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After expanding into the Netherlands with two acquisitions, the (now former) small Tuscan semiconductor company Microtest is looking with growing interest at the Asian market, where it has already been present since 2018 with the Microtest Pacific branch, with new investments in the Malacca headquarters, in Malaysia.
The Altopascio group – among the main manufacturers of microchip and silicon wafer testing and testing systems – will in fact invest over 5 million euros, supported by Xenon Private Equity, to expand the spaces and install new machinery, with the aim of outlining a new PCB assembly line, an expansion of the current Test House, an area dedicated to Burn In and a development in packaging and microelectronic design, with great attention to energy saving and emissions reduction with reference to ESG issues. Additionally, to strengthen customer services in the Asia-Pacific region, which is critical to the semiconductor industry, the company also plans to grow Microtest Pacific’s headcount by more than 50 percent by 2025.
Investments also made possible by the good results achieved in 2023, which closed with a pro forma turnover growing by 81%, to 58 million euros, and which saw the finalization of important operations. Last year Microtest concluded the takeover bid on RoodMicrotec, a Dutch company present in the Netherlands and Germany, which followed the acquisitions of the Dutch Test Inspire and the Italian Gedec.
«For 2024 we have major international objectives, for the achievement of which investments in Malaysia are of great importance – commented Giuseppe Amelio, CEO of Microtest -. Microtest Pacific is our international outpost designed primarily to support customers based in the Far East. Over the years, we have continued to invest in the Malacca office, because that is where many of our commercial partners are present, for whom it is essential to have interlocutors on site”.
Although it is one of the most strategic sectors for industrial innovation, the semiconductor market suffered a slight decline in 2023 compared to the previous year: according to Gartner, global sales of semiconductors in 2023 amounted to 533 billion dollars, down by 11.1% compared to 2022, although in 2030 it could be worth more than 1,000 billion dollars globally (McKinsey & Company data). Microchips, in fact, have an ever-increasing number of applications in the most varied sectors: from automotive to 5G technologies, from medical devices to aerospace.