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UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

  For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2003

OR

  For the transition period from                      to                     

Commission File Number 0-25996

TRANSWITCH CORPORATION

(Exact name of Registrant as Specified in its Charter)

Three Enterprise Drive Shelton, Connecticut 06484

(Address of principal executive offices, including zip code)

Telephone (203) 929-8810

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

None

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

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

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of Registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K.  ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant is an accelerated filer (as defined in Exchange Act Rule 12b-2).    Yes  x    No  ¨

The aggregate market value of the outstanding common stock, other than shares held by persons who may be deemed affiliates of the Registrant, as of the last business day of the Registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter was approximately $122.2 million. At February 25, 2004, as reported on the Nasdaq National Market, there were 91,041,156 shares of common stock, par value $.001 per share, of the Registrant outstanding.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

Parts of the following document are incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K Report:

(1) Proxy Statement for the Registrant’s 2004 Annual Meeting of Shareholders—Items 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14.

Item 1. Business.

The following description of our business should be read in conjunction with the information included elsewhere in this document. The description contains certain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. When used in this document, the words “intend”, “anticipate”, “believe”, “estimate”, “plan”, and “expect” and similar expressions as they relate to us are included to identify forward-looking statements. Our actual results could differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements as a result of risk factors set forth elsewhere in this document. See also, “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and “Factors That May Affect Future Results.”

General

TranSwitch is a Delaware corporation incorporated on April 26, 1988. We design, develop and market highly integrated semiconductor devices, also referred to as very large scale integration (VLSI) devices, that provide core functionality in voice and data communications network equipment deployed in the global communications network infrastructure. In addition to their high degree of functionality, our products incorporate digital and mixed-signal (analog and digital) processing capabilities, providing comprehensive system-on-a-chip (SOC) solutions to our customers.

Our products are compliant with relevant communications network standards including Asynchronous/Plesiochronous Digital Hierarchy (Asynchronous/PDH), Synchronous Optical Network/Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SONET/SDH), Ethernet and Asynchronous Transfer Mode/Internet Protocol (ATM/IP). We offer several products that combine multi-protocol capabilities on a single chip, enabling our customers to develop network equipment for multi-service (voice, data and video) applications. A key attribute of our products is their inherent flexibility. Many of our products incorporate embedded programmable micro-processors, enabling us to rapidly accommodate new customer requirements or evolving network standards by modifying a function of the device via software instruction.

We bring value to our customers through our communications systems expertise, VLSI design skills and commitment to excellence in customer support. Our emphasis on technical innovation and complete reference solutions enables us to define and develop products that permit our customers to achieve faster time-to-market, and to produce communications systems that offer a host of benefits such as greater functionality, improved performance, lower power dissipation, reduced system size and cost and greater reliability for their customers.

Our principal customers are the telecommunications and data communications equipment Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) that serve three market segments:

We have sold our VLSI devices to more than 400 customers worldwide since shipping our first product in 1990. Our products are sold through a worldwide direct sales force and a worldwide network of independent distributors and sales representatives.

Industry Background

State of the Market

After the severe downturn in the global telecommunication market in 2001 and 2002, the market showed signs of stability and mild recovery in the latter part of 2003. Communication service providers, internet service providers, regional Bell operating companies and interexchange carriers continue to closely monitor their capital

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expenditures. Spending on voice-only equipment is still slow while spending on equipment providing the efficient transport of data services on existing infrastructure appears to be slowly recovering. Demand for new, high bandwidth applications such as video conferencing, broadband audio and telephone is placing an increased burden on existing WANs.

We are heavily focused on two means of efficiently transporting data across the existing WAN infrastructure: Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) and Ethernet over SONET/SDH (EoS). Throughout the downturn from 2001 to 2003, the demand for DSL installations was sustained at an average of 6 million lines per quarter on a worldwide basis. With the advent of new technologies such as Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line 2+ (ADSL2+) and Very high data rate Digital Subscriber Line (VDSL) that allow greater bandwidth over larger distances, network equipment deployed in the field will need to be upgraded to provide these services.

Ethernet over SONET/SDH is another means of efficiently transporting Ethernet services over existing SONET/SDH networks eliminating the need for massive overlay networks. This is a new growth market for communication service providers and OEMs alike.

