us to re-transfer those shares to the Qimonda estate. The complaint also seeks, among other things, to recover damages for the alleged value of the joint venture relationship with Inotera and to terminate under Sections 103 or 133 of the German Insolvency Code a patent cross-license between us and Qimonda entered into at the same time as the share purchase agreement.

Following a series of hearings with pleadings, arguments, and witnesses on behalf of the Qimonda estate, on March 13, 2014, the Court issued judgments:  (1) ordering Micron B.V. to pay approximately $1 million in respect of certain Inotera shares sold in connection with the original share purchase; (2) ordering Micron B.V. to disclose certain information with respect to any Inotera Shares sold by it to third parties; (3) ordering Micron B.V. to disclose the benefits derived by it from ownership of the Inotera Shares, including in particular, any profits distributed on such shares and all other benefits; (4) denying Qimonda's claims against Micron for any damages relating to the joint venture relationship with Inotera; and (5) determining that Qimonda's obligations under the patent cross-license agreement are canceled. In addition, the Court issued interlocutory judgments ordering, among other things:  (1) that Micron B.V. transfer to the Qimonda estate the Inotera Shares still owned by it and pay to the Qimonda estate compensation in an amount to be specified for any Inotera Shares sold to third parties; and (2) that Micron B.V. pay the Qimonda estate as compensation an amount to be specified for benefits derived by it from ownership of the Inotera Shares. The interlocutory judgments have no immediate, enforceable effect on us, and, accordingly, we expect to be able to continue to operate with full control of the Inotera Shares subject to further developments in the case. We have filed a notice of appeal, and the parties have submitted briefs to the appeals court.

We are unable to predict the outcome of the matter and therefore cannot estimate the range of possible loss. The final resolution of this lawsuit could result in the loss of the Inotera shares or monetary damages, unspecified damages based on the benefits derived by Micron B.V. from the ownership of the Inotera Shares, and/or the termination of the patent cross-license, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operation, or financial condition.  As of September 1, 2016 , the Inotera Shares had a carrying value for purposes of our financial reporting of $674 million and a market value of $996 million .

Our joint ventures and strategic relationships involve numerous risks.

We have entered into strategic relationships to manufacture products and develop new manufacturing process technologies and products. These relationships include our IMFT joint venture with Intel and our Inotera joint venture with Nanya. These joint ventures and strategic relationships are subject to various risks that could adversely affect the value of our investments and our results of operations. These risks include the following:

If our joint ventures and strategic relationships are unsuccessful, our business, results of operations, or financial condition may be materially adversely affected.

If our manufacturing process is disrupted, our business, results of operations, or financial condition could be materially adversely affected.

We manufacture products using highly complex processes that require technologically advanced equipment and continuous modification to improve yields and performance. Difficulties in the manufacturing process or the effects from a shift in product mix can reduce yields or disrupt production and may increase our per gigabit manufacturing costs. We maintain operations and continuously implement new product and process technology at our manufacturing operations which are widely dispersed in multiple locations in several countries including the U.S., Singapore, Taiwan, Japan, Malaysia, and China. Additionally, our control over operations at IMFT, Inotera, and Tera Probe is limited by our agreements with our partners. From time to time, we have experienced disruptions in our manufacturing process as a result of power outages, improperly functioning equipment, equipment failures, earthquakes, or other environmental events. If production at a fabrication facility is disrupted for any reason, manufacturing yields may be adversely affected or we may be unable to meet our customers' requirements and they may purchase products from other suppliers. This could result in a significant increase in manufacturing costs, loss of revenues, or damage to customer relationships, any of which could materially adversely affect our business, results of operations, or financial condition.

We may incur additional restructure charges in future periods.

In the fourth quarter of 2016, we initiated a restructure plan in response to the current business environment and the need to accelerate focus on our key priorities in which we expect to save, as compared to our previously planned spending levels, approximately $80 million per quarter in 2017.  The savings are expected to result from a combination of a more focused set of projects and programs, the permanent closure of a number of open headcount requisitions, workforce reductions in certain areas of the business, and other non-headcount related spending reductions. In connection with the plan, we expect to incur charges of $80 million , substantially all in cash expenditures, of which $58 million was incurred in 2016, with the remainder in the early part of 2017.

We may not realize the expected quarterly cost savings. We may also incur additional restructure charges or other losses associated with other initiatives in future periods. In connection with those initiatives, we could incur restructure charges, loss of production output, loss of key personnel, disruptions in our operations, and difficulties in the timely delivery of products.

The operations of the MMJ Companies are subject to continued oversight by the Japan Court during the pendency of the corporate reorganization proceedings.

Because the plans of reorganization of the MMJ Companies provide for ongoing payments to creditors following the closing of our acquisition of MMJ, the Japan Proceedings are continuing, and the MMJ Companies remain subject to the oversight of the Japan Court and of the trustees (including a trustee designated by us, who we refer to as the business trustee, and a trustee designated by the Japan Court, who we refer to as the legal trustee), pending completion of the Japan Proceedings. The Japan Proceedings and oversight of the Japan Court are expected to continue until the final creditor payment is made under the MMJ Companies' plans of reorganization, which is scheduled to occur in December 2019, but may occur on a later date to the extent any claims of creditors remain unfixed on the final scheduled installment payment date. Although we may be able to petition the court to terminate the Japan Proceedings once two-thirds of all payments under the plans of reorganization are made, there can be no assurance that the Japan Court will grant any such petition.

During the pendency of the Japan Proceedings, the MMJ Companies are obligated to provide periodic financial reports to the Japan Court and may be required to obtain the consent of the Japan Court prior to taking a number of significant actions relating to their businesses, including transferring or disposing of, or acquiring, certain material assets, incurring or guaranteeing material indebtedness, settling disputes, or entering into certain material agreements. The consent of the legal trustee may also be required for matters that would likely have a material impact on the operations or assets of the MMJ Companies and their subsidiaries or for transfers of material assets, to the extent the matters or transfers would reasonably be expected to materially and adversely affect execution of the plans of reorganization of the MMJ Companies. Accordingly, during the pendency of the Japan Proceedings, our ability to effectively operate the MMJ Companies as part of our global operations or to cause the MMJ Companies to take certain actions that we deem advisable for their businesses could be adversely affected if the Japan Court or the legal trustee is unwilling to consent to various actions that we may wish to take with respect to the MMJ Companies.

Our Inotera supply agreement involves numerous risks.

In 2016, we purchased $1.43 billion of DRAM products from Inotera and our supply from Inotera accounted for 30% of our aggregate DRAM gigabit production. In 2015 and 2014, our cost for Inotera products was higher than the cost for similar products manufactured in our wholly-owned facilities. Due to declines in average selling prices, our per gigabit cost of products purchased from Inotera decreased throughout 2015 and the first half of 2016 such that our cost for Inotera products more closely approximated our cost for similar products manufactured in our wholly-owned facilities for the second and third quarters of 2016.  Due to improvements in average selling prices in late 2016 coupled with decreases in manufacturing costs of our wholly-owned operations, our cost for Inotera products increased and were approximately 20% higher than our cost for similar products manufactured in our wholly-owned facilities for the fourth quarter of 2016. If our supply of DRAM from Inotera is impacted, our business, results of operations, or financial condition could be materially adversely affected. Our Inotera supply agreement involves numerous risks including the following:

Changes in foreign currency exchange rates could materially adversely affect our business, results of operations, or financial condition.

