Teradyne , a US company, is a leading supplier of automatic test equipment (ATE) and interconnection systems. The company's divisions, Broadband Test, Assembly Test, Connection Systems, Semiconductor Test, and Vehicle Diagnostic Solutions, are organized by the products they develop and deliver.

In 2003, Teradyne had sales of $US 1.4 billion, and as of 2004, employs about 6100 people worldwide.

Teradyne's divisions

The Semiconductor Test Division manufactures test equipment used by integrated circuit manufacturers. As of 2004, Teradyne manufactures three principal tester families of testers known as the Catalyst, Tiger, and Flex. These testers are used by semiconductor manufacturers to test and classify the individual devices ("dice") on a completed semiconductor wafer and then used again to retest the parts once they are enclosed in their final packaging. Tiger testers are capable of testing SOC (Mixed-signal, System on a chip) devices with more than 1600 pins and data rates extending beyond 3.2 GHz. Portions of this division were acquired when Teradyne purchased Megatest.

The Assembly Test Division builds testers that test completed circuit boards (Printed circuit boards/Printed Wiring Boards). This includes both electrical testing, automated optical inspection (AOI) and automated X-ray inspection equipment. This division was substantially expanded when Teradyne purchased GenRad (General Radio).

Teradyne Connection Systems, based in Nashua, New Hampshire manufactures high-density electronic connectors, complete backplanes, and systems packaging.

Fridley, Minnesota's Broadband Test Division sells turnkey services to telephone companies and broadband providers. These solutions allow telephone companies to routinely scan and evaluate their customer's voice circuits and DSL lines, often allowing problems to be detected and corrected before the customer becomes aware of them.

Vehicle Test Solutions sells customized diagnostic equipment to automobile manufacturers worldwide.

Teradyne's history

Teradyne was founded by Alex d’Arbeloff and Nick DeWolf, who were classmates at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the late 1940s. The men founded Teradyne in 1960, and set up shop in rented space above Joe and Nemo’s hotdog stand in downtown Boston. In 1961, they sold their first product, a diode tester, to Raytheon. Today, Teradyne operates major facilities in Boston's Chinatown and North Reading, Massachusetts; San Jose and Agoura Hills, California; Fridley, Minnesota, and other locations worldwide.

The name, Teradyne, was intended to represent a very forceful presence. 1,000,000,000,000 dynes = 10 meganewtons (2,248,089 pounds-force or 1,019,716 kilograms-force).

Teradyne's competition

Teradyne's principal competitors in the ATE business are:

• Advantest
• Agilent Technologies (formerly a division of Hewlett-Packard)
• Credence Systems Corporation (including its NPTest acquisition which was formerly Schlumberger Limited, formerly Fairchild Semiconductor)
• LTX