FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Company Contact:
Judy Dale
Sr. Director, Marketing Communications
Credence Systems Corporation
510.492.3118 or 510.623.2524 fax
E-mail: judy_dale@credence.com
Press Release
Agency Contact:
Patricia MacLeod
Sr. Account Executive, Public Relations
e21 Corp
510.226.6780 ext. 205 or 510.226.9902 fax
E-mail: patricia_macleod@e21corp.com
Amkor Orders Multiple Wireless Test Systems from Credence
FREMONT, Calif., July 16, 2003 ––– Credence Systems Corporation (Nasdaq:
CMOS), a leading provider of solutions from design-to-production test for the worldwide
semiconductor industry, today announced that Amkor Technology Inc. (Nasdaq: AMKR),
the world’s largest contract semiconductor assembly and test services company, has issued a
purchase order for multiple ASL 3000RFTM test systems to be delivered over the next six
months. Amkor selected the ASL 3000RF based on its ability to accurately test a wide
variety of wireless devices, including those used in 802.11 wireless local area networking
(WLAN), code division multiple access (CDMA) and global system for mobile
communication (GSM) standards.
Amkor will utilize the systems for engineering
development tasks and volume manufacturing of wireless chipsets.
According to the market research group In-Stat/MDR, approximately 33 million
WLAN chipsets are forecast to be sold in 2003, with over 94 million units to be sold by
2007. Driving this growth is strong consumer demand for more advanced networking
capabilities for familiar devices such as cellular handsets and laptop computers.
Semiconductor manufacturers are addressing this demand by producing chipsets
with more sophisticated wireless functionality and applications. The increased functionality,
coupled with a move toward a lower average selling price (ASP), has magnified the
importance of cost-effective test solutions that provide the performance capabilities to
address higher bandwidths and new communications standards.
The ASL 3000RF features the industry’s most advanced RF instrumentation,
including Credence’s patented modulated vector network analysis (MVNATM) technology.
MVNA creates a test scenario that more closely resembles a device’s end-use environment
and provides significantly better accuracy for Amkor’s wireless applications. Additionally,
the ASL 3000RF features a flexible and scaleable architecture that provides Amkor with the
ability to extend and upgrade the system with analog, digital, and enhanced RF
instrumentation to address emerging wireless devices and applications as required.
“Amkor is committed to offering our customers the greatest possible value for test
services,” said Joe Holt, Amkor’s senior vice president of worldwide test. “We selected the
Credence ASL 3000RF because it will enable our experienced RF test engineers and
operations staff to provide the low-cost RF test solutions our customers need to grow their
businesses. To complement our efforts, Credence has an experienced staff of applications
and field service personnel that are committed to working with us at every step to assure
smooth product introductions and efficient volume production.”
With four RF test development facilities (two in the US and two in Asia) and six test
production locations (five in Asia and one in the US), Amkor has the ability to offer
development, qualification, wafer probe, final test, finished goods inventory and drop
shipment services almost anywhere customers need them.
“As demand and orders continue to rise for advanced RFICs, Amkor was looking to
maintain its leadership position by enhancing its wireless test capabilities and capacity,” said
Dr. Graham Siddall, Credence’s chairman and chief executive officer. “By selecting our ASL
3000RF system, Amkor can offer customers a leading wireless test system proven to
compress test times by up to forty percent. The ASL 3000RF offers both RF and mixedsignal instrumentation on a single platform to help Amkor improve system utilization and
reduce their capital investment in test equipment.”
About ASL 30000RF
Credence’s ASL 3000RF is a high-performance, mixed-signal, radio-frequency
integrated circuit (RFIC) test system for wideband, wireless communications devices.
Featuring the industry’s most advanced RF instrumentation, the ASL 3000RF is designed to
meet the increasingly complex test requirements of a new generation of RFICs for wireless
applications, including 802.11 wireless local area networking (WLAN) standards, and 3G
mobile communications services. The ASL 3000RF incorporates advanced capabilities,
including Credence’s patented MVNA technology. The system features a flexible, scaleable
architecture that provides a cost-effective way to easily extend and upgrade the system with
analog, digital, and enhanced RF test capabilities to meet emerging wireless requirements.
About MVNA
Credence’s MVNA technology is the industry’s first major technology breakthrough
development in S-parameter measurements in thirty years. For many RF and microwave
engineers, the measurement of S-parameters remains a fundamental method of
characterizing high-frequency devices, but the use of continuous wave signals to take these
measurements leads to complications in leading-edge wireless applications. MVNA
technology allows these measurements to be made with wideband, digitally modulated
signals, creating a test scenario that more closely resembles a device’s end-use environment
and provides significantly better accuracy for wireless applications. This improved accuracy
enables engineers to reduce guardbands in production, leading to higher device yield and
faster time-to-profit.
About Amkor Technology
Amkor Technology, Inc. is the world's largest provider of contract semiconductor
assembly and test services. The company offers semiconductor companies and electronics
OEMs a complete set of microelectronic design and manufacturing services. More
information on Amkor is available from the company's SEC filings and on Amkor's web site:
www.amkor.com.
About Credence
Credence Systems Corporation (Nasdaq: CMOS) is changing the future of
semiconductor production by integrating test solutions throughout the design, validation and
production processes. A leader in the manufacture of automatic test equipment (ATE) for
the global semiconductor industry, Credence offers a wide range of systems for the test of
analog, digital, non-volatile memory, mixed-signal, SoC, and wireless semiconductor devices
typical in today’s automobile, portable computing, consumer and communications products.
Credence and its subsidiaries also provide test program development and debug software,
engineering validation test solutions, and advanced photon probing technology that enable
faster time-to-market with lower total cost-of-test. Headquartered in Fremont, California,
the Company is an ISO 9001 certified manufacturer and maintains advanced production and
design facilities in Hillsboro, Oregon. More information is available at
http://www.credence.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This release may contain statements that are forward looking and involve known and
unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause the Company's actual results in future
periods to be materially different from the future performance suggested in this release. Such
factors include, but are not limited to, cyclicality and downturns in the semiconductor
industry, which the company is experiencing, rapid technological change in the ATE market,
the Company's ability to successfully integrate acquisitions, economic and political instability
in the Asia Pacific and Middle East regions, fluctuation in customer demand, timing and
volume of orders and shipments, competition and pricing pressures, reliability and quality
issues, the Company's ability to complete the development and commercialization of its new
products, product mix, overhead absorption, continued dependence on "turns" orders to
achieve revenue objectives, the timing of new technology, product introductions, intellectual
property issues, the risk of early obsolescence and the Company's ability to control and
reduce expenses (including the ability to identify and successfully institute additional cost-
saving measures). Further, the Company operates in an industry sector where securities
values are highly volatile and may be influenced by economic and other factors beyond the
Company's control. Reference is made to the discussion of risk factors detailed in the
Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its reports on
Form 10-K and 10-Q. Any projections in this release are based on limited information
currently available to the Company, which is subject to change. Although any such
projections and the factors influencing them will likely change, the Company will not
necessarily update the information, since the Company is only to provide guidance at certain
points during the year. Actual events or results could differ materially and no reader of this
release should assume later in the quarter that the information provided today is still valid.
Such information speaks only as of the date of this release.
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Credence is a registered trademark, and Credence Systems, ASL Series, ASL 3000RF, and MVNA are
trademarks, of Credence Systems Corporation. Other trademarks that may be mentioned in this release are the
intellectual property of their respective owners.