Testing demand for high-end 5G SoCs has emerged and that for memory chips is set to pick up in early 2020, which will drive revenue increases at Advantest, a major Japan-based supplier of semiconductor testing equipment, according to company sources.

Advantest saw better-than-expected performance for the April-June quarter, its first fiscal quarter, mainly bolstered by mounting testing demand for 5G chip solutions.

Taiwan is now the firm's largest regional market by revenue contribution, as top foundry TSMC and leading backend service firm ASE Technology Holding are on its client list.

CH Wu, chairman and CEO of Advantest Taiwan, said that his company is well versed in testing solutions for 5G and HPC (high performance computing) chips, but market uncertainties forced its head office in Japan to lower in early 2019 revenue projections for the year by 20-30% compared to 2018. Nevertheless, the actual revenue fall may shrink a lot less based on the better-than-projected revenues for the first fiscal quarter.

Wu stressed that the Advantest's new growth momentum will come from testing demand for 5G and AIoT chipsets, especially after 5G commercialization kicks off in 2020. He continued despite a slowdown in memory testing equipment shipments to major South Korea clients, testing demand for DDR5 and HPC chip solutions will gradually pick up in 2020.

Advantest is actively upgrading its testing solutions for a variety of 5G applications including base stations, mobile devices, smart cities, next-generation vehicles. In particular, the company has readied comprehensive testing solutions for the core wireless RF (radio frequency) domain, whether from sub-6GHz to mmWave of 24-70 GHz, as well as automotive chips and power management ICs. It can also handle system level tests (SLT) needed to support heterogeneous integration of diverse chipsets, according to Wu.

By: DocMemory
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