ON Semiconductor (ON) Risk Analysis

The Merger Agreement contains customary representations, warranties and covenants, including, among others, covenants regarding the conduct of our business during the pendency of the transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement. These restrictions could prevent us from pursuing attractive business opportunities that may arise prior to the consummation of the Merger and could have the effect of delaying or preventing other strategic transactions. Although we may be able to pursue such activities with Synaptics's consent (and Synaptics is required not to unreasonably withhold such consent), there is no guarantee that Synaptics will provide us with the necessary consent. In addition, repurchases of our common stock during the pendency of the Merger may be subject to restrictions under applicable law. As a result, we may determine or be required to suspend or limit repurchases under our New Share Repurchase Program during the pendency of the Merger. These limitations may prevent us from repurchasing shares of our common stock at times or prices that we would otherwise consider attractive.

With the increasing focus on corporate social and environmental responsibility in the semiconductor industry, a number of our customers have adopted, or may adopt, procurement policies that include social and environmental responsibility provisions or requirements that their suppliers should comply with, or they may seek to include such provisions or requirements in their procurement terms and conditions. In addition, an increasing number of OEMs are seeking to source products that do not contain minerals sourced from areas where proceeds from the sale of such minerals are likely to be used to fund armed conflicts, such as in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This could adversely affect the sourcing, availability and pricing of minerals used in the manufacture of semiconductor devices, including our products. As a result, we may face difficulties in satisfying these customers' demands, which may harm our sales and operating results. The expectations of our stakeholders with respect to corporate social and environmental matters are not uniform and can change rapidly. Some investors expect us to disclose corporate social and environmental policies, practices and metrics under voluntary disclosure standards and frameworks while others are critical of or oppose such initiatives. We periodically communicate our strategies, goals and targets related to our corporate social and environmental policies and programs. These strategies, goals and targets, and their underlying assumptions and projections, reflect our current plans and aspirations, but we may be unable to achieve them. It is also possible that our investors might not be satisfied with our policies, programs, goals, performance and related disclosures, or the speed of their adoption, implementation and measurable success, or that we have adopted such policies, programs and commitments at all. In addition, unfavorable ratings or assessment of our corporate social and environmental policies and programs, including our compliance with certain voluntary disclosure standards and frameworks, may lead to negative investor sentiment toward us, which could have a negative impact on our stock price and our access to and cost of capital. Furthermore, in pursuit of our goal to achieve net zero emissions by 2040, or in response to future customer or investor expectations and regulatory requirements, we may take certain actions that may result in material expenditures that could impact our financial condition or results of operations and/or disrupt our existing operations.

We may from time to time be subject to claims that we may be infringing the IP rights of others. If necessary or desirable, we may seek licenses under such IP rights. However, we cannot assure you that we will obtain such licenses or that the terms of any offered licenses will be acceptable to us. The failure to obtain a license from a third party for IP that we use could cause us to incur substantial liabilities or to suspend the manufacture or shipment of products or our use of processes requiring such technologies. Further, we may be subject to IP litigation, which could cause us to incur significant expense, materially adversely affect sales of the challenged product or technologies and divert the efforts of our technical and management personnel, whether or not such litigation is resolved in our favor. In the event of an adverse outcome or pursuant to the terms of a settlement of any such litigation, we may be required to pay substantial damages or settlement costs; indemnify customers or distributors; cease the manufacture, use, sale or importation of infringing products; expend significant resources to develop or acquire non-infringing technologies; discontinue the use of certain processes; or obtain licenses, which may not be available on reasonable terms, to continue the use, development and/or sale of the allegedly infringing technologies. The outcome of IP litigation is inherently uncertain and, if not resolved in our favor, could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our extensive range of power technologies are used to help power AI data centers and we expect this part of our business to grow. The emergence of big data and new tools such as machine learning and AI that capitalize on the availability of large data sets is leading semiconductor manufacturers to pursue new products and approaches, and there is intense competition to capture a share of this emerging market. We may not be able to develop and offer the technology solutions that our AI-focused customers demand in a timely manner or effectively, which could have a materially adverse effect on our business. Our failure to commercialize new technologies that can power AI data centers in a timely manner or at all could result in a loss of market share, unanticipated costs and inventory obsolescence, which could adversely affect our financial results. In addition, if AI-related technologies fail to achieve the effectiveness or adoption levels currently anticipated, including due to insufficient available power or other utilities, or if our customers delay or scale back their AI deployments, demand for our AI-related products and solutions and returns on associated investments could be materially lower than we currently expect. As with many new emerging technologies, AI presents risks and challenges and has prompted legal, social and ethical concerns relating to its responsible use that could affect its adoption. Third-party misuse of AI applications, models, or solutions, or ineffective or inadequate AI development or deployment practices by our customers could cause harm to individuals or society and impair the public's acceptance of AI, which would in turn adversely affect our business. Further, because AI has become the focus of significant societal and regulatory debate, including concerns about safety, bias, misuse and environmental impact, our association with AI infrastructure could expose us to reputational harm, stakeholder criticism or increased regulatory scrutiny, even if we do not control the design or use of AI systems that incorporate our products. In addition, compliance with evolving government regulations worldwide related to AI may increase the costs related to the development of AI products and solutions and limit global adoption, which may also adversely impact demand for our AI-related products and solutions.

