SANTA CLARA, Calif., June 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Advantest Corporation , the world's leading supplier of semiconductor test equipment, announces it is on VLSI Research Inc's 10 BEST list for the 19th consecutive year, a significant industry achievement. Based on direct customer feedback from surveys representing 95 percent of the world's total semiconductor market, VLSI Research, the leading semiconductor market research firm, ranks Advantest among the 10 BEST companies in two market segments: "Test Equipment" and "Material Handling Equipment."

Among all of the 10 BEST Test Equipment suppliers, Advantest earned the highest ratings for Build Quality and Product Performance, and among the suppliers for Material Handling Equipment, the company attained the highest scores for Process Support and Spares Support. In addition, Advantest earned its personal best ratings in Usable Throughput in Test, and for Quality of Results in Material Handling.

The world's market leader in Automatic Test Equipment (ATE) with a long history of technology leadership as well, Advantest is further distinguished for its ability to sustain product excellence and customer service on a global basis, as indicated by 19 years of positive customer responses in VLSI Research's 10 BEST survey. Advantest also earned the highest possible score of five out of five stars in VLSI Research's supplier star ratings in November, 2006.

Advantest develops and manufactures test solutions for SoC, logic and memory semiconductor devices and is the only ATE company that provides completely integrated test cell solutions. Test cells, comprised of testers, handlers, device interfaces and software, are all designed in-house by Advantest and provide the industry's highest levels of interface integrity, compatibility and performance.

R. Keith Lee, president and CEO of Advantest America, Inc., comments, "We're pleased and gratified by the response of our customers and appreciate their trust and confidence in Advantest for almost two decades. Advantest is committed to providing the highest performance test solutions, as well as the most completely integrated solutions in ATE. Beyond our high-performance products and services, Advantest is also focused on helping our customers succeed by giving them every competitive advantage we can offer by sharing years of accumulated experience, knowledge and insight."

"Advantest has consistently met customer needs over and over again. The company's efforts to maintain high standards in R&D, product design, and service are obviously valued and appreciated," says VLSI Research CEO G. Dan Hutcheson. "Advantest is a superbly managed, innovative global leader in the semiconductor industry, and it's a pleasure to note their 19 consecutive years among the 10 BEST."

About Advantest

Advantest Corporation is the world's leading supplier of automatic test equipment to the semiconductor industry. Advantest's SoC, logic, memory, mixed-signal and RF testers and device handlers are integrated into the most advanced semiconductor fabrication lines in the world. Founded in Tokyo in 1954, Advantest established its North American subsidiary in 1982 and its European subsidiary in 1984. More information is available at http://www.advantest.com/.

CONTACT: Amy Gold of Advantest America, Inc., +1-212-850-6670,
a.gold@advantest.com

Web site: http://www.advantest.com/