Risks Associated with Our Business

The risks described below are not the only risks that we face. Additional risks and uncertainties not currently known to us or that we currently deem to be immaterial also may materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and/or operating results.

Our business is impacted by worldwide economic cycles, which are difficult to predict.

Capital equipment providers in the electronics and semiconductor industries, such as Teradyne, have, in the past, been negatively impacted by sudden slowdowns in the global economies, and resulting reductions in customer capital investments. The duration and frequency of slowdowns in customer capital investments are difficult to predict.

The global economy and financial markets experienced disruption in 2009 and 2008, including, among other things, extreme volatility in security prices, severely diminished liquidity and credit availability, rating downgrades of certain investments and declining valuations of others. We are unable to predict the likely duration, frequency and severity of disruptions in financial markets, credit availability, and adverse economic conditions throughout the world. These economic developments affect businesses such as ours and those of our customers and vendors in a number of ways that could result in unfavorable consequences to us. Disruption or deterioration in economic conditions may reduce customer purchases of our products, thereby reducing our revenues and earnings. In addition, such adverse changes in economic conditions may, among other things, result in increased price competition for our products, increased risk of excess and obsolete inventories, increased risk

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in the collectability of our accounts receivable, increased risk in potential reserves for doubtful accounts and write-offs of accounts receivable, and higher operating costs as a percentage of revenues.

We have taken actions to address the effects of economic variability, including implementing cost control and reduction measures. If our business has another downturn, we may need to take further cost control and reduction measures.

Our business is dependent on the current and anticipated market for electronics, which historically has been highly cyclical.

Our business and results of operations depend in significant part upon capital expenditures of manufacturers of semiconductors and other electronics, which in turn depend upon the current and anticipated market demand for those products. As evidenced by our 2009 and 2008 business and results of operations, the market demand for electronics is impacted by economic slowdowns. Historically, the electronics and semiconductor industry has been highly cyclical with recurring periods of over-supply, which often have had a severe negative effect on demand for test equipment, including systems we manufacture and market. We believe that the markets for newer generations of electronic products such as those that we manufacture and market will also be subject to similar fluctuations. We are dependent on the timing of orders from our customers, and the deferral or cancellation of previous customer orders could have an adverse effect on our results of operations. We cannot ensure that the level of revenues or new orders for a fiscal quarter will be sustained in subsequent quarters. In addition, any factor adversely affecting the electronics industry or particular segments within the electronics industry may adversely affect our business, financial condition or operating results.

We are subject to intense competition.

We face significant competition throughout the world in each of our reportable segments. Some of our competitors have substantial financial and other resources to pursue engineering, manufacturing, marketing and distribution of their products. In particular, our largest competitor in the Semiconductor Test segment spends considerably more than us on research and development which may provide it with a competitive advantage. We also face competition from emerging Asian equipment companies and internal development at several of our customers. Some of our competitors have introduced or announced new products with certain performance characteristics which may be considered equal or superior to those we currently offer. We expect our competitors to continue to improve the performance of their current products and to introduce new products or new technologies that provide improved cost of ownership and performance characteristics. New product introductions by competitors could cause a decline in revenues or loss of market acceptance of our products.

The market for our products is concentrated, and our business depends, in part, on obtaining orders from a few significant customers.

The market for our products is concentrated with a limited number of significant customers accounting for a substantial portion of the purchases of test equipment. In each of the years 2012, 2011 and 2010, our three largest customers in aggregate accounted for 29%, 19% and 21% of consolidated net revenues, respectively. In any one reporting period, a single customer or several customers may contribute even a larger percentage of our consolidated net revenues. In addition, our ability to increase sales will depend, in part, on our ability to obtain orders from current or new significant customers. The opportunities to obtain orders from these customers may be limited, which may impair our ability to grow revenues. We expect that sales of our products will continue to be concentrated with a limited number of significant customers for the foreseeable future. The loss of a significant customer or any reduction in orders by these customers, including reductions due to market or competitive conditions, would likely have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

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Our operating results are likely to fluctuate significantly.

Our operating results are affected by a wide variety of factors that could materially adversely affect revenues or profitability. The following factors are expected to impact future operations:

As a result of the foregoing and other factors, we have experienced and may continue to experience material fluctuations in future operating results on a quarterly or annual basis which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, operating results or stock price.

We are subject to risks of operating internationally.

A significant portion of our total revenues is derived from customers outside the United States. Our international sales and operations are subject to significant risks and difficulties, including:

In addition, an increasing portion of our products and the products we purchase from our suppliers are sourced or manufactured in foreign locations, including China, and a large portion of the devices our products test are fabricated and tested by foundries and subcontractors in Taiwan, Singapore, China and other parts of Asia. As a result, we are subject to a number of economic and other risks, particularly during times of political or financial instability in these regions. Disruption of manufacturing or supply sources in these international locations could materially adversely impact our ability to fill customer orders and potentially result in lost business.

