The year just ended was one of impasses. Knock-on effects from the European economic crisis have spread to the emerging economies, such as China, acting as a drag on global growth. In politics, the year saw changes of leadership in many countries, arousing hopes for new economic policies in 2013, but each country is facing mounting problems, and the situation remains unpredictable. The semiconductor market posted a year-on-year decline, and the semiconductor test equipment market is in a similarly grim way. Yet, even in this environment, Advantest succeeded in capturing orders, expanding sales, and growing our market share.

Five Policies
The industry's doldrums seem set to continue in 2013, but I have proposed five policies to spur our continued growth under these circumstances.
  1. Expand Market Share
  2. Grow Core Peripherals Business
  3. Increase Profitability of Installed Base
  4. Create Comprehensive New Markets
  5. Nurture New Businesses

Number one: Expand Market Share. We can exploit market changes to grow our market share. To seize opportunities as they present themselves, we must provide the solutions the market requires in a timely fashion. Customer collaboration and internal cooperation that transcends departmental and regional barriers will power our further share gains.

My second policy, Grow Core Peripherals Business, reflects the fact that we have plenty of room to grow our share of the handler market. The new Cheonan factory is coming on line, giving us new impetus in this sector. I also expect great things from the DI Business Group's probe cards, and have advised them to focus on tackling the SoC probe card market, as well as probe cards for memory.

Thirdly, to implement the policy Increase Profitability of Installed Base, you should persevere towards signing customers up to added-value service contracts. Additionally, I am looking for increased profits from leases and rentals, as well as our recently launched CloudTestingTM Service.

My fourth policy is Create Comprehensive New Markets. This means redefining our served markets. By broadening our horizons, we can identify new business opportunities.

Fifth, Nurture New Businesses. We have already started up a number of new businesses, and I am confident that a further crop of promising new projects will result from our new initiative, "ADVenture." This is a system for collecting ideas for new products and new business models from employees all over the world and discussing them in a new intranet forum, "BrainBox." Subject to the results of preliminary research and an executive-level approval process, promising ideas will be put into development.

These five policies are bound together by a common thread summed up in this year's slogan: Working Together, We Can Do Better.

Globish Initiative
The Advantest Group has about 5,000 employees in 18 countries. However, 80% of Advantest employees are not native speakers of English. We have decided to use Globish to improve our communication, cooperation, and collaboration. This is the Globish Initiative.

The rule is simple. If not all people understand the local language, we use Globish for communication. Speak slowly, in simple sentences, never using difficult words or expressions.

Let's practice this Globish Initiative, and

"Working Together, We Can Do Better."



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