Across our global operations, certain transactions and balances are denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar (our reporting currency), primarily the euro, Singapore dollar, New Taiwan dollar, and yen. We recorded net losses from changes in currency exchange rates of $24 million for 2016, $27 million for 2015, and $28 million for 2014. Based on our foreign currency balances from monetary assets and liabilities we estimate that a 10% adverse change in exchange rates versus the U.S. dollar would result in losses of approximately $241 million as of September 1, 2016 . Although we hedge our exposure to changes in currency exchange rates from our monetary assets and liabilities by utilizing a rolling hedge strategy for our primary currency exposures with currency forward contracts that generally mature within 35 days, the effectiveness of these hedges is dependent upon our ability to accurately forecast our monetary assets and liabilities. In addition, a significant portion of our manufacturing costs are denominated in foreign currencies. Exchange rates for some of these currencies against the U.S. dollar, particularly the yen, have been volatile in recent periods. If these currencies strengthen against the U.S. dollar, our manufacturing costs could significantly increase. In the event that exchange rates for the U.S. dollar adversely change against our foreign currency exposures, our results of operations or financial condition may be adversely affected. In addition, in connection with our proposed acquisition of Inotera, our exposure to changes in foreign currency exchange rates could increase if not offset by corresponding hedges.

We may make future acquisitions and/or alliances, which involve numerous risks.

Acquisitions and the formation or operation of alliances, such as joint ventures and other partnering arrangements, involve numerous risks including the following:

In previous years, supply of memory products has significantly exceeded customer demand resulting in significant declines in average selling prices for DRAM, NAND Flash, and NOR Flash products. Resulting operating losses have led to the deterioration in the financial condition of a number of industry participants, including the liquidation of Qimonda and the 2012 bankruptcy filing by Elpida (now known as MMJ). These types of proceedings often lead to court-directed processes involving the sale of related businesses or assets. We believe the global memory industry is experiencing a period of consolidation as a result of these market conditions and other factors, and we may engage in discussions regarding potential acquisitions and similar opportunities arising out of these industry conditions. To the extent we are successful in completing any such transactions, we could be subject to some or all of the risks described above, including the risks pertaining to funding, assumption of liabilities, integration challenges, and increases in debt that may accompany such transactions. Acquisitions of, or alliances with, high-technology companies are inherently risky and may not be successful and may materially adversely affect our business, results of operations, or financial condition.

Breaches of our security systems could expose us to losses.

We maintain a system of controls over the physical security of our facilities. We also manage and store various proprietary information and sensitive or confidential data relating to our operations. In addition, we process, store, and transmit large amounts of data relating to our customers and employees, including sensitive personal information. Unauthorized persons or employees may gain access to our facilities or network systems to steal trade secrets or other proprietary information, compromise confidential information, create system disruptions, or cause shutdowns. These parties may also be able to develop and deploy viruses, worms, and other malicious software programs that disrupt our operations and create security vulnerabilities. Breaches of our physical security and attacks on our network systems could result in significant losses and damage our reputation with customers and suppliers, and could expose us to litigation if the confidential information of our customers, suppliers, or employees is compromised.

Compliance with regulations regarding the use of conflict minerals could limit the supply and increase the cost of certain metals used in manufacturing our products.

Increased focus on environmental protection and social responsibility initiatives led to the passage of Section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (the "Dodd-Frank Act") and its implementing Securities and Exchange Commission regulations.  The Dodd-Frank Act imposes supply chain diligence and disclosure requirements for certain manufacturers of products containing specific minerals that may originate in or near the Democratic Republic of the Congo (the "DRC") and finance or benefit local armed groups. These "conflict minerals" are commonly found in materials used in the manufacture of semiconductors. The implementation of these new regulations may limit the sourcing and availability of some of these materials. This in turn may affect our ability to obtain materials necessary for the manufacture of our products in sufficient quantities and may affect related material pricing.  Some of our customers may elect to disqualify us as a supplier or reduce purchases from us if we are unable to verify that our products are DRC conflict free.

We are subject to a variety of laws and regulations that may result in additional costs and liabilities.

The manufacturing of our products requires the use of facilities, equipment, and materials that are subject to a broad array of laws and regulations in numerous jurisdictions in which we operate. Additionally, we are subject to a variety of other laws and regulations relative to the construction, maintenance, and operations of our facilities. Any of these laws or regulations could cause us to incur additional direct costs, as well as increased indirect costs related to our relationships with our customers and suppliers, and otherwise harm our operations and financial condition. Any failure to comply with these laws or regulations could adversely impact our reputation and our financial results. Additionally, we partner with other companies in our joint ventures, which are also subject to a broad array of laws and regulations. Our ownership in these joint ventures may also expose us to risks associated with their respective compliance with these laws and regulations. Our failure, or the failure of our joint ventures, to comply with these laws and regulations could result in:

We may incur additional tax expense or become subject to additional tax exposure.

We operate in a number of locations outside the U.S., including in Singapore, and, to a lesser extent, Taiwan, where we have tax incentive arrangements that are conditional, in part, upon meeting certain business operations and employment thresholds. Our domestic and international taxes are dependent upon the distribution of our earnings among these different jurisdictions. Our provision for income taxes and cash tax liabilities in the future could be adversely affected by numerous factors, including challenges by tax authorities to our tax structure and intercompany transfer pricing agreements, income before taxes being lower than anticipated in countries with lower statutory tax rates and higher than anticipated in countries with higher statutory tax rates, changes in the valuation of deferred tax assets and liabilities, failure to meet performance obligations with respect to tax incentive agreements, and changes in tax laws and regulations. We file income tax returns with the U.S. federal government, various U.S. states, and various other jurisdictions throughout the world.  Our U.S. federal and state tax returns remain open to examination for 2012 through 2016.  In addition, tax returns open to examination in Singapore, Japan, and Taiwan range from the years 2011 to 2016. The results of audits and examinations of previously filed tax returns and continuing assessments of our tax exposures may have an adverse effect on our provision for income taxes and cash tax liability.

We may not utilize all of our net deferred tax assets.

We have substantial deferred tax assets, which include, among others, net operating loss and credit carryforwards. As of September 1, 2016, our U.S. federal and state net operating loss carryforwards, including uncertain tax benefits, were $3.90 billion and $1.94 billion, respectively, which, if not utilized, will expire at various dates from 2017 through 2036. As of September 1, 2016, our foreign net operating loss carryforwards were $6.04 billion, including $4.28 billion pertaining to Japan, which will, if not utilized, substantially all expire at various dates from 2019 through 2025. As of September 1, 2016, we had valuation allowances of $1.16 billion and $765 million against our net deferred tax assets in the U.S. and Japan, respectively.

