CEVA INC - Annual Report: 2013 (Form 10-K)

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UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2013

OR

For the transition period from                     to                     

Commission file number: 000-49842

CEVA, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

(650) 417-7900

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

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  ¨    No  x

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

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  x    No  ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, 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  x    No  ¨

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K 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 large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

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

As of June 30, 2013, the aggregate market value of the registrant’s common stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant was $297,757,000 based on the closing sale price as reported on the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation System National Market System on June 28, 2013. Shares of common stock held by each officer, director, and holder of 5% or more of the outstanding common stock of the Registrant have been excluded from this calculation in that such persons may be deemed to be affiliates. This determination of affiliate status is not necessarily a conclusive determination for other purposes.

Indicate the number of shares outstanding of each of the issuer’s classes of common stock, as of the latest practicable date.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

Portions of the registrant’s definitive Proxy Statement for its Annual Meeting of Stockholders to be held on May 19, 2014 (the “2014 Proxy Statement”) are incorporated by reference into Item 5 of Part II and Items 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14 of Part III.

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FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS AND INDUSTRY DATA

This Annual Report contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, as well as assumptions that if they materialize or prove incorrect, could cause the results of CEVA to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and assumptions. All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are generally written in the future tense and/or are preceded by words such as “will,” “may,” “should,” “could,” “expect,” “suggest,” “believe,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “plan,” or other similar words. Forward-looking statements include the following:

Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties. The forward-looking statements contained in this report are based on information that is currently available to us and expectations and assumptions that we deem reasonable at the time the statements were made. We do not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements in this report or in any of our other communications, except as required by law. All such forward-looking statements should be read as of the time the statements were made and with the recognition that these forward-looking statements may not be complete or accurate at a later date.

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Many factors may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements contained in this report. These factors include, but are not limited to, those risks set forth in Item 1A: Risk Factors.

This report contains market data prepared by third party research firms. Actual market results may differ from their projections. This report includes trademarks and registered trademarks of CEVA. Products or service names of other companies mentioned in this Annual Report on Form 10-K may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

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PART I

Company Overview

Headquartered in Mountain View, California, CEVA is the world’s leading licensor of silicon intellectual property (SIP) DSP cores and DSP-based platforms for the mobile, digital home and networking markets. CEVA’s IP portfolio includes comprehensive technology offerings for communications and connectivity (2G/3G/LTE/LTE-A/802.11ac/ah, and Bluetooth), computational photography (super resolution, high dynamic range and video stabilizer) and computer vision (gesture recognition, emotion recognition and object recognition), advanced audio and voice processing, Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) and Serial ATA (SATA).

Our technology is licensed to leading semiconductor and OEM companies throughout the world. These companies incorporate our IP into application-specific integrated circuits (“ASICs”) and application-specific standard products (“ASSPs”) that they manufacture, market and sell into wireless, consumer electronics and automotive companies. Our IP is primarily deployed in high volume markets, including mobile (smartphones, mobile computing tablets, notebooks and machine-to-machine modules), digital home (smart TVs, set-top boxes and home gateways) and networking (wireless infrastructure, storage, VoIP and smart grid). Our state-of-the-art technology has shipped in more than 5 billion chips to date for a wide range of diverse end markets. In 2013, our licensees shipped more than 1 billion CEVA-powered products.

Our revenue mix comprises primarily of IP licensing fees, royalties generated from the shipments of products deploying our IP and other revenues. Other revenues include revenues from post contract support, training and sale of development systems. As post contract support, training and sale of development systems are directly associated with licensing revenues and none of them separately is significant in relation to our total revenues, starting in the first quarter of 2013, we consolidated licensing revenues and other revenues into one revenue line titled “licensing and related revenue” for the sake of simplicity. Prior period numbers were conformed to our current period presentation.

We have built a strong network of licensing customers who rely on our technologies to deploy their silicon solutions. Our comprehensive customer base includes many of the world’s leading semiconductors and OEMs. Actions, Beken, Broadcom, DSP Group, Entropic, FujiFilm, Fujitsu, Intel, Leadcore, LG Electronics, Mediatek, MegaChips, Novatek, Nufront, NXP, Renesas, Rockchip, Rohm, Samsung, Sharp, Sigma, Sony, Spreadtrum, STMicroelectronics, Toshiba, VIA Technologies, VIA Telecom, Yamaha and ZTE all leverage CEVA’s industry-leading platform solutions and DSP cores.

CEVA was created through the combination of the DSP IP licensing division of DSP Group, Inc. and Parthus Technologies plc (“Parthus”) in November 2002. We have over 200 employees worldwide, with research and development facilities in Israel, Ireland and the United Kingdom, and sales and support offices throughout Asia Pacific (APAC), Japan, Sweden, Germany, Israel and the United States.

CEVA is traded on the NASDAQ Global Market (CEVA).

Industry Background

DSP Cores

Digital signal processing is a key technology that is powering many of today’s fastest growing electronics markets. Digital signal processors (DSPs) are specialized high-speed processors that are optimized for performing repetitive arithmetic calculations on an array of data. DSPs provide the foundation supporting a vast majority of today’s electronic products that are connected devices and offer multimedia, communications and connectivity capabilities (e.g. video, audio, imaging, vision, cellular and Wi-Fi).

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Design Gap

The demand for smartphones, mobile computing, smart wearables, smart cars and advanced home entertainment technologies continues to grow. As consumers demand electronic products with more connectivity, portability and a richer user experience, semiconductor manufacturers face ever growing pressures to make smaller, feature-rich integrated circuits that are more reliable, less expensive and have greater performance, all in the face of decreasing product lifecycles and constrained battery power. The advent of wireless technologies like LTE-Advanced and Wi-Fi 802.11ac, advanced image enhancement, computer vision, and voice and audio pre- and post-processing have further increased these pressures. While semiconductor manufacturing processes have advanced significantly to allow a substantial increase in the number of circuits placed on a single chip, resources for design capabilities have not kept pace with the advances in manufacturing processes, resulting in a growing “design gap” between the increasing manufacturing potential and the constrained design capabilities.

CEVA Business

CEVA addresses the requirements of the mobile, digital home and networking markets by designing and licensing a broad range of robust, application-specific platforms which enable the rapid design of solutions for developing a wide variety of applications, including communications & connectivity, audio & voice, imaging & vision and storage.

Given the “design gap,” as well as the increasing complexity and the unique skill set required to develop a DSP platform, many semiconductor design and manufacturing companies increasingly choose to license proven intellectual property, such as processor cores (e.g. DSPs), memory and application-specific platforms, from silicon intellectual property (SIP) companies like CEVA rather than develop those technologies in-house. In addition, with more complex designs and shorter time to market, it is no longer cost efficient and becoming progressively more difficult for most semiconductor companies to develop the DSP and software for baseband, image enhancement, and vision, audio and voice applications. As a result, companies increasingly seek to license application-specific DSP platforms and associated software from CEVA or a third-party community of developers, such as CEVAnet, CEVA’s third-party network.

Our IP Business Model

Our objective is for our CEVA DSP cores and platforms to become the de facto technology across the mobile and consumer electronic markets. To enable this goal, we license our technologies on a worldwide basis to semiconductor and OEM companies that design and manufacture products that combine CEVA-based solutions with their own differentiating technology. We believe our business model offers us some key advantages. By not focusing on manufacturing or selling silicon products, we are free to widely license our technology and free to focus most of our resources on research and development of DSP technologies and related solutions. By choosing to license our DSP cores and platforms, manufacturers can achieve the advantage of creating their own differentiated solutions and develop their own unique product roadmaps. Through our licensing efforts, we have established a worldwide community developing CEVA-based solutions, and therefore we can leverage their strengths, customer relationships, proprietary technology advantages, and existing sales and marketing infrastructure. As an example, our CEVA-XCnet partner program focuses on various technology and solution providers with complimentary offerings for our CEVA-XC communication processor addressing wireless, infrastructure, smart grid Wi-Fi and digital TV markets. In addition, as our intellectual property is widely licensed and deployed, system OEM companies can obtain CEVA-based chipsets from a wide range of suppliers, thus reducing dependence on any one supplier and fostering price competition, both of which help to contain the cost of CEVA-based products.

We operate a licensing and royalty business model. We typically charge a license fee for access to our technology and a royalty fee for each unit of silicon which incorporates our technology. License fees are invoiced in accordance with agreed-upon contractual terms. Royalties are reported and invoiced one quarter in arrears and generally are based on a fixed unit rate or a percentage of the sale price for the CEVA-based silicon product.