The Role of Communications Standards

In an effort to provide interoperability among communication networks and equipment, the communications industry has established numerous standards and protocols that address connectivity issues between networks and network equipment. Communication standards protocols for transmission of information such as voice, high speed data or video over electrical, optical or wireless media have been implemented to ensure that equipment from different manufacturers and the various public and private networks can communicate with each other reliably and efficiently. The VLSI devices supplied by us conform to these standards.

SONET and SDH standards were defined for efficient and reliable transport of information over optical fiber. SONET is primarily a North American standard, while SDH is its international counterpart. Introduced in the late 1980s, SONET and SDH were initially employed primarily for the transport of voice traffic in telephone networks. Prior to the introduction of the SONET/SDH standards, Asynchronous/PDH standards were in use for transmission over metallic cables, radio and optical fiber. ATM is a higher level standard that enables public networks, Internet, WAN and local area network (LAN) systems designers to provide a mix of services to network users. ATM allows communication service providers to reduce the impact of network congestion, assure quality of service and to provide mixed high-speed and high-volume data communications, voice, video and imaging services. This ability allows the communication service providers to generate more revenue by offering more services to their customers.

IP is another standard that allows packets or frames of data to be forwarded, transmitted, and routed between networks. In the access networks, IP packets are carried over ATM, where ATM serves as a transport layer for IP packets (i.e. DSL).

Recently, industry standards have emerged for carrying Ethernet over SONET/SDH. Ethernet is a protocol that is used throughout LANs. Increased requirements for connectivity between corporate LANs and WANs are driving the need for bridging Ethernet protocol over the public network. Communication service providers are beginning to deploy Ethernet services because it represents additional revenue opportunities and it is a relatively efficient way to handle increasing amounts of data moving from the LAN to the WAN and then from the WAN to another LAN.

Communications Semiconductors

In order to deploy new infrastructures and transmission protocols, communication service providers are demanding improved time to market of cost-effective, differentiated products from OEMs. The complexity of the equipment, increasing cost pressures and the need for high reliability and standards compliance mandate the use of VLSI devices incorporating a high degree of functionality. OEMs recognize that, similar to the trend

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experienced in the computer industry, the functionality incorporated into VLSI devices is contributing an increasing share of the intellectual property and the value of network equipment. The design of VLSI devices contained in SONET/SDH, Asynchronous/PDH and ATM/IP equipment requires specialized expertise in mixed-signal semiconductor design and implementation, in-depth knowledge of telecommunications and data communications standards and systems engineering expertise. Expertise in mixed-signal device design is relatively uncommon, and, as a result, OEMs needing these capabilities often seek independent semiconductor vendors. However, many semiconductor vendors lack the communications industry knowledge and experience, as well as familiarity with the standards, to be able to contribute significant value to the OEMs’ systems designs. Consequently, OEMs require a semiconductor vendor that understands their markets and the applicable standards and is able to provide a broad range of cost-effective semiconductor devices. One of our core competencies is our understanding of these standards and protocols and our experience in designing these specialized VLSI products.

Our Products and their Applications

We supply high-speed, broadband VLSI semiconductor devices to network systems OEMs that serve three market segments: the worldwide public network infrastructure that supports both voice and data communications, the Internet infrastructure that supports the World Wide Web and other data services and corporate WANs that support voice and data information exchange within medium-sized and large enterprises. As a system-on-a-chip innovation leader, our core competencies include:

Our products comply with all relevant industry standards and provide functionality in three key areas:

We believe that our chip-set approach and broad product coverage in all three product lines position us as a “one-stop source” for broadband communications VLSI products. Network equipment OEMs can mix and match our VLSI devices to optimally configure their specific systems. Our product lines can be combined to provide a cost-effective communication systems solution with increased functional integration and features while providing seamless integration of SONET/SDH, Asynchronous/PDH and ATM/IP for broadband network applications. In 2003, the prices for our products ranged from approximately $10 to $200 per device, depending on technology, volume, complexity and functionality.

Our product portfolio, driven by our customer needs and objectives, continues to expand to accommodate the latest networking and telecommunication standards to enable the efficient transport of data services across the LAN and WAN. In 2003 we extended our product offerings in the EtherMap^® family of products by announcing the EtherMap-12, providing an Ethernet over SONET/SDH product portfolio from STS-3/STM-1 rates to STS-48/STM-16. Additionally, we introduced our Envoy family of products in co-operation with Intel’s^® Network Processors Division and the PacketTrunk-4 product allowing the efficient transport of legacy services (DS1, E1, DS3, E3) over the new data (IP, Multi-Protocol Layer Switching (MPLS), Ethernet) networks.

