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UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549

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FORM 10-K

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HARDINGE INC.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

(607) 734-2281
(Registrant's telephone number, including area code)

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Securities pursuant to section 12(b) of the Act: None

Securities pursuant to section 12(g) of the Act:

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

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

         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 ý    No o

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

         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 definite proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendments to this Form 10-K. ý

         Indicate by check mark whether the registrant: (1) 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. (Check one):

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

         The aggregate market value of the voting stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant as of June 30, 2009 was $47.6 million, based on the closing price of common stock on the NASDAQ Global Select Market on June 30, 2009.

         There were 11,610,789 shares of Hardinge stock outstanding as of February 28, 2010.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

         Portions of Hardinge Inc.'s Proxy Statement for its 2010 Annual Meeting of Shareholders to be filed with the Commission on or about March 31, 2010 are incorporated by reference to Part III of this Form 10-K.

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PART I

ITEM 1.—BUSINESS

General

        Hardinge Inc.'s principal executive office is located within Chemung County at One Hardinge Drive, Elmira, New York 14902-1507.

        Our website, www.hardinge.com, provides links to all of the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. A copy of the 10-K is available on the website or can be obtained free of charge by contacting the Investor Relations Department at our principal executive office. Alternatively, such reports may be accessed at the Internet address of the SEC, which is www.sec.gov, or at the SEC's Public Reference Room at 100 F Street, NE, Washington, DC 20549. Information about the operation of the SEC's Public Reference Room may be obtained by calling the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330.

        We are a global designer, manufacturer and distributor of machine tools, specializing in precision computer numerically controlled metal-cutting machines. The Company has the following direct and indirect wholly owned subsidiaries:

        We have manufacturing facilities located in Chemung County, New York; St. Gallen, Switzerland; Biel, Switzerland; Nan Tou City, Taiwan; and Shanghai, People's Republic of China. We manufacture the majority of the products we sell.

        Unless otherwise mentioned or unless the context requires otherwise, all references to "Hardinge," "we," "us," "our," "the Company" or similar references mean Hardinge Inc. and its predecessors together with its subsidiaries.

Products

        We supply high precision computer controlled metal-cutting turning machines, grinding machines, vertical machining centers, and accessories related to those machines. We believe our products are known for accuracy, reliability, durability and value.

        We have been a manufacturer of industrial-use high precision and general precision turning machine tools since 1890. Turning machines, or lathes, are power-driven machines used to remove material from either bar stock or a rough-formed part by moving multiple cutting tools against the surface of a part rotating at very high speeds in a spindle mechanism. The multi-directional movement of the cutting tools allows the part to be shaped to the desired dimensions. On parts produced by our machines, those dimensions are often measured in millionths of an inch. We consider Hardinge to be a

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leader in the field of producing machines capable of consistently and cost-effectively producing parts to very close dimensions.

        Grinding is a machining process in which a part's surface is shaped to closer tolerances with a rotating abrasive wheel or tool. Grinding machines can be used to finish parts of various shapes and sizes. The grinding machines of our Kellenberger subsidiary are used to grind the inside and outside diameters of cylindrical parts. Such grinding machines are typically used to provide a more exact finish on a part that has been partially completed on a lathe. The grinding machines of Kellenberger, which are manufactured in both computer and manually controlled models, are generally purchased by the same type of customers as other Hardinge equipment and further our ability to be a primary source for our customers.

        Our Kellenberger precision grinding technology is complemented by the Hauser and Tschudin grinding brands. Hauser machines are jig grinders used to make demanding contour components, primarily for tool and mold-making applications. Tschudin product technology is focused on the specialized grinding of cylindrical parts when the customer requires high volume production. Our Tschudin machines are generally equipped with automatic loading and unloading mechanisms for the part being machined. These loading and unloading mechanisms significantly reduce the level of involvement a machine operator has to perform in the production process.

        Machining centers cut material differently than a turning machine. These machines are designed to remove material from stationary, prismatic or box-like parts of various shapes with rotating tools that are capable of milling, drilling, tapping, reaming and routing. Machining centers have mechanisms that automatically change tools based on commands from a built-in computer control without the assistance of an operator. Machining centers are generally purchased by the same customers who purchase other Hardinge equipment. We supply a broad line of machining centers addressing a range of sizes, speeds and powers.

        Our machines are generally computer controlled and use commands from an integrated computer to control the movement of cutting tools, grinding wheels, part positioning, and in the case of turning and grinding machines, the rotation speeds of the part being shaped. The computer control enables the operator to program operations such as part rotation, tooling selection and tooling movement for a specific part and then store that program in memory for future use. The machines are able to produce parts while left unattended when connected to automatic bar-feeding, robotics equipment, or other material handling devices designed to supply raw materials and remove machined parts from the machine.

        New products are critical to our growth plans. We gain access to new products through internal product development, acquisitions, joint ventures, license agreements and partnerships. Products are introduced each year to both broaden our product offering and to take advantage of new technologies available to us. These technologies generally allow our machines to run at higher speeds and with more power, thus increasing their efficiency. Customers routinely replace old machines with newer machines that can produce parts faster and with less time to set up the machine when converting from one type of part to another. Generally, our machines can be used to produce parts from all of the standard ferrous and non-ferrous metals, as well as plastics, composites and exotic materials.

        During 2008, we discontinued product lines which targeted the less demanding manufacturing applications. Products in this category, which were referred to as baseline machines, were typically sold on price and delivery, with minimal technical differentiation from a multitude of producers around the world, and were used in less demanding applications. This strategic change allowed us to focus our efforts on products and solutions for companies making parts from hard to machine materials with hard to sustain close tolerances and hard to achieve surface finishes and which also may be hard to hold in the machine. We believe that with our high precision and super precision lathes, our grinding machines, and our rugged machining centers, combined with our accessory products and our technical expertise,

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we are uniquely qualified to be the supplier of choice for customers manufacturing to demanding specifications.

        On many of our machines, multiple options are available which allow customers to customize their machines to their specific operating performance and cost objectives. We produce machines for stock with popular option combinations for immediate delivery, as well as design and produce machines to specific customer requirements. In addition to our machines, we provide the necessary tooling, accessories and support services to assist customers in maximizing their return on investment.

        The sale of repair parts is important to our business. Certain parts on machines wear over time or break through misuse. Customers will buy parts from us throughout the life of the machine, which is generally measured in multiple years. There are thousands of machines in operation in the world for which we provide those repair parts and in many cases the parts are available exclusively from us.

        In addition, we offer an extensive line of accessories including workholding, toolholding and other industrial support products, which may be used on both our machines and those produced by others. We consider our Company to be a worldwide leader in the design and manufacture of workholding devices for turning equipment. In addition to our traditional products, we are expanding our range of industrial products that are utilized on milling machines. With our growth in milling over the last few years, milling accessories and industrial products fit well in our product offering.

        A key component in milling accessory growth is our family of rotary indexing systems and high-speed direct-drive rotary table indexers, which are available in single, dual, triple and quad spindle configurations. These indexing systems and indexers are ideal for difficult, high-precision machining or jig grinding applications that require 4 or 5-axis interpolated machining, or for parts that require extremely accurate angular positioning. These products are workhorses for high speed and high accuracy contouring applications. Many of these products can be used as a standalone unit with Hardinge controls, or integrated as a true 4th axis.

        We offer various warranties on our equipment and consider post-sale support to be a critical element of our business. Warranties on machines typically extend for twelve months after purchase. Services provided include operation and maintenance training, in-field maintenance, and in-field repair. We offer these post sales support services on a paid basis throughout the life of the machine. In territories covered by distributors, this support and service is offered through the distributor.

Sales, Markets and Distribution

        We sell our products in most of the industrialized countries of the world through a combination of distributors, agents and manufacturers' representatives. In certain areas of the United States, China, Germany, and the United Kingdom, we have also used a direct sales force. Generally, our distributors have an exclusive right to sell our products in a defined geographic area. Our distributors operate as independent businesses and purchase products from us at discounted prices for their customers, while agents and representatives sell products on our behalf and receive commissions on sales. Our discount schedule is adjusted to reflect the level of pre and post sales support offered by our distributors. Our direct sales personnel earn a fixed salary plus commission. Sales through distributors are made only on standard commercial open account terms or through letters of credit. Distributors generally take title to products upon shipment from our facilities and do not have any special return privileges.

        In February 2010, our United States sales channels were restructured from a joint distributor network and direct sales force to a new group of distributors. These new distributors have exclusive sales, service, and support responsibilities for Hardinge machines and repair parts in virtually all of the United States, with the exception of kneemills and workholding accessories, where they will operate on a non-exclusive basis. Additionally, this new distributor network will act as agents for our grinding products working with our direct technical team.

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        Our non-machine products are sold in the United States mainly through direct telephone orders to a toll-free telephone number and via our web site. In most cases, we are able to package and ship in-stock tooling and repair parts within 24 hours of receiving orders. We can package and ship items with heavy demand within a few hours. In other parts of the world, these products are sold on either a direct sales basis or through distributor arrangements.