A change in ownership may limit our ability to utilize our net operating loss carryforwards.

If we experience a 50% or greater change in ownership involving shareholders owning 5% or more of our stock, it could adversely impact our ability to utilize our existing net operating loss and credit carryforwards. The inability to utilize existing net operating loss and credit carryforwards would significantly increase the amount of our annual cash taxes reducing the overall amount of cash available to be used in other areas of the business.

On July 20, 2016, our board of directors adopted a Section 382 Rights Agreement (the "Rights Agreement"), under which our shareholders of record as of the close of business on August 1, 2016 received one right for each share of common stock outstanding. The Rights Agreement is intended to avoid an ownership change, as defined by Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, and thereby preserve our current ability to utilize certain net operating loss and credit carryforwards. In general, an ownership change will occur when the percentage of our ownership by one or more 5% shareholders has increased by more than 50% at any time during the prior three years. Pursuant to the Rights Agreement, if a shareholder (or group) acquires beneficial ownership of 4.99% or more of the outstanding shares of our common stock without prior approval of our Board of Directors or without meeting certain customary exceptions, the rights would become exercisable and entitle shareholders (other than the acquiring shareholder or group) to purchase additional shares of our common stock at a significant discount and result in significant dilution in the economic interest and voting power of acquiring shareholder or group. Although the Rights Agreement is intended to reduce the likelihood of an ownership change that could adversely affect us, there is no assurance that the Rights Agreement will prevent all transfers that could result in such an ownership change. The Rights Agreement is subject to shareholder approval at the Company's Fiscal 2016 Annual Meeting of Shareholders. If not approved by the shareholders, the Rights Agreement will terminate on July 19, 2017.

The limited availability of raw materials, supplies, or capital equipment could materially adversely affect our business, results of operations, or financial condition.

Our operations require raw materials, and in certain cases, third party services, that meet exacting standards. We generally have multiple sources of supply for our raw materials and services. However, only a limited number of suppliers are capable of delivering certain raw materials and services that meet our standards. In some cases, materials, components, or services are provided by a single supplier. Various factors could reduce the availability of raw materials or components such as silicon wafers, controllers, photomasks, chemicals, gases, photoresist, lead frames, and molding compound. Shortages may occur from time to time in the future. We and/or our suppliers could be affected by laws and regulations enacted in response to concerns regarding climate change, which could increase the cost and limit the supply of our raw materials. In addition, disruptions in transportation lines could delay our receipt of raw materials. Lead times for the supply of raw materials have been extended in the past. If our supply of raw materials or services is disrupted or our lead times extended, our business, results of operations, or financial condition could be materially adversely affected.

Our operations are dependent on our ability to procure advanced semiconductor manufacturing equipment that enables the transition to lower cost manufacturing processes. For certain key types of equipment, including photolithography tools, we are sometimes dependent on a single supplier. From time to time we have experienced difficulties in obtaining some equipment on a timely basis due to the supplier's limited capacity. Our inability to obtain this equipment timely could adversely affect our ability to transition to next generation manufacturing processes and reduce costs. Delays in obtaining equipment could also impede our ability to ramp production at new facilities and increase our overall costs of the ramp. If we are unable to obtain advanced semiconductor manufacturing equipment in a timely manner, our business, results of operations, or financial condition could be materially adversely affected.

A downturn in the worldwide economy may harm our business.

Downturns in the worldwide economy have harmed our business in the past and future downturns could also adversely affect our business. Adverse economic conditions affect demand for devices that incorporate our products, such as personal computers, mobile devices, SSDs, and servers. Reduced demand for these products could result in significant decreases in our average selling prices and product sales. A deterioration of current conditions in worldwide credit markets could limit our ability to obtain external financing to fund our operations and capital expenditures. In addition, we may experience losses on our holdings of cash and investments due to failures of financial institutions and other parties. Difficult economic conditions may also result in a higher rate of loss on our accounts receivables due to credit defaults. As a result, our business, results of operations, or financial condition could be materially adversely affected.

Our results of operations could be affected by natural disasters and other events in the locations in which we or our customers or suppliers operate.

We have manufacturing and other operations in locations subject to natural occurrences such as severe weather and geological events including earthquakes or tsunamis that could disrupt operations.  In addition, our suppliers and customers also have operations in such locations.  A natural disaster, fire, explosion, or other event that results in a prolonged disruption to our operations, or the operations of our customers or suppliers, may materially adversely affect our business, results of operations, or financial condition.

We face risks associated with our international sales and operations that could materially adversely affect our business, results of operations, or financial condition.

Sales to customers outside the United States approximated 84% of our consolidated net sales for 2016. In addition, a substantial portion of our manufacturing operations are located outside the United States. In particular, a significant portion of our manufacturing operations are concentrated in Singapore, Taiwan, and Japan. Our international sales and operations are subject to a variety of risks, including:

These factors may materially adversely affect our business, results of operations, or financial condition.

We are subject to counterparty default risks.

We have numerous arrangements with financial institutions that subject us to counterparty default risks, including cash deposits, investments, capped-call contracts on our stock, and derivative instruments. As a result, we are subject to the risk that the counterparty to one or more of these arrangements will default on its performance obligations. A counterparty may not comply with their contractual commitments which could then lead to their defaulting on their obligations with little or no notice to us, which could limit our ability to take action to mitigate our exposure. Additionally, our ability to mitigate our exposures may be constrained by the terms of our contractual arrangements or because market conditions prevent us from taking effective action. If one of our counterparties becomes insolvent or files for bankruptcy, our ability to recover any losses suffered as a result of that counterparty's default may be limited by the liquidity of the counterparty or the applicable laws governing the bankruptcy proceeding. In the event of such default, we could incur significant losses, which could adversely impact our business, results of operations, or financial condition.

None.

Our corporate headquarters are located in Boise, Idaho.  The following is a summary of our principal facilities as of September 1, 2016 :

Substantially all of the capacity of the facilities listed above is fully utilized. Our Inotera joint venture has a 300mm wafer fabrication facility in Taoyuan City, Taiwan. Under our supply agreement with Inotera, we purchase all of the output of Inotera. We also own or lease a number of other facilities in locations throughout the world that are used for design, R&D, and sales and marketing activities.

Our facility in Lehi is owned and operated by our IMFT joint venture with Intel.  (See "Part II – Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data – Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements – Equity – Noncontrolling Interests in Subsidiaries – IMFT.")

In 2015, we began construction of a significant expansion of our wafer fabrication facilities in Singapore for production of NAND Flash memory and we began utilizing a portion of the facility for production in the second half of 2016.

We believe that our existing facilities are suitable and adequate for our present purposes.  We do not identify or allocate assets by operating segment.  (See "Part II – Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data – Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements – Geographic Information.")