SONET/SDH Products

In the SONET/SDH area, we offer framer devices that provide a direct interface for fiber optic transmission in North America, Europe and Asia. Our mappers bridge the interconnections between SONET/SDH equipment and Asynchronous/PDH equipment, allowing DS-series and E-series transmission lines to be connected with

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SONET/SDH lines. These mappers transparently transport Asynchronous/PDH signals across the SONET/SDH network.

Our EtherMap family of products constitutes a major extension of our SONET/SDH product line. These products comply with recently introduced industry standards for efficient and flexible transport of Ethernet over SONET/SDH networks. Ethernet is universally deployed in enterprise LANs, while SONET/SDH is equally ubiquitous in optical WANs. Our EtherMap products enable our customers to rapidly enhance their existing systems or to develop new systems that provide Ethernet transport capabilities. This in turn provides value to their customers, the service providers, by enabling service providers to leverage their existing investment in SONET/SDH networks to provide new revenue generating services.

Our SONET/SDH products have traditionally been used to build access equipment, add/drop multiplexers, digital cross connects and other telecommunication and data communications equipment. This equipment is configured for use in both domestic and international fiber-based public networks. Our SONET/SDH products also have applications in customer premise equipment (CPE), such as routers and hubs, and in central offices, adding integrated fiber optic transmission capability to telephone switches.

Our OMNI multi-service switching family of products extends the reach of SONET/SDH products from the access networks into the metro networks. This product family consists of a highly integrated SONET/SDH Transport Processor and a Switch Element device that enable our customers to build highly scalable switch fabrics with improved performance in the areas of switching granularity and versatility which allows simultaneous support of multiple data types.

Asynchronous/PDH Products

Our Asynchronous/PDH products are used to configure transmission equipment to increase the capacity of the radio and copper-based public network. Our Asynchronous/PDH VLSI products also enable customer premise equipment to access the public network for voice and data communications.

Our Asynchronous/PDH products provide high levels of integration, as well as cost, power and performance benefits relative to discrete and competing integrated circuit solutions. Our Asynchronous/PDH VLSI products include devices that provide solutions for DS-0 through DS-3 and E-1 through E-3 transmission lines. This product line includes line interfaces, multiplexers, which combine multiple low-speed lines to form a higher speed line, as well as demultiplexers, which perform the reverse function. In addition, we offer framers, which are devices that identify the starting points of defined bit streams and enable systems to recognize the remaining bits.

ATM/IP Products

Our ATM/IP products provide the key functions of ATM/IP-based multi-service access multiplexer systems. CellBus^® is a patented system architecture invented by us for implementing ATM/IP access multiplexers and ATM/IP switching systems. The products incorporating our CellBus technology include the CUBIT^® and ASPEN^® families of VLSI devices. Our CellBus technology provides single-chip ATM/IP switching capability in access equipment. These products have been designed into many network system OEMs’ solutions since late 1995, establishing CellBus as a significant technology in the global broadband network access market. Our ATM/IP products also include VLSI semiconductor devices for line interfacing and service adaptation functions, including the mapping of these data protocols into SONET/SDH.

Our recently introduced Envoy family of products provides valuable bridging functions for LAN/WAN interconnection. In conjunction with network processor devices, these devices provide Ethernet services to LAN/WAN routers and switches.

With the introduction of the PacketTrunk-4 device, we extended our reach from the Access portion of the communications network to the Edge portion of the communications network allowing customers to efficiently

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transport legacy time division multiplexing (TDM) services over IP/MPLS/Ethernet equipment. While communication service providers continue to deploy new data services, predominantly based on Ethernet (EoS) technology, the need to carry TDM legacy services continues.

The following tables summarize our net product revenue mix by product line for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2003, 2002 and 2001 (dollar amounts in thousands), respectively:

Applications of our Products in the Network

The following briefly describes our view of the Metro and Access areas of the network infrastructure and some typical equipment that may include our VLSI products.

The Access Network

This section of the network infrastructure interconnects end user locations (residences or businesses) to the nearest service provider location (usually the telephone company central office). The primary functions performed by equipment in the access network are aggregation and distribution of traffic and interconnection to the switching or transmission equipment that connects to the WAN. The access network may consist of electrical, optical or wireless transmission equipment. Our VLSI products are used in a variety of equipment in the access network. For example, members of our ASPEN and CUBIT product families are used in Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexers (DSLAMs) that are used to provide DSL services. These products are also used in Base Station equipment for cellular phone service. Our SONET/SDH and Asynchronous/PDH products are used in add-drop multiplexers that serve as a primary vehicle for aggregation and distribution of traffic in the access network.