        We promote recognition of our products in the marketplace through advertising in trade publications, web presences, email newsletters, and participation in industry trade shows. In addition, we market our non-machine products through publication of general catalogues and other targeted catalogues, which we distribute to existing and prospective customers. We have a substantial presence on the internet at www.hardinge.com where customers can obtain information about our products and place orders for workholding, rotary, and kneemill products.

        A substantial portion of our sales are to small and medium-sized independent job shops, which in turn sell machined parts to their industrial customers. Industries directly and indirectly served by us include aerospace, automotive, computer, communications, consumer-electronics, construction equipment, defense, energy, farm equipment, medical equipment, recreational equipment and transportation.

        One customer in the automotive industry accounted for 6.8% of our consolidated sales in 2009. No single customer accounted for more than 5% of consolidated sales in 2008. While valuing our relationship with each customer, we do not believe that the loss of any single customer, or any few customers, would have an adverse material effect on our business.

        Hardinge Inc. operates in a single business segment, industrial machine tools.

Competitive Conditions

        In our industry, the barriers to entry for competition vary based on the level of product performance required. For the products with the highest performance in terms of accuracy and productivity, the barriers are generally technical in nature. For basic products, often the barriers are not technical; they are tied to effective sales, distribution and support required by customers. Another significant barrier in the global machine tool industry is the high level of working capital that is required to operate the business.

        We compete in the various segments of the machine tool market within the products of turning, milling, grinding and workholding. We compete with numerous vendors in each market segment we serve. The primary competitive factors in the marketplace for our machine tools are reliability, price, delivery time, service and technological characteristics. Our management considers our segment of the industry to be extremely competitive. There are many manufacturers of machine tools in the world. They can be categorized by the size of material their products can machine and the precision level they can achieve. For our high precision, multi-tasking turning and milling equipment, competition comes primarily from companies such as Mori-Seiki, Mazak, Nakamura Tome, and Okuma, which are based in Japan, and DMG, which is based in Germany. Competition in our more standard turning and milling equipment comes to some degree from those companies as well as Hyundai-Kia and Doosan, which are based in South Korea, and Haas which is based in the U.S., as well as several smaller Taiwanese and Korean companies. Our cylindrical grinding machines compete primarily with Studer, a Swiss Company, Voumard, also based in Switzerland, and Toyoda and Shigiya, which are based in Japan. Our Hauser jig grinding machines compete primarily with Moore, which is based in the U.S., and some Japanese suppliers. Our accessories products compete with many smaller companies.

        The overall number of our competitors providing product solutions serving our market segments may increase. Also, the composition of competitors may change as we broaden our product offerings and the geographic markets we serve. As we expand into new market segments, we will face

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competition not only from our existing competitors but from other competitors as well, including existing companies with strong technological, marketing and sales positions in those markets. In addition, several of our competitors may have greater resources, including financial, technical and engineering resources, than we do.

Sources and Availability of Components

        We produce certain of our lathes, knee-mills, and related products at our Elmira, New York plant. The Kellenberger grinding machines and related products are manufactured at our St. Gallen, Switzerland plant and Hauser and Tschudin products are produced at our Biel, Switzerland facility. We produce machining centers and lathes at both Hardinge Taiwan in Nan Tou, Taiwan and Hardinge Machine (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. in Shanghai, China. We manufacture products from various raw materials, including cast iron, sheet metal, and bar steel. We purchase a number of components, sub-assemblies and assemblies from outside suppliers, including the computer and electronic components for our computer controlled lathes, grinding machines, and machining centers. There are multiple suppliers for virtually all of our raw material, components, sub-assemblies and assemblies and historically, we have not experienced a serious supply interruption.

        During the second half of 2009, we announced strategic changes within our Elmira, NY manufacturing facility. Historically, this facility was vertically integrated with machining operations converting parts from raw castings to finished goods, the costs of which have proven to be prohibitive at current volumes. As a result, we implemented initiatives to move towards a more variable cost business model, outsourcing many of the non-critical components and subassemblies for machines currently made in the Elmira facility.

        A major component of our computer controlled machines is the computer and related electronics package. We purchase these components for our lathes and machining centers primarily from Fanuc Limited, a large Japanese electronics company and Heidenhain, a German control supplier. We utilize controls from Siemens, another German control manufacturer, on certain machine models in our line of machining centers. We also offer Heidenhain and Fanuc controls on our grinding machines. While we believe that design changes could be made to our machines to allow sourcing from several other existing suppliers, and we occasionally do so for special orders, a disruption in the supply of the computer controls from one of our suppliers could cause us to experience a substantial disruption of our operations, depending on the circumstances at the time. We purchase parts from these suppliers under normal trade terms. There are no agreements with these suppliers to purchase minimum volumes per year.

Research and Development

        Our ongoing research and development program involves creating new products, modifying existing products to meet market demands, and redesigning existing products, both to add new functionality and to reduce the cost of manufacturing. The research and development departments throughout the world are staffed with experienced design engineers with varying levels of education, from technical through doctoral degrees.

        The worldwide cost of research and development, all of which has been charged to cost of goods sold, amounted to $9.3 million, $9.8 million and $10.6 million, in 2009, 2008, and 2007, respectively.

Patents

        Although Hardinge Inc. holds several patents with respect to certain of its products, we do not believe that our business is dependent to any material extent upon any single patent or group of patents.

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Seasonal Trends and Working Capital Requirements

        Hardinge's business, and that of the machine tool industry in general, is cyclical. It is not subject to significant seasonal trends. However, our quarterly results are subject to fluctuation based on the timing of our shipments of machine tools, which are largely dependent upon customer delivery requirements. Traditionally, we have experienced reduced activity during the third quarter of the year, largely as a result of vacations scheduled at our U.S. and European customers' plants and our policy of closing our U.S. and Switzerland facilities for two weeks during the third quarter. While not reflective of 2009 and 2008, due to the economic crisis (discussed further in Item 1A—Risk Factors), our third-quarter net sales, income from operations and net income typically have been the lowest of any quarter during the year.

        The ability to deliver products within a short period of time is an important competitive criterion. We must have inventory on hand to meet customers' delivery expectations, which for standard machines are typically from immediate to eight weeks delivery. Meeting this requirement is especially difficult with products made in Taiwan, where delivery is extended due to ocean travel times, depending on the location of the customer. This creates a need to have inventory of finished machines available in our major markets to serve our customers in a timely manner.

        We deliver many of our machine products within one to two months after the order. Some orders, especially multiple machine orders, are delivered on a turnkey basis with the machine or group of machines configured to make certain parts for the customer. This type of order often includes the addition of material handling equipment, tooling and specific programming. In those cases the customer usually observes and inspects the parts being made on the machine at our facility before it is shipped and the timing of the sale is dependent upon the customer's schedule and acceptance. Therefore, sales from quarter-to-quarter can vary depending upon the timing of those customers' acceptances and the significance of those orders.

        We feel it is important, where practical, to provide readily available workholding and replacement parts for the machines we sell and we carry inventory at levels sufficient to meet these customer requirements.

Governmental Regulations

        We believe that our current operations and our current uses of property, plant and equipment conform in all material respects to applicable laws and regulations.

Governmental Contracts

        No material portion of our business is subject to government contracts.

Environmental Matters

        Our operations are subject to extensive federal, state, local and foreign laws and regulations relating to environmental matters.

        Certain environmental laws can impose joint and several liability for releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances upon certain statutorily defined parties regardless of fault or the lawfulness of the original activity or disposal. Activities at properties we own or previously owned and on adjacent areas have resulted in environmental impacts.

        In particular, our Elmira, New York manufacturing facility is located within the Kentucky Avenue Wellfield on the National Priorities List of hazardous waste sites designated for cleanup by the United States Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") because of groundwater contamination. The Kentucky Avenue Wellfield Site (the "Site") encompasses an area which includes sections of the Town of

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Horseheads and the Village of Elmira Heights in Chemung County, New York. In February 2006, the Company received a Special Notice Concerning a Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study ("RI/FS") for the Koppers Pond (the "Pond") portion of the Site. The EPA documented the release and threatened release of hazardous substances into the environment at the Site, including releases into and in the vicinity of the Pond. The hazardous substances, including metals and polychlorinated biphenyls, have been detected in sediments in the Pond.

        A substantial portion of the Pond is located on our property. Hardinge, along with Beazer East, Inc., the Village of Horseheads, the Town of Horseheads, the County of Chemung, CBS Corporation, and Toshiba America, Inc., the Potentially Responsible Parties (the PRPs") have agreed to voluntarily participate in the Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study ("RI/FS") by signing an Administrative Settlement Agreement and Order of Consent on September 29, 2006. On September 29, 2006, the Director of Emergency and Remedial Response Division of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region II, approved and executed the Agreement on behalf of the EPA. The PRPs also signed a PRP Member Agreement, agreeing to share the cost of the RI/FS study on a per capita basis. The cost of the RI/FS was estimated to be approximately $0.84 million. We estimate our portion of the study to be $0.12 million for which we have established a reserve of $0.13 million. As of December 31, 2009 we have incurred total expenses of $0.10 million with respect to the study and other activities relating to the Site. In February 2010, we incurred an additional $0.02 million; thus our remaining reserve balance is $0.01 million.