In July 2013, we completed the acquisition of Elpida, now known as MMJ, a Japanese corporation, pursuant to the terms and conditions of an Agreement on Support for Reorganization Companies (as amended, the "Sponsor Agreement") that we entered into in July 2012 with the trustees of the MMJ Companies' pending corporate reorganization proceedings under the Corporate Reorganization Act of Japan. The MMJ Companies filed petitions for commencement of corporate reorganization proceedings with the Japan Court under the Corporate Reorganization Act of Japan in February 2012, and the Japan Court issued an order to commence the reorganization proceedings (the "Japan Proceedings") in March 2012. Under the Sponsor Agreement, we agreed to provide certain support for the reorganization of the MMJ Companies and the trustees agreed to prepare and seek approval from the Japan Court and the MMJ Companies' creditors of plans of reorganization consistent with such support.

The trustees initially submitted the proposed plans of reorganization for the MMJ Companies to the Japan Court in August 2012 and submitted final proposed plans in October 2012. In October 2012, the Japan Court approved submission of the trustees' proposed plans of reorganization to creditors for approval. In February 2013, the MMJ Companies' creditors approved the reorganization plans and in February 2013, the Japan Court issued an order approving the plans of reorganization. Appeals filed by certain creditors of MMJ in Japan challenging the plan approval order issued by the Japan Court were denied.

In a related action, MMJ filed a Verified Petition for Recognition and Chapter 15 Relief in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware (the "U.S. Court") in March 2012 and, in April 2012, the U.S. Court entered an order that, among other things, recognized MMJ's corporate reorganization proceeding as a foreign main proceeding pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 1517(b). On June 25, 2013, the U.S. Court issued a recognition order, which recognized the order of the Japan Court approving MMJ's plan of reorganization. In November 2013, the U.S. Court closed the U.S. Chapter 15 proceeding.

The plans of reorganization provide for payments by the MMJ Companies to their secured and unsecured creditors in an aggregate amount of 200 billion yen, less certain expenses of the reorganization proceedings and certain other items. The plans of reorganization also provided for the investment by us pursuant to the Sponsor Agreement of 60 billion yen paid at closing in cash into MMJ in exchange for 100% ownership of MMJ's equity and the use of such investment to fund the initial installment payment by the MMJ Companies to their creditors of 60 billion yen, subject to reduction for certain items specified in the Sponsor Agreement and plans of reorganization.

Under MMJ's plan of reorganization, secured creditors will recover 100% of the amount of their fixed claims and unsecured creditors will recover at least 17.4% of the amount of their fixed claims. The actual recovery of unsecured creditors will be higher, however, based, in part, on events and circumstances occurring following the plan approval. The remaining portion of the unsecured claims will be discharged, without payment, over the period that payments are made pursuant to the plans of reorganization. The secured creditors will be paid in full on or before the sixth installment payment date, while the unsecured creditors will be paid in seven installments. MAI's plan of reorganization provides that secured creditors will recover 100% of the amount of their claims, whereas unsecured creditors will recover 19% of the amount of their claims. The secured creditors of MAI were paid in full on the first installment payment date, while the unsecured creditors will be paid in seven installments.

Because the plans of reorganization of the MMJ Companies provide for ongoing payments to creditors following the closing of the MMJ acquisition, the Japan Proceedings are continuing and the MMJ Companies remain subject to the oversight of the Japan Court and of the trustees (including a trustee designated by us, who we refer to as the business trustee, and a trustee designated by the Japan Court, who we refer to as the legal trustee), pending completion of the reorganization proceedings. The business trustee makes decisions in relation to the operation of the businesses of the MMJ Companies, other than decisions in relation to acts that need to be carried out in connection with the Japan Proceedings, which are the responsibility of the legal trustee. The Japan Proceedings and oversight of the Japan Court will continue until the final creditor payment is made under the MMJ Companies' plans of reorganization, which is scheduled to occur in December 2019, but may occur on a later date to the extent any claims of creditors remain unfixed on the final scheduled installment payment date. The MMJ Companies may petition the Japan Court for an early termination of the Japan Proceedings once two-thirds of all payments under the plans of reorganization are made. Although such early terminations are customarily granted, there can be no assurance that the Japan Court will grant any such petition in these particular cases.

During the pendency of the Japan Proceedings, the MMJ Companies are obligated to provide periodic financial reports to the Japan Court and may be required to obtain the consent of the Japan Court prior to taking a number of significant actions relating to their businesses, including transferring or disposing of, or acquiring, certain material assets, incurring or guaranteeing material indebtedness, settling material disputes, or entering into certain material agreements. The consent of the legal trustee may also be required for matters that would likely have a material impact on the operations or assets of the MMJ Companies and their subsidiaries or for transfers of material assets, to the extent the matters or transfers would reasonably be expected to materially and adversely affect execution of the plans of reorganization of the MMJ Companies. Accordingly, during the pendency of the Japan Proceedings, our ability to effectively integrate the MMJ Companies as part of our global operations or to cause the MMJ Companies to take certain actions that we deem advisable for their businesses could be adversely affected if the Japan Court or the legal trustee is unwilling to consent to various actions that we may wish to take with respect to the MMJ Companies.

For a discussion of other legal proceedings, see "Part II Financial Information – Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data – Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements – Contingencies" and "Item 1A. Risk Factors."

Not Applicable.

Our common stock is listed on the NASDAQ Global Select Market and trades under the symbol "MU."  The following table represents the high and low closing prices for our common stock for each quarter of 2016 and 2015:

As of October 21, 2016, there were 2,316 shareholders of record of our common stock.

We have not declared or paid cash dividends since 1996 and do not intend to pay cash dividends for the foreseeable future.

As a result of the Japan Proceedings, for so long as such proceedings continue, the MMJ Group is subject to certain restrictions on dividends, loans, and advances. Our ability to access IMFT's cash and other assets through dividends, loans, or advances, including to finance our other operations, is subject to agreement by Intel.

The information required by this item is incorporated by reference from the information to be set forth in our 2016 Proxy Statement under the section entitled "Equity Compensation Plan Information," which will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission within 120 days after September 1, 2016 .

Our Board of Directors has authorized the discretionary repurchase of up to $1.25 billion of our outstanding common stock, which may be made in open-market purchases, block trades, privately-negotiated transactions, or derivative transactions. Through the end of 2016, we had repurchased a total of 49 million shares for $956 million (including commissions) through open-market transactions pursuant to such authorization, which were recorded as treasury stock. Repurchases are subject to market conditions and our ongoing determination of the best use of available cash.

Shares of common stock withheld as payment of withholding taxes and exercise prices in connection with the vesting or exercise of equity awards are also treated as common stock repurchases. Those withheld shares of common stock are not considered common stock repurchases under an authorized common stock repurchase plan and accordingly are excluded from the above table.

The following graph illustrates a five-year comparison of cumulative total returns for our common stock, the S&P 500 Composite Index, and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) from August 31, 2011, through August 31, 2016. We operate on a 52 or 53 week fiscal year which ends on the Thursday closest to August 31.  Accordingly, the last day of our fiscal year varies.  For consistent presentation and comparison to the industry indices shown herein, we have calculated our stock performance graph assuming an August 31 year end.