The Metro Network

The Metro network infrastructure is principally an optical-fiber based network that provides high-speed communications and data transfer covering an area larger than a campus area network and smaller than a WAN, interconnects two or more LANs, and usually covers an entire metropolitan area, such as a large city and its suburbs. In addition to interconnecting locations within the metropolitan area, the metro network connects to the access portion of the network and the long-haul or core network which interconnects different metropolitan networks across a region, a country or internationally. Equipment in the Metro network perform functions such as switching or routing of traffic, processing of data in various protocols, and further aggregation and distribution of traffic. Our OMNI family of multi-service switching products is designed specifically for next generation metro switching equipment that provides extremely high speed switching capability for signals in either TDM, ATM or IP formats. Our SONET/SDH framer and mapper products are used in digital cross-connect systems, add-drop multiplexers and voice equipment that switches high-speed analog signals to digital signals, and also in equipment that splits or combines various transmission signals.

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Technology

We believe that one of our core competencies is our knowledge of the telecommunications and data communications landscape. Specifically, our systems engineering personnel possess substantial telecommunications and data communications design experience, as well as extensive knowledge of the relevant standards. This includes not only a thorough understanding of the actual written standards, but also an awareness of and appreciation for the nuances associated with the standards necessary for assuring that device designs are fully compliant.

Complementing our communications industry expertise is our VLSI design competence. Our VLSI design personnel have extensive experience in designing high-speed digital and mixed-signal devices for communications applications. These designs require a sophisticated understanding of complex technology, as well as the specifics of the deep sub-micron manufacturing processes and their resulting impact on device performance. We have developed a large number of VLSI blocks and intellectual property cores that operate under the demanding requirements of the telecommunications and data communications industries. These blocks and intellectual property cores have been designed using standard VLSI-oriented programming languages such as Visic Hardware Descriptive Language (VHDL) and Verilog and have been verified with standard verification tools.

We have developed proprietary tool sets, called “Test Benches”, that facilitate rapid development of VLSI products and help assure that our products are standards compliant and meet customer requirements. These Test Benches consist of behavioral models of all applicable functions in a high-level design environment and also include test signal generators and analyzers such as models of SONET/SDH signals. Systems engineers use Test Benches to test new architectural concepts, while VLSI designers use Test Benches to ensure that the device conforms to product specifications.

In addition to the extensive hardware functionality, many of our products utilize embedded processors that are software programmable. This approach enables us to develop products with higher levels of functionality and flexibility than are possible with purely hardware based solutions.

The newly announced EtherMap-12, Envoy and PacketTrunk-4 devices are multi-million gate devices, which will be implemented in 0.18 and 0.13 micron complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) silicon technologies. They incorporate high speed mixed signal circuitry, and many of them are equipped with embedded processors that provide added functionality through software.

Other products that incorporate programmability are the ASPEN family of ATM processors, and the PHAST series of products that target simultaneous mapping and transport of ATM/point-to-point protocol (PPP) and TDM services over fiber optic networks. In addition, we have introduced a family of devices, which provide a high degree of granularity for access networks. The T3BwP and TEPro VLSI devices support both data and management planes with an on-chip Reduced Instruction Set Computing (RISC) processor supporting full standards based management and performance monitoring.

We have enhanced our internal chip layout capabilities through standard hiring practices and enhanced our design for test capability through the acquisition of Horizon Semiconductors, Inc. in 2001, both of which have resulted in significant improvements in silicon efficiency, silicon testability and time-to-market. Our system-on-a-chip definition, architecture, verification expertise and design methodology ensure that hardware and software architectural trade-offs yield desired performance testing from our VLSI solutions. The system-on-a-chip performance simulation, emulation, verification and stress testing, using Test Benches and test equipment, ensures that our products meet carrier class quality, performance and reliability requirements.

The expertise of our personnel, our rigorous design methodology and our investment in state-of-the-art electronic design automation tools enable us to develop the complex and innovative products our customers demand.

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Strategy

Our goal is to be the leading supplier of innovative, complete VLSI solutions to telecommunications and data communications OEMs worldwide. The key elements of our business strategy include the following:

Provide Complete Solutions Within Target Markets

We offer network equipment OEMs chip sets that represent complete solutions for SONET/SDH, Asynchronous/PDH and ATM/IP applications. In addition to providing our families of VLSI devices, we offer OEM customers the following:

Our “chip-set” approach allows OEMs to optimally configure their products while maintaining product compatibility over multiple generations. This approach allows equipment vendors to selectively upgrade their products with next-generation higher functionality VLSI devices. We have extended this approach to provide seamless integration of SONET/SDH, Asynchronous/PDH and ATM/IP applications.

