Japan’s Advantest Says AI Demand Is Driving Memory Tester Business

By Sam Nussey

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s Advantest said on Wednesday that growing demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) used for artificial intelligence (AI) tasks is boosting its memory tester business.

HBM, a type of high-performance memory where chips are stacked to save space and reduce power consumption, is used in processing large amounts of data needed for AI tasks.

“HBM currently represents about 50% of our memory testing business and we see that continuing in the near term,” CEO Douglas Lefever said in an interview.

Advantest, a maker of chip testing equipment, has worked with HBM since it was first produced in 2013 and is leveraging its relationships with memory manufacturers, Lefever said.

The equipment maker’s share of memory testers grew in the fiscal year ended in March and forecasts 47% growth in annual sales in the memory segment.

AI and the drive to improve chip performance are leading to increasingly complex combinations of components that require extensive testing to verify performance.

“It’s going to drive business from the cloud, from the data center… but what’s really going to turbocharge things is when these cutting-edge applications come out,” said Lefever, who took on the role in April.

Edge AI refers to performing AI tasks on local devices rather than in centralized data centers.

The electronics industry, which has been hit by weak demand for smartphones, tablets and PCs, hopes that the adoption of AI features will encourage consumers to upgrade their devices.

“As these new devices come out, there’s a lot of testing content in them because they’re more complex,” Lefever said.

(Reporting by Sam Nussey; Editing by Christopher Cushing)