        The PRPs developed a Draft RI/FS with their consultants and, following EPA comments, submitted a Revised RI/FS on December 6, 2007. In May 2008, the EPA approved the RI/FS Work Plan. The PRPs commenced field work in the spring of 2008 and submitted a Draft Site Characterization Report to EPA in the fall. The PRPs currently are performing Risk Assessments in accordance with the Remedial Investigation portion of the RI/FS.

        Until receipt of this Special Notice, Hardinge had never been named as a PRP at the Site nor had we received any requests for information from the EPA concerning the site. Environmental sampling on our property within this Site under supervision of regulatory authorities had identified off-site sources for such groundwater contamination and sediment contamination in the Pond and found no evidence that our operations or property have or are contributing to the contamination. Other than as described above, we have not established a reserve for any potential costs relating to this Site, as it is too early in the process to determine our responsibility as well as to estimate any potential costs to remediate. We have notified all appropriate insurance carriers and are actively cooperating with them, but whether coverage will be available has not yet been determined and possible insurance recovery cannot now be estimated with any degree of certainty.

        Although we believe, based upon information currently available, that, except as described in the preceding paragraphs, we will not have material liabilities for environmental remediation, it is possible that future remedial requirements or changes in the enforcement of existing laws and regulations, which are subject to extensive regulatory discretion, will result in material liabilities to Hardinge.

Employees

        As of December 31, 2009 Hardinge Inc. employed 1,138 persons, 385 of whom were located in the United States. None of our U.S. employees are covered by collective bargaining agreements. Management believes that relations with its employees are good.

Foreign Operations and Export Sales

        Information related to foreign and domestic operations and sales is included in Note 7 to the Consolidated Financial Statements contained in this Annual Report. Our strategy has been to diversify our sales and operations geographically so that the impact of economic trends in different regions can be balanced.

        The risks associated with conducting business on an international basis are discussed further in Item 1A-Risk Factors.

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Item 1A.—RISK FACTORS

        The various risks related to the Company's business include the risks described below. The business, financial condition or results of operations of Hardinge Inc. could be materially adversely affected by any of these risks. The risks and uncertainties described below or elsewhere in the Form 10-K are not the only ones to which we are exposed. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial may also adversely affect our business and operations. If any of the matters included in the following risks were to occur, our business, financial condition, results of operations, cash flows or prospects could be materially adversely affected.

Our customers' activity levels and spending for our products and services have been impacted by the current global economic conditions, especially deterioration in the credit markets.

        Many of our customers finance their purchases of our products through cash flow from operations, the incurrence of debt or from the proceeds received in connection with an issuance of equity. Commencing in the fourth quarter of 2008, the global financial markets have experienced significant losses due to failures of many dominant financial institutions. During late 2008 and early 2009, the governments of the United States and several foreign countries instituted bailout plans to assist many banks and others impacted by the economic crisis. This crisis has resulted in, among other things, a significant decline in the credit markets and the availability of credit, the impact of which is still being experienced today. Additionally, many of our customers' equity values have substantially declined. The combination of a reduction in borrowing bases under asset based credit facilities and the lack of availability of debt or equity financing may result in a significant reduction in our customers' spending for our products and may impact the ability of our customers to pay amounts owed to us. In addition, this crisis and economic uncertainty has resulted in an overall decrease in consumer and business spending, which negatively impacted the need our customers have for our products. Slow or negative growth in the global economy may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations for the foreseeable future.

Changes in general economic conditions and the cyclical nature of our business could harm our operating results.

        Our business is cyclical in nature, following the strength and weakness of the manufacturing economies in the geographic markets we serve. As a result of this cyclicality, we have experienced, and in the future, we can be expected to experience, significant fluctuations in sales and operating income, which may affect our business, operating results, financial condition and the market price of our common shares.

        The following factors, among others, significantly influence demand for our products:

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Fluctuations in capacity at both OEMs and job shops;



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The availability of skilled machinists;



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The need to replace machines that have reached the end of their useful life;



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The need to replace older machines with new technology that increases productivity, reduces general manufacturing costs, and machines parts in a new way;



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The evolution of end-use products requiring machining to more specific tolerances;



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Our customers' use of new materials requiring machining by different processes;



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General economic and manufacturing industry expansions and contractions; and



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Changes in manufacturing capabilities in developing regions.

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Our competitive position and prospects for growth may be diminished if we are unable to develop and introduce new and enhanced products on a timely basis that are accepted in the market.

        The machine tool industry is subject to technological change, rapidly evolving industry standards, changing customer requirements and improvements in and expansion of product offerings, especially with respect to computer-controlled products. Our ability to anticipate changes in technology, industry standards, customer requirements and product offerings by competitors, and to develop and introduce new and enhanced products on a timely basis that are accepted in the market, will be significant factors in our ability to compete and grow. Moreover, if technologies or standards used in our products become obsolete or fail to gain widespread commercial acceptance, our business would be materially adversely affected. Developments by others may render our products or technologies obsolete or noncompetitive. Failure to effectively introduce new products or product enhancements on a timely basis could materially adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition.

We rely on a single supplier or a limited number of suppliers to obtain certain components, sub-assemblies, assemblies and products. The loss of any of these suppliers may cause us to incur additional costs, result in delays in manufacturing and delivering our products or cause us to carry excess or obsolete inventory.

        Some components, sub-assemblies or assemblies we use in the manufacturing of our products are purchased from a single supplier or a limited number of suppliers. For example, a large Japanese company and two European companies supply the computer and related electronics package used in our CNC machines. In addition, some of the products we sell are purchased by us from a single supplier. Our purchases from these suppliers are generally not made pursuant to long-term contracts and are subject to additional risks associated with purchasing products internationally, including risks associated with potential import restrictions and exchange rate fluctuations, as well as changes in tax laws, tariffs and freight rates. Although we believe that our relationships with these suppliers are good, there can be no assurance that we will be able to obtain these products from these suppliers on satisfactory terms indefinitely. The present economic environment could also pose the risk of one of these key suppliers going out of business, or cause delays in delivery times when business conditions begin to rebound from the current historical low volumes.

        We believe that design changes could be made to our machines to allow sourcing of components, sub-assemblies, assemblies or products from several other suppliers; however, a disruption in the supply from any of our suppliers could cause us to experience a material adverse effect on our operations.

Our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected by the political and economic conditions of the countries in which we conduct business and other factors related to our international operations.

        We manufacture a substantial portion of our products overseas and sell our products throughout the world. In 2009, approximately 70% of our products were sold in countries outside of North America. In addition, a majority of our employees are located outside of the United States. Multiple factors relating to our international operations and to particular countries in which we operate could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. These factors include:

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A prolonged world-wide economic downturn or economic uncertainity in our principal international markets including Europe and Asia;



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Changes in political, regulatory, legal or economic conditions;



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Restrictive governmental actions (such as restrictions on the transfer or repatriation of funds and foreign investments and trade protection measures, including export duties and quotas, customs

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duties and tariffs, or trade barriers erected by either the United States or other countries where we do business);

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Disruptions of capital and trading markets;



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Changes in import or export licensing requirements;



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Transportation delays;



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Civil disturbances or political instability;



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Geopolitical turmoil, including terrorism or war;



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Currency restrictions and exchange rate fluctuations;



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Changes in labor standards;



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Limitations on our ability under local laws to protect our intellectual property;



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Nationalization and expropriation;



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Changes in domestic and foreign tax laws;



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Difficulty in obtaining distribution and support; and



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Major health concerns.

        Moreover, international conflicts are creating many economic and political uncertainties that are affecting the global economy. Escalation of existing international conflicts or the occurrence of new international conflicts could severely affect our operations and demand for our products.

We may face trade barriers that could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and result in a loss of customers or suppliers.

        Trade barriers established by the United States or other countries may interfere with our ability to offer our products in those markets. We manufacture a substantial portion of our products overseas and sell our products throughout the world. We cannot predict whether the United States or any other country will impose new quotas, tariffs, taxes or other trade barriers upon the importation or exportation of our products or supplies, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition. Competition and trade barriers in those countries could require us to reduce prices, increase spending on marketing or product development, withdraw or not enter certain markets or otherwise take actions adverse to us.

        In addition, our subsidiaries may require future equity-related financing, and any capital contributions to certain of our subsidiaries may require the approval of the relevant authorities in the jurisdiction in which the subsidiary is incorporated. Those approvals may be required from the investment commissions or similar agencies of the particular jurisdiction and relate to any initial or additional equity investment by foreign entities in local corporations.

        In all jurisdictions in which we operate, we are also subject to the laws and regulations that govern foreign investment and foreign trade, which may limit our ability to repatriate cash as dividends or otherwise.

Our business is highly competitive, and increased competition could reduce our sales, earnings and profitability.

        The markets in which our machines and other products are sold are extremely competitive and highly fragmented. In marketing our products, we compete primarily with other businesses on quality, reliability, price, value, delivery time, service and technological characteristics. We compete with a

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number of U.S., European and Asian competitors, many of which are larger, have greater financial and other resources and are supported by governmental or financial institution subsidies. Increased competition could force us to lower our prices or to offer additional product features or services at a higher cost to us, which could reduce our earnings.