Note:  Management cautions that the stock price performance information shown in the graph above may not be indicative of current stock price levels or future stock price performance.

The performance graph above assumes $100 was invested on August 31, 2011 in common stock of Micron Technology, Inc., the S&P 500 Composite Index, and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX).  Any dividends paid during the period presented were assumed to be reinvested.  The performance was plotted using the following data:

On July 31, 2013, we completed the MMJ Acquisition, in which we acquired Elpida, now known as MMJ, and a controlling interest in Rexchip Electronics Corporation, now known as MMT. The MMJ Group's products include mobile DRAM targeted to mobile phones and tablets and computing DRAM targeted to desktop PCs, servers, notebooks, and workstations. The MMJ Acquisition included a 300mm DRAM wafer fabrication facility located in Hiroshima, Japan, a 300mm DRAM wafer fabrication facility in Taichung City, Taiwan, and an assembly and test facility located in Akita, Japan. In connection with the MMJ Acquisition, we recorded net assets of $2.60 billion , noncontrolling interests of $168 million , and a gain on the transaction of $1.48 billion in 2013.

On April 6, 2012 , we entered into a series of agreements with Intel to restructure our IMFT and IM Flash Singapore, LLP ("IMFS") joint venture relationships, through which we acquired Intel's remaining 18% interest in IMFS for $466 million . In addition, we terminated IMFT's lease to use approximately 50% of our Virginia wafer fabrication facility along with acquiring IMFT's assets located at that facility, for which Intel received a distribution from IMFT of $139 million . For both transactions, the amounts Intel received approximated the book values of Intel's noncontrolling interest in the assets acquired. Prior to our acquisition of Intel's interest in these assets, the output of the underlying facilities was sold to the partners based on ownership interests at long-term negotiated prices approximating cost.

The following discussion contains trend information and other forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements such as those made regarding the acquisition of the remaining shares of Inotera; changes in future depreciation expense; future costs and savings for restructure activities; our pursuit of additional financing and debt restructuring including expected funding of the Inotera acquisition; the sufficiency of our cash and investments, cash flows from operations, and available financing to meet our requirements for at least the next 12 months; capital spending in 2017; and the timing of payments for certain contractual obligations. We are under no obligation to update these forward-looking statements. Our actual results could differ materially from our historical results and those discussed in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include, but are not limited to, those identified in "Part I, Item 1A. Risk Factors." This discussion should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes for the year ended September 1, 2016. All period references are to our fiscal periods unless otherwise indicated. Our fiscal year is the 52 or 53-week period ending on the Thursday closest to August 31. Our fiscal 2016 contained 52 weeks, fiscal 2015 contained 53 weeks, and fiscal 2014 contained 52 weeks. All production data includes the production of IMFT and Inotera. All tabular dollar amounts are in millions except per share amounts.

Our Management's Discussion and Analysis ("MD&A") is provided in addition to the accompanying consolidated financial statements and notes to assist readers in understanding our results of operations, financial condition, and cash flows. MD&A is organized as follows:

For an overview of our business, see "Part I – Item 1. – Business – Overview."

Consolidated Results

Net Sales

Percentages of total net sales reflect rounding and may not total 100%.

Total net sales for 2016 decreased 23% as compared to 2015 primarily due to lower CNBU, MBU, and SBU sales as declines in average selling prices outpaced increases in gigabit sales volumes. The increases in gigabit sales volumes for 2016 were primarily attributable to higher manufacturing output due to improvements in product and process technologies partially offset by reductions resulting from transitions to the next technology node.

Total net sales for 2015 decreased 1% as compared to 2014 primarily due to lower CNBU sales as a result of decreases in DRAM sales as declines in average selling prices outpaced increases in gigabit sales volumes. SBU and MBU sales for 2015 increased as compared to 2014 as a result of higher NAND Flash sales due to increases in gigabit sales volumes partially offset by declines in average selling prices. The increases in gigabit sales volumes for 2015 were primarily attributable to higher manufacturing output due to improvements in product and process technologies. EBU sales for 2015 increased as compared to 2014 due to higher sales volumes as a result of increases in market demand.

Gross Margin

Our overall gross margin percentage declined to 20% for 2016 from 32% for 2015 primarily due to declines in the gross margin percentages for CNBU, MBU, and SBU, as decreases in average selling prices outpaced manufacturing cost reductions. EBU's gross margin percentage for 2016 was relatively unchanged from 2015 as manufacturing cost reductions offset declines in average selling prices.

From January 2013 through December 2015, we purchased all of Inotera's DRAM output under supply agreements at prices reflecting discounts from market prices for our comparable components. Effective beginning on January 1, 2016, the price for DRAM products purchased by us is based on a formula that equally shares margin between Inotera and us. We purchased $1.43 billion , $2.37 billion , and $2.68 billion of DRAM products from Inotera in 2016, 2015, and 2014, respectively. DRAM products purchased from Inotera accounted for 30% of our aggregate DRAM gigabit production for 2016 as compared to 35% for 2015 and 38% for 2014. In 2015 and 2014, our cost for Inotera products was higher than our cost for similar products manufactured in our wholly-owned facilities. Due to declines in average selling prices, our per gigabit cost of products purchased from Inotera decreased throughout 2015 and the first half of 2016 such that our cost for Inotera products more closely approximated our cost for similar products manufactured in our wholly-owned facilities for the second and third quarters of 2016.  Due to improvements in average selling prices in late 2016 coupled with decreases in manufacturing costs of our wholly-owned operations, our cost for Inotera products increased and were approximately 20% higher than our cost for similar products manufactured in our wholly-owned facilities for the fourth quarter of 2016. The current supply agreement with Inotera has an initial three-year term, which commenced on January 1, 2016, followed by a three-year wind-down period. Upon termination of the initial three-year term, the share of Inotera's capacity we would purchase would decline over the wind-down period.

Our overall gross margin percentage declined to 32% for 2015 from 33% for 2014 primarily due to declines in average selling prices partially offset by manufacturing cost reductions. CNBU and SBU experienced declines in gross margin percentage for 2015 as compared to 2014 as declines in average selling price outpaced manufacturing cost reductions. MBU's gross margin percentage for 2015 improved as compared to 2014 as manufacturing cost reductions outpaced declines in average selling prices.

Due to the lengthening period of time between DRAM product technology node transitions, an increased re-use rate of equipment, and industry trends, we revised the estimated useful lives of equipment in our DRAM wafer fabrication facilities from five to seven years in the fourth quarter of 2016. For 2016, the effect of the revision was not material and we expect this change will reduce depreciation costs by approximately $100 million per quarter in future periods.

Operating Results by Business Segments

CNBU

CNBU sales and operating results are significantly impacted by average selling prices, gigabit sales volumes, and cost per gigabit of our DRAM products. (See "Operating Results by Product – DRAM" for further detail.) CNBU sales for 2016 decreased 33% as compared to 2015 primarily due to declines in average selling prices as a result of continued weakness in the PC sector, partially offset by increases in gigabits sold. CNBU operating margin for 2016 declined from 2015 as decreases in average selling prices outpaced manufacturing cost reductions.