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Strategy

We believe there is a growing demand for high performance and low power DSP and application-specific platforms incorporating DSP cores and all the necessary hardware and software for target applications. We believe the growth in the demand for these platforms will drive demand for our technology. As CEVA offers expertise developing these complete solutions in a number of key growth markets, including cellular baseband, wireless infrastructure, computational photography, computer vision, audio and voice applications, Bluetooth and storage, we believe we are well positioned to take full advantage of this industry shift. To capitalize on this industry shift, we intend to:

Products

We are the leading licensor of SIP platform solutions and DSP cores to the semiconductor industry. We offer a family of programmable DSP cores and a portfolio of application-specific platforms, including communications and connectivity (2G/3G/LTE/LTE-A, Wi-Fi 802.11ac/ah and Bluetooth), computational photography (super resolution, high dynamic range and video stabilizer), and computer vision (gesture recognition, emotion recognition and object recognition), advanced audio and voice processing, Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) and Serial ATA (SATA).

CEVA DSP Cores

We market a family of synthesizable, programmable DSP cores, each delivering a different balance of performance, power dissipation and cost, thereby allowing customers to select a DSP core ideally suited for their target application. The ability to match processing power to the application is a crucial consideration when designers select a DSP supplier. Our DSP cores are families of architectures, each largely software compatible, meaning that software from one core within the same architecture can be applied to another core, which significantly reduces investment in code development, tools and design engineer training.

We deliver our DSP cores in the form of a hardware description language definition (known as a soft core or a synthesizable core). All CEVA DSP cores can be manufactured on any process using any physical library, and all are accompanied by a complete set of tools and an integrated development environment. An extensive third-party network supports CEVA DSP cores with a wide range of complementing software and platforms. In addition, we provide development platforms, software development kits and software debug tools, which facilitate system design, debug and software development.

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CEVA Platforms & Solutions

In order to reduce the cost, complexity, and risk in bringing products to market, CEVA has developed a suite of system platforms and solutions. These platforms and solutions combine the hardware and software elements that are essential for designers deploying CEVA’s state-of-the-art DSP and IP cores. Platforms typically integrate a CEVA DSP core, hardware subsystem and application-specific (e.g. LTE, Wi-Fi, vision or audio) software. Our family of DSP-based platforms is targeted for cellular, Wi-Fi and satellite baseband, advanced audio and voice, DTV demodulation, computational photography and computer vision. We also offer platform solutions for Bluetooth and serial storage technology (SATA and SAS).

Customers

We have licensed our DSP cores and application-specific platforms to leading semiconductor and OEM companies throughout the world. These companies incorporate our IP into application-specific chipsets or custom-designed chipsets that they manufacture, market and sell to consumer electronics companies. We also license our DSP cores and application-specific platforms to OEMs directly. Included among our licensees are the following customers: Actions, Beken, Broadcom, DSP Group, Entropic, FujiFilm, Fujitsu, Intel, Leadcore, LG Electronics, Mediatek, MegaChips, Novatek, Nufront, NXP, Renesas, Rockchip, Rohm, Samsung, Sharp, Sigma, Sony, Spreadtrum, STMicroelectronics, Toshiba, VIA Technologies, VIA Telecom, Yamaha and ZTE. As of the end of 2013, we had 29 licensees shipping products incorporating our technologies, pursuant to 36 licensing agreements.

We derive a significant amount of revenues from a limited number of customers. Two customers separately accounted for 28% and 11% of our total revenues for 2013. One customer accounted for 28%, 24% and 17% of our total revenues for 2013, 2012 and 2011, respectively, and the other customer accounted for 11%, 13% and 16% of our total revenues for 2013, 2012 and 2011, respectively. With respect to our royalty revenues, four royalty paying customers each represented 10% or more of our total royalty revenues for 2013, 2012 and 2011, and collectively represented 81%, 74% and 66% of our total royalty revenues for 2013, 2012 and 2011, respectively. In 2013 we signed 30 new licensing deals of with 17 were with first time new customers. We expect that a significant portion of our future revenues will continue to be generated by a limited number of customers. The loss of any significant royalty paying customer could adversely affect our near-term future operating results.

International Sales and Operations

Customers based in EME (Europe and Middle East) and APAC (Asia Pacific) accounted for 88% of our total revenues for 2013, 79% for 2012 and 76% for 2011. Customers in each of Germany and China accounted for greater than 10% of our total revenues for 2013. Customers in each of Germany, China and Japan accounted for greater than 10% of our total revenues for 2012. Customers in each of Germany, Switzerland and China accounted for greater than 10% of our total revenues for 2011 . Although the majority of our sales to foreign customers are denominated in United States dollars, we are subject to risks of conducting business internationally. These risks include fluctuations in exchange rates, unexpected changes in regulatory requirements, delays resulting from difficulty in obtaining export licenses for certain technologies, tariffs, other barriers and restrictions and the burden of complying with a variety of foreign laws. Information on the geographic breakdown of our revenues and location of our long-lived assets is contained in Note 10 to our consolidated financial statements, which appear elsewhere in this annual report.

Moreover, the majority of our expenses, mainly employee salaries, are paid in currencies other than the U.S. dollar, principally the Israeli currency, New Israeli Shekel (NIS), and to some extent the Euro and the British pound, which subjects us to the risks of foreign currency fluctuations and economic pressures in those regions. As a result, an increase in the value of the currencies other than the U.S. dollar in comparison to the U.S. dollar could increase the cost of our operating expenses. To protect against the increase in value of forecasted foreign currency cash flows resulting from salaries paid in currencies other than the U.S. dollar, during the year, we

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follow a foreign currency cash flow hedging program. We hedge portions of the anticipated payroll for our non-US employees denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar for a period of one to twelve months with forward and options contracts. There are no assurances that future hedging transactions will successfully mitigate losses caused by currency fluctuations.

Sales and Marketing

We license our technology through a direct sales force. As of December 31, 2013, we had 29 employees in sales and marketing. We have sales offices and representation in Asia Pacific (APAC) region, Sweden, Germany, Israel and the United States.

Maintaining close relationships with our customers and strengthening these relationships are central to our strategy. We typically launch each new DSP core, platform or solution upgrade with a signed license agreement with a tier-one customer, which signifies to the market that we are focused on viable applications that meet broad industry needs. Staying close to our customers allows us to create a roadmap for the future development of existing cores and application platforms, and helps us to anticipate the next potential applications for the market. We seek to use our customer relationships to deliver new products in a faster time to market.

We use a variety of marketing initiatives to stimulate demand and brand awareness in our target markets. These marketing efforts include contacts with industry analysts, presenting at key industry trade shows and conferences, and posting information on our website and live technology-oriented webinars. Our marketing group runs competitive benchmark analyses to help us maintain our competitive position.

Technical Support

We offer technical support services through our offices in Israel, Ireland, Asia Pacific (APAC) region, Japan, Sweden and the United States. As of December 31, 2013, we had 17 employees in technical support. Our technical support services include:

We believe that our technical support services are a means to assist our licensees to embed our cores and platforms in their designs and products. Our technology is highly complex, combining sophisticated DSP core architecture, integrated circuit designs and development tools. Effective customer support in helping our customers to implement our solutions enables them to shorten the time to market for their applications. Our support organization is made up of experienced engineers and professional support personnel. We conduct technical training for our licensees and their customers, and meet with them from time to time to track the implementation of our technology.

Research and Development

Our research and development team is focused on improving and enhancing our existing products, as well as developing new products to broaden our offerings and market opportunities. These efforts are largely driven by current and anticipated customer needs.

Our research and development team, consisting of 140 engineers as of December 31, 2013, work in five development centers located in Israel, Ireland and the United Kingdom. This team consists of engineers who

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possess significant experience in developing DSP cores, solutions and application platforms, Bluetooth and serial storage technology (SATA and SAS). In addition, we engage third party contractors with specialized skills as required to support our research and development efforts. Our research and development expenses, net of related research grants, were approximately $22 million, $20 million and $21 million in 2011, 2012 and 2013, respectively.

We encourage our research and development personnel to maintain active roles in various international organizations that develop and maintain standards in the electronics and related industries. This involvement allows us to influence the development of new standards; keeps us informed as to important new developments regarding standards; and allows us to demonstrate our expertise to existing and potential customers who also participate in these standards-setting bodies.

Competition

The markets in which we operate are intensely competitive. They are subject to rapid change and are significantly affected by new product introductions. We compete with other suppliers of licensed DSP cores and solutions. We believe that the principal competitive elements in our field are DSP performance, overall chip cost, power consumption, flexibility, reliability, communication and multimedia software availability, design cycle time, tool chain, customer support, financial strength, name recognition and reputation. We believe that we compete effectively in each of these areas, but can offer no assurance that we will have the financial resources, technical expertise, and marketing or support capabilities to compete successfully in the future.

The markets in which we compete are dominated by large, fully-integrated semiconductor companies that have significant brand recognition, a large installed base and a large network of support and field application engineers. We face direct and indirect competition from:

We face direct competition in the DSP core space mainly from Verisilicon, which licenses DSP cores in addition to its semiconductor business.