        The greater financial resources or the lower amount of debt of certain of our competitors may enable them to commit larger amounts of capital in response to changing market conditions. Certain competitors may also have the ability to develop product innovations that could put us at a disadvantage. If we are unable to compete successfully against other manufacturers in our marketplace, we could lose customers, and our sales may decline. There can also be no assurance that customers will continue to regard our products favorably, that we will be able to develop new products that appeal to customers, that we will be able to improve or maintain our profit margins on sales to our customers or that we will be able to continue to compete successfully in our core markets. While we believe our product lines compete effectively in their markets, we may not continue to do so.

Acquisitions could disrupt our operations and harm our operating results.

        We may elect to increase our product offerings and the markets we serve through acquisitions of other companies, product lines, technologies and personnel. Acquisitions involve numerous risks, including the following:

•

Difficulties in integrating the operations, technologies, products and personnel of the acquired companies;



•

Diversion of management's attention from normal daily operations of the business;



•

Potential difficulties in completing projects associated with in-process research and development;



•

Difficulties in entering markets in which we have no or limited direct prior experience and where competitors in such markets have stronger market positions;



•

Initial dependence on unfamiliar supply chains or relatively small supply partners;



•

Difficulties in predicting market demand for acquired products and technologies and the resultant risk of acquiring excess or obsolete inventory;



•

Insufficient revenues to offset increased expenses associated with acquisitions; and



•

The potential loss of key employees of the acquired companies.

        Acquisitions may also cause us to:

•

Issue common stock that would dilute our current shareholders' percentage ownership;



•

Increase our level of indebtedness;



•

Assume liabilities;



•

Record goodwill and non-amortizable intangible assets that will be subject to impairment testing on a regular basis and potential periodic impairment charges;



•

Incur amortization expenses related to certain intangible assets;



•

Incur large and immediate write-offs and restructuring and other related expenses; and



•

Become subject to litigation.

        Acquisitions are inherently risky, and no assurance can be given that our future acquisitions will be successful and will not materially adversely affect our business, operating results or financial condition. Failure to manage and successfully integrate acquisitions we make could harm our business and

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operating results in a material way. Prior acquisitions have resulted in a wide range of outcomes, from successful introduction of new products, technologies, facilities and personnel to an inability to do so. Even when an acquired business has already developed and marketed products, there can be no assurance that product enhancements will be made in a timely fashion or that pre-acquisition due diligence will have identified all possible issues that might arise with respect to such products.

If we are unable to access additional capital on favorable terms, our liquidity, business and results of operations could be adversely affected.

        The ability to raise financial capital, either in public or private markets or through commercial banks, is critical to our current business and future growth. Our business is generally working capital intensive requiring a long cash-out to cash-in cycle. In addition, we will rely on the availability of longer-term debt financing or equity financing to make investments in new opportunities. Our access to the financial markets could be adversely impacted by various factors including the following:

•

Changes in credit markets that reduce available credit or the ability to renew existing facilities on acceptable terms;



•

A deterioration in our financial condition that would violate current covenants or prohibit us from obtaining additional capital from banks, financial institutions, or investors;



•

Extreme volatility in credit markets that increase margin or credit requirements; and



•

Volatility in our results that would substantially increase the cost of our capital.

We are subject to significant foreign exchange and currency risks that could adversely affect our operations and our ability to reinvest earnings from operations.

        Our international operations generate sales in a number of foreign currencies including Swiss Francs, Chinese Renminbi, British Pound Sterling, Canadian Dollars, New Taiwanese Dollars, and Euros. Therefore, our results of operations and financial condition are affected by fluctuations in exchange rates between these currencies and the U.S. dollar. In addition, our purchases of components in Yen, Euros, New Taiwan Dollars, Swiss Francs, and Chinese Renminbi are affected by inter-currency fluctuations in exchange rates.

        We prepare our financial statements in U.S. Dollars in accordance with U.S. GAAP, but a sizable portion of our revenue and operating expenses are in foreign currencies. As a result, we are subject to significant risks, including:

•

Foreign exchange risks resulting from changes in foreign exchange rates and the implementation of exchange controls; and



•

Limitations on our ability to reinvest earnings from operations in one country to fund the capital needs of our operations in other countries.

        Changes in exchange rates will result in increases or decreases in our costs and earnings, and may also affect the book value of our assets located outside of the United States and the amount of our invested equity. Although we may seek to decrease our currency exposure by engaging in hedges against significant transactions and balance sheet currency exposures where we deem it appropriate, we do not hedge against translation risks. We cannot assure you that any efforts to minimize our risk to currency movements will be successful. To the extent we sell our products in markets other than the market in which they are manufactured, currency fluctuations may result in our products becoming too expensive for customers in those markets.

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Prices of some raw materials, especially steel and iron, fluctuate, which can adversely affect our sales, costs, and profitability.

        We manufacture products with a relatively high iron castings or steel content, commodities for which worldwide prices fluctuate. The availability of and prices for these and other raw materials are subject to volatility due to worldwide supply and demand forces, speculative actions, inventory levels, exchange rates, production costs, and anticipated or perceived shortages. In some cases, those cost increases can be passed on to customers in the form of price increases; in other cases, they cannot. If raw material prices increase and we are not able to charge our customers higher prices to compensate, it would adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Our quarterly results may fluctuate based on customer delivery requirements.

        Our quarterly results are subject to significant fluctuation based on the timing of our shipments of machine tools, which are largely dependent upon customer delivery requirements. With individual machines priced as high as $1,500,000 and several machines frequently sold together as a package, a request by a customer to delay shipment at quarter end could significantly affect our quarterly results. Historically, we have experienced reduced activity during the third quarter of the year, largely as a result of vacations scheduled at our customers' plants and our policy of closing our U.S. and Swiss facilities for two weeks in July or August. As a result, exclusive of the impact of the economic downturn experienced during 2008 and 2009, our third-quarter net sales, income from operations, and net income typically have been the lowest of any quarter during the year.

Our expenditures for post-retirement pension obligations could be materially higher than we have predicted if our underlying assumptions prove to be incorrect or we are required to use different assumptions.

        We provide defined benefit pension plans to eligible employees. Our pension expense, the funding status of our plans and related charges in other comprehensive income, and our required contributions to our pension plans are directly affected by the value of plan assets, the projected rate of return on plan assets, the actual rate of return on plan assets and the actuarial assumptions we use to measure our defined benefit pension plan obligations, including the rate at which future obligations are discounted to a present value, or the discount rate.

        Our market-related value of assets recognizes asset losses and gains over a five-year period, which we believe is consistent with the long-term nature of our pension obligations. As a result, the effect of changes in the market value of assets on our pension expense may be experienced in future years rather than fully reflected in the expense for the year immediately following the year in which the fluctuations actually occurred.

        For the year ended December 31, 2009, the value of our Pension Plan Assets increased by $25.0 million due to increases in market value of the underlying assets as the world markets began to recover from the impacts the global economic recession had on the world financial markets and related investment valuations at the end of 2008. The future investment performance of our pension plan assets could significantly impact the plan assets and future growth of the plan assets. Should the assets earn a return less than the assumed rate of return over time, it is likely that future pension expenses and funding requirements would increase. Investment earnings in excess of the assumed rate of return may reduce future pension expenses and funding requirements.

        For our domestic and foreign plans, we use bond pricing models based on high grade corporate bonds in each market constructed to match the projected liability benefit payments to select the discount rates used to determine the present value of the projected and accumulated benefit obligation at the end of each year. A change in the discount rate would impact the funded status of our plans. An increase to the discount rate would reduce the pension liability and future pension expense and conversely, a lower discount rate would raise pension liability and the future pension expense.

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        To develop the expected long-term rate of return on assets assumption, for our domestic and foreign plans, we consider the current level of expected returns on risk free investments (primarily government bonds) in each market, the historical level of the risk premium associated with the other asset classes in which the portfolio is invested, and the expectations for future returns of each asset class. The expected return for each asset class is then weighted based on the asset allocation to develop the expected long-term rate of return on assets assumption.

        For pension accounting purposes in our U.S. based plan, which is the largest of our plans, the rate of return assumed on the market-related value of plan assets for determining pension expense was 8.00% for 2009 and 8.50% for 2008. The discount rate used for determining the obligation was 6.27% at December 31, 2009 compared to 6.60% at December 31, 2008.

        In our Swiss subsidiary, we have two defined benefit plans, which when taken as a whole are about as large as the U.S. defined benefit plan. The rate of return assumed on the market-related value of plan assets for determining pension expense on plan assets was 5.00% for 2009 and 5.25% for 2008. The discount rate used for determining the obligation was 3.5% at December 31, 2009 compared to 2.75% at December 31, 2008.

        Based on current guidelines, assumptions and estimates, including stock market prices and interest rates, we anticipate that we may be required to make a cash contribution of approximately $0.6 million to our U.S. pension plan in 2010 and approximately $2.2 million to the foreign plans in 2010. If our current assumptions and estimates are not correct, a contribution in years beyond 2010 may be more or less than the projected 2010 contribution.

        In addition, we cannot predict whether changing market or economic conditions, regulatory changes or other factors will increase our pension expenses or our funding obligations, diverting funds we would otherwise apply to other uses. At December 31, 2009, the excess of consolidated projected benefit obligations over plan assets was $20.2 million and the excess of consolidated accumulated benefit obligations over plan assets was $14.3 million.

