Advantest captured the No. 1 ranking in TechInsights' 2026 Global Semiconductor Supplier Awards for the seventh consecutive year, retaining its lead in the assembly and test equipment category. Market research firm TechInsights announced the result on Wednesday, May 20, during VOICE 2026 in Scottsdale, Arizona.

TechInsights has run the customer satisfaction survey annually since 1988. It remains the only publicly available evaluation in which semiconductor manufacturers — IDMs, fabless designers and OSATs — rate equipment suppliers directly. Respondents this year represented more than 43% of global semiconductor production. The instrument scores 14 criteria:

• Willingness to recommend
• Technology leadership
• Collaboration
• Trustworthiness
• Product performance
• Application support
• Quality results
• Plus seven additional categories

What does the seventh straight No. 1 mean for Advantest's position?

The company also retained first place in the Top 10 Customer Service — Large category, extending a streak of 38 consecutive years since the survey began. That continuity carries weight as test cell architectures absorb AI and HPC workloads that push ATE throughput and pattern data volumes well beyond legacy expectations.

G. Dan Hutcheson, vice chair of TechInsights, said Advantest "is effectively responding to rapid changes in the semiconductor industry through strong commitments to technological innovation, operational efficiency and customer collaboration." He added that the company continues to strengthen its position as a trusted strategic partner for manufacturers worldwide.

What does the Velocity-based Integrated Test Solution actually do?

Advantest used VOICE 2026 to debut the Velocity-based Integrated Test Solution, which pairs the V93000 SoC ATE platform with AllianceATE's Velocity design-to-test (DTT) software. Velocity reads EDA files directly and applies validated signal timing from virtual design environments back to the tester through replay technology.

The integration replaces weeks of manual test-program coding. AllianceATE's parallel processing engine breaks large EDA files into analyzable segments and generates accurate test patterns on the first execution, according to the company. Doug Lefever, representative director and group CEO of Advantest, framed the system as a quality-verification shift.

"Velocity enables a true DTT environment that shifts quality verification earlier into the development process while maximizing automation and scalability," Lefever said. He added: "We are providing best-in-class solutions that support automation across the semiconductor value chain."

Advantest and AllianceATE have collaborated for more than 20 years. Advantest completed the AllianceATE acquisition in September 2025 and has since integrated AllianceATE's semiconductor test EDA tools into the V93000 software ecosystem.

Which application segments will the platform address first?

Advantest plans to optimize the integrated platform for AI and HPC semiconductors. The V93000 plus Velocity pairing handles highly complex and large-scale data processing environments, where parallel pattern generation and EDA-driven test development compress time-to-market. The company demonstrated the solution through an interactive kiosk at VOICE 2026, where attendees explored advanced design flows from May 18 through May 20.

What compliance question does the launch raise?

The deeper question for production engineering teams is whether a DTT-driven pattern set satisfies the traceability and audit requirements of automotive, medical and aerospace semiconductor qualification. Regulated flows still demand documented hand-off between design verification and production test, even when an EDA-to-ATE link compresses engineering time. Whether the Velocity-based flow satisfies those audit trails, or requires supplementary documentation layers, will determine adoption beyond AI accelerator and HPC production lines.