In recent years, we also have faced competition from companies that offer Central Processor Unit (CPU) intellectual property. These companies’ products are used for host functions in various applications, such as in mobile and home entertainment products. These applications typically also incorporate a programmable DSP that is responsible for communication and video/audio/voice compression. CPU companies, such as ARM Holdings, Cadence (through their acquisition of Tensilica), Imagination Technologies and Synopsys have added DSP technology and make use of it to provide platform solutions in the areas of baseband, video, imaging, gesture and audio.

With respect to certain large potential customers, we also compete with internal engineering teams, which may design programmable DSP core products in-house. Companies such as Broadcom, Mediatek, Samsung and STMicroelectronics license our designs for some applications and use their own proprietary cores for other applications. These companies also may choose to license their proprietary DSP cores to third parties and, as a result, become direct competitors.

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Aside from the in-house research and development groups, we do not compete with any individual company across the range of our market offerings. Within particular market segments, however, we do face competition to a greater or lesser extent from other industry participants. For example, in the following specific areas we compete with the companies indicated:

Proprietary Rights

Our success and ability to compete are dependent on our ability to develop and maintain the proprietary aspects of our intellectual property and to operate without infringing the proprietary rights of others. We rely on a combination of patent, trademark, trade secret and copyright laws and contractual restrictions to protect the proprietary aspects of our technology. These legal protections afford only limited protection of our technology. We also seek to limit disclosure of our intellectual property and trade secrets by requiring employees and consultants with access to our proprietary information to execute confidentiality agreements with us and by restricting access to our source code and other intellectual property. Due to rapid technological change, we believe that factors such as the technological and creative skills of our personnel, new product developments and enhancements to existing products are more important than specific legal protections of our technology in establishing and maintaining a technology leadership position.

We have an active program to protect our proprietary technology through the filing of patents. Our patents relate to our DSP cores and application-specific platform technologies. As of December 31, 2013, we hold 47 patents in the United States and 29 patents in the EME (Europe and Middle East) region and four patents in Asia Pacific (APAC) region, totaling 80 patents, with expiration dates between 2017 and 2033. In addition, as of December 31, 2013, we have 8 patent applications pending in the United States, 7 pending patent applications in Canada, 13 pending patent applications in the EME region and 10 pending patent applications in the APAC region, totaling 38 pending patent applications.

We actively pursue foreign patent protection in countries where we feel it is prudent to do so. Our policy is to apply for patents or for other appropriate statutory protection when we develop valuable new or improved technology. The status of patents involves complex legal and factual questions, and the breadth of claims allowed is uncertain. Accordingly, there are no assurances that any patent application filed by us will result in a patent being issued, or that our issued patents, and any patents that may be issued in the future, will afford us adequate protection against competitors with similar technology; nor can we be assured that patents issued to us will not be infringed or that others will not design around our technology. In addition, the laws of certain countries in which our products are or may be developed, manufactured or sold may not protect our products and intellectual property rights to the same extent as the laws of the United States. We can provide no assurance that our pending patent applications or any future applications will be approved or will not be challenged by third parties, that any issued patents will effectively protect our technology, or that patents held by third parties will not have an adverse effect on our ability to do business.

The semiconductor industry is characterized by frequent litigation regarding patent and other intellectual property rights. Questions of infringement in the semiconductor field involve highly technical and subjective analyses. In addition, patent infringement claims are increasingly being asserted by patent holding companies (so-called patent “trolls”), which do not use technology and whose sole business is to enforce patents against companies, such as us, for monetary gain. Because such patent holding companies do not provide services or use technology, the assertion of our own patents by way of counter-claim may be ineffective. Litigation may in the

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future be necessary to enforce our patents and other intellectual property rights, to protect our trade secrets, to determine the validity and scope of the proprietary rights of others, or to defend against claims of infringement or invalidity. We cannot assure you that we would be able to prevail in any such litigation, or be able to devote the financial resources required to bring such litigation to a successful conclusion.

In any potential dispute involving our patents or other intellectual property, our licensees also could become the targets of litigation. We are generally bound to indemnify licensees under the terms of our license agreements. Although our indemnification obligations are generally subject to a maximum amount, these obligations could nevertheless result in substantial expenses. In addition to the time and expense required for us to indemnify our licensees, a licensee’s development, marketing and sale of products embodying our solutions could be severely disrupted or shut down as a result of litigation.

We also rely on trademark, copyright and trade secret laws to protect our intellectual property. We have registered trademark in the United States for our name CEVA and the related CEVA logo, and currently market our DSP cores and other technology offerings under this trademark.

Employees

The table below presents the number of employees of CEVA as of December 31, 2013 by function and geographic location.

Our employees are not represented by any collective bargaining agreements, and we have never experienced a work stoppage. We believe our employee relations are good.

A number of our employees are located in Israel. Certain provisions of Israeli law and the collective bargaining agreements between the Histadrut (General Federation of Labor in Israel) and the Coordination Bureau of Economic Organizations (the Israeli federation of employers’ organizations) apply to our Israeli employees.

In 2004, we finalized and adopted a new Code of Business Conduct and Ethics regarding the standards of conduct of our directors, officers and employees, and the Code is available on our website at www.ceva-dsp.com.

Corporate History

Our company was incorporated in Delaware on November 22, 1999 under the name DSP Cores, Inc. We changed our name to ParthusCeva, Inc. in November 2002 and to CEVA, Inc. in December 2003.

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Available Information

Our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and amendments to reports pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, are available, free of charge, on our website at www.ceva-dsp.com, as soon as reasonably practicable after such reports are electronically filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and are also available on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.

Our website and the information contained therein or connected thereto are not intended to be incorporated into this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

We caution you that the following important factors, among others, could cause our actual future results to differ materially from those expressed in forward-looking statements made by or on behalf of us in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, press releases, communications with investors and oral statements. Any or all of our forward-looking statements in this annual report, and in any other public statements we make, may turn out to be wrong. They can be affected by inaccurate assumptions we might make or by known or unknown risks and uncertainties. Many factors mentioned in the discussion below will be important in determining future results. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. You are advised, however, to consult any further disclosures we make in our reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The markets in which we operate are highly competitive, and as a result we could experience a loss of sales, lower prices and lower revenues.

The markets for the products in which our technology is incorporated are highly competitive. Aggressive competition could result in substantial declines in the prices that we are able to charge for our intellectual property. Many of our competitors are striving to increase their share of the growing DSP market and are reducing their licensing and royalty fees to attract customers. The following industry players and factors may have a significant impact on our competitiveness:

In addition, we may face increased competition from smaller, niche semiconductor design companies in the future. Some of our customers also may decide to satisfy their needs through in-house design. We compete on the

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basis of DSP performance, overall chip cost, power consumption, flexibility, reliability, communication and multimedia software availability, design cycle time, tool chain, customer support, name recognition, reputation and financial strength. Our inability to compete effectively on these bases could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Our quarterly operating results fluctuate from quarter to quarter due to a variety of factors, including our lengthy sales cycle, and may not be a meaningful indicator of future performance.

In some quarters our operating results could be below the expectations of securities analysts and investors, which could cause our stock price to fall. Factors that may affect our quarterly results of operations in the future include, among other things:

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Each of the above factors is difficult to forecast and could harm our business, financial condition and results of operations. Also, we license our technology to OEMs and semiconductor companies for incorporation into their end products for consumer markets, including handsets and consumer electronics products. The royalties we generate are reported by our customers and invoiced by us one quarter in arrears. As a result, our royalty revenues are affected by seasonal buying patterns of consumer products sold by our OEM customers that incorporate our technology and the market acceptance of such end products supplied by our OEM customers.

Moreover, the semiconductor and consumer electronics industries remain volatile, which makes it extremely difficult for our customers and us to accurately forecast financial results and plan for future business activities. As a result, our past operating results should not be relied upon as an indication of future performance.

We rely significantly on revenues derived from a limited number of customers.

We derive a significant amount of revenues from a limited number of customers. Two customers separately accounted for 28% and 11% of our total revenues for 2013. One customer accounted for 28%, 24% and 17% of our total revenues for 2013, 2012 and 2011, respectively, and the other customer accounted for 11%, 13% and 16% of our total revenues for 2013, 2012 and 2011, respectively. With respect to our royalty revenues, four royalty paying customers each represented 10% or more of our total royalty revenues for 2013, 2012 and 2011, and collectively represented 81%, 74% and 66% of our total royalty revenues for 2013, 2012 and 2011, respectively. We expect that a significant portion of our future revenues will continue to be generated by a limited number of customers. The loss of any significant royalty paying customer could adversely affect our near-term future operating results. Furthermore, consolidation among our customers may negatively affect our revenue source, increase our existing customers’ negotiation leverage and make us further dependent on a limited number of customers.

Our business is dependent on licensing revenues which may vary period to period.

