Advantest picks up a Credence cast-off.

Implications: Advantest has acquired the remnants of SZ from Credence, giving them power and analog testers and some incremental customers.  The technology won't be integrated into Advantest's SOC platforms - if that's why Advantest bought it, they're fooling themselves.  Credence continues the divestment of assets acquired by their former management team who dreamt of being a tier 1 ATE company.

Analysis: Credence bought the assets of SZ Testsystems in 2002 for $4.7m, saving it from a bankruptcy filing.  The test technology they acquired was mostly analog and power, and their key customers were automotive, so the unit became Credence's automotive division.  None of the technology was incorporated into Credence's other products, and the same will be true with Advantest, no matter what management may say.  Moving test technology between incompatible platforms never happens in this industry - the engineering effort is always underestimated, and any instruments that are attempted to be ported are eventually redesigned.  Advantest has valued the asset at about the same as Credence did almost six years ago in nominal terms; Credence would probably have been willing to give it away.