- SENKO, Advantest, and $VIAV collaborate on automated CPO module testing platform for high-volume manufacturing. - Solution demonstrates 200 Gbps per lane transmission through detachable optical connectors using tungsten carbide SAM-T test connector. - Platform designed to handle production volumes exceeding 28,000 units per month with repeated mating cycle durability. > The collaboration addresses a critical manufacturing bottleneck for CPO adoption by validating repeatable, high-speed testing at production scale. > Demonstrating 200 Gbps performance through detachable connectors removes a significant technical barrier to scalable AI optical infrastructure deployment.

🚨 JAPANESE STOCKS ARE RALLYING ACROSS THE BOARD TODAY Toyota: +2.15% Kioxia: +2.59% Mitsubishi Heavy: +2.09% Advantest: +1.53% Mitsubishi UFJ: +1.27% The Nikkei still finished slightly in the red due to weakness in a handful of heavyweight stocks. Under the surface, Japan was VERY green today.

JAPAN’S NIKKEI PLUNGES 3.5% AS FED RATE HIKE FEARS GROW Japanese stocks tumbled after hotter-than-expected U.S. inflation fueled expectations of higher interest rates. The Nikkei fell 3.5%, led by sharp losses in AI stocks: SoftBank -7.9%, Advantest -7.3% and Tokyo Electron -5.8%. Rising rate fears are putting renewed pressure on global tech stocks.

Some expect HBM equipment demand to grow faster than HBM output itself. Two variables: more chips to test, and longer testing time per chip. $ATEYY Advantest holds more than 50% of the global memory chip testing equipment market. Its latest T5503HS2 platform supports parallel testing of multi stack HBM chips, improving efficiency by 40% vs the industry average. $TER Teradyne holds around 30% of the global server memory testing market, second only to Advantest. It supplies final test equipment for DRAM used with Intel Xeon, plus three temperature handlers and SLT equipment for SK hynix HBM modules in AI servers. Equipment doing this well is one reason $SOXX performance is still high. But two smaller players sit outside $SOXX and are still formidable: $FORM makes the probe cards that contact the wafer. It works with SK hynix on HBM inspection, and two customers have adopted its SmartMatrix full wafer contact for HBM4. SK hynix has been roughly 30% of revenue. $AEHR is the micro cap. Wafer level and package burn in, used to screen AI dies before they are stacked with HBM, and to burn in accelerators after. Adjacent to the HBM test cycle, not a memory ATE competitor.

CPO testing is splitting into four stages, with different suppliers positioned at each: · Stage 1: PIC and EIC wafer sort to identify known-good dies. Vendors: Keysight, Teradyne, Advantest and TEL · Stage 2: Integrated-wafer electro-optical testing after dicing, thinning and placement. Vendors: Keysight, Anritsu, MPI, Advantest, ficonTEC and Teradyne · Stage 3: Optical-engine testing combining electrical, optical and thermal testing. Vendors: ADST, All Ring, GMT Global, ficonTEC and Chroma ATE · Stage 4: Final CPO module testing across electrical, optical, thermal and reliability performance. Vendors: Hon Precision, Chroma ATE, Teradyne and WinWay Integrated electro-optical testing is a key bottleneck. It must test electrical and optical performance simultaneously while handling alignment, warpage and thermal expansion The opportunity extends beyond ATE. CPO also needs probing, lasers, fiber coupling, optical inspection, precision alignment, thermal control and automation

Here are some stats you should know Defiance Inference AI Chip ETF $AINF : Launched: August 17, 2026 Expense Ratio: 0.65% Assets Under Management: $469.2K Listed on: Nasdaq Top 10 Holdings (Index-level): NVIDIA $NVDA 11.81% weighting Taiwan Semiconductor $TSM 11.45% Broadcom $AVGO 9.94% AMD $AMD 9.41% Advantest 5.39% Intel $INTC 5.08% MediaTek 4.80% Winbond Electronics 4.79% Global Unichip 4.49% Nebius $NBIS 4.43% Performance since it first launched: -7.20% 🔴 Defiance is a paid partner with WOLF Financial. This post is for informational purposes only and should not be understood as investment advice. An investor should carefully read and consider a Fund's investment objective, risks, charges, and expenses before investing. A Fund's prospectus and summary prospectus contain this and other information.

Just some consolidated updates on memory: - $MU leads new 1.5T Yen investment in Hiroshima ~$9.3B. (bullish read through for Disco, Advantest, Resonac, Towa) since capex is localized. - Morgan Stanley pointed out NAND will continue to be in short supply into 2027 so $SNDK / Kioxia type players are happy alongisde $SIMO and upstream. - MS remains especially positive on Macronix/Winbond - UBS expects the average price of DDR contracts in the Q3 2026 to increase 32% | 18% Q4, vs. 17% and 12% est. - UBS expects NAND flash to be raised 30% from prev quarter. - Samsung reportedly plans 20% DRAM hike Q3. TrendForce recently forecast DRAM contract prices to rise 13 to 18 percent in the third quarter from the previous quarter, so this hike beats expectations. Something to note: Lot people see 20%... and don't think it's a lot compared to the 70-80% from previous quarters. But if you hike something by 100%, then hike something by 100%, then hike something by 30%, it's a lot more than people estimate since it's compounded. Similar to tracking inflation. I've already made projections going into 2028 from the start of the year on my memory names... I'm just sitting back and watching things play out through all the "memory optimization" and "they can't keep price hiking like this!" noise.

$TSM Vice President of Advanced Packaging: "Foundries can scale up the optical engine, but the real bottlenecks to large scale deployment lie elsewhere... Including lasers, optical fiber, fiber-optic connectors, and test" (UDN) Just some bucket ideas: Lasers: $LITE, $SIVE, $COHR, LandMark (3081), LuxNet, Sumitomo, Furukawa Optical fiber / FAU: Foci, Browave, $GLW, Sumitomo Fiber Optic / CPO Connectors: BizLink, $GLW , Fujikura, Nextronics, COXOC CPO testing: MPI (6223), Advantest, $FORM, Msscorps, $KEYS, Chroma (disclosure: exposure to theme above, individual names not named by TSMC) There are others I like as well, such as ShunSin, which now has explicit TSMC COUPE exposure but probably belongs under a different category like packaging/integration. eg. "Foxconn unit ShunSin confirms TSMC COUPE partnership" I don't think there's anything too new vs. H1, aside from ongoing news (eg. FAU looks like there will have a demand imbalance in 2027, from a report last week). But it's helpful to reiterate overall beneficiaries from time to time...

Taiwan’s ‘Big 5’ chip packaging and testing firms (OSATs) will spend over NT$460 billion (US$14.4B) this year on capex in a bid to catch up with AI-related demand, media report. Industry giant ASE said its biggest problem now is how to accelerate construction, equipment installation, and capacity rollout at 13 new projects and 8 renovations: ASE: NT$335 billion (US$10.5B) Powertech: NT$50 billion KYEC: NT$50 billion Sigurd Group: NT$20 billion ChipMOS: NT$7.2 billion in the 1st half. More coming $ASML $AMAT $TER $CAMT $NVMI #BESI# #Advantest#