License agreements for our DSP cores and platforms have not historically provided for substantial ongoing license payments so past licensing revenues may not be indicative of the amount of such revenues in any future period. Significant portions of our anticipated future revenues, therefore, will likely depend upon our success in attracting new customers or expanding our relationships with existing customers. However, revenues recognized from licensing arrangements vary significantly from period to period, depending on the number and size of deals closed during a quarter, and is difficult to predict. Our ability to succeed in our licensing efforts will depend on a variety of factors, including the performance, quality, breadth and depth of our current and future products, as well as our sales and marketing skills. In addition, some of our licensees may in the future decide to satisfy their needs through in-house design and production. Our failure to obtain future licensing customers would impede our future revenue growth and could materially harm our business.

Royalty rates could decrease for existing and future license agreements which could materially adversely affect our operating results.

Royalty payments to us under existing and future license agreements could be lower than currently anticipated for a variety of reasons. Average selling prices for semiconductor products generally decrease over time during the lifespan of a product. In addition, there is increasing downward pricing pressures in the semiconductor industry on end products incorporating our technology, especially end products for the handsets and consumer electronics markets. As a result, notwithstanding the existence of a license agreement, our customers may demand that royalty rates for our products be lower than our historic royalty rates. We have in the past and may be pressured in the future to renegotiate existing license agreements with our customers. In addition, certain of our license agreements provide that royalty rates may decrease in connection with the sale of larger quantities of products incorporating our technology. Furthermore, our competitors may lower the royalty rates for their comparable products to win market share which may force us to lower our royalty rates as well. As a consequence of the above referenced factors, as well as unforeseen factors in the future, the royalty rates we

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receive for use of our technology could decrease, thereby decreasing future anticipated revenues and cash flow. Royalty revenues were approximately 54%, 60% and 60% of our total revenues for 2013, 2012 and 2011, respectively. Therefore, a significant decrease in our royalty revenues could materially adversely affect our operating results.

Moreover, royalty rates may be negatively affected by macroeconomic trends. For example, our royalty revenues decreased in 2013 and 2012 in connection with a significant decline in the average selling prices of low-cost feature phones. Furthermore, consolidation among our customers may increase the leverage of our existing customers to extract concessions from us in royalty rates.

We generate a significant amount of our total revenues from the handsets and mobile broadband markets and our business and operating results may be materially adversely affected if we do not continue to succeed in these highly competitive markets.

Revenues derived from the handsets and mobile broadband markets accounted for approximately 77% of our total revenues for 2013, 2012 and 2011. A significant portion of such revenues from the handsets and mobile broadband markets is derived from feature phones. Although next generation products generally have higher average selling prices, we can provide no assurances that this trend will continue or that we will be successful in offsetting any decline in revenues from feature phones with increased revenues from next generation products such as low-cost smartphones. Any adverse change in our ability to compete and maintain our competitive position in the handsets and mobile broadband markets, including through the introduction by competitors of enhanced technologies that attract OEM customers that target these markets, would harm our business, financial condition and results of operations. Moreover, the handsets and mobile broadband markets are extremely competitive and are facing intense pricing pressures, and we expect that competition and pricing pressures will only increase. Furthermore, the handset and mobile markets can be very volatile with regards to volume shipments of different phones, standards and connected devices due to inventory build out or consumer demand changes or geographical macroeconomics, pricing changes and timing of introduction of new phones and products. For example, our royalty revenues decreased in 2013 and 2012 in connection with a significant decline in the average selling prices of low-cost feature phones. Our existing OEM customers also may fail to introduce new handsets or mobile broadband devices that attract consumers, or encounter significant delays in developing, manufacturing or shipping new or enhanced products in these markets. The inability of our OEM customers to compete would result in lower shipments of products powered by our technologies which in turn would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Since a significant portion of our revenues are derived from the handset market, adverse conditions in this market would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Because our IP solutions are components of end products, if semiconductor companies and electronic equipment manufacturers do not incorporate our solutions into their end products or if the end products of our customers do not achieve market acceptance, we may not be able to generate adequate sales of our products.

We do not sell our IP solutions directly to end-users; we license our technology primarily to semiconductor companies and electronic equipment manufacturers, who then incorporate our technology into the products they sell. As a result, we rely on our customers to incorporate our technology into their end products at the design stage. Once a company incorporates a competitor’s technology into its end product, it becomes significantly more difficult for us to sell our technology to that company because changing suppliers involves significant cost, time, effort and risk for the company. As a result, we may incur significant expenditures on the development of a new technology without any assurance that our existing or potential customers will select our technology for incorporation into their own product and without this “design win,” it becomes significantly difficult to sell our IP solutions. Moreover, even after a customer agrees to incorporate our technology into its end products, the design cycle is long and may be delayed due to factors beyond our control, which may result in the end product incorporating our technology not reaching the market until long after the initial “design win” with such customer.

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From initial product design-in to volume production, many factors could impact the timing and/or amount of sales actually realized from the design-in. These factors include, but are not limited to, changes in the competitive position of our technology, our customers’ financial stability, and our customers’ ability to ship products according to our customers’ schedule. Moreover, current economic conditions may further prolong a customer’s decision-making process and design cycle.

Further, because we do not control the business practices of our customers, we do not influence the degree to which they promote our technology or set the prices at which they sell products incorporating our technology. We cannot assure you that our customers will devote satisfactory efforts to promote their end products which incorporate our IP solutions.

In addition, our royalties from licenses and therefore the growth of our business, are dependent upon the success of our customers in introducing products incorporating our technology and the success of those products in the marketplace. The primary customers for our products are semiconductor design and manufacturing companies, system OEMs and electronic equipment manufacturers, particularly in the telecommunications field. These industries are highly competitive, cyclical and have been subject to significant economic downturns at various times. These downturns are characterized by production overcapacity and reduced revenues, which at times may encourage semiconductor companies or electronic product manufacturers to reduce their expenditure on our technology. If we do not retain our current customers and continue to attract new customers, our business may be harmed.

We depend on market acceptance of third-party semiconductor intellectual property.

The semiconductor intellectual property (SIP) industry is a relatively small and emerging industry. Our future growth will depend on the level of market acceptance of our third-party licensable intellectual property model, the variety of intellectual property offerings available on the market, and a shift in customer preference away from in-house development of proprietary DSPs towards licensing open DSP cores and platforms. Furthermore, the third-party licensable intellectual property model is highly dependent on the market adoption of new services and products, such as low cost smartphones in emerging markets, LTE smartphones, mobile broadband, small cell base stations and the increased use of advanced audio, voice, computational photography and embedded vision in mobile, automotive and consumer products. Such market adoption is important because the increased cost associated with ownership and maintenance of the more complex architectures needed for the advanced services and products may motivate companies to license third-party intellectual property rather than design them in-house.

The trends that would enable our growth are largely beyond our control. Semiconductor customers also may choose to adopt a multi-chip, off-the-shelf chip solution versus licensing or using highly-integrated chipsets that embed our technologies. If the above referenced market shifts do not materialize or third-party SIP does not achieve market acceptance, our business, results of operations and financial condition could be materially harmed.

Because we have significant international operations, we may be subject to political, economic and other conditions relating to our international operations that could increase our operating expenses and disrupt our revenues and business.

Approximately 88% of our total revenues for 2013, 79% for 2012 and 76% for 2011 were derived from customers located outside of the United States. We expect that international customers will continue to account for a significant portion of our revenues for the foreseeable future. As a result, the occurrence of any negative international political, economic or geographic events could result in significant revenue shortfalls. These shortfalls could cause our business, financial condition and results of operations to be harmed. Some of the risks of doing business internationally include:

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We depend on a limited number of key personnel who would be difficult to replace.

Our success depends to a significant extent upon certain of our key employees and senior management, the loss of which could materially harm our business. Competition for skilled employees in our field is intense. We cannot assure you that in the future we will be successful in attracting and retaining the required personnel.

The sales cycle for our IP solutions is lengthy, which makes forecasting of our customer orders and revenues difficult.

The sales cycle for our IP solutions is lengthy, often lasting three to nine months. Our customers generally conduct significant technical evaluations, including customer trials, of our technology as well as competing technologies prior to making a purchasing decision. In addition, purchasing decisions also may be delayed because of a customer’s internal budget approval process. Furthermore, given the current market conditions, we have less ability to predict the timing of our customers’ purchasing cycle and potential unexpected delays in such a cycle. Because of the lengthy sales cycle and potential delays, our dependence on a limited number of customers to generate a significant amount of revenues for a particular period and the size of customer orders, if orders forecasted for a specific customer for a particular period do not occur in that period, our revenues and operating results for that particular quarter could suffer. Moreover, a portion of our expenses related to an anticipated order is fixed and difficult to reduce or change, which may further impact our operating results for a particular period.

Because our IP solutions are complex, the detection of errors in our products may be delayed, and if we deliver products with defects, our credibility will be harmed, the sales and market acceptance of our products may decrease and product liability claims may be made against us.