        Employees hired by our U.S. operating company on or after March 1, 2004 are no longer eligible for the defined benefit plan. The United Kingdom's defined benefit plan was closed to new entrants in April 2005. These employees are provided a defined contribution plan instead.

        In May 2009, the Company announced that future accrual of benefits under its U.S. defined benefit pension plan would be suspended as of June 15, 2009 and Company contributions to the 401(k) program would be suspended as of the same date.

If we are unable to attract and retain skilled employees to work at our manufacturing facilities our operations and growth prospects would be adversely impacted.

        We conduct substantially all of our manufacturing operations in relatively small urban areas, with the exception of our Shanghai facility. Our continued success depends on our ability to attract and retain a skilled labor force at these locations. If we are not able to attract and retain the personnel we require, we may be unable to develop, manufacture and market our products and expand our operations in a manner that best exploits market opportunities and capitalizes on our investment in our business. This would materially adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition.

Due to future technological changes, changes in market demand, or changes in market expectations, portions of our inventory may become obsolete or excessive.

        The technology within our products change and generally new versions of machines are brought to market in three to five year cycles. The phasing out of an old product involves both estimating the amount of inventory to hold to satisfy the final demand for those machines as well as to satisfy future repair part needs. Based on changing customer demand and expectations of delivery times for repair

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parts, we may find that we have either obsolete or excess inventory on hand. Because of unforeseen changes in technology, market demand, or competition, we may have to write off unusable inventory at some time in the future, which may adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition. In 2009, we recorded a $5.0 million inventory write-down related to the strategic decision to cease manufacturing of non-critical parts and certain machine models in our Elmira, NY facility. In 2008, we recorded $7.6 million in inventory write-downs associated with discontinued product lines and the review of other expected inventory usage patterns.

Major changes in the economic situation of our customer base could require us to write off significant parts of our receivables from customers.

        In difficult economic periods, our customers lose work and find it difficult if not impossible to pay for products purchased from us. Although appropriate credit reviews are done at the time of sale, rapidly changing economic conditions can have sudden impacts on customers' ability to pay. We run the risk of bad debt on existing time payment contracts and open accounts. If we write off significant parts of our customer accounts or notes receivable because of unforeseen changes in their business condition, it would adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition, and cash flows.

If we suffer loss to our factories, facilities or distribution system due to catastrophe, our operations could be seriously harmed.

        Our factories, facilities and distribution system are subject to catastrophic loss due to fire, flood, terrorism or other natural or man-made disasters. In particular, several of our facilities could be subject to a catastrophic loss caused by earthquake due to their locations. Our facilities in Southeast Asia are located in areas with above average seismic activity. If any of our facilities were to experience a catastrophic loss, it could disrupt our operations, delay production, shipments and revenue and result in large expenses to repair or replace the facility.

We rely in part on independent distributors and the loss of these distributors could adversely affect our business.

        In addition to our direct sales force, we depend on the services of independent distributors and agents to sell our products and provide service and aftermarket support to our customers. We support an extensive distributor and agent network worldwide. In 2009, approximately 70% of our sales were through distributors and agents. In December 2009, we reorganized our U.S. distribution from a joint distributor network and direct sales force to a new group of distributors. Rather than serving as passive conduits for delivery of product, many of our distributors are active participants in the sale and support of our products. Many of the distributors with whom we transact business offer competitive products and services to our customers. In addition, the distribution agreements we have are typically cancelable by the distributor after a relatively short notice period. The loss of a substantial number of our distributors or an increase in the distributors' sales of our competitors' products to our customers could reduce our sales and profits.

We rely on estimated forecasts of our customers' needs and inaccuracies in such forecasts could adversely affect our business.

        We generally sell our products pursuant to individual purchase orders instead of long-term purchase commitments. Therefore, we rely on estimated demand forecasts, based upon input from our customers and the general economic environment, to determine how much material to purchase and product to manufacture. Because our sales are based on purchase orders, our customers may cancel, delay or otherwise modify their purchase commitments with little or no consequence to them and with little or no notice to us. For these reasons, we generally have limited visibility regarding our customers' actual product needs. The quantities or timing required by our customers for our products could vary

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significantly. Whether in response to changes affecting the industry or a customer's specific business pressures, any cancellation, delay or other modification in our customers' orders could significantly reduce our revenue, cause our operating results to fluctuate from period to period and make it more difficult for us to predict our revenue. In the event of a cancellation or reduction of a customer order, we may not have enough time to reduce inventory purchases or labor hired to minimize the effect of the lost revenue on our business. During 2009 and 2008, orders and related sales were impacted by order cancellations of $7.3 million and $8.8 million, respectively, primarily due to the global economic conditions.

We could face potential product liability claims relating to products we manufacture, which could result in us having to expend significant time and expense to defend these claims and to pay material settlement amounts.

        We face a business risk of exposure to product liability claims in the event that the use of our products is alleged to have resulted in injury or other adverse effects. We currently maintain product liability insurance coverage; however, we may not be able to obtain such insurance on acceptable terms in the future, if at all, or obtain insurance that will provide adequate coverage against potential claims. Product liability claims can be expensive to defend and can divert the attention of management and other personnel for long periods of time, regardless of the ultimate outcome. An unsuccessful product liability defense could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations or prospects. In addition, we believe our business depends on the strong brand reputation we have developed. In the event that our reputation is damaged, we may face difficulty in maintaining our pricing positions with respect to some of our products, which would reduce our sales and profitability.

Current employment laws or changes in employment laws could increase our costs and may adversely affect our business.

        Various federal, state and foreign labor laws govern the relationship with our employees and affect operating costs. These laws include minimum wage requirements, overtime, unemployment tax rates, workers' compensation rates, citizenship requirements and costs to terminate or layoff employees. Significant additional government-imposed increases in the following areas could materially affect our business, financial condition, operating results or cash flow:

•

minimum wages;



•

mandated health benefits;



•

paid leaves of absence;



•

mandatory severance payments; and



•

tax reporting.

We are subject to environmental laws that could impose significant costs on us and the failure to comply with such laws could subject us to sanctions and material fines and expenses.

        Our operations are subject to extensive federal, state, local and foreign laws and regulations relating to environmental matters.

        Certain environmental laws can impose joint and several liability for releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances upon certain statutorily defined parties regardless of fault or the lawfulness of the original activity or disposal. Activities at properties we own or previously owned and on adjacent areas have resulted in environmental impacts.

        In particular, our Elmira, New York manufacturing facility is located within the Kentucky Avenue Wellfield on the National Priorities List of hazardous waste sites designated for cleanup by the United

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States Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") because of groundwater contamination. The Kentucky Avenue Wellfield Site (the "Site") encompasses an area which includes sections of the Town of Horseheads and the Village of Elmira Heights in Chemung County, New York. In February 2006, the Company received a Special Notice Concerning a Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study ("RI/FS") for the Koppers Pond (the "Pond") portion of the Site. The EPA documented the release and threatened release of hazardous substances into the environment at the Site, including releases into and in the vicinity of the Pond. The hazardous substances, including metals and polychlorinated biphenyls, have been detected in sediments in the Pond.

        A substantial portion of the Pond is located on our property. Hardinge, along with Beazer East, Inc., the Village of Horseheads, the Town of Horseheads, the County of Chemung, CBS Corporation, and Toshiba America, Inc., the Potentially Responsible Parties (the PRPs") have agreed to voluntarily participate in the Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study ("RI/FS") by signing an Administrative Settlement Agreement and Order of Consent on September 29, 2006. On September 29, 2006, the Director of Emergency and Remedial Response Division of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region II, approved and executed the Agreement on behalf of the EPA. The PRPs also signed a PRP Member Agreement, agreeing to share the cost of the RI/FS study on a per capita basis. The cost of the RI/FS was estimated to be approximately $0.84 million. We estimate our portion of the study to be $0.12 million for which we have established a reserve of $0.13 million. As of December 31, 2009 we have incurred total expenses of $0.10 million with respect to the study and other activities relating to the Site. In February 2010, we incurred an additional $0.02 million; thus our remaining reserve balance is $0.01 million.

        The PRPs developed a Draft RI/FS with their consultants and, following EPA comments, submitted a Revised RI/FS on December 6, 2007. In May 2008, the EPA approved the RI/FS Work Plan. The PRPs commenced field work in the spring of 2008 and submitted a Draft Site Characterization Report to EPA in the fall. The PRPs currently are performing Risk Assessments in accordance with the Remedial Investigation portion of the RI/FS.

        Until receipt of this Special Notice, Hardinge had never been named as a PRP at the Site nor had we received any requests for information from the EPA concerning the site. Environmental sampling on our property within this Site under supervision of regulatory authorities had identified off-site sources for such groundwater contamination and sediment contamination in the Pond and found no evidence that our operations or property have or are contributing to the contamination. Other than as described above, we have not established a reserve for any potential costs relating to this Site, as it is too early in the process to determine our responsibility as well as to estimate any potential costs to remediate. We have notified all appropriate insurance carriers and are actively cooperating with them, but whether coverage will be available has not yet been determined and possible insurance recovery cannot now be estimated with any degree of certainty.