Our manufacturing network includes multiple owned and third-party facilities, which may each produce one or more components necessary for the assembly of a single product. As a result of this interdependence, an operational disruption at a single facility may have a disproportionate impact on our ability to produce many of our products. In the event of such a disruption, we may be unable to effectively source replacement components on acceptable terms from qualified third parties, in which case our ability to produce many of our products could be materially disrupted or delayed. Conversely, some of our facilities are single source facilities that only produce one of our end-products, and a disruption at any such facility would materially delay or cease production of the related product. In the event of any such operational disruption, we may experience difficulty in beginning production of replacement components or products at new facilities or transferring production to other existing facilities, any of which could result in a loss of future revenues and materially adversely affect our business and results of operations. In addition, for certain manufacturing activities and for the supply of raw materials, we utilize third-party suppliers. Our agreements with these suppliers typically require us to commit to purchase goods or services based on forecasted product needs, which may be inaccurate, and, in some cases, require longer-term commitments. We are also dependent upon a limited number of highly specialized third-party suppliers for required components and materials for certain of our key technologies. Arranging for replacement manufacturers and suppliers can be time-consuming and costly, and the number of qualified alternative providers can be extremely limited. Our business operations, productivity and customer relations could be materially adversely affected if these contractual relationships were disrupted or terminated, the cost of such services increased significantly, the quality of the services deteriorated or our forecasted needs proved to be materially incorrect. Generally, our agreements with suppliers of raw materials impose no minimum or continuing supply obligations, and we obtain our raw materials and supplies from a large number of sources. However, shortages could occur in various essential raw materials, and if we are unable to obtain adequate supplies of raw materials in a timely manner, the costs of our raw materials increase significantly, their quality deteriorates or they give rise to compatibility or performance issues in our products, our results of operations could be materially adversely affected. Our manufacturing efficiency is contingent upon the operations of these interdependent processes and will continue to be an important factor in our future profitability, and there can be no assurance that we will be able to maintain our manufacturing efficiency, increase our manufacturing efficiency to the same extent as our competitors when facing an increased demand, or be successful in our manufacturing rationalization plans. For example, public health crises may cause disruption to our domestic and international operations. Any associated worker absenteeism, quarantines and restrictions on certain of our employees' ability to perform their jobs, office and factory closures or restrictions, labor shortages, disruptions to ports and other shipping infrastructure, border closures and/or other travel or health-related restrictions could, depending on the magnitude of such effects on our manufacturing activities (or activities of our suppliers, third-party distributors or sub-contractors), cause disruption and delay to our supply chain, manufacturing and product shipments. Such disruption and delays could materially adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition. In addition, if we are unable to utilize our manufacturing facilities, testing facilities and external manufacturers at expected or minimum purchase obligation levels, or if production capacity increases while revenue does not, the fixed costs and other operating expenses associated with these facilities and arrangements will not be fully absorbed, resulting in higher average unit costs and lower gross profits, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations. Further, if we need to rapidly increase our business and manufacturing capacity to meet increases in demand or expedited shipment schedules, this could strain our manufacturing and supply chain operations and negatively impact our working capital. Moreover, if we are unable to accurately forecast demand for our products, we may purchase more or fewer parts than necessary or incur costs for canceling, postponing or expediting delivery of parts. If we purchase or commit to purchase inventory in anticipation of customer demand that does not materialize, or such inventory is rendered obsolete by the rapid pace of technological change, or if customers reduce, delay or cancel orders, we may incur excess or obsolete inventory charges.