Our IP solutions are complex and may contain errors, defects and bugs when introduced. If we deliver products with errors, defects or bugs, our credibility and the market acceptance and sales of our products could be significantly harmed. Furthermore, the nature of our products may also delay the detection of any such error or defect. If our products contain errors, defects and bugs, then we may be required to expend significant capital and resources to alleviate these problems. This could result in the diversion of technical and other resources from our other development efforts. Any actual or perceived problems or delays may also adversely affect our ability to attract or retain customers. Furthermore, the existence of any defects, errors or failure in our products could lead to product liability claims or lawsuits against us or against our customers. A successful product liability claim could result in substantial cost and divert management’s attention and resources, which would have a negative impact on our financial condition and results of operations.

Our operating results are affected by general economic conditions and the highly cyclical nature of the semiconductor industry.

Notwithstanding improvements in business conditions since the global economic downturn of 2008-2009, there continues to be uncertainty about the global economy and outlook, which continue to make it difficult for our customers, the end-product customers, our vendors and us to accurately forecast and plan future business activities and make reliable projections.

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Moreover, we operate within the semiconductor industry which experiences significant fluctuations in sales and profitability. Downturns in the semiconductor industry are characterized by diminished product demand, excess customer inventories, accelerated erosion of prices and excess production capacity. These factors could cause substantial fluctuations in our revenues and in our results of operations.

If global economic and market conditions remain uncertain or deteriorate, we could experience a material adverse impact on our business and results of operations.

Our success will depend on our ability to successfully manage our geographically dispersed operations.

Most of our employees are located in Israel. Accordingly, our ability to compete successfully will depend in part on the ability of a limited number of key executives located in geographically dispersed offices to integrate management, address the needs of our customers and respond to changes in our markets. If we are unable to effectively manage and integrate our remote operations, our business may be materially harmed.

Our operations in Israel may be adversely affected by instability in the Middle East region.

One of our principal research and development facilities is located in Israel, and our executive officers and some of our directors are residents of Israel. Although substantially all of our sales currently are being made to customers outside Israel, we are nonetheless directly influenced by the political, economic and military conditions affecting Israel. Any major hostilities involving Israel could significantly harm our business, operating results and financial condition.

In addition, certain of our employees are currently obligated to perform annual reserve duty in the Israel Defense Forces and are subject to being called to active military duty at any time. Although we have operated effectively under these requirements since our inception, we cannot predict the effect of these obligations on the company in the future. Our operations could be disrupted by the absence, for a significant period, of one or more of our key employees due to military service.

Our research and development expenses may increase if the grants we currently receive from the Israeli government are reduced or withheld.

We currently receive research grants from programs of the Office of the Chief Scientist of Israel of the Israeli Ministry of Industry and Trade. We received an aggregate of $3,213,000, $2,849,000 and $2,518,000 in 2013, 2012 and 2011, respectively. To be eligible for these grants, we must meet certain development conditions and comply with periodic reporting obligations. Although we have met such conditions in the past, should we fail to meet such conditions in the future our research grants may be repayable, reduced or withheld. The repayment or reduction of such research grants may increase our research and development expenses which in turn may reduce our operating income. Also the timing of such payments from the Office of the Chief Scientist may vary from year to year and quarter to quarter, and we have no control on the timing of such payment.

We are exposed to fluctuations in currency exchange rates.

A significant portion of our business is conducted outside the United States. Although most of our revenues are transacted in U.S. dollars, we may be exposed to currency exchange fluctuations in the future as business practices evolve and we are forced to transact business in local currencies. Moreover, the majority of our expenses are denominated in foreign currencies, mainly New Israeli Shekel (NIS), and to some extent Euro and British Pound, which subjects us to the risks of foreign currency fluctuations. Our primary expenses paid in currencies other than the U.S. dollar are employee salaries. Increases in the volatility of the exchange rates of currencies other than the U.S. dollar versus the U.S. dollar could have an adverse effect on the expenses and liabilities that we incur in currencies other than the U.S. dollar when remeasured into U.S. dollars for financial reporting purposes. We have instituted a foreign cash flow hedging program to minimize the effects of currency

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fluctuations. However, hedging transactions may not successfully mitigate losses caused by currency fluctuations, and our hedging positions may be partial or may not exist at all in the future. We also review our monthly expected non-U.S. dollar denominated expenditure and look to hold equivalent non-U.S. dollar cash balances to mitigate currency fluctuations. We expect to continue to experience the effect of exchange rate currency fluctuations on an annual and quarterly basis.

Our product development efforts are time-consuming and expensive and may not generate an acceptable return, if any.

Our product development efforts require us to incur substantial research and development expense. Our research and development expenses were approximately $21.2 million, $20.2 million and $21.5 million for 2013, 2012 and 2011, respectively. We may not be able to achieve an acceptable return, if any, on our research and development efforts.

The development of our products is highly complex. We occasionally have experienced delays in completing the development and introduction of new products and product enhancements, and we could experience delays in the future. Unanticipated problems in developing products could also divert substantial engineering resources, which may impair our ability to develop new products and enhancements and could substantially increase our costs. Furthermore, we may expend significant amounts on research and development programs that may not ultimately result in commercially successful products. As a result of these and other factors, we may be unable to develop and introduce new products successfully and in a cost-effective and timely manner, and any new products we develop and offer may never achieve market acceptance. Any failure to successfully develop future products would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

If we are unable to meet the changing needs of our end-users or address evolving market demands, our business may be harmed.

The markets for programmable DSP cores and application IP are characterized by rapidly changing technology, emerging markets and new and developing end-user needs, and requiring significant expenditure for research and development. We cannot assure you that we will be able to introduce systems and solutions that reflect prevailing industry standards, on a timely basis, meet the specific technical requirements of our end-users or avoid significant losses due to rapid decreases in market prices of our products, and our failure to do so may seriously harm our business.

We may seek to expand our business in ways that could result in diversion of resources and extra expenses.

We may in the future pursue acquisitions of businesses, products and technologies, establish joint venture arrangements, make minority equity investments or enhance our existing CEVAnet partner eco-system to expand our business. We are unable to predict whether or when any prospective acquisition, equity investment or joint venture will be completed. The process of negotiating potential acquisitions, joint ventures or equity investments, as well as the integration of acquired or jointly developed businesses, technologies or products may be prolonged due to unforeseen difficulties and may require a disproportionate amount of our resources and management’s attention. We cannot assure you that we will be able to successfully identify suitable acquisition or investment candidates, complete acquisitions or investments, or integrate acquired businesses or joint ventures with our operations. If we were to make any acquisition or investment or enter into a joint venture, we may not receive the intended benefits of the acquisition, investment or joint venture or such an acquisition, investment or joint venture may not achieve comparable levels of revenues, profitability or productivity as our existing business or otherwise perform as expected. The expansion of our CEVAnet partner eco-system also may not achieve the anticipated benefits. The occurrence of any of these events could harm our business, financial condition or results of operations. Future acquisitions, investments or joint ventures may require substantial capital resources, which may require us to seek additional debt or equity financing.

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Future acquisitions, joint ventures or minority equity investments by us could result in the following, any of which could seriously harm our results of operations or the price of our stock:

We may not be able to adequately protect our intellectual property.

Our success and ability to compete depend in large part upon the protection of our proprietary technologies. We rely on a combination of patent, copyright, trademark, trade secret, mask work and other intellectual property rights, confidentiality procedures and licensing arrangements to establish and protect our proprietary rights. These agreements and measures may not be sufficient to protect our technology from third-party infringement or protect us from the claims of others. As a result, we face risks associated with our patent position, including the potential need to engage in significant legal proceedings to enforce our patents, the possibility that the validity or enforceability of our patents may be denied, the possibility that third parties will be able to compete against us without infringing our patents and the possibility that our products may infringe patent rights of third parties.

Our trade names or trademarks may be registered or utilized by third parties in countries other than those in which we have registered them, impairing our ability to enter and compete in these markets. If we were forced to change any of our brand names, we could lose a significant amount of our brand identity.

Our business will suffer if we are sued for infringement of the intellectual property rights of third parties or if we cannot obtain licenses to these rights on commercially acceptable terms.

We are subject to the risk of adverse claims and litigation alleging infringement of the intellectual property rights of others. There are a large number of patents held by others, including our competitors, pertaining to the broad areas in which we are active. We have not, and cannot reasonably, investigate all such patents. From time to time, we have become aware of patents in our technology areas and have sought legal counsel regarding the validity of such patents and their impact on how we operate our business, and we will continue to seek such counsel when appropriate in the future. In addition, patent infringement claims are increasingly being asserted by patent holding companies (so-called patent “trolls”), which do not use technology and whose sole business is to enforce patents against companies, such as us, for monetary gain. Because such patent holding companies do not provide services or use technology, the assertion of our own patents by way of counter-claim may be ineffective. Infringement claims may require us to enter into license arrangements or result in protracted and costly litigation, regardless of the merits of these claims. Any necessary licenses may not be available or, if available, may not be obtainable on commercially reasonable terms. If we cannot obtain necessary licenses on commercially reasonable terms, we may be forced to stop licensing our technology, and our business would be seriously harmed.