Continue to Promote the Deployment of Programmable Devices

We intend to continue to develop and promote programmable system-level building blocks that we call Connectivity Engines. By providing core functionality in the form of dense, high-speed, programmable packages, we believe these new devices offer greater power, flexibility and functionality at a lower cost than the single-function, hard-wired devices they are designed to replace. We believe that our Connectivity Engines represent a new and more versatile approach to designing communications systems and that these new devices have the potential to play a significant role as product-building platforms in the development of new generations of equipment by networking OEMs.

Seek Early Market Penetration Through Customer Sponsorship

We seek to develop close sponsoring relationships with strategic OEMs during product development in order to secure early adoption of our solutions. We believe that OEMs recognize the value of their early involvement through sponsorship of our products, as they can design their system products in parallel with our product development, thereby accelerating their time to market. In addition, we believe that our sponsoring relationships with leading OEMs helps us to obtain early design wins and help reduce risks of market acceptance for our new products.

Focus on Mixed-Signal Applications

We seek to identify applications requiring our mixed-signal VLSI device design capabilities. By leveraging both our industry knowledge and the special design skills required for mixed-signal devices, we believe that we are able to identify and implement optimal combinations of design elements for desired analog and digital functionality targeted toward the specific needs of network equipment OEMs. We believe that our experience and expertise provides our customers accelerated time to market, better performance and lower costs than combinations of separate digital and analog solutions.

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Partner With Selected Foundries

We work with select third-party foundries to obtain our semiconductor devices. This approach allows us to avoid substantial capital spending, obtain competitive pricing and technologies, and retain the ability to migrate our products to new process technologies to reduce costs and optimize performance. Our design methodology enables the production of our devices at multiple foundries using well-established and proven processes. We engage foundries that are ISO 9001:2000 certified for quality and which use only semiconductor processes and packages that are qualified under industry-standard requirements.

Marketing and Sales

Our marketing strategy focuses on key customer relationships to promote early adoption of our VLSI devices in the products of market-leading communications equipment OEMs. Through our customer sponsorship program, OEMs collaborate on product specifications and applications while participating in product testing in parallel with our own certification process. This approach accelerates our customers’ time-to-market delivery while enabling us to achieve early design wins for our products and volume forecasts for specific products from these sponsors.

Our sales strategy primarily focuses on worldwide suppliers of high-speed communications and communications-oriented equipment. These customers include telecommunications, data communications, internet, customer premise, computing, process control and defense equipment vendors. In addition, we target emerging technology leaders in the communications equipment market that are developing next generation solutions for the telecommunications and data communications markets. We identify and address sales opportunities through our worldwide direct sales force and our worldwide network of independent distributors and sales representatives.

Our worldwide direct sales force, technical support personnel and key engineers work together in teams to support our customers. We have technical support capabilities located in key geographical locations throughout the world as well as a technical support team at our headquarters as a backup to the field applications engineers.

We have established foreign distributors and sales representative relationships in Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxemburg, Mexico, Scandinavian countries, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey and the United Kingdom. We also sell our products through domestic distributors and a network of domestic sales representatives. We have regional sales and technical support capabilities in Boston, Massachusetts; San Jose, California; Raleigh/Durham, North Carolina; Stockholm, Sweden; Paris, France; Rome, Italy; Berkshire, England; Hilversum, Netherlands; Brussels, Belgium; New Delhi, India; and Taipei, Taiwan, as well as at our headquarters facility in Shelton, Connecticut.

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Customers

We have sold our products and services to over 400 customers since shipping our first product in 1990. Our customers include public network systems OEMs that incorporate our products into telecommunications systems, WAN and LAN equipment OEMs, Internet-oriented OEMs, communications test and performance measurement equipment OEMs and government, university and private laboratories that use our products in advanced public network and WAN and LAN developments. A small number of our customers have historically accounted for a substantial portion of our net revenues. The following table sets forth the percentage of net revenues attributable to our major distributors as well as the significant customers that had total purchases (either direct or through distributors) of greater than 10% of net revenues for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2003, 2002 and 2001, respectively:

Information on reportable operating segments for each of the last three years is located in Note 8 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8 of this report.

