The American firm Agilent Technologies, a spin-off of Hewlett-Packard and the world’s top supplier of instrumentation for electronics and physical chemistry, has sold its semiconductor test solutions business.
From now on, Verigy, listed on Nasdaq, will be developing advanced test solutions for the semiconductor industry. Redeployment was guided by a business model, which recommended in particular a reconfiguration of the firm’s geographical focus the better to cater for market demands.
Verigy France has consequently located its offices in Grenoble, on the Polytech site, bringing it closer to its main customers: STMicroelectronics and the Alliance in Grenoble-Isère. The Verigy offering hinges on two product lines: the V93000 family for testing systemon- chips (SoC), and the V5000 family for testing fl ash memory and system-in-packages.
The firm’s strategy is original in that it develops each product range around a single platform that can be adapted to suit the needs of specific applications. It is no longer essential to design a new production tool for each application.
Thanks to the integration of the HP and Agilent technologies, on which the product is based, customers – mainly major semiconductor fabrication facilities – will enjoy greater fl exibility for.
For Jean-Pierre Jauvion, the Verigy country manager for France, «Verigy’s strategy of becoming the leaders for SoC tests is now paying off».