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The future growth of our business depends in part on our ability to license to system OEMs and small-to-medium-sized semiconductor companies directly and to expand our sales geographically.

Historically, a substantial portion of our licensing revenues has been derived in any given period from a relatively small number of licensees. Because of the substantial license fees we charge, our customers tend to be large semiconductor companies or vertically integrated system OEMs. Part of our current growth strategy is to broaden the adoption of our products by small and mid-size companies by offering different versions of our products targeted at these companies. If we are unable to develop and market effectively our intellectual property through these models, our revenues will continue to be dependent on a smaller number of licensees and a less geographically dispersed pattern of licensees, which could materially harm our business and results of operations.

The Israeli tax benefits that we currently receive and the government programs in which we participate require us to meet certain conditions and may be terminated or reduced in the future, which could increase our tax expenses.

We enjoy certain tax benefits in Israel, particularly as a result of the “Approved Enterprise” and the “Benefited Enterprise” status of our facilities and programs. To maintain our eligibility for these tax benefits, we must continue to meet certain conditions, relating principally to adherence to the investment program filed with the Investment Center of the Israeli Ministry of Industry and Trade and to periodic reporting obligations. Should we fail to meet such conditions in the future, these benefits would be cancelled and we would be subject to corporate tax in Israel at the standard corporate rate (26.5% in 2014) and could be required to refund tax benefits already received. In addition, we cannot assure you that these tax benefits will be continued in the future at their current levels or otherwise. The tax benefits under our active investment programs are scheduled to gradually expire starting in 2014. The termination or reduction of certain programs and tax benefits (particularly benefits available to us as a result of the “Approved Enterprise” and the “Benefited Enterprise” status of our facilities and programs) or a requirement to refund tax benefits already received may seriously harm our business, operating results and financial condition.

We may dispose of or discontinue existing product lines and technology developments, which may adversely impact our future results.

On an ongoing basis, we evaluate our various product offerings and technology developments in order to determine whether any should be discontinued or, to the extent possible, divested. We cannot guarantee that we have correctly forecasted, or will correctly forecast in the future, the right product lines and technology developments to dispose or discontinue or that our decision to dispose of or discontinue various investments, products lines and technology developments is prudent if market conditions change. In addition, there are no assurances that the discontinuance of various product lines will reduce our operating expenses or will not cause us to incur material charges associated with such decision. Furthermore, the discontinuance of existing product lines entails various risks, including the risk that we will not be able to find a purchaser for a product line or the purchase price obtained will not be equal to at least the book value of the net assets for the product line. Other risks include managing the expectations of, and maintaining good relations with, our customers who previously purchased products from our disposed or discontinued product lines, which could prevent us from selling other products to them in the future. We may also incur other significant liabilities and costs associated with our disposal or discontinuance of product lines, including employee severance costs and excess facilities costs.

Our corporate tax rate may increase, which could adversely impact our cash flow, financial condition and results of operations.

We have significant operations in Israel, as well operations in the Republic of Ireland and a substantial portion of our taxable income historically has been generated there. Currently, some of our Israeli and Irish subsidiaries are taxed at rates substantially lower than the U.S. tax rates. If our Israeli and Irish subsidiaries were no longer to qualify for these lower tax rates or if the applicable tax laws were rescinded or changed, our operating results could be materially adversely affected. In addition, because our Israeli and Irish operations are

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owned by subsidiaries of our U.S. parent corporation, distributions to the U.S. parent corporation, and in certain circumstances undistributed income of the subsidiaries, may be subject to U.S. taxes. Moreover, if U.S. or other authorities were to change applicable tax laws or successfully challenge the manner in which our subsidiaries’ profits are currently recognized, our overall tax expenses could increase, and our business, cash flow, financial condition and results of operations could be materially adversely affected. Also our taxes on the Irish interest income may be double taxed both in Ireland and in the U.S. due to U.S. tax regulations and Irish tax restrictions on NOLs to off-set interest income. In addition, starting in 2012, our Israeli interest income also may be taxed both in Israel and the U.S due to different Controlled Foreigner Corporation rules.

Our stock price may be volatile so you may not be able to resell your shares of our common stock at or above the price you paid for them.

Announcements of developments related to our business, announcements by competitors, quarterly fluctuations in our financial results, changes in the general conditions of the highly dynamic industry in which we compete or the national economies in which we do business, and other factors could cause the price of our common stock to fluctuate, perhaps substantially. In addition, in recent years, the stock market has experienced extreme price fluctuations, which have often been unrelated to the operating performance of affected companies. These factors and fluctuations could have a material adverse effect on the market price of our common stock.

None.

Our headquarters are located in Mountain View, California and we have principal offices in Herzeliya, Israel and Dublin, Ireland.

We lease buildings for our executive offices, and engineering, sales, marketing, administrative and support operations and design centers. The following table summarizes information with respect to the principal facilities leased by us as of December 31, 2013:

From time to time, we are involved in litigation relating to claims arising out of our operations in the normal course of business. We are not a party to any legal proceedings, the adverse outcome of which, in management’s opinion, would have a material adverse effect on our results of operations or financial position

Not applicable.

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EXECUTIVE OFFICERS OF THE REGISTRANT

Below are the names, ages and principal recent business experience of our current executive officers. All such persons have been appointed by our board of directors to serve until their successors are elected and qualified or until their earlier resignation or removal.

Gideon Wertheizer, age 57, has served as our Chief Executive Officer since May 2005. He joined our board of directors in January 2010. Mr. Wertheizer has 30 years of experience in the semiconductor and Silicon Intellectual Property (SIP) industries. He previously served as the Executive Vice President and General Manager of the DSP business unit at CEVA. Prior to joining CEVA in November 2002, Mr. Wertheizer held various executive positions at DSP Group, Inc., including such roles as Executive VP—Strategic Business Development, Vice President for Marketing and Vice President of VLSI design. Mr. Wertheizer holds a BsC for electrical engineering from Ben Gurion University in Israel and executive MBA from Bradford University in the United Kingdom.

Yaniv Arieli, age 45, has served as our Chief Financial Officer since May 2005. Prior to his current position, Mr. Arieli served as President of U.S. Operations and Director of Investor Relations of DSP Group beginning in August 2002 and Vice President of Finance, Chief Financial Officer and Secretary of DSP Group’s DSP Cores Licensing Division prior to that time. Before joining DSP Group in 1997, Mr. Arieli served as an account manager and certified public accountant at Kesselman & Kesselman, a member of PricewaterhouseCoopers, a leading accounting firm. Mr. Arieli is a CPA and holds a B.A. in Accounting and Economics from Haifa University in Israel and an M.B.A. from Newport University and is also a member of the National Investor Relation Institute.

Issachar Ohana, age 48, has served as our Vice President, Worldwide Sales, since November 2002 and our Executive Vice President, Worldwide Sales, since July 2006. Prior to joining CEVA in November 2002, Mr. Ohana was with DSP Group beginning in August 1994 as a VLSI design engineer. He was appointed Project Manager of DSP Group’s research and development in July 1995, Director of Core Licensing in August 1998, and Vice President—Sales of the Core Licensing Division in May 2000. Mr. Ohana holds a B.Sc. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Ben Gurion University in Israel and an MBA from Bradford University in the United Kingdom.

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PART II

Our common stock began trading on The NASDAQ Global Market on November 1, 2002. Our common stock currently trades under the ticker symbol “CEVA” on NASDAQ. As of February 24, 2014, there were approximately 1,820 holders of record, which we believe represents approximately 7,960 beneficial holders. The closing price of our common stock on The NASDAQ Global Market on March 5, 2014 was $18.75 per share. The following table sets forth, for the periods indicated, the range of high and low closing prices per share of our common stock, as reported on The NASDAQ Global Market.

We have never paid any cash dividends. We intend to retain future earnings, if any, to fund the development and growth of our business and currently do not anticipate paying cash dividends in the foreseeable future.

Equity Compensation Plan Information

Information as of December 31, 2013 regarding options granted under our option plans and remaining available for issuance under those plans will be contained in the definitive 2014 Proxy Statement for the 2014 annual meeting of stockholders to be held on May 19, 2014 and incorporated herein by reference.

Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

The table below sets forth the information with respect to repurchases of our common stock during the three months ended December 31, 2013.

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2014 Annual Meeting of Stockholders

We anticipate that the 2014 annual meeting of our stockholders will be held on May 19, 2014 in New York City, NY.