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If we fail to develop new technologies to adapt to our customers’ needs and if our customers fail to accept our new products, our revenues will be adversely affected.

We believe that our technological position depends primarily on the technical competence and creative ability of our engineers. In a rapidly evolving market, such as ours, the development or acquisition of new technologies, commercialization of those technologies into products and market acceptance and customer demand for those products are critical to our success. Successful product development or acquisition, introduction and acceptance depend upon a number of factors, including:

If our suppliers do not meet product or delivery requirements, we could have reduced revenues and earnings.

Certain components, including semiconductor chips, may be in short supply from time to time because of high industry demand or the inability of some vendors to consistently meet our quality or delivery requirements. Approximately 30% of material purchases require some custom work where having multiple suppliers would be cost prohibitive. If any of our suppliers were to cancel contracts or commitments or fail to meet the quality or delivery requirements needed to satisfy customer orders for our products, we could lose time-sensitive customer orders, have significantly decreased revenues and earnings and be subject to contractual penalties, which would have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. In addition, we rely on contract manufacturers for certain subsystems used in our products, and our ability to meet customer orders for those products depends upon the timeliness and quality of the work performed by these subcontractors, over whom we do not exercise any control.

To a certain extent, we are dependent upon the ability of our suppliers and contractors to help meet increased product or delivery requirements. It may be difficult for certain suppliers to meet delivery requirements in a period of rapid growth, therefore impacting our ability to meet our customers’ demands.

We rely on the financial strength of our suppliers. There can be no assurance that the loss of suppliers either as a result of financial viability, bankruptcy or otherwise will not have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations or financial condition.

Our operations may be adversely impacted if our outsourced contract manufacturers or service providers fail to perform .

We depend on Flextronics International Ltd. (“Flextronics”) to manufacture and test our FLEX and J750 family of products from its facility in China and on other contract manufacturers to manufacture other products. If for any reason these contract manufacturers cannot provide us with these products in a timely fashion, or at all, we may not be able to sell these products to our customers until we enter a similar arrangement with an alternative contract manufacturer. If we experience a problem with our supply of products from Flextronics or

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our other contract manufacturers, it may take us significant time to either manufacture the product or find an alternate contract manufacturer, which could result in substantial expense and disruption to our business.

We have also outsourced a number of our general and administrative functions, including information technology, to reputable service providers, many of which are in foreign countries, sometimes impacting communication with them because of language and time differences. Their presence in foreign countries also increases the risk they could be exposed to political risk. Additionally, there may be difficulties encountered in coordinating the outsourced operations with existing functions and operations. If we fail in successfully coordinating and managing the outsourced service providers, it may cause an adverse effect on our operations which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations or financial condition.

We may not fully realize the benefits of our acquisitions or strategic alliances.

We may acquire businesses, form strategic alliances or create joint ventures with third parties that we believe will complement or augment our existing businesses. We may not be able to realize the expected synergies and cost savings from the integration with our existing operations of other businesses or technologies that we may acquire. In addition, the integration process for our acquisitions may be complex, costly and time consuming and include unanticipated issues, expenses and liabilities. We may have difficulty in developing, manufacturing and marketing the products of a newly acquired company in a manner that enhances the performance of our combined businesses or product lines and allows us to realize value from expected synergies. Following an acquisition, we may not achieve the revenues or net income levels that justify the acquisition. Acquisitions may also result in one-time charges (such as acquisition-related expenses, write-offs or restructuring charges) or in the future, impairment of goodwill, that adversely affect our operating results. Additionally, we may fund acquisitions of new businesses, strategic alliances or joint ventures by utilizing our cash, raising debt, issuing shares of our common stock, or by other means.

We have increased our indebtedness.

On April 6, 2009, we completed a registered underwritten offering of $190.0 million aggregate principal amount of 4.50% Convertible Senior Notes (the “Notes”) due March 15, 2014 and received net proceeds of approximately $163.0 million. We used approximately $123.3 million of the net proceeds of this offering to repay all amounts outstanding under our revolving credit facility. Although we are no longer subject to the restrictive covenants under the revolving credit facility, we have incurred approximately $190.0 million principal amount of new indebtedness that the holders of the Notes may require us to repurchase upon the occurrence of certain fundamental changes involving the Company or that the holders may elect to convert into shares of our common stock. In addition, on March 31, 2009, our wholly-owned subsidiary in Japan, Teradyne K.K., incurred approximately $10.0 million in indebtedness that we guaranteed. The level of our indebtedness, among other things, could:

Our convertible note hedge and warrant transactions could impact the value of our stock.

