Aehr Strengthens AI Market Share with Additional Orders for Sonoma Production Test and Burn-in Systems

Rhea-AI Summary

Aehr Test Systems (NASDAQ:AEHR) has secured significant follow-on orders from a leading AI hyperscaler customer for eight Sonoma ultra-high-power systems for AI processor testing and burn-in. The systems will be delivered over the next six months from Aehr's Fremont facility.

The order represents a more than doubling of production systems for this customer, who is developing their own AI processors. The Sonoma systems feature advanced Burn-in Modules (BIMs) with active liquid-cooled technology, supporting power dissipation up to 2000W per device.

This expansion aligns with the projected growth of the AI chip market, which is expected to grow from $60 billion in 2023 to over $600 billion by 2032, representing a CAGR of nearly 30%.

Positive

• Significant order expansion with major AI hyperscaler customer, more than doubling their production systems
• Strategic position in the rapidly growing AI chip market projected to reach $600B by 2032
• Superior technological advantages including highest Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE)
• Customer indicating plans for further expansion and next-generation processor development

Negative

• High customer concentration risk with dependence on single lead AI customer
• Extended delivery timeline of six months for system shipments

Insights

Semiconductor Equipment Analyst

Aehr secures significant follow-on orders from major AI hyperscaler, strengthening its position in the booming AI chip testing market.

This follow-on order for eight Sonoma ultra-high-power systems represents a more than doubling of Aehr's production systems with this unnamed hyperscaler customer. The timing is strategically significant as it coincides with the customer's AI processor capacity expansion plans and demonstrates growing market validation for Aehr's test and burn-in technology in the demanding AI chip sector.

The order carries three key implications: First, it confirms Aehr's ability to transition customers from early-stage qualification to volume production on the same platform - a critical competitive advantage in semiconductor testing. Second, it signals strong ongoing demand for high-reliability AI chips requiring extensive burn-in testing. Third, it demonstrates Aehr's ability to secure repeat business from tier-one customers in the AI space.

The technical specifications highlighted reveal why Aehr is gaining traction in AI chip testing - their systems can handle up to 2000W power dissipation per device with active liquid cooling, crucial for modern AI processors that generate extreme heat during testing. Their architecture delivers approximately twice the watts per square foot compared to competitors, a significant efficiency advantage for customers scaling high-power chip production.

This order reinforces Aehr's strategic positioning in the AI semiconductor market, which according to cited research is projected to grow from $60 billion in 2023 to $600 billion by 2032, representing a 30% CAGR. The company appears well-aligned with the industry shift toward specialized AI accelerators for data centers, autonomous vehicles, and other high-growth applications requiring rigorous reliability testing.

FREMONT, CA / ACCESS Newswire / July 22, 2025 / Aehr Test Systems (NASDAQ:AEHR), a worldwide supplier of semiconductor test and burn-in equipment, today announced it has received follow-on orders from its lead production artificial intelligence (AI) processor customer for package part burn-in for eight Sonoma ultra-high-power systems to be used for volume production test and burn-in of their AI processors. This customer is a world-leading hyperscaler delivering computing power and storage capacity to millions of individuals and organizations worldwide. These systems will ship from Aehr's high-volume production facility in Fremont, California, over the next six months.

Gayn Erickson, President and CEO of Aehr Test Systems, commented, "We are excited to receive these follow-on volume production orders for multiple Sonoma systems, representing a more than doubling of the number of production systems with this customer, which is one of the premier large-scale data center hyperscalers. This customer is developing its own AI processors and significantly expanding its capacity. They have indicated plans to ramp this device over the next year and have already begun discussing their next-generation processors with us to ensure we can meet their production capacity needs.

"Aehr enables customers to perform their production burn-in screening, qualification, and reliability characterization in package form for GPUs, AI processors, CPUs, and network processors. We believe our Sonoma systems offer the lowest-cost solution on the market. We first engaged with this customer during the early stage of their new product introduction and supported them throughout the entire process, from defining the best burn-in test plan to production burn-in, using the same platform and fixtures. This demonstrates our ability to seamlessly move from reliability characterization and qualification of AI processors to production burn-in and early life failure screening, which allows our customers to reduce costs and accelerate time to market.

"The AI semiconductor processor market is growing at an unprecedented incredible rate. According to Strategy and Stats (S&S) Insider, the AI chip market, valued at over $60 billion in 2023, is projected to grow to more than $600 billion by 2032, a tenfold increase with a CAGR of nearly 30 percent. Additionally, the types of processors and applications for AI are evolving rapidly, moving beyond general-purpose GPU-based processors for large language models and inference to application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) designed for specialized accelerator functions in data centers and hyperscalers. AI processors are also becoming critical in autonomous vehicles, robotics, and security applications. These advanced devices demand the highest levels of quality, reliability, and security. With our comprehensive portfolio of reliability test and burn-in solutions tailored for AI semiconductors, we believe Aehr is well positioned to capture a meaningful share of this growing market."

