Profile: Trio-Tech International (TRT.A)

Trio-Tech International (Trio-Tech), incorporated on July 17, 1958, provides third party semiconductor testing and burn-in services through its laboratories in Asia. The Company also designs, develops, manufactures and markets a broad range of equipment and systems used in the manufacturing and testing of semiconductor devices and electronic components . The Company operates in five segments: Manufacturing, Distribution, Testing Services, Fabrication Services and Real Estate. It operates in the United States, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, People’s Republic of China and Indonesia. The Company operates six testing services facilities; one in the United States and five in Southeast Asia. The Company operates two manufacturing facilities: one is located in the United States and the other one is in Southeast Asia. Its distribution segment, the real estate segment and fabrication services operate in Southeast Asia. Its customers are concentrated in Southeast Asia and they are either semiconductor chip manufacturers or testing facilities that purchase testing equipment.

Testing Services

The Company uses its own equipment for certain burn-in, centrifugal and leak tests, and commercially available equipment for various other environmental tests. It conducts the majority of its testing operations in Southeast Asia with facilities in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and People’s Republic of China. Testing services are rendered to manufacturers and purchasers of semiconductors and other entities who either lack testing capabilities or whose in-house screening facilities are insufficient for testing devices in order for them to make sure that these products meet military or certain commercial specifications. The Company’s laboratories perform a range of tests, including stabilization bake, thermal shock, temperature cycling, mechanical shock, constant acceleration, gross and fine leak tests, electrical testing, microprocessor equipment contract cleaning services, static and dynamic burn-in tests, reliability lab services and vibration testing. Its laboratories also perform qualification testing, consisting of tests conducted on small samples of output from manufacturers who require qualification of their processes and devices.

Manufacturing

The Company manufactures both front-end and back-end semiconductor test equipment and related peripherals at our facilities in Singapore and the United States. The Company’s Artic Temperature Controlled Chucks are used for test, characterization and failure analysis of semiconductor wafers and such other components at accurately controlled cold and hot temperatures. Several mechanical design features, for which patents have been granted, provides mechanical stability under high probing forces and across temperature ranges. The Company’s Wet Process Stations are used for cleaning, rinsing and drying semiconductor wafers, flat panel displays magnetic disks, and other microelectronic substrates. After the etching or deposition of integrated circuits, wafers are sent through a series of 100 to 300 additional processing steps. At many of these processing steps, the wafer is washed and dried using Wet Process Stations. The Company manufactures a range of autoclaves and Highly Accelerated Stress Test (HAST) systems and specialized test fixtures. Autoclaves provide pressurized, saturated vapor (100% relative humidity) test environments for monitoring of integrated circuit manufacturing processes. HAST provides a alternative to conventional non-pressurized temperature and humidity testing.

The Company manufactures burn-in systems, burn-in boards and burn-in board test systems. Burn-in equipment is used to subject semiconductor devices to elevated temperatures while testing them electrically to identify early product failures and to assure long-term reliability. Burn-in boards are used to mount devices during high temperature environmental stressing tests. In addition, the Company also develops cooling solution, which is used to cool or maintain the temperature of high power heat dissipation semiconductor devices.

Component centrifuges and leak detection equipment are used to test the mechanical integrity of ceramic and other hermetically sealed semiconductor devices and electronic parts for aerospace applications. Leak detection equipment is designed to detect leaks in hermetic packaging. The bubble tester is used for gross leak detection. A visual bubble trail will indicate when a device is defective.

Distribution

The Company distributes complementary products made by manufacturers mainly from the United States, Europe and Japan. The products include environmental chambers, handlers, interface systems, vibration systems, shaker systems, solderability testers and other semiconductor equipment. It also distributes a range of components such as connectors, sockets and touch-screen panels.

Real Estate Segment

The Company’s real estate segment generates investment revenue from real estate it purchased in Chongqing, People’s Republic of China. It also generates rental revenue.

Fabrication Services

The Company’s PT SHI Indonesia is an Indonesian based enterprise. It provides fabrication of large and complex structures equipment and structures used in the oil and gas industry at its subsidiary, PT SHI Indonesia.