Concurrent with the offering of the Notes, we entered into a convertible note hedge transaction with Goldman, Sachs & Co. (the “hedge counterparty”) with a strike price equal to the initial conversion price of the

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Notes. The convertible note hedges cover, subject to customary antidilution adjustments, approximately 34,703,196 shares of our common stock.

Separately and concurrent with the pricing of the Notes, we entered into a warrant transaction with the hedge counterparty with a strike price of $7.67 per share, which was 75% higher than the closing price of our common stock on March 31, 2009. The warrants will be net share settled and cover, subject to customary antidilution adjustments, approximately 31,963,470 shares of our common stock. On April 1, 2009, the hedge counterparty exercised its option to purchase warrants covering, subject to customary antidilution adjustments, an additional 2,739,726 shares of our common stock. However, we will not be obligated to deliver to the hedge counterparty more than 34,526,500 shares of common stock upon exercise of the warrants (which amount represented less than 19.99% of our outstanding shares of common stock as of March 31, 2009, without giving effect to any shares of common stock issuable pursuant to the warrant transaction), subject to customary antidilution adjustments.

The convertible note hedges are expected to reduce the potential dilution to our common stock upon any conversion of the Notes. However, the warrant transaction could separately have a dilutive effect to the extent that the market value per share of our common stock exceeds the applicable strike price of the warrant. The net cost of the convertible note hedge transaction to us, after being partially offset by the proceeds from the sale of the warrants, was approximately $21.7 million.

In connection with establishing its initial hedge of these convertible note hedge and warrant transactions, the hedge counterparty has entered into various derivative transactions with respect to our common stock and/or purchased shares of our common stock or other securities, including the Notes, concurrent with, or shortly after, the pricing of the Notes. In addition, the hedge counterparty may modify its hedge positions by entering into or unwinding various derivative transactions with respect to our common stock or by selling our common stock or other securities, including the Notes, in secondary market transactions (and may do so during any observation period related to the conversion of the Notes). These activities could adversely impact the value of our common stock and the Notes.

We may incur significant liabilities if we fail to comply with environmental regulations.

We are subject to both domestic and international environmental regulations and statutory strict liability relating to the use, storage, discharge, site cleanup and disposal of hazardous chemicals used in our manufacturing processes. If we fail to comply with present and future regulations, or are required to perform site remediation, we could be subject to future liabilities or cost, including penalties or the suspension of production. Present and future regulations may also:

Pursuant to present regulations and agreements, we are conducting groundwater and subsurface assessment and monitoring and are implementing remediation and corrective action plans for facilities located in Massachusetts and New Hampshire which are no longer conducting manufacturing operations. As of December 31, 2012, we have not incurred material costs as result of the monitoring and remediation steps taken at the Massachusetts and New Hampshire sites.

On January 27, 2003, the European Union adopted the following directives: (i) the directive on the Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment (the “RoHS Directive”); and (ii) the directive on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (the “WEEE Directive”). The

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WEEE Directive became effective August 13, 2005 and the RoHS Directive became effective on July 6, 2006. Both the RoHS Directive and the WEEE Directive alter the form and manner in which electronic equipment is imported, sold and handled in the European Union. Other jurisdictions, such as China, have followed the European Union’s lead in enacting legislation with respect to hazardous substances and waste removal. Ensuring compliance with the RoHS Directive, the WEEE Directive and similar legislation in other jurisdictions, and integrating compliance activities with our suppliers and customers could result in additional costs and disruption to operations and logistics and thus, could have a negative impact on our business, operations or financial condition.

We currently are and in the future may be subject to litigation that could have an adverse effect on our business.

From time to time, we may be subject to litigation or other administrative and governmental proceedings that could require significant management time and resources and cause us to incur expenses and, in the event of an adverse decision, pay damages in an amount that could have a material adverse effect on our financial position or results of operations.

Third parties may claim we are infringing their intellectual property and we could suffer significant litigation costs, licensing expenses or be prevented from selling our products.

We have been sued for patent infringement in the past and receive notifications from time to time that we may be in violation of patents held by others. An assertion of patent infringement against us, if successful, could have a material adverse effect on our ability to sell our products or it could force us to seek a license to the intellectual property rights of others or alter such products so that they no longer infringe the intellectual property rights of others. A license could be very expensive to obtain or may not be available at all. Similarly, changing our products or processes to avoid infringing the rights of others may be costly or impractical. Additionally, patent litigation could require a significant use of management resources and involve a lengthy and expensive defense, even if we eventually prevail. If we do not prevail, we might be forced to pay significant damages, obtain licenses, modify our products, or stop making our products; each of which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition or operating results.