CNBU sales for 2015 decreased 8% as compared to 2014 primarily due to declines in average selling prices as a result of continued weakness in the PC sector, partially offset by increases in gigabits sold. CNBU operating margin for 2015 declined from 2014 as decreases in average selling prices outpaced manufacturing cost reductions.

SBU

SBU sales and operating results are significantly impacted by average selling prices, gigabit sales volumes, and cost per gigabit of our Non-Volatile Memory products. (See "Operating Results by Product – Trade Non-Volatile Memory" for further details.) SBU sales for 2016 decreased 12% from 2015 primarily due to declines in average selling prices partially offset by increases in gigabits sold. SBU sales included Non-Trade Non-Volatile Memory sales of $501 million , $463 million , and $475 million , for 2016 , 2015 , and 2014 , respectively.

SBU sales of Trade Non-Volatile Memory products for 2016 decreased 16% from 2015 primarily due to declines in average selling prices partially offset by increases in gigabits sold. SBU operating margin for 2016 declined from 2015 as decreases in average selling prices outpaced manufacturing cost reductions.

SBU sales of Trade Non-Volatile Memory products for 2015 increased 7% as compared to 2014 primarily due to increases in gigabits sold partially offset by declines in average selling prices. Increases in gigabits sold for 2015 as compared to 2014 were primarily due to higher manufacturing output. SBU operating margin for 2015 declined from 2014 as decreases in average selling prices outpaced manufacturing cost reductions and R&D costs increased in connection with increased spending on controllers, firmware, and engineering for SSDs and managed NAND Flash products.

MBU

MBU sales are comprised primarily of DRAM and NAND Flash, with mobile DRAM products accounting for a significant majority of the sales. MBU sales for 2016 decreased 30% as compared to 2015 primarily due to declines in average selling prices and DRAM gigabits sold. MBU operating income for 2016 declined from 2015 as decreases in average selling prices outpaced manufacturing cost reductions.

MBU sales for 2015 increased 2% as compared to 2014 primarily due to significant increases in gigabit sales volumes for managed NAND Flash and MCP products partially offset by lower sales of mobile DRAM products as a result of declines in average selling prices and sales volumes. MBU operating income for 2015 improved from 2014 as manufacturing cost reductions outpaced declines in average selling prices.

EBU

EBU sales are comprised of DRAM, NAND Flash, and NOR Flash in decreasing order of revenue. EBU sales for 2016 decreased 3% as compared to 2015 primarily due to declines in average selling prices for DRAM and NAND Flash products, which were partially offset by higher sales volumes as a result of increases in demand. EBU operating income for 2016 was relatively unchanged from 2015 as manufacturing cost reductions offset declines in average selling prices.

EBU sales for 2015 increased 13% as compared to 2014 primarily due to higher sales volumes of DRAM and NAND Flash products as a result of increases in demand. EBU operating income for 2015 improved as compared to 2014 primarily due to the higher sales volumes.

Operating Results by Product

Net Sales by Product

Percentages of total net sales reflect rounding and may not total 100%.

Trade Non-Volatile Memory includes NAND Flash and 3D XPoint memory. Non-Trade Non-Volatile Memory primarily consists of Non-Volatile Memory products manufactured and sold to Intel through IMFT at long-term negotiated prices approximating cost. Information regarding our MCP products, which combine both NAND Flash and DRAM components, is reported within Trade Non-Volatile Memory. Sales of NOR Flash products are included in Other.

DRAM

The increase in gigabits sold and decrease in cost per gigabit for 2016 and 2015 as compared to prior years, were primarily due to increases in gigabit production as a result of improvements in product and process technologies. Lower costs for products purchased from Inotera contributed to manufacturing cost reductions for 2016 and 2015. Gigabit production and cost reductions for 2016 and 2015, were constrained by equipment downtime incurred in connection with transitioning from 25nm to 20nm-based products and a shift to a higher mix of DDR4 products, which have larger die sizes and fewer bits per wafer.

Our gross margin percentage for 2016 declined as compared to 2015 as decreases in average selling prices outpaced manufacturing cost reductions. Our gross margin percentage on sales of DRAM products for 2015 improved from 2014 as manufacturing cost reductions outpaced declines in average selling prices.

Trade Non-Volatile Memory

Through 2016, substantially all of our Trade Non-Volatile Memory sales were from NAND Flash products. The increase in gigabits sold of Trade Non-Volatile Memory for 2016 as compared to 2015, was primarily due to increases in gigabit production due to improvements in product and process technology. Increases in gigabit production for 2016 were constrained by equipment downtime incurred in connection with transitioning to 3D NAND Flash products. The increase in gigabits sold of Trade Non-Volatile Memory for 2015 as compared to 2014, was primarily due to higher production from improved product and process technologies and the transition of our wafer fabrication facility in Singapore from DRAM to NAND Flash production. Increases in gigabit production for 2015 as compared to 2014, were limited by a shift in product mix to higher levels of managed NAND Flash and MCP products, which have both higher average selling prices and costs per gigabit.

Our gross margin percentage on sales of Trade Non-Volatile Memory products for 2016 declined from 2015 as decreases in average selling prices outpaced manufacturing cost reductions. Our gross margin percentage on sales of Trade Non-Volatile Memory products for 2015 declined from 2014 as the decreases in average selling prices outpaced manufacturing cost reductions.

Operating Expenses and Other

Selling, General, and Administrative

SG&A expenses for 2016 decreased 8% as compared to 2015 due to decreases in payroll costs resulting primarily from the suspension of variable-pay plans, decreases in travel costs, and an additional week in 2015.

SG&A expenses for 2015 increased 2% as compared to 2014 primarily due to an additional week in 2015 and higher legal costs.

Research and Development

R&D expenses for 2016 increased 5% from 2015 primarily due to higher volumes of development wafers processed, higher payroll costs, and an increase in depreciation expense from R&D capital expenditures.

R&D expenses for 2015 increased 12% from 2014 primarily due to a higher volume of development wafers processed, an increase in depreciation expense due to R&D capital expenditures, higher payroll costs, higher subcontracted engineering and other professional service costs, and an additional week in 2015. Increases in R&D expenses for 2015 as compared to 2014 were partly attributable to increased spending on controllers, firmware, and engineering to support system-level products, including SSD, managed NAND Flash, and HMC products.

We generally share with Intel the costs of product design and process development activities for NAND Flash and 3D XPoint memory. Our R&D expenses reflect net reductions as a result of reimbursements under our cost-sharing arrangements with Intel and others of $208 million, $231 million, and $162 million in 2016, 2015, and 2014, respectively.

See further discussion of our R&D in "Part I – Item 1. – Business – Research and Development."

Restructure and Asset Impairments

In the fourth quarter of 2016, we initiated a restructure plan in response to the current business environment and the need to accelerate focus on our key priorities in which we expect to save, as compared to our previously planned spending levels, approximately $80 million per quarter in 2017.  The savings are expected to result from a combination of a more focused set of projects and programs, the permanent closure of a number of open headcount requisitions, workforce reductions in certain areas of the business, and other non-headcount related spending reductions. (See "Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data – Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements – Restructure and Asset Impairments.")

