Teradyne venturing back into memory test.

Implications: The purchase by Teradyne of memory test technology from Mosaid will help their move back into the memory test business.  Teradyne had been a secondary (to Advantest) DRAM test supplier through the 1980s and 1990s, but exited the business as part of their focus on SOC test and subsequent product line consolidation.  A brief attempt to position a version of the J750 as a flash memory tester was also discontinued.

Analysis: Teradyne management hinted on their last quarterly conference call (01/25/2007) at a move into memory test, by saying they would leverage product developments in their Flex SOC test family toward a new market.  Memory test, probably high-speed DRAM or possibly NAND flash, is the logical extension of instrumentation in the Flex.  Verigy extended their 93K SOC tester into high-speed DRAM test in a similar fashion.  The acquisition of Mosaid's memory test assets seems to confirm that direction.