We may incur higher tax rates than we expect and may have exposure to additional international tax liabilities and costs.

We are subject to paying income taxes in the United States and various other countries where we operate. Our effective tax rate is dependent on where our earnings are generated and the tax regulations and the interpretation and judgment of administrative tax or revenue entities in the United States and other countries. We have pursued a global tax strategy which could adversely be affected by our failure to expand operations or earnings in certain countries, the mix of earnings and tax rates in the countries where we operate, changes to tax laws or an adverse tax ruling by administrative entities. We are also subject to tax audits in the countries where we operate. Any material assessment resulting from an audit from an administrative tax or revenue entity could also negatively affect our financial results.

As a multinational corporation, we are subject to income taxes as well as non-income based taxes, in both the United States and various foreign jurisdictions. In certain foreign jurisdictions, we qualify for tax incentives and tax holidays based on our ability to meet, on a continuing basis, various tests relating to our employment levels, research and development expenditures and other qualification requirements in a particular foreign jurisdiction. While we intend to operate in such a manner to maintain and maximize our tax incentives, no assurance can be given that we have so qualified or that we will so qualify for any particular year or jurisdiction. If we fail to qualify and to remain qualified for certain foreign tax incentives and tax holidays, we may be subject to further taxation or an increase in our effective tax rate which would adversely impact our financial results. In addition, we may incur additional costs, including headcount expenses, in order to obtain or maintain a foreign tax incentive in a particular foreign jurisdiction.

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We have significant guarantees, indemnification and customer confidentiality obligations.

From time to time, we make guarantees to customers regarding the delivery and performance of our products and guarantee certain indebtedness, performance obligations or lease commitments of our subsidiary and affiliate companies. We also have agreed to provide indemnification to our officers, directors, employees and agents, to the extent permitted by law, arising from certain events or occurrences while the officer, director, employee or agent, is or was serving at our request in such capacity. Additionally, we have confidentiality obligations to certain customers. If we become liable under any of these obligations, it could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition or operating results. For additional information see Note L: “Commitments and Contingencies—Guarantees and Indemnification Obligations” in Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.

If we are unable to protect our intellectual property (“IP”), we may lose a valuable asset or may incur costly litigation to protect our rights.

We protect the technology that is incorporated in our products in several ways, including through patent, copyright, and trade secret protection and by contractual agreement. However, even with these protections, our IP may still be challenged, invalidated or subject to other infringement actions. While we believe that our IP has value in the aggregate, no single element of our IP is in itself essential. If a significant portion of our IP is invalidated or ineffective, our business could be materially adversely affected.

Our business may suffer if we are unable to attract and retain key employees.

Competition for employees with skills we require is intense in the high technology industry. Our success will depend on our ability to attract and retain key technical employees. The loss of one or more key or other employees, a decrease in our ability to attract additional qualified employees, or the delay in hiring key personnel could each have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations or financial condition.

New regulations related to conflict minerals may adversely affect us.

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act imposes new disclosure requirements regarding the use of “conflict” minerals mined from the Democratic Republic of Congo and adjoining countries in our products, whether or not these products are manufactured by third parties. This new requirement could affect the pricing, sourcing and availability of minerals used in the manufacture of components we use in our products. In addition, there will be additional costs associated with complying with the disclosure requirements, such as costs related to determining the source of any conflict minerals used in our products. Our supply chain is complex and we may be unable to verify the origins for all metals used in our products. As a result, we may be unable to certify that our products are conflict free.

Our operations and the operations of our customers and suppliers are subject to risks of natural catastrophic events, widespread health epidemics, acts of war, terrorist attacks and the threat of domestic and international terrorist attacks, any one of which could result in cancellation of orders, delays in deliveries or other business activities, or loss of customers and could negatively affect our business and results of operations.

Our business is international in nature, with our sales, service and administrative personnel and our customers and suppliers located in numerous countries throughout the world. Our operations and those of our customers and suppliers are subject to disruption for a variety of reasons, including work stoppages, acts of war, terrorism, health epidemics, fires, earthquakes, hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, energy shortages, telecommunication failures, tsunamis, flooding or other natural disasters. Such disruption could materially increase our costs and expenses as well as cause delays in, among other things, shipments of products to our customers, our ability to perform services requested by our customers, or the installation and acceptance of our products at customer sites. Any of these conditions could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial conditions or results of operations.

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Provisions of our charter and by-laws and Massachusetts law make a takeover of Teradyne more difficult.

There are provisions in our basic corporate documents and under Massachusetts law that could discourage, delay or prevent a change in control, even if a change in control may be regarded as beneficial to some or all of our stockholders.