In the competitive arena that defines semiconductor automatic test equipment (ATE) decision making and selection, once equipment is proven to be technically capable of providing the necessary test coverage for a customer’s device, the critical deciding factor becomes the equipment’s cost of ownership (CoO). Since there may be more than one technically viable solution, equipment selection is most often determined by CoO. Technical differentiation does, of course, exist. However, now more than ever, technical differentiators are revealed in the form of cost advantages, rather than a simple ability vs. inability to test the part.

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