Agilent to exit inspection business.

SANTA CLARA, CA--Agilent Technologies (agilent.com) plans to exit the electronics inspection systems business by the end of March. In making the announcement, the company deferred comment on the number of persons affected or potential financial charges.

The move to cut its AOI and automated x-ray inspection business frees the company to focus on its electronics test systems, the firm said. The decision will have a striking impact on the electronics inspection landscape. Agilent has more than 1,000 AOI/AXI installations worldwide, according to Jack Rozwat, GM, Americas field operations.

The company ceased selling AOI or AXI systems on Feb. 28, and will cease enhancement or product development on March 31. Affected machines and platforms include the x6000, sj5k, SP50 and 5DX.

While it is ceasing development of the inspection platforms, the company will continue to provide support for existing users, Rozwat told CIRCUITS ASSEMBLY in a phone interview this morning. Parts will continue to be available for seven years, and support contracts are currently available while longer-term support strategies are evaluated. The company's sales channels will continue to provide post-sales support, Rozwat added.

"We're trying to reassure [customers] that we're definitely committed to providing support."

New developments in the pipeline, such as the SP50 SPI system that was scheduled for release in March, will still be introduced, but as an upgrade to existing machines, not a new system, Rozwat said.

Agilent becomes the second OEM to exit the AOI business in the past two quarters. In November, Orbotech put its assembly AOI business on the market. A deal to sell that business is reportedly pending. Agilent said it examined all options related to the business, including a possible sale of the unit, and concluded that exiting the AOI and AXI business is the right decision.

Agilent will continue to develop its i1000, i3070 and TS54xx in-circuit test and functional test system platforms, the company said. "This is a difficult decision, but our hope is having this clear focus on ICT and functional test will allow our R&D group to be more productive and, from a funding perspective, it might help [too]," Rozwat told CIRCUITS ASSEMBLY." One of the few positive outcomes from our customers' perspective is this gives us more focus as an electronics measurement company."

Agilent has posted an FAQ on the matter at agilent.com/find/inspection.

Edited by Mike Buetow