Greg,
Credence probably has one of the best SOC testers around and they
are constantly evolving it. The latest offering, demonstrated at
Semicon this year, is the Quartet One. This is a full-function
consumer mixed-signal test system and is compatible with the
DUO in software and interface hardware. They've made some
significant changes in the timing architecture to achieve an
uncompromised 200MHz test rate un-muxed with full format I/O.
They now have
8 markers per pin, 175pS accuracy, and a full complement of very
sophisticated and proven analog instruments that address the Audio,
Video, Multimedia, Disk Drive, and Wireless markets. They've also
added significant improvements in the testing of embedded memory as
well. They've also added new vector memory capability up to 32M
with new compressed pattern files, direct load, and hardware
decompression to decrease the load times by orders of magnitude.
A new suite of Software PowerTools perfectly suited for engineering
debug and characterization come with new system.
The major benefit of this new system is that it's completely
compatible with the 500+ systems already installed around the world.
This is a system targeted at the sweet spot of the future SOC world,
where the vast majority of the devices will be. From a pincount
standpoint, the Credence Quartet One and DUO are better
positioned than the Catalyst. Another significant factor is that
theses systems are available now and will address MUCH more
of the marketplace than the Fusion systems will be able to address
in the short-term. Remember, the first Fusions will have little or
no mixed-signal capabilities until probably middle of 1999. Again,
I believe that there won't be much of a market left for Fusion given
it's very late arrival. Credence and Teradyne will have most of the
market covered by the time it's real.
As to Credence acquiring LTX, only at the right price point and
$200M is not the right place to be. At $54M, this may look a little
more attractive. We'll see how things work out.
On another topic, I heard yesterday that LTX has closed their offices
in Korea. I know this is a bad time in the industry, especially in
Korea but LTX must really be in survival mode to close this down.
Companies like Samsung, Hyundai, and LG may be down now but they're
not out and when they come back LTX won't be a player. Another
example of the short-sighted decisions made by LTX management.
-AL |
