(Bloomberg) — Advantest Corp.’s Chief Executive Officer said the company stands to benefit as a boom in AI development makes chips more complex in the coming years, increasing demand for the semiconductor-testing equipment it provides.
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Chief Executive Officer Douglas Lefever dismissed concerns that investors were overestimating future demand, telling Bloomberg TV that AI will not only spur investment in data centers but also fundamentally boost other industries, including autos.Advantest shares rose more than 7 percent on Wednesday, their biggest gain since February, after Lefever's company gave a better-than-expected operating profit target.
Advantest, the world's largest supplier of chip-test equipment, said it aims to increase its share of the chip-test-equipment market to at least 58% on average over the next three years, up from an average of 54% over the past three years.Chipmakers will need more rigorous testing to reduce defects as architectures become more sophisticated, Lefever said.
“We need to test devices thoroughly to make sure we don't end up scrapping them,” he said. “There's a lot of new testing going on: test time, test insertion, and there's a lot more focus on the early stages before the individual die are put together.”
He added that China will remain an important market for the company and the industry despite U.S. efforts to curb the country's semiconductor industry. Advantest remains focused on serving the Chinese market, he said. China accounted for 37% of Advantest's sales in the March quarter.
–With assistance from Sherry Ahn and Haidi Lun.
(Updates closing share, expands market share target from second paragraph onwards)
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