Research and Development

We believe that the continued introduction of new products in our target markets is essential to our growth. As of December 31, 2003, we had 195 full-time employees engaged in research and product development efforts. We employ designers who have the necessary engineering and systems qualifications and who are experienced in software, mixed-signal, high-speed digital, telecommunications and data communications technologies.

Research and development expenditures for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2003, 2002 and 2001 were $42.0 million, $53.5 million, and $49.3 million, respectively. In the fiscal years ended December 31, 2003, 2002 and 2001, we also expensed $0.5 million, $2.0 million and $22.0 million, respectively, of purchased in-process research and development related to the acquisitions of ASIC Design Services, Inc., Systems On Silicon, Inc. and Opal Acquisition Corporation (formerly known as Onex Communications Corporation), respectively.

All development efforts are carried out using ISO 9001:2000 certified design processes and our design tools and environment are continuously updated to improve design, fabrication and verification of products. From time to time, we subcontract design services and acquire products from third parties to enhance our product lines. Our internal research and development organization thoroughly reviews the external development processes and the design of these products as part of our quality assurance process.

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Patents and Licenses

Through the end of 2003, we have been issued or became an assignee of one hundred thirty-five (135) patents worldwide with an additional one hundred twenty-six (126) patents pending worldwide. We have been assigned forty-eight (48) United States patents of which two are co-assigned (one with Siemens Telecommunications Systems, Ltd. and one with ECI Telecom Ltd.). One of the United States patents has been abandoned and is no longer in force. In addition there were thirty-three (33) United States patents pending. Many of the United States issued and pending patents were filed internationally. As a result, we have been issued eighty-seven (87) international patents, which are active and, which include the co-assigned patents with Siemens Telecommunications Systems, Ltd. and ECI Telecom Ltd., as of December 31, 2003. For one or more of our United States patents, we have coverage in Canada, China, Taiwan, Israel, Japan, Korea, France, Germany, United Kingdom, Belgium, Italy, Sweden, Spain, Ireland, Denmark, The Netherlands, Portugal, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Liechtenstein. Internationally, there are fifty-six (56) patents pending in specific countries with an additional thirty-five (35) filed in the European Patent Office (EPO) or under the Patent Cooperative Treaty (PCT).

We cannot guarantee that our patents will not be challenged or circumvented by our competitors, and we cannot be sure that pending patent applications will ultimately be issued as patents. Under current law, patent applications in the United States filed before November 29, 2000 are maintained in secrecy until they are issued but applications filed after November 29, 2000 (and foreign applications) are generally published 18 months after their priority date, which is generally the filing date. The right to a patent in the United States is attributable to the first to invent, while in most jurisdictions the right to a patent is obtained by the first to file the patent application. We cannot be sure that our products or technologies do not infringe patents that may be granted in the future based upon currently pending non-published patent applications or that our products do not infringe any patents or proprietary rights of third parties. From time to time, we receive communications from third parties alleging patent infringement. If any relevant claims of third-party patents are upheld as valid and enforceable, we could be prevented from selling our products or could be required to obtain licenses from the owners of such patents or be required to redesign our products to avoid infringement. We cannot be assured that such licenses would be available or, if available, would be on terms acceptable to us or that we would be successful in any attempts to redesign our products or processes to avoid infringement. Our failure to obtain these licenses or to redesign our products would have a material adverse effect on our business.

We also have been granted registration of seventeen trade or service marks in the United States, and we have four more U.S. applications for trademarks awaiting approval. We have also obtained four trademark registrations under the European Community Trademark (ECT) procedure with two awaiting approval in the ECT and two awaiting approval in Canada.

Our ability to compete depends upon our ability to protect our proprietary information through various means, including ownership of patents, copyrights, mask work registrations and trademarks. While no intellectual property right of ours has been invalidated or declared unenforceable, we cannot assure that such rights will be upheld in the future. We believe that, in view of the rapid pace of technological change in the communication semiconductor industry, the technical experience and creative skills of our engineers and other personnel are the most important factors in determining our future technological success.

We have entered into various license agreements for product or technology exchange. The purpose of these licenses has, in general, been to obtain second sources for standard products or to convey or receive rights to certain proprietary or patented cores, cells or other technology.