Income Taxes

Our effective tax rates were 6.8%, 6.0%, and 4.7% for 2016, 2015, and 2014, respectively, primarily reflecting provisions on non-U.S. operations. Our effective tax rates reflect the following:

Income taxes for 2016, 2015, and 2014 included $114 million, $80 million and $59 million, respectively, related to utilization of, and other changes in, deferred tax assets of MMJ and MMT. Income taxes for 2016 also included tax benefits of $58 million related to the favorable resolution of certain prior year tax matters, which were previously reserved as uncertain tax positions, and $41 million related to a U.S. valuation allowance release resulting from the acquisition of Tidal Systems, Ltd. The remaining tax provision for 2016, 2015, and 2014 primarily reflects taxes on our other non-U.S. operations. Income taxes on U.S. operations for 2016, 2015, and 2014 were substantially offset by changes in the valuation allowance.

We have a full valuation allowance for our net deferred tax asset associated with our U.S. operations.  Management continues to evaluate future projected financial performance to determine whether such performance is sufficient evidence to support a reduction in or reversal of the valuation allowance.  The amount of the deferred tax asset considered realizable could be adjusted if sufficient positive evidence exists.

We operate in a number of locations outside the U.S., including Singapore and, to a lesser extent, Taiwan, where we have tax incentive arrangements that are conditional, in part, upon meeting certain business operations and employment thresholds. The benefit of tax incentive arrangements, which expire in whole or in part at various dates through 2030, was not material to our tax provision for 2016 and reduced our tax provision for 2015 and 2014 by $338 million (benefitting our diluted earnings per share by $0.29 ) and $286 million ( $0.24 per diluted share), respectively.

(See "Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data – Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements – Income Taxes.")

Equity in Net Income (Loss) of Equity Method Investees

We recognize our share of earnings or losses from equity method investments generally on a two-month lag. Equity in net income (loss) of equity method investees, net of tax, included the following:

Our equity in net income (loss) of Inotera declined for 2016 as compared to 2015 primarily due to declines in average selling prices and cost of transitioning to the next technology node. Included in our earnings for 2015 was $49 million from Inotera's full release of its valuation allowance against net deferred tax assets related to its net operating loss carryforward and the resulting tax provision in subsequent periods.

In 2016 and 2015, we recorded an impairment charge of $25 million and $10 million , respectively, within equity in net income (loss) of equity method investees to write down the carrying value of our investment in Tera Probe to its fair value based on its trading price.

Other

Further discussion of other operating and non-operating income and expenses can be found in the following notes contained in "Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data – Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements":

Our primary sources of liquidity are cash generated from operations and financing obtained from capital markets. Cash generated from operations is highly dependent on selling prices for our products, which can vary significantly from period to period. We are continuously evaluating alternatives for efficiently funding capital expenditures and ongoing operations. We expect, from time to time in the future, to engage in a variety of transactions for such purposes, including the issuance or incurrence of secured and unsecured debt and the refinancing and restructuring of existing debt. As of September 1, 2016 , we had a revolving credit facility available for up to $488 million of additional financing based on eligible receivables. We expect that our cash and investments, cash flows from operations, and available financing will be sufficient to meet our requirements at least through the next 12 months.

To develop new product and process technologies, support future growth, achieve operating efficiencies, and maintain product quality, we must continue to invest in manufacturing technologies, facilities and equipment, and R&D. We estimate that net cash expenditures in 2017 for property, plant, and equipment will be approximately $4.8 billion to $5.2 billion, which reflects the offset of amounts we expect to be funded by our partners. The actual amounts for 2017 will vary depending on market conditions. Total additions to property, plant, and equipment in 2016 were $7.01 billion , which, in comparison to cash expenditures, reflects differences in timing of receipts and payments for equipment as well as non-cash additions such as equipment leases. As of September 1, 2016 , we had commitments of approximately $780 million for the acquisition of property, plant, and equipment, substantially all of which is expected to be paid within one year.

Our investments consist primarily of liquid investment-grade fixed-income securities, diversified among industries and individual issuers. As of September 1, 2016 , $1.32 billion of our cash and equivalents and short-term investments was held by foreign subsidiaries, primarily denominated in the U.S. dollar. To mitigate credit risk, we invest through high-credit-quality financial institutions and, by policy, generally limit the concentration of credit exposure by restricting the amount of investments with any single obligor.

Proposed Acquisition of Inotera

In the second quarter of 2016, we entered into agreements to acquire the remaining interest in Inotera for 30 New Taiwan dollars per share in cash (equivalent to approximately $0.95 per share, assuming 31.7 New Taiwan dollars per U.S. dollar, the exchange rate as of September 1, 2016). Based on the exchange rate as of September 1, 2016, we estimate the aggregate consideration payable for the 67% of Inotera shares not owned by us would be approximately $4.1 billion .

Acquisition Financing : On October 11, 2016, we and Inotera, as co-borrowers, entered into a single-draw term loan facility (the "Term Loan Facility"), from which proceeds will be used to pay a portion of the acquisition consideration and any related transaction costs and to provide working capital for Inotera. In the second and third quarters of 2016, we entered into agreements with Nanya pursuant to which we have the option to issue a combination of shares of our common stock (the "Micron Shares") and 2.00% convertible senior notes due 2021 (the "2021 Convertible Notes") to Nanya, which is subject to regulatory approvals and various other conditions.

Term Loan Facility : The Term Loan Facility can be made in a single draw on or prior to July 10, 2017, subject to the satisfaction of customary conditions, up to a maximum aggregate borrowing amount of 80 billion New Taiwan dollars in cash (equivalent to $2.5 billion). The loan will bear interest at a variable rate equal to the three-month or six-month TAIBOR, at our or Inotera's option, plus a margin of 2.05% per annum, payable monthly in arrears. The loan will mature five years from the date it is made and principal is payable in six equal semi-annual installments, commencing thirty months after such loan is made.

The Term Loan Facility will be collateralized by certain assets including a real estate mortgage on Inotera's main production facility and site, a chattel mortgage over certain equipment of Inotera, all of the stock of our MSTW subsidiary and the approximately 80% of the stock of Inotera held by MSTW following the consummation of the acquisition. Micron will guarantee all of Inotera's and MSTW's obligations under the Term Loan Facility.

The Term Loan Facility contains affirmative and negative covenants which are customary for financings of this type, including covenants that limit or restrict the ability to create liens in or dispose of collateral securing obligations under the Term Loan Facility, mergers involving MSTW and/or Inotera, loans or guarantees to third parties by Inotera and/or MSTW, and MSTW's distribution of cash dividends (subject to satisfaction of certain financial conditions). The Term Loan Facility also contains financial covenants as follows, which are tested semi-annually:

If one or more of the required financial ratios is not maintained at the time the ratios are tested, the interest rate will be increased by 0.25% until such time as the required financial ratios are maintained. In addition, if MSTW fails to maintain a required financial ratio for two consecutive semi-annual periods, such failure will constitute an event of default that could result in all obligations owed under the Term Loan Agreement being accelerated to be immediately due and payable. Our failure to maintain a required consolidated financial ratio will only result in an increase to the applicable interest rate and will not constitute an event of default under the Term Loan Facility. The Term Loan Facility also contains customary events of default.

