Cypress Moves Toward 'Labless' Engineering with Test Facility Sale

In a move that continues the "labless" product engineering trend, Presto Engineering Inc. announced Monday it has acquired a 9800-sq-ft test facility in San Jose, Calif., from Cypress Semiconductor Corp. Presto, which is also based in San Jose, said it will use the facility to provide product engineering services to Cypress and other semiconductor manufacturers, with a focus on improving the speed and predictability of new products as they move from design to manufacturing. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. "We expect the industry to move toward 'labless' product engineering in the same way it has moved to 'fabless' manufacturing," said Presto CEO Michel Villemain in a statement. As semiconductor designs and manufacturing processes have become more complex, product engineering has increasingly required specialized expertise in electrical test, physical analysis, manufacturing processes and design, Presto said. The labless model lets semiconductor manufacturers accelerate new product introductions while reducing expenses by sharing costly test and analytical capacity. "The time it takes to go from first silicon to high-volume production can be the single most important determinant in the success of a new product," said Mike LaBouff, Cypress vice president of engineering. "Anything that enhances the speed and predictability of that process is extremely valuable. Presto's acquisition of our test floor gives us ready access to their extensive expertise and new advanced analysis capabilities."