We sell our products for applications in the telecommunications and data communications industries, which require our products to conform to various standards that are agreed upon by recognized industry standards committees. Where applicable, we design our products to be in conformity with these standards. We have received and expect to continue to receive, in the normal course of business, communications from third parties stating that if certain of our products meet a particular standard, these products may infringe one or more patents

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of that third party. We review the circumstances of each communication, and, in our discretion and upon the advice of legal counsel, have taken or may take in the future one of the following courses of action: we may negotiate payment for a license under the patent or patents that may be infringed, we may use our technology and/or patents to negotiate a cross-license with the third party or we may decline to obtain a license on the basis that we do not infringe the claimant’s patent or patents, or that such patents are not valid, or other basis. We cannot assure that licenses for any of these patents will be available to us on reasonable terms or that we would prevail in any litigation seeking damages or expenses from us or to enjoin us from selling our products on the bases of any of the alleged infringements.

Manufacturing and Quality

Our manufacturing objective is to produce reliable, high-quality devices on a cost effective basis. To this end, we seek to differentiate ourselves by:

Established independent foundries manufacture all of our VLSI devices. This approach permits us to focus on our design strengths, minimize fixed costs and capital expenditures and access diverse manufacturing technologies. Currently, we utilize five foundries to process our wafers, of which four of these relationships are governed by foundry agreements: Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI), LSI Logic Corporation, IBM Microelectronics (a division of IBM) and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC). Foundries are required to have qualified and reliable processes. The selection of a foundry for a specific device is based on availability of the required process technology and the foundry’s capability to support the particular set of tools used by us for that device. Currently, TI manufactures all of our Bipolar Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (BiCMOS) devices.

Various independent subcontractors and foundry suppliers perform assembly and testing functions. Additionally, certain testing and inspection functions are performed at our facility in Shelton, Connecticut.

TUV Rheinland of North America, Inc. registers us as complying with the requirements of ISO 9001:2000.

Acquisitions

While some of the next generation products we introduce are based on technologies that we develop ourselves, we have filled some of our technology and skills needs through acquisitions. The following is a table that summarizes technology and skills we obtained through acquisitions of stand-alone companies during the fiscal years ended December 31, 2003, 2002 and 2001, respectively.

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Investments in Non-Publicly Traded Companies

We will, from time-to-time, make investments (which include convertible debt investments) in early stage venture-backed, start-up companies that develop technologies that are complementary to our product roadmap. In all cases, when investing in other semiconductor companies, we have also entered into commercial agreements giving us the rights to resell products developed by these companies. A summary of each of these businesses including their locations follows. When determining the accounting method for these investments, we consider both direct (TranSwitch) ownership and indirect ownership, which is comprised of employees and directors of TranSwitch. We also consider other factors, such as our influence over the financial, technology and operating policies of these companies.

OptiX Networks Inc. is a Delaware corporation with a development center in Kfar Saba, Israel. OptiX Networks is developing VLSI devices in advanced technologies for the broadband optical backbone, interoffice and metro area communications. We account for this investment under the equity method and made our initial investment in February 2000.

TeraOp (USA), Inc. is a Delaware corporation with a research and development center in Kfar Saba, Israel. TeraOp designs micro electro mechanical systems (MEMS) based optical crossbars and variable optical attenuators for next generation core and metro storage switches and routers. We consolidate the assets and liabilities of this investment under FIN 46 and made our initial investment in May 2001.

Accordion Networks, Inc. is a California corporation with offices in Milpitas, California. Accordion designs and supplies broadband services platforms designed to allow service providers to remotely activate, personalize and manage bandwidth-intensive applications. Accordion’s target market is metro area telecommunications and data communications providers. We account for this investment under the cost method and made our initial investment in December 2001.

Opulan Technologies Corporation is a Cayman Islands corporation with offices in Milpitas, California, and a design center in the People’s Republic of China. Opulan Technologies provides high performance, cost-effective, IP convergence Application Specific Standard Product (ASSP)/SoC technologies for use in developing broadband multiservice access platforms such as DSLAM, wireless base station/Radio Network Controller (RNC), and Fiber to the Location (FTTx) for its target markets in China, East Asia and North America. We account for this investment under the cost method and made our initial investment in April 2003.

Investments in Venture Capital Funds

We have also invested in Neurone Ventures II (Neurone), which is a venture capital fund organized as a partnership in the business of making, supervising and disposing of privately negotiated equity and equity-related investments, principally in early-stage Israeli and Israeli-related high-technology companies. We have a 1% ownership interest in this partnership and we account for it under the cost method.

