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About Advantest
equipment (ATE) for the semiconductor industry, and a leading manufacturer of measuring instruments used in the design, production and maintenance of electronic systems including fiber optic and wireless communications equipment and digital consumer products. Based in Tokyo, Advantest is the leading global producer of semiconductor test systems for memory semiconductors, commanding more than a 70 percent market share, and is also the world’s largest supplier of test systems to the fast growing SoC segment. For the year ended March 31, 2007, the company reported revenues of ¥240.0 billion, or US$2.03 billion.
For 19 consecutive years, Advantest has been ranked among VLSI Research’s 10 BEST semiconductor equipment companies. The ranking is based on customer satisfaction in terms of technical leadership, product performance, process and software support, and service.
Advantest's History
Advantest was founded in Japan in 1954 as Takeda Riken Industry Co., Ltd., and was a leading maker of electronic measuring instruments. The company entered the semiconductor testing business in 1972, began trading on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in 1983 and changed its name to Advantest Corporation in 1985. The company’s stock began trading on the New York Stock Exchange in 2001.
Expanding its semiconductor test business, Advantest established its North American subsidiary, Advantest America, in 1982, and its European operations in Munich in 1983, to locate its sales and service operations closer to its North American and European customers. The company also has subsidiaries throughout Asia, operates in 13 countries and currently has approximately 4,000 employees worldwide.
In 2002, Advantest was one of the founding member companies that established the Semiconductor Test Consortium (STC)—the first international, industry-wide collaboration aimed at developing a highly scalable, flexible test platform to reduce the cost of test of SoCs and other advanced ICs that incorporate complex technologies such as copper interconnects, sub-100mm device geometries and 300mm wafers. Also in June of 2002, the STC became incorporated as a nonprofit organization. In June 2003, the STC released the first draft of the specifications for OPENSTAR™ - the Open Semiconductor Test Architecture—that offers true hardware and software interoperability.
Advantest's Products
Advantest has three reportable segments of business: semiconductor and component test systems; mechatronics (handlers); and services, support and others.
Semiconductor and Component Test System Segment
Automatic test equipment is used to verify that a semiconductor functions properly during and after the semiconductor manufacturing process. Advantest is the only automatic test equipment company that manufactures complete test solutions consisting of test systems, test handlers, device interfaces and software. Test systems are available for testing system-on-chip (SoC) and memory devices. Test handlers are used to load and unload mass-produced chips from test systems, and to sort the chips by quality. Advantest’s test handlers are capable of working with other manufacturers’ semiconductor test systems. Advantest develops device interfaces that can be integrated into existing automatic test equipment, which lower the cost to manufacturers associated with varying product lines. May 2006 2
Advantest also offers products used in the design, production and maintenance of electronic systems, including fiber optic and wireless communications equipment and digital consumer products. The customers are electronic equipment and products manufacturers and communications network operators.
Electronic measuring instruments are essential in the development of next-generation wireless and fiber optic networks, as well as a wide variety of consumer and industrial electronics – everything from DVDs to aviation equipment. For example, Advantest manufactures optical spectrum analyzers, which measure wavelengths and levels of optical signals transmitted through wavelength division multiplex (WDM) transmission systems. In 2002, Advantest introduced a new measuring instrument architecture—the Wizard of Module Test (WMT), which enables customers to add and modify functions at a lower cost of ownership. This architecture allows data to be exchanged quickly and makes it possible to control multiple measurement functions simultaneously using a single software program.
In FY2006, net sales reached ¥235.0 billion or approximately US$2.0 billion. Of the three reportable business segments, automatic test equipment is Advantest’s most significant, accounting for approximately 70 percent of net sales in fiscal 2006. Overseas sales as a percentage of total sales was 69% in 2006.
Advantest America
ADVANTEST AMERICA CORPORATION (SANTA CLARA, CALIF.) – The North American subsidiary of Advantest Corporation and the holding company for its U.S. operating subsidiaries:
ADVANTEST AMERICA, INC. (SANTA CLARA, CALIF.) – Design, development, sales and support of automatic test solutions for semiconductors
ADVANTEST AMERICA R&D CENTER, INC. (SANTA CLARA, CALIF.) – Development of automatic test systems for future generations of semiconductors, and a part of Advantest’s global R&D organization.
Other U.S. Locations
| Austin, TX |
Chicago, IL |
Portland, OR |
| Boise, ID |
Folsom, CA |
Richardson, TX |
| Boston, MA |
Memphis, TN |
Richmond, VA |
| Burlington, VT |
New York, NY |
Tempe, AZ |
For more information about Advantest and its line of test equipment and measuring instruments, visit its website at: www.advantest.com
Company Contact:
Amy Gold
Director, Corporate Communications
Advantest America, Inc.
Phone: 212.850-6670
Email: a.gold@advantest.com
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