Too Many Players in Semiconductor Test

Summary form only given. There are three top players owning 75% of the semiconductor test market. Advantest has the majority of its revenues from DRAM memory test market, Teradyne and Agilent share the SOC and mixed signal markets. Credence is another key player in this space, particularly after their acquisition of NPTest in 2004. Agilent spun-off their ATE business in mid-2006, the new name for the company is Verigy. There are smaller players such as Eagle Test, NextTest and Yokogawa. From "Wall Streets\´ perspective the attractiveness of the sector has declined as profitability among the semiconductor test suppliers lags other segments especially the front-end semi-equipment vendors