        Although we believe, based upon information currently available, that, except as described in the preceding paragraphs, we will not have material liabilities for environmental remediation, it is possible that future remedial requirements or changes in the enforcement of existing laws and regulations, which are subject to extensive regulatory discretion, will result in material liabilities to Hardinge.

The loss of current members of our senior management team and other key personnel may adversely affect our operating results.

        The loss of senior management and other key personnel could impair our ability to carry out our business plan. We believe our future success will depend in part on our ability to attract and retain highly skilled and qualified personnel. The loss of senior management and other key personnel may adversely affect our operating results as we incur costs to replace the departing personnel and potentially lose opportunities in the transition of important job functions.

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If we fail to maintain an effective system of internal controls, we may not be able to report our financial results accurately or prevent fraud.

        Effective internal controls are necessary for us to provide reliable financial reports, to prevent fraud and to operate successfully as a publicly traded company. Our efforts to maintain an effective system of internal controls may not be successful, and we may be unable to maintain adequate controls over our financial processes and reporting in the future. Ineffective internal controls subject us to regulatory scrutiny and a loss of confidence in our reported financial information, which could have an adverse effect on our business and would likely have a negative effect on the trading price of our common stock.

Anti-takeover provisions in our charter documents, in our Rights Agreement and under New York law may discourage a third party from acquiring us.

        Certain provisions of our certificate of incorporation and bylaws may have the effect of discouraging a third party from making a proposal to acquire us and, as a result, may inhibit a change in control of the Company under circumstances that could give the shareholders the opportunity to realize a premium over the then-prevailing market price of our common shares. These include:

        A Staggered Board of Directors.    Our certificate of incorporation and bylaws provide that our Board of Directors, currently consisting of seven members, is divided into three classes of directors, with each class consisting of two or three directors, and with the classes serving staggered three-year terms. This classification of the directors has the effect of making it more difficult for shareholders, including those holding a majority of our outstanding shares, to force an immediate change in the composition of our Board of Directors.

        Removal of Directors and Filling of Vacancies.    Our certificate of incorporation provides that a member of our Board of Directors may be removed only for cause and upon the affirmative vote of the holders of 75% of the securities entitled to vote at an election of directors. Newly created directorships and Board of Director vacancies resulting from death, removal or other causes may be filled only by a majority vote of the then remaining directors. Accordingly, it is more difficult for shareholders, including those holding a majority of our outstanding shares, to force an immediate change in the composition of our Board of Directors.

        Supermajority Voting Provisions for Certain Business Combinations.    Our certificate of incorporation requires the affirmative vote of at least 75% of all of the securities entitled to vote and at least 75% of shareholders who are not Major Shareholders (defined as 10% beneficial holders) in order to effect certain mergers, sales of assets or other business combinations involving the Company. These provisions could have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a change of control of the Company.

        Also, on February 17, 2010, the Board of Directors adopted a Share Purchase Rights Plan. The Rights Agreement imposes a significant penalty upon any person or group which acquires 20% or more of the outstanding common stock of the Company without the approval of the Board of Directors. Although, the Rights Agreement should not interfere with any merger or other business combination approved by the Board of Directors, the existence of our Rights Agreement could have the effect of delaying or preventing a third party from making an acquisition proposal for us and may inhibit a change in control that some, or a majority, of our shareholders might believe to be in their best interest or that could give our shareholders the opportunity to realize a premium over the then-prevailing market prices for their shares.

        In addition, as a New York corporation we are subject to provisions of the New York Business Corporation Law which may make it more difficult for a third party to acquire and exercise control over us pursuant to a tender offer or request or invitation for tenders. These provisions could have the effect of deterring or delaying changes in incumbent management, proxy contests or changes in control.

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Item 1B.—UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS

        None.

ITEM 2.—PROPERTIES

        Pertinent information concerning the principal properties of the Company and its subsidiaries is as follows:

 

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ITEM 3.—LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

        The Company is from time to time involved in routine litigation incidental to its operations. None of the litigation in which we are currently involved, individually or in the aggregate, is anticipated to be material to our financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows.

        On October 28, 2008, a putative class-action lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of New York against the Company and certain former officers. This complaint, as amended, alleged that during the period from January 16, 2007 to February 21, 2008 the defendants made misleading statements and/or omissions relating to our business and operating results in violation of the Federal securities laws. On May 29, 2009, the Company filed a motion to dismiss the complaint. By a decision and order dated February 2, 2010, the Court dismissed the class action lawsuit. The plaintiff did not file a notice to appeal the Court's dismissal of the lawsuit, and the time to appeal has expired.

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PART II

ITEM 5.—MARKET FOR THE REGISTRANT'S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES

        The following table reflects the highest and lowest values at which the stock traded in each quarter of the last two years. Hardinge Inc. common stock trades on The NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol "HDNG." The table also includes dividends per share, by quarter.

        At March 9, 2010, there were 2,170 holders of common stock. This number includes both record holders and individual participants in security position listings.

Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

        There were no issuer repurchases of our common stock for the quarter ended December 31, 2009.

Share Repurchase Program

        At the February 19, 2008 Board of Directors meeting, the Board approved a share repurchase program for up to $10.0 million of our common stock to be purchased through February 28, 2010. As of December 31, 2009, we have repurchased 45,500 shares of our common stock at an average price of $12.72.

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Performance Graph

        The graph below compares the five-year cumulative total return for Hardinge Inc. Common Stock with the comparable returns for the NASDAQ Stock Market (U.S.) Index and a group of eight peer issuers. Our peer group includes Circor International Inc., Flow International Corp., Hurco Companies Inc., Kadant Inc., Kaydon Corp., Magnetek Inc., NN Inc., and Sun Hydraulics Corp. Cumulative total return represents the change in stock price and the amount of dividends received during the indicated period, assuming reinvestment of dividends. The graph assumes an investment of $100 on December 31, 2004. The stock performance shown in the graph is included in response to SEC requirements and is not intended to forecast or to be indicative of future performance.

COMPARISON OF 5 YEAR CUMULATIVE TOTAL RETURN*
Among Hardinge Inc., The NASDAQ Composite Index
And A Peer Group

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*

$100 invested on 12/31/04 in stock or index, including reinvestment of dividends.

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ITEM 6.—SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA

        The following selected financial data is derived from the audited consolidated financial statements of the Company. The data should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements, related notes and other information included herein (dollar amounts in thousands except per share data).

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(1)

2009 results include a non-cash charge for impairment of $1.7 million associated with certain machinery and equipment formerly utilized in the manufacture of non-critical parts in our Elmira, NY facility. 2008 results include a non-cash charge for impairment of goodwill and intangible assets of $24.3 million due to the diminished value of goodwill and intangible assets in our Canadian, English, and Swiss entities.

(2)

We adopted the provisions of ASC 260 on January 1, 2009, which establishes that unvested share-based payment awards that contain non-forfeitable rights to dividends (whether paid or unpaid) are participating securities and shall be included in the computation of earnings per share pursuant to the two-class method. The adoption of these provisions resulted in an increase in (loss) per share of $0.01 in 2008, and a reduction in income per share of $0.02 in 2007, $0.01 in 2006 and $0.01 in 2005. Diluted (loss) per share was impacted by an increase in (loss) per share of $0.01 in 2008, and a reduction in income per share of $0.01 in 2007 and $0.01 in 2006.

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ITEM 7.—MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

        Overview.    Our primary business is designing, manufacturing, and distributing high-precision computer controlled metal-cutting turning, grinding and milling machines and related accessories. We are geographically diversified with manufacturing facilities in the U.S., Switzerland, Taiwan, and China and with sales to most industrialized countries. Approximately 70% of our 2009 sales were to customers outside of North America, 69% of our 2009 products sold were manufactured outside of North America, and 66% of our employees were outside of North America.

        Our machine products are considered to be capital goods and are part of what has historically been a highly cyclical industry. Our management believes that a key performance indicator is our order level as compared to industry measures of market activity levels.

        The global economic recession, which began in 2008, continued to impact the industries in which we conduct business throughout 2009. The reduced availability of credit has impacted our customers' ability to obtain financing. As a result, we continued to experience order cancellations and low levels of incoming orders and related sales activity during the year. Due to these conditions, management continually assessed and implemented cost reduction initiatives throughout the Company to preserve cash flow.

        Beginning in late 2008, and during 2009, the Company implemented a series of actions in response to the continued weakness in the machine tool industry. These actions included: a Voluntary Early Retirement Program (VERP) covering post-retirement health care costs for 60 months or until Medicare coverage begins, whichever occurs first; voluntary and involuntary lay-offs as well as workforce reductions at our U.S. and European operations; a pay reduction for all U.S. based salaried employees, including a reduction for corporate officers in the amount of 10%; a reduction to the Board of Directors' cash compensation of 10%; suspension of the accrual of benefits for active employees under the U.S. defined benefit pension plan (which was closed to new participants in 2004), and suspension of Company contributions to the 401(k) program as of June 15, 2009; furloughs of employees and reduced work schedules. The Company also closed its Exeter, England facility, which was used primarily for back office support operations, and consolidated the operations into its Leicester, England facility. The consolidation with the Leicester facility provides operational efficiencies, as well as cost savings.