Stock Performance Graph

Notwithstanding anything to the contrary set forth in any of the Company’s previous or future filings under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, that might incorporate this proxy statement or future filings made by the Company under those statutes, the below Stock Performance Graph shall not be deemed filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and shall not be deemed incorporated by reference into any of those prior filings or into any future filings made by the Company under those statutes.

The stock performance graph above compares the percentage change in cumulative stockholder return on the common stock of our company for the period from December 31, 2008, through December 31, 2013, with the cumulative total return on The NASDAQ Global Market (U.S.) Composite Index and the Morningstar Semiconductor Group Index.

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This graph assumes the investment of $100 in our common stock (at the closing price of our common stock on December 31, 2008), the NASDAQ Global Market (U.S.) Composite Index and the Morningstar Semiconductor Group Index on December 31, 2008, and assumes dividends, if any, are reinvested.

Comparisons in the graph above are based upon historical data and are not indicative of, nor intended to forecast, future performance of our common stock.

The following selected financial data should be read in conjunction with, and are qualified by reference to, our consolidated financial statements and the related notes, as well as our “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2013,” both appearing elsewhere in this annual report.

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QUARTERLY FINANCIAL INFORMATION

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You should read the following discussion together with the consolidated financial statements and related notes appearing elsewhere in this annual report. This discussion contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those included in such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include those set forth under “Risk Factors,” as well as those otherwise discussed in this section and elsewhere in this annual report. See “Forward-Looking Statements and Industry Data.”

BUSINESS OVERVIEW

The following discussion and analysis is intended to provide an investor with a narrative of our financial results and an evaluation of our financial condition and results of operations. The discussion should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and notes thereto for the year ended December 31, 2013, both appearing elsewhere in this annual report.

CEVA is the world’s leading licensor of DSP cores and platform solutions. Our technologies are widely licensed and power many of the world’s leading semiconductor and original equipment manufacturer (OEM) companies. In 2013, our licensees shipped more than one billion CEVA-powered chipsets targeted for a wide range of diverse end markets. To date, more than 5 billion CEVA-powered devices have shipped, illustrating the strong market deployment of our technology.

Our DSPs power nearly every leading handset OEM in the world today, including HTC, Huawei, Lenovo, LG Electronics, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung, Sony and ZTE, as well as hundreds of local handset manufacturers in China and India. Based on internal data and Strategy Analytics’ provisional worldwide shipment data, CEVA’s worldwide market share of cellular baseband chips that incorporate our technologies was approximately 40% of the worldwide shipment volume in 2013. Royalty revenues derived from the handset and mobile broadband markets accounted for approximately 84% of our total royalty revenues in 2013.

We believe the adoption of our DSP cores and technologies in the handset, mobile broadband and base station markets continues to progress. Specifically, we believe the emergence of low cost smartphone platforms integrating 3G and EDGE cellular connectivity from companies such as Broadcom, Intel and Spreadtrum, all of whom are our customers, is a strong positive driver for our market share expansion. We believe that the majority of this growth will come from the increased adoption of low cost smartphones in developing countries, especially China, the broader adoption of 4G LTE-based advanced smartphones further down the road, as well as the introduction of feature set enhancements in audio, computational photography and embedded vision in smart devices. In addition, we are well positioned to capitalize on our success in handsets to expand into heterogeneous cellular base station networks composed of small cells and macrocells.

Beyond products enabled by our technologies for cellular baseband, we continue to strategically target growth in non-baseband applications, such as broadband communications, audio, voice, computational photography, embedded vision and connectivity. As a testament to this, during the fourth quarter, we signed 11 new license agreements, the highest number of deals signed in a single quarter in the last seven years. Three of the agreements were in baseband, three in imaging, two in audio, two in connectivity and one foundry customer.

We believe the following key elements represent significant growth drivers for the company:

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Notwithstanding the various growth opportunities we have outlined above, our business operates in a highly competitive environment. The maintenance of our competitive position and our future growth are dependent on our ability to adapt to ever-changing technologies, short product life cycles, evolving industry standards, changing customer needs and the trend towards cellular connectivity, and voice, audio and video convergence in the markets that we operate. Competition has historically increased pricing pressures for our products and decreased our average selling prices. Royalty payments under our existing license agreements also could be lower than currently anticipated for a variety of reasons, including decreased royalty rates triggered by larger volume shipments, lower royalty rates negotiated with customers due to competitive pressure or consolidation among our customers. Moreover, some of our competitors have reduced their licensing and royalty fees to attract customers and expand their market share. In order to penetrate new markets and maintain our market share with our existing products, we may need to offer our products in the future at lower prices which may result in lower profits. In addition, our future growth is dependent not only on the continued success of our existing products but also the successful introduction of new products, which requires the dedication of resources into research and development which in turn may increase our operating expenses. Furthermore, since our products are incorporated into end products of our OEM and semiconductor customers, our business is very dependent on their ability to achieve market acceptance of their end products in the handset and consumer electronic markets, which are similarly very competitive. In addition, macroeconomic trends may significantly affect our operating results. For example, consolidation among our customers may negatively affect our revenue source, increase our existing customers’ negotiation leverage and make us more dependent on a limited number of customers. Also, since we derive a significant portion of our revenues from the handset market, any negative trends in that market would adversely affect our financial results.

Moreover, the semiconductor and consumer electronics industries remain volatile, which makes it extremely difficult for our customers and us to accurately forecast financial results and plan for future business activities.

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Our license arrangements have not historically provided for substantial ongoing license payments so revenue recognized from licensing arrangements vary significantly from period to period, depending on the number and size of deals closed during a quarter, and is difficult to predict. Moreover, our royalty revenues are based on the sales of products incorporating the semiconductors or other products of our customers, and as a result we do not have direct access to information that will help us anticipate the timing and amount of future royalties. We have very little visibility into the timetable of product shipments incorporating our technology by our customers. As a result, our past operating results should not be relied upon as an indication of future results.

CRITICAL ACCOUNTING POLICIES, ESTIMATES AND ASSUMPTIONS

Our consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (U.S. GAAP). These accounting principles require us to make certain estimates, judgments and assumptions. We believe that the estimates, judgments and assumptions upon which we rely are reasonable based upon information available to us at the time that these estimates, judgments and assumptions are made. These estimates, judgments and assumptions can affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities as of the date of the financial statements, as well as the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the periods presented. To the extent there are material differences between these estimates, judgments or assumptions and actual results, our financial statements will be affected. The significant accounting policies that we believe are the most critical to aid in fully understanding and evaluating our reported financial results include the following:

In many cases, the accounting treatment of a particular transaction is specifically dictated by U.S. GAAP and does not require management’s judgment in its application. There are also areas in which management’s judgment in selecting among available alternatives would not produce a materially different result.

Revenue Recognition

Significant management judgments and estimates must be made and used in connection with the recognition of revenue in any accounting period. Material differences in the amount of revenue in any given period may result if these judgments or estimates prove to be incorrect or if management’s estimates change on the basis of development of business or market conditions. Management’s judgments and estimates have been applied consistently and have been reliable historically.

We generate our revenues from (1) licensing intellectual property, which in certain circumstances is modified for customer-specific requirements, (2) royalty revenues and (3) other revenues, which include revenues from support, training and sale of development systems. We license our IP to semiconductor companies throughout the world. These semiconductor companies then manufacture, market and sell custom-designed chipsets to OEMs of a variety of consumer electronics products. We also license our technology directly to OEMs, which are considered end users.

We account for our IP license revenues and related services in accordance with Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) No. 985-605, “Software Revenue Recognition.” Revenues are recognized when persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists and no further obligation exists, delivery has occurred, the license fee is fixed or determinable, and collection is reasonably assured. A license may be perpetual or time limited in its application. Revenue earned on licensing arrangements involving multiple elements are allocated to each element based on the “residual method” when vendor specific

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objective evidence (“VSOE”) of fair value exists for all undelivered elements and VSOE does not exist for one of the delivered elements. VSOE of fair value of the undelivered elements is determined based on the substantive renewal rate as stated in the agreement.

Extended payment terms in a licensing arrangement may indicate that the license fees are not deemed to be fixed or determinable. If the fee is not fixed or determinable, revenue is recognized as payments become due from the customer unless collection is not considered reasonably assured, then revenue is recognized as payments are collected from the customer, provided all other revenue recognition criteria have been met.

Revenues from license fees that involve significant customization of our IP to customer-specific specifications are recognized in accordance with the principles set out in FASB ASC No. 605-35-25, “Construction-Type and Production-Type Contracts Recognition,” using contract accounting on a percentage of completion method. The amount of revenue recognized is based on the total license fees under the agreement and the percentage of completion achieved. The percentage of completion is measured by the actual time incurred to date on the project compared to the total estimated project requirements, which correspond to the costs related to earned revenues. Provisions for estimated losses on uncompleted contracts are made during the period in which such losses are first determined, in the amount of the estimated loss on the entire contract.

