By Sam Nussey
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s Advantest Corp said on Wednesday it expects growing use of high-end semiconductors for generative artificial intelligence applications to drive demand for its chip testing machines.
“We can expect rapid growth in demand. However, we still don’t have concrete visibility,” Advantest CEO Yoshiaki Yoshida told an earnings briefing.
Advantest, a dominant player in chip testing equipment with U.S. peer Teradyne Inc, said it expects the market to contract this year due to customers holding excess inventory.
Advantest’s operating profit fell 68% to 14.3 billion yen ($101.8 million) in the April-June quarter. The company highlighted weakness in the smartphone market and a slowdown in investment in data centres but expects a recovery next year.
“Despite the fall this year I believe we will eventually face a growth curve,” Yoshida said. Advantest shares have more than doubled in value since the start of the year.
($1 = 140.4300 yen)
(Reporting by Sam Nussey; Editing by Edmund Klamann)