        During the second half of 2009, the Company announced strategic changes within the Elmira, NY manufacturing facility. Historically, this facility was vertically integrated with machining operations converting parts from raw castings to finished goods, the costs of which have proven to be prohibitive at 2009 volumes. As a result, the Company implemented initiatives to move towards a more variable cost business model, outsourcing many of the non-critical components and subassemblies for machines currently made in the Elmira facility. In conjunction with the decision to outsource non-critical components, significant sections of the Elmira manufacturing operation involved in parts production have been shut down. Along with this shut down, we identified assets with a historical cost of $37.9 million and a net book value of $1.9 million that will no longer be used in its operations, of which assets with a historical cost of $15.0 million and a net book value of $1.1 million were determined to have no value and were disposed of resulting in a $1.1 million impairment charge. We reclassified assets with a historical cost of $22.9 million and a net book value of $0.8 million as available for sale with a value of $0.2 million and thus recorded an impairment charge of $0.6 million during 2009. This charge was determined by an analysis of current book value and the related assets fair value, if any, less costs to sell.

        Total severance related charges for all of the actions taken by the Company for the year ended December 31, 2009 were $4.3 million. These charges were recorded in SG&A in our Statement of Operations. At December 31, 2009, the remaining liability associated with the severance related charges

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was $3.1 million. The Company recorded a charge of $5.0 million for inventory write-downs during 2009 as a result of these strategic actions, which was recorded in cost of goods sold in our Statement of Operations.

        The U.S. market activity metrics most closely watched by our management are: reporting of metal-cutting machine orders as reported by the Association of Manufacturing Technology (AMT), the primary industry group for U.S. machine tool manufacturers; and machine tool consumption as reported annually by Gardner Publications in the Metalworking Insiders Report. In 2009, industry-wide orders for metal-cutting machine tools reported by the AMT declined 60.4% versus 2008. The 2009 decrease was primarily related to the sharp decline in world-wide order activity brought on by the global economic conditions. In 2008 orders decreased by 0.3% over 2007. The AMT's statistics are reported on a voluntary basis from member companies. The report includes metal-cutting machines of all types and sizes, including segments in which we do not compete.

        World machine tool consumption data (domestic production plus imports, less exports) as reported by the Metalworking Insiders Report, an annual report on machine-tool output and consumption, shows a decrease in consumption of 33% in 2009 due to the worldwide economic conditions. This report indicates that consumption in China, the world's largest market, remained stable over the course of 2009 versus 2008, and increased by 11% in 2008 versus 2007. Consumption in Germany, the world's second largest market, decreased by 41% in 2009 versus 2008 as measured in local currencies, and increased 25% in 2008 compared to 2007. In the United Kingdom, machine tool consumption measured in pound sterling decreased by 40% in 2009 versus 2008 and increased by 16% in 2008 versus 2007. Machine tool consumption in the U.S. decreased by 51% in 2009 versus 2008 and increased by 15% in 2008 compared to 2007.

        Other closely followed U.S. market indicators are tracked to determine activity levels in U.S. manufacturing plants that might purchase our products. One such measurement is the PMI (formerly called the Purchasing Manager's Index), as reported by the Institute for Supply Management. Another measurement is capacity utilization of U.S. manufacturing plants, as reported by the Federal Reserve Board. Similar information regarding machine tool consumption in foreign countries is published in various trade journals.

        Non-machine sales, which include collets, accessories, repair parts, and service revenue, have typically accounted for approximately 26% of overall sales and are an important part of our business, especially in the U.S. where Hardinge has an installed base of thousands of machines. Sales of these products do not vary on a year-to-year basis as significantly as capital goods, but demand does typically track the direction of the related machine metrics.

        Other key performance indicators are geographic distribution of net sales and orders, gross profit as a percent of net sales, income from operations, working capital changes, and debt level trends. In an industry where constant product technology development has led to an average model life of three to five years, effectiveness of technological innovation and development of new products are also key performance indicators.

        We are exposed to financial market risk resulting from changes in interest and foreign currency rates. The current global recessionary conditions and related disruptions within the financial markets have also increased our exposure to the possible liquidity and credit risks of our counterparties. We believe we have sufficient liquidity to fund our foreseeable business needs, including cash and cash equivalents, cash flows from operations, and our bank financing arrangements.

        We monitor the third-party depository institutions that hold our cash and equivalents. Our emphasis is primarily on safety of principal. Our cash and equivalents are diversified among counterparties to minimize exposure to any one of these entities.

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        We are also subject to credit risks relating to the ability of counterparties of hedging transactions to meet their contractual payment obligations. The risks related to creditworthiness and nonperformance has been considered in the fair value measurements of our foreign currency forward exchange contracts.

        We also expect that some of our customers and vendors may experience difficulty in maintaining the liquidity required to buy inventory or raw materials. We continue to monitor our customers' financial condition in order to mitigate our accounts receivable collectability risks.

        Foreign currency exchange rate changes can be significant to reported results for several reasons. Our primary competitors, particularly for the most technologically advanced products, are now largely manufacturers in Japan, Germany, Switzerland, Korea, and Taiwan which causes the worldwide valuation of the Japanese Yen, Euro, Swiss Franc, South Korean Won, and New Taiwanese Dollar to be central to competitive pricing in all of our markets. Also, we translate the results of our Swiss, Taiwanese, Chinese, British, German, Dutch and Canadian subsidiaries into U.S. Dollars for consolidation and reporting purposes. Period to period changes in the exchange rate between their local currency and the U.S. Dollar may affect comparative data significantly. We also purchase computer controls and other components from suppliers throughout the world, with purchase costs reflecting currency changes.

        In March 2009, after using cash on hand generated from operating results to reduce the outstanding obligations under our $100.0 million multi-currency secured credit facility to $8.0 million, the facility was terminated. We took a non-cash charge of $1.0 million in the first quarter of 2009 related to the unamortized deferred financing costs in connection with this termination.

        On March 16, 2009, we entered into an agreement with a bank for a 366 day $10.0 million term loan due on March 16, 2010. This term loan replaced the $100.0 million multi-currency secured credit facility.

        In December 2009, we replaced the $10.0 million term loan due March 16, 2010 with a $10.0 million revolving credit facility due March 31, 2011. Simultaneous with closing the new credit agreement, the Company used cash on hand generated from operating results to repay the $8.4 million that was outstanding under the $10.0 million term loan. There are no amounts outstanding under this credit facility as of December 31, 2009.

        During August 2009, we entered into two new credit facilities at our Swiss subsidiary. These new facilities provide a working capital line of credit up to CHF 5.0 million ($4.8 million equivalent) and up to CHF 7.5 million ($7.2 million equivalent) for guarantees, documentary credit and margin cover for foreign exchange trades.

        In October 2009, we entered into a new CHF 7.0 million ($6.8 million equivalent) credit facility in our Swiss subsidiary. This new facility provides a working capital line of credit up to CHF 3.0 million ($2.9 million equivalent) and up to CHF 7.0 million ($6.8 million equivalent) for guarantees, documentary credit and margin cover for foreign exchange trades. Additionally, in October 2009, we entered into a NT$100.0 million ($3.1 million equivalent) unsecured credit facility in our Taiwanese subsidiary. This new facility is for working capital purposes.

        Refer to Liquidity and Capital Resources for further details on all of the above credit facilities.

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Results of Operations

2009 Compared to 2008

        The following table summarizes certain financial data for year 2009 and 2008:

        Orders.    Orders, net of cancellations for 2009 were $175.0 million, a decrease of $166.1 million or 49% compared to 2008 orders of $341.2 million. Order cancellations for 2009 and 2008 were $7.3 million and $8.8 million, respectively. The year over year decrease in orders, and the order cancellation activity is directly related to the global economic recession and related financial crisis which has affected all of the regions and product lines in which we conduct business, and is generally consistent with overall industry statistics. The following table presents 2009 and 2008 new orders by region:

        Currency exchange rates had an unfavorable impact on new orders of approximately $2.8 million for the year 2009 compared to 2008. Without the currency impact, new orders for the year would have decreased $163.3 million or 48% compared to 2008.

        North American orders decreased $50.7 million or 49% compared to the prior year. The decline in North American orders can be attributed to the global economic recession and related financial crisis. Decreases were noted across all of our product lines.

        European orders decreased by $106.1 million or 68% for the year 2009 compared to 2008. Decreases were noted across all of our product lines and all of the countries within Europe, and as with North America, were primarily the result of the global economic recession and related financial crisis. The decrease over 2008 was also driven by unfavorable foreign currency translation on European orders of approximately $3.1 million for the year.

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        Asia & Other order activity decreased $9.4 million or 11% compared to 2008. The decrease was noted across all of our product lines and countries, with the exception of China. Our China market experienced an increase of $5.0 million or 8.9% for the year 2009 compared to 2008. The increase in order activity in China was attributed to two large orders totaling approximately $5.6 million from the computer, communications and consumer-electronics industry. The impact of foreign currency translation on Asia and Other orders for the year ended December 31, 2009 compared to the same periods in the prior year was not material.