Competition

The communication semiconductor industry is intensely competitive and is characterized by the following:

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The telecommunications and data communications industries, which are our primary target markets, are also intensely competitive due to deregulation and heightened international competition.

The global telecommunications market, which experienced a severe downturn in 2001 and continued decline through 2002, began to recover slightly during the latter part of 2003. The adverse market conditions have impacted the entire supply chain including communication service providers, internet service providers, regional Bell operating companies and interexchange carriers, OEMs such as Alcatel, Cisco, Lucent and Nortel, and communication VLSI product vendors such as TranSwitch. During the last three years there has been excess bandwidth capacity in communication service provider infrastructures, excess inventory levels in the supply chain and a slowing global economy, which resulted in reduced demand for our customers’ equipment and therefore a reduced demand for our products.

We recognized this industry shift and have focused our product strategy on supporting the current needs of our customers. Recently, we have introduced new product lines that meet our customers evolving data communications requirements. Our Ethernet over SONET/SDH (EoS) product line enables telecommunication carriers and internet service providers the ability to offer new revenue-generating services, such as the high-speed transport of information over IP networks, based on their current network infrastructure. By utilizing the current network infrastructure, telecommunication carriers can realize revenue growth with only a modest increase in their costs.

We believe that our competitive position in the telecommunications semiconductor industry has remained relatively unchanged during the recent decline in these markets during the past three years. Although our net product revenues have declined significantly during this time period, our competitors’ telecommunications product revenues have also declined on a consistent basis. In addition, the overall market for our products has also dropped on a relative basis, leaving us in a similar market position as prior to the significant decline experienced in the telecommunications market during the past three years. Some of our competitors are more diversified than we are and accordingly, their other shipments, such as LAN, wireless, and digital signal processing, have helped them to offset the declines in their telecommunications revenues. Their overall revenues, therefore, may not have declined on a similar basis to ours because we have focused extensively on telecommunications related products.

Our competition consists of specialized semiconductor companies from the United States as well as other countries and semiconductor divisions of vertically integrated companies, such as IBM Corporation, Lucent Technologies, Inc., NEC Corporation and Siemens Corporation. New entrants are also likely to attempt to obtain a share of the market for our current and future products.

Our principal competitors in the Asynchronous/PDH and SONET/SDH areas are Applied Micro Circuits Corporation, Conexant Systems, Inc., Cirrus Logic, Inc., Infineon Technologies, Exar Corporation, Agere Systems, PMC-Sierra Inc., TriQuint Semiconductor, Inc., Vitesse Semiconductor Corporation and Broadcom Corporation. In addition, there are a number of Applications Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) vendors, including AMI Semiconductor, LSI Logic Corporation and STM Microelectronics Group, which compete with us by supplying customer-specific products to OEMs. In the ATM market, the principal competitors include all the vendors mentioned above and, in addition, Intel Corporation. Other domestic and international vendors have announced plans to enter into this market.

Backlog

As of December 31, 2003, our backlog was $7.1 million, as compared to $2.2 million as of December 31, 2002. Backlog represents firm orders anticipated to be shipped within the next 12 months. Our business and, to a

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large extent, that of the entire communication semiconductor industry, is characterized by short-term order and shipment schedules. Since orders constituting our current backlog are subject to changes in delivery schedules or to cancellation at the option of the purchaser without significant penalty, backlog is not necessarily an indication of future revenues. During 2003, there was a slight increase in demand as compared to 2002, when many of our customers experienced decreased demand, order cancellations or postponements.

Employees

At December 31, 2003, we employed 278 full time employees, which included 195 in research and development, 51 in marketing and sales, 17 in operations and quality assurance, and 15 in administration. We have not entered into any collective bargaining agreements. We have never experienced any work stoppage, and we believe our employee relations are good.

On January 15, 2003, we announced a restructuring action and through the implementation of such restructuring action, we reduced our operating cost structure. This resulted in terminations of approximately 24% of our workforce. Refer to Note 13—Restructuring and Asset Impairment Charges in our Consolidated Financial Statements.

Available Information

Our annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and all amendments to those reports are made available free of charge through the Investor Relations section of our Internet website (http://www.transwitch.com) as soon as practicable after such material is electronically filed with, or furnished to, the Securities and Exchange Commission. Our executive offices are located at Three Enterprise Drive, Shelton, CT 06484.

Item 2. Properties

Our headquarters are located in a suburban office park in Shelton, Connecticut. We have additional sales offices and design centers located throughout the world. The following is a summary of our offices and locations for which we have lease commitments: