Advanced Semi Testing: Chip upgrade; testing ahead

Research evidence excerpt

Advanced Semi Testing: Chip upgrade; testing ahead

Global Markets Research

24 July 2026Advanced Semi Testing

EQUITY: TECHNOLOGY

Chip upgrade; testing ahead Research Analysts

Semiconductor

Buy on testing process sophistication, spec upgrade, Vivian Yang - NITB

vivian.yang@nomura.comshare gain/order overflow, and supply constraints

+886(2) 21769970

In a nutshell, testing is now in the driver’s seat Eric Chen, CFA - NITB

Our team has been positive on the semiconductor OSAT sector since 4Q25 (whenwe eric.chen@nomura.com

upgradedASE[3711TT,Buy]), on our view that: 1) the value of back-end processing as +886(2) 21769965

a portion of chip manufacturing costs continues to rise along with advanced packaging; 2) Aaron Jeng, CFA - NITB

the streamlining of leading players and spillover effect is likely benefiting overall supply aaron.jeng@nomura.com

chain players. We further upgradedKYEC(2449TT,Buy) in Mar-26 following product +886(2) 21769962

mix optimization and margin expansions for both the companies. As devices become

more complex, testing duration will naturally extend; and, if we take nVidia’s (NVDA US,

Not rated) AI GPUs as an example, and index the final test (FT) time of Hopper to 1, we

estimate 4x for Blackwell and ~7x for Rubin. For system-level test (SLT), if we set Hopper

to 1, we estimate 1.5x for Blackwell’s SLT time and 2.5x for Rubin's. For burn-in test

(BIT), we estimate the test time to likely double from Blackwell to Rubin as well. The

extended testing times should be reflected as increased testing content in the cost

structure; furthermore, considering the higher hourly rates, we estimate the testing

content costs (defined as the sum of FT, BIT and SLT) in nVidia Rubin could rise to

3.3% of the total cost vs.