        Net Sales.    Net sales for 2009 were $214.1 million, a $130.9 million or a 38% decline compared to 2008 net sales of $345.0 million. Net sales for the year were down in all regions and countries with the exception of China, which was flat compared to 2008. On a full year basis, net sales were unfavorably impacted by approximately $5.9 million related to foreign currency translation. Without the currency impact, sales for the year would have declined $125.0 million or 36% compared to 2008. 2009 sales benefited from $96.9 million in order backlog at December 31, 2008, which was generated before the financial crisis began. The following table presents 2009 and 2008 sales by region:

        The geographic mix of sales as a percentage of total net sales is shown in the table below:

        Machine sales represented approximately 74% of 2009 and 2008 net sales. Sales of non-machine products and services, primarily workholding, repair parts, and accessories made up the balance.

        Gross Profit.    Gross profit was $40.8 million or 19.1% of net sales in 2009, compared to $92.3 million, or 26.7% of net sales in 2008. The reduction in gross profit due to the $130.9 million reduced sales volume was $35.0 million. 2009 gross profit was also negatively impacted by approximately $11.9 million as a result of significantly reduced margins as we discounted machines to reduce inventory levels, sometimes below cost, as well as approximately $4.6 million related to lower capacity utilization in the U.S. and Taiwan. 2009 gross profit was negatively impacted by a $0.5 million year over year increase in inventory write-down charges. This increase in the inventory write-down charge over 2008 is primarily due to the discontinuance of production of non-critical manufacturing parts and certain machines in our Elmira, NY facility, as well as lower of cost or market write-downs on machines due to competitive pressures related to the worldwide economic crisis offset by 2008 charges related to the discontinuance of certain product lines. The decrease over 2008 was also negatively impacted by foreign currency translation of approximately $1.5 million for the year.

        Selling, General, and Administrative Expense.    Selling, general and administrative ("SG&A") expense for the year 2009 was $68.6 million, or 32.0% of net sales, compared to $97.8 million, or 28.3% of net sales, in 2008. 2009 SG&A expense was negatively impacted by $4.3 million related to severance

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expense and early retirement costs associated with the discontinuance of manufacturing non-critical parts and certain machine models in the Elmira, NY facility as well as workforce reductions in Europe. 2008 SG&A expense was negatively impacted by $2.3 million related to severance expense in the U.S. and Europe and $1.0 million related to a U.S. voluntary early retirement program. In addition to the severance, and early retirement costs, 2008 SG&A expense included approximately $1.9 million due to foreign currency transaction losses associated with our New Taiwanese Dollar—U.S. Dollar exposure. Severance expense for both 2009 and 2008 was a result of workforce reduction programs we implemented in all of our subsidiaries with the exception of China as a result of the global economic crisis. Excluding these costs, SG&A for the year ended December 31, 2009 was $64.3 million or 30.0% of sales, a decrease of $28.3 million or 30.6% compared to the same period in 2008. This decrease was driven by the impact of lower commissions and strategic actions taken by the Company to manage operating expenses as a result of the current order and sales activity levels. We had a favorable foreign currency translation impact of approximately $3.0 million for the year 2009, as compared to 2008.

        Impairment Charge.    We recorded non-cash impairment charges of $1.7 million in 2009 related to machinery and equipment and $24.4 million in 2008 related to goodwill and intangible assets. In December 2009, as a result of the Company's decision to outsource non-critical components, significant sections of the Elmira manufacturing operation involved in parts production were shut down. In conjunction with this shut down, we identified assets with a historical cost of $37.9 million and a net book value of $1.9 million that will no longer be used in its operations, of which assets with a historical cost of $15.0 million and a net book value of $1.1 million were determined to have no value and disposed of resulting in a $1.1 million impairment charge. We reclassified assets with a historical cost of $22.9 million and a net book value of $0.8 million as available for sale at $0.2 million and recorded an impairment charge of $0.6 million during 2009. This charge was determined by an analysis of current book value and the related assets fair value, if any, less costs to sell. In October of 2008, based on a comprehensive market evaluation, the Company determined that its model of doing business in Canada did not provide adequate returns, which triggered a review of the goodwill. The Company recorded a non-cash charge of $2.7 million in 2008, to reflect the diminished value of goodwill of $2.1 million and $0.6 million of intangible assets associated with our Canadian operation. Our 2008 annual impairment testing for recorded goodwill and indefinite lived intangible assets determined that all of our goodwill was impaired, thus we recorded a $21.7 million impairment charge.

        (Loss) from Operations.    Loss from operations in 2009 was ($29.7) million compared to ($29.8) million in 2008. The 2009 loss can primarily be attributed to the $130.9 million reduction in net sales compared to 2008. These decreases were primarily the result of the global economic crisis. While the Company aggressively reacted to this severe business downturn through restructuring activities in North America and Europe, the full impact of the reduction was not eliminated during 2009. As a result of the restructuring activities we recorded an inventory write-down of $5.0 million resulting from discontinued production of non-critical manufacturing parts and certain machines in our Elmira, NY facility, a severance charge of $4.3 million and $1.7 million due to impairment of machinery and equipment in the Elmira, NY facility. Additionally, during the last half of 2009, the Company, like many machine tool manufacturers, began discounting machines in order to liquidate inventory resulting in machines being sold at below costs in some cases. Also as a result of this discounting we recorded a lower of cost or market charge of $1.5 million for machines remaining in inventory.

        The 2008 loss was due to: the goodwill and intangible asset impairment charges of $24.4 million; $7.6 million in impairment charges associated with the discontinuance of certain product lines and other expected inventory usage patterns; and $3.2 million related to severance charges associated with our restructuring activities.

        (Loss) Gain on Sale of Assets.    The 2009 loss on sale of assets is related to asset disposals in North America and Europe as a result of the Company's restructuring activities.

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        Interest Expense & Interest Income.    Interest expense includes interest payments under our credit facilities and amortization of deferred financing costs associated with our credit facility. Interest expense for the year 2009 was $1.9 million compared to $1.7 million for 2008. The increase is attributable to $1.0 million of unamortized deferred financing costs related to the termination of the multi-currency credit facility in 2009, offset by lower levels of borrowing in the current year. Interest income was $0.1 million in 2009 compared to $0.3 million in 2008.

        Income Tax Expense.    Income tax expense in 2009 was $1.8 million compared to $3.0 million for 2008. The effective tax rate was 5.9% in 2009 and 9.8% in 2008. The decrease in the effective tax rate from 2008 was due primarily to the non-recurring goodwill impairment charges, which were non-deductible, resulting in a significant negative impact of 16.0% in 2008. Other items that negatively affected the 2009 tax rate included an increase in our valuation allowance due to not recording a tax benefit on losses in the U.S., U.K., German, Canadian, and Netherlands operations, a net increase in our liability for uncertain tax benefits due to foreign tax positions and liabilities, as well as a change in the mix of profits by country. The income tax expense fundamentally represents tax expense on profits in certain of the Company's foreign subsidiaries.

        We continue to maintain a full valuation allowance on the tax benefits of our U.S. net deferred tax assets and we expect to continue to record a full valuation allowance on future tax benefits until an appropriate level of profitability in the U.S. is sustained. We also maintain a valuation allowance on our U.K., German, Canadian, and Dutch deferred tax assets related to tax loss carryforwards in those jurisdictions, as well as all other deferred tax assets of those entities.

        In 2009, the valuation allowance increased by $8.4 million. This was due to an increase of $11.2 million due to not recording a tax benefit on losses in the U.S., U.K., Germany, Canada, and the Netherlands, a decrease of $3.3 million due to the decrease in minimum pension liabilities in the U.S. and the U.K. (recorded in Other Comprehensive Income), and an increase of $0.5 million due to derecognition of uncertain tax positions.

        We regularly review recent results and projected future results of operations, as well as other relevant factors, to reconfirm the likelihood that existing deferred tax assets in each tax jurisdiction would be fully recoverable.

        Net (Loss) Income.    Net loss for 2009 was ($33.3) million or (15.6%) of net sales, compared to ($34.3) million net loss, or (9.9%) of net sales in 2008. Basic and diluted loss per share for 2009 were ($2.93) compared to basic and diluted loss per share of ($3.04) in 2008.

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Results of Operations

2008 Compared to 2007

        The following table summarizes certain financial data for 2008 and 2007:

        Net Sales.    Net sales for 2008 were $345.0 million, an $11.3 million or 3% decline compared to 2007 net sales of $356.3 million. Net sales for the year increased in Asia and Other offset by declines in Europe and North America. On a full year basis, net sales were favorably impacted by approximately $14.5 million in foreign currency translation. Without the currency impact, sales for the year would have declined $25.8 million or 7% compared to 2007.

        The following table presents 2008 and 2007 sales by region:

        The decline in net sales for the year was primarily the result of the global economic and financial crisis which began late in the third quarter of 2008. For the year, net sales declined in Milling and Turning Products 7% and 20%, respectively, which was offset by a 19% increase in Grinding Products, with 'Asia and Other' representing the strongest overall market. For 2008, approximately 69% of total net sales were to customers outside of North America.

        The geographic mix of sales as a percentage of total net sales is shown in the table below:

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