Revenues that are derived from the sale of a licensee’s products that incorporate our IP are classified as royalty revenues. Royalty revenues are recognized during the quarter in which we receive a report from the licensee detailing the shipment of products that incorporate our IP, which receipt is in the quarter following the licensee’s sale of such products to its customers. Royalties are calculated either as a percentage of the revenues received by our licensees on sales of products incorporating our IP or on a per unit basis, as specified in the agreements with the licensees. Non-refundable payments on account of future royalties (prepaid royalties) are included within our licensing and related revenue line on the consolidated statements of income. We may engage a third party to perform royalty audits of our licensees, and if these audits indicate any over- or under-reported royalties, we account for the results when the audits are resolved.

In addition to license fees, contracts with customers generally contain an agreement to provide for post contract support and training, which consists of telephone or e-mail support, correction of errors (bug fixing) and unspecified updates and upgrades. Fees for post contract support, which takes place after delivery to the customer, are specified in the contract and are generally mandatory for the first year. After the mandatory period, the customer may extend the support agreement on similar terms on an annual basis. We recognize revenue for post contract support on a straight-line basis over the period for which technical support is contractually agreed to be provided to the licensee, typically 12 months. Revenues from training are recognized as the training is performed.

Revenues from the sale of development systems are recognized when title to the product passes to the customer and all other revenue recognition criteria have been met.

We usually do not provide rights of return. When rights of return are included in the license agreements, revenue is deferred until rights of return expire.

Income Taxes

We are subject to income taxes mainly in Israel, the U.S. and Ireland. Significant judgment is required in evaluating our uncertain tax positions and determining our provision for income taxes. We recognize income taxes under the liability method. Tax benefits are recognized from uncertain tax positions only if we believe that it is more likely than not that the tax position will be sustained on examination by the taxing authorities based on the technical merits of the position. Although we believe we have adequately reserved for our uncertain tax positions, no assurance can be given that the final tax outcome of these matters will not be different. We adjust these reserves when facts and circumstances change, such as the closing of a tax audit, the refinement of an

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estimate or changes in tax laws. To the extent that the final tax outcome of these matters is different than the amounts recorded, such differences will impact the provision for income taxes in the period in which such determination is made. The provision for income taxes includes the effects of any reserves that are considered appropriate, as well as the related net interest and penalties.

We recognize deferred tax assets and liabilities for future tax consequences arising from differences between the carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities under GAAP and their respective tax bases, and for net operating loss carryforwards and tax credit carryforwards. We regularly review our deferred tax assets for recoverability and establish a valuation allowance if it is more likely than not that some portion or all of the deferred tax assets will not be realized. To make this judgment, we must make predictions of the amount and category of taxable income from various sources and weigh all available positive and negative evidence about these possible sources of taxable income.

Accounting for tax positions requires judgments, including estimating reserves for potential uncertainties. We also assess our ability to utilize tax attributes, including those in the form of carry forwards for which the benefits have already been reflected in the financial statements. While we believe the resulting tax balances as of December 31, 2012 and 2013 are appropriately accounted for, the ultimate outcome of such matters could result in favorable or unfavorable adjustments to our consolidated financial statements and such adjustments could be material. See Note 12 to our Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended December 31, 2013 for further information regarding income taxes. We have filed or are in the process of filing local and foreign tax returns that are subject to audit by the respective tax authorities. The amount of income tax we pay is subject to ongoing audits by the tax authorities, which often result in proposed assessments. We believe that we adequately provided for any reasonably foreseeable outcomes related to tax audits and settlement. However, our future results may include favorable or unfavorable adjustments to our estimated tax liabilities in the period the assessments are made or resolved, audits are closed or when statute of limitations on potential assessments expire.

Equity-Based Compensation

We account for equity-based compensation in accordance with FASB ASC No. 718, “Stock Compensation” which requires the recognition of compensation expenses based on estimated fair values for all equity-based awards made to employees and non-employee directors.

We estimate the fair value of equity-based awards on the date of grant using an option-pricing model. The value of the portion of an award that is ultimately expected to vest is recognized as an expense over the requisite service period in our consolidated statement of income. We recognize compensation expenses for the value of our awards, which have graded vesting based on the accelerated attribution method over the requisite service period of each of the awards, net of estimated forfeitures. Estimated forfeitures are based on actual historical pre-vesting forfeitures and the rate is adjusted to reflect changes in facts and circumstances, if any. Estimated forfeiture rate will be revised if actual forfeitures differ from the initial estimates.

We use the Monte-Carlo simulation model for options and stock appreciation rights (“SARs”) granted. Expected volatility was calculated based upon actual historical stock price movements over the most recent periods ending on the grant date, equal to the expected option and SAR term. We have historically not paid dividends and have no foreseeable plans to pay dividends. The risk-free interest rate is based on the yield from U.S. Treasury zero-coupon bonds with an equivalent term. The Monte-Carlo model also considers the suboptimal exercise multiple which is based on the average exercise behavior of our employees over the past years, the contractual term of the options and SARs, and the probability of termination or retirement of the holder of the options and SARs in computing the value of the options and SARs. Although our management believes that their estimates and judgments about equity-based compensation expense are reasonable, actual results and future changes in estimates may differ substantially from our current estimates.

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Impairment of Marketable Securities

Marketable securities consist of certificates of deposits, corporate bonds and government securities. We determine the appropriate classification of marketable securities at the time of purchase and re-evaluate such designation at each balance sheet date. In accordance with FASB ASC No. 320, “Investment Debt and Equity Securities,” we classify marketable securities as available-for-sale. Available-for-sale securities are stated at fair value, with unrealized gains and losses reported in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss), a separate component of stockholders’ equity, net of taxes. Realized gains and losses on sales of marketable securities, as determined on a specific identification basis, are included in financial income, net. The amortized cost of marketable securities is adjusted for amortization of premium and accretion of discount to maturity, both of which, together with interest, are included in financial income, net. We have classified all marketable securities as short-term, even though the stated maturity date may be one year or more beyond the current balance sheet date, because we may sell these securities prior to maturity to meet liquidity needs or as part of risk versus reward objectives.

We recognize an impairment charge when a decline in the fair value of our investments in debt securities below the cost basis of such securities is judged to be other-than-temporary. The determination of credit losses requires significant judgment and actual results may be materially different from our estimates. Factors considered in making such a determination include the duration and severity of the impairment, the reason for the decline in value, the ability of the issuer to meet payment obligations, the potential recovery period and our intent to sell, including whether it is more likely than not that we will be required to sell the investment before recovery of cost basis. For securities that are deemed other-than-temporarily impaired, the amount of impairment is recognized in the statement of income and is limited to the amount related to credit losses, while impairment related to other factors is recognized in other comprehensive income.

During the years ended December 31, 2011, 2012 and 2013, no other-than temporary impairment were recorded related to our marketable securities.

RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

The following table presents line items from our consolidated statements of income as percentages of our total revenues for the periods indicated:

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Discussion and Analysis

Below we provide information on the significant line items in our consolidated statements of income for each of the past three fiscal years, including the percentage changes year-on-year, as well as an analysis of the principal drivers of change in these line items from year-to-year.

Revenues

Total Revenues

The decrease in total revenues from 2012 to 2013 reflected principally lower royalty revenues, offset by slightly higher licensing and related revenue. The decrease in total revenues from 2011 to 2012 reflected lower royalty revenues and lower licensing and related revenue.

We generate royalty revenues mainly from our customers which ship units of chipsets incorporating our technologies. The royalties are invoiced and recognized on a quarterly basis in arrears as we receive quarterly shipment reports from our licensees. The royalty rate is based either on a certain percent of the chipset price or a fixed amount per chipset based on volume discounts.

We derive a significant amount of revenues from a limited number of customers. Two customers separately accounted for 28% and 11% of our total revenues for 2013. One customer accounted for 28%, 24% and 17% of our total revenues for 2013, 2012 and 2011, respectively, and the other customer accounted for 11%, 13% and 16% of our total revenues for 2013, 2012 and 2011, respectively. With respect to our royalty revenues, four royalty paying customers each represented 10% or more of our total royalty revenues for 2013, 2012 and 2011, and collectively represented 81%, 74% and 66% of our total royalty revenues for 2013, 2012 and 2011, respectively. We expect that a significant portion of our future revenues will continue to be generated by a limited number of customers. The concentration of our customers is explainable in part by consolidation in the semiconductor industry. The loss of any significant customer could adversely affect our near-term future operating results.

The following table sets forth the products and services that represented 10% or more of our total revenues in each of the periods set forth below:

We expect these products will continue to generate a significant portion of our revenues for 2014. The remaining amount consists of other families of products and services, some of which are relatively new like the MM3K product line for new non-baseband markets that each currently represented less than 10% of our total revenues.

Our total revenues derived from the handsets and mobile broadband markets represented 77% of our total revenues for 2013, 2012 and 2011.

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Licensing and related revenue