Micron Shares : We have the option to issue Micron Shares in an amount up to 31.5 billion New Taiwan dollars (equivalent to $991 million ) (the "Private Placement"), which would be used to fund a portion of the acquisition consideration. The per-share selling price for the Micron Shares would be equal to the greater of the New Taiwan dollar equivalent of (i) the average of the closing sale price of our common stock during the 30 consecutive trading day period ending on and including the 30 th calendar day prior to the consummation of the Inotera acquisition or (ii) $10.00 .

2021 Convertible Notes : We have the option to issue 12.6 billion New Taiwan dollars (equivalent to $396 million ) in 2021 Convertible Notes in lieu of a corresponding value of Micron Shares so long as we also issue Micron Shares to Nanya of at least 6.3 billion New Taiwan dollars (equivalent to $198 million ) pursuant to the Private Placement.

(See "Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data – Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements – Proposed Acquisition of Inotera.")

Limitations on the Use of Cash and Investments

MMJ Group : Cash and equivalents and short-term investments in the table above included an aggregate of $896 million held by the MMJ Group as of September 1, 2016 . As a result of the corporate reorganization proceedings of the MMJ Companies entered into in March 2012, and for so long as such proceedings are continuing, the MMJ Companies and their subsidiaries are subject to certain restrictions on dividends, loans, and advances. The plans of reorganization of the MMJ Companies prohibit the MMJ Companies from paying dividends, including any cash dividends, to us and require that excess earnings be used in their businesses or to fund the MMJ Companies' installment payments. These prohibitions also effectively prevent the subsidiaries of the MMJ Companies from paying cash dividends. In addition, pursuant to an order of the Japan Court, the MMJ Companies cannot make loans or advances, other than certain ordinary course advances, to us without the consent of the Japan Court. Moreover, loans or advances by subsidiaries of the MMJ Companies may be considered outside of the ordinary course of business and subject to approval of the legal trustee and Japan Court. As a result, the assets of the MMJ Group are not available for use by us in our other operations. Furthermore, certain uses of the assets of the MMJ Group, including investments in certain capital expenditures and in MMT, may require consent of MMJ's trustees and/or the Japan Court.

IMFT : Cash and equivalents and short-term investments in the table above included $98 million held by IMFT as of September 1, 2016 . Our ability to access funds held by IMFT to finance our other operations is subject to agreement by Intel and contractual limitations. Amounts held by IMFT are not anticipated to be available to finance our other operations.

Indefinitely Reinvested : As of September 1, 2016 , $919 million of cash and equivalents and short-term investments, including substantially all of the amounts held by the MMJ Group, was held by foreign subsidiaries whose earnings were considered to be indefinitely reinvested and repatriation of these funds to the U.S. would subject these funds to U.S. federal income taxes. Determination of the amount of unrecognized deferred tax liabilities related to investments in these foreign subsidiaries is not practicable.

Cash Flows

Operating Activities : For 2016, cash provided by operating activities was due primarily to cash generated by our operations and the effect of working capital adjustments, which included $465 million of cash provided from reductions in receivables due to a lower level of net sales, offset by $549 million of cash used for net increases in inventories.

For 2015, cash provided by operating activities was due primarily to cash generated by operations and the effect of working capital adjustments, which included $393 of cash provided from reductions in receivables due to a lower level of net sales, offset by $691 million of cash used for reductions in accounts payable and accrued expenses.

For 2014, cash provided by operating activities was due primarily to cash generated by operations and the effect of working capital adjustments, which included $671 million of cash provided from increases in accounts payable and accrued expenses, offset by $518 million of cash used for increases in receivables.

Investing Activities : Net cash used for investing activities for 2016 consisted primarily of $5.82 billion of expenditures for property, plant, and equipment (which excludes offsets of amounts funded by our partners) and $148 million for the acquisition of Tidal Systems, Ltd., partially offset by $2.66 billion of net inflows from sales, maturities, and purchases of available-for-sale securities.

Net cash used for investing activities for 2015 consisted primarily of $4.02 billion of expenditures for property, plant, and equipment (which excludes offsets of amounts funded by our partners) and $2.14 billion of net outflows for purchases, sales, and maturities of available-for-sale securities.

Net cash used for investing activities for 2014 consisted primarily of $3.11 billion of expenditures for property, plant, and equipment (which excludes offsets of amounts funded by our partners) and $506 million of net outflows from purchases, sales, and maturities of available-for-sale securities offset by the use of $534 million of restricted cash in connection with the first MMJ creditor installment payment.

Financing Activities : Net cash provided by financing activities for 2016 consisted primarily of $1.25 billion from the issuance of our 2023 Senior Secured Notes, $742 million (net of original issue discount) from the issuance of our 2022 Term Loan B notes, and $765 million from equipment sale-leaseback financing transactions, which were partially offset by cash outflows of $870 million for repayments of debt and $125 million for the open-market repurchases of 7 million shares of our common stock.

Net cash used for financing activities for 2015 consisted primarily of $2.33 billion for repayments of debt (including $932 million for the amount in excess of principal of our convertible notes), $831 million for the open-market repurchases of 42 million shares of our common stock, and $95 million of payments on equipment purchase contracts. Cash outflows for financing activities in 2015 were partially offset by inflows of $2.00 billion in aggregate from the issuance of the 2023 Notes, 2024 Notes, and 2026 Notes, $291 million from proceeds of sale-leaseback transactions, $125 million from draws on our revolving credit facilities, and $87 million from term loans.

Net cash used for financing activities for 2014 consisted primarily of $3.84 billion for repayments of debt (including $1.20 billion for the amount in excess of principal of our convertible notes) offset by $2.21 billion of proceeds from issuance of debt, $265 million of proceeds from issuance of common stock under our equity plans, and by $92 million of net cash received from noncontrolling interests.

See "Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data – Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements – Debt."

Potential Settlement Obligations of Convertible Notes

Since the closing price of our common stock for at least 20 trading days in the 30 trading day period ended on June 30, 2016 did not exceed 130% of the conversion price per share of our 2032 Notes and 2033 Notes, those notes were not convertible by the holders during the calendar quarter ended September 30, 2016. The closing price of our common stock exceeded the thresholds for the calendar quarter ended September 30, 2016; therefore, these notes are convertible by the holders for the calendar quarter ending December 31, 2016. The following table summarizes the potential settlements that we could be required to make for the calendar quarter ending December 31, 2016 if all holders converted their 2032 Notes and 2033 Notes. The amounts in the table below are based on our closing share price of $16.64 as of September 1, 2016 .

Contractual Obligations