The Sonoma systems feature turnkey application-specific Burn-in Modules (BIMs) equipped with active liquid-cooled conductive temperature control. Each BIM includes a customized printed circuit board, socket contactor, liquid thermal head, and dedicated test programs tailored to the unique requirements of individual AI processors, supporting power dissipation of up to 2000W per device. These modules enable high-current power delivery, real-time execution of dynamic test parameters, and continuous device output monitoring at elevated temperatures, ensuring accelerated aging and early-life failure detection. The Sonoma offers significant technological and commercial advantages over other available solutions, and features advanced testing functionality at the "Device Under Test" (DUT) level for substantially lower cost and high performance using state-of-the-art technology, including:

• A streamlined architecture with superior footprint optimization, delivering significantly more watts per square foot, often twice that of other systems in the market

• Highest Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE), as loading, unloading and start of new burn-in run is per device, and avoids "batch" loading and unloading of the chamber

• Most efficient movement of devices between JEDEC trays and burn-in socket while removing hundreds of thousands of dollars for extra burn-in boards that traditional burn-in systems require to manage device handling

• Dedicated per DUT digital I/O pins for ultimate control and test flexibility versus traditional burn-in systems that share drivers across multiple devices

• Precision power delivered directly from supplies next to the devices under test and burn-in conditions, versus bulk power supplies and back planes in traditional burn-in chamber that can cause voltage drops and much less accurate voltages critical to burn-in

• Individual dynamic heating and cooling-per-device with independent liquid cooled thermal sockets and control-per-device

• Best in class software for characterization and bring-up of devices for qualification and production

About Aehr Test Systems
Headquartered in Fremont, California, Aehr Test Systems is a leading provider of test solutions for testing, burning-in, and stabilizing semiconductor devices in wafer level, singulated die, and package part form, and has installed thousands of systems worldwide. Increasing quality, reliability, safety, and security needs of semiconductors used across multiple applications, including electric vehicles, electric vehicle charging infrastructure, solar and wind power, computing, advanced AI processors, data and telecommunications infrastructure, and solid-state memory and storage, are driving additional test requirements, incremental capacity needs, and new opportunities for Aehr Test products and solutions. Aehr has developed and introduced several innovative products including the FOX-P^TM families of test and burn-in systems and FOX WaferPak^TM Aligner, FOX WaferPak Contactor, FOX DiePak^® Carrier and FOX DiePak Loader. The FOX-XP and FOX-NP systems are full wafer contact and singulated die/module test and burn-in systems that can test, burn-in, and stabilize a wide range of devices such as leading-edge silicon carbide-based and other power semiconductors, 2D and 3D sensors used in mobile phones, tablets, and other computing devices, memory semiconductors, processors, microcontrollers, systems-on-a-chip, and photonics and integrated optical devices. The FOX-CP system is a low-cost single-wafer compact test solution for logic, memory and photonic devices and the newest addition to the FOX-P product family. The FOX WaferPak Contactor contains a unique full wafer contactor capable of testing wafers up to 300mm that enables IC manufacturers to perform test, burn-in, and stabilization of full wafers on the FOX-P systems. The FOX DiePak Carrier allows testing, burning in, and stabilization of singulated bare die and modules up to 1024 devices in parallel per DiePak on the FOX-NP and FOX-XP systems up to nine DiePaks at a time. Acquired through its acquisition of Incal Technology, Inc., Aehr's new line of high-power packaged part reliability/burn-in test solutions for Artificial Intelligence (AI) semiconductor manufacturers, including its ultra-high-power Sonoma family of test solutions for AI accelerators, GPUs, and high-performance computing (HPC) processors, position Aehr within the rapidly growing AI market as a turn-key provider of reliability and testing that span from engineering to high volume production. For more information, please visit Aehr Test Systems' website at www.aehr.com.

Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements generally relate to future events or Aehr's future financial or operating performance. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements because they contain words such as "may," "will," "should," "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "going to," "could," "intends," "target," "projects," "contemplates," "believes," "estimates," "predicts," "potential," or "continue," or the negative of these words or other similar terms or expressions that concern Aehr's expectations, strategy, priorities, plans, or intentions. Forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to, future requirements and orders of Aehr's new and existing customers; Aehr's ability to receive orders and generate revenue in the future, as well as Aehr's beliefs regarding the factors impacting the foregoing, including the growth of the markets referred to herein; Aehr's ability to integrate Incal efficiently; and the timing and extent to which the acquisition is accretive. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are also subject to other risks and uncertainties, including those more fully described in Aehr's recent Form 10-K, 10-Q and other reports filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Aehr disclaims any obligation to update information contained in any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of this press release.

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Contacts:
Aehr Test Systems
Vernon Rogers
EVP of Sales & Marketing
(510) 623-9400 x215
vrogers@aehr.com

PondelWilkinson, Inc.
Todd Kehrli or Jim Byers
Analyst/Investor Contact
tkehrli@pondel.com
jbyers@pondel.com

SOURCE: Aehr Test Systems

View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire

FAQ

What new orders did Aehr Test Systems (NASDAQ:AEHR) receive in July 2025?

Aehr received orders for eight Sonoma ultra-high-power systems from a leading AI hyperscaler customer for AI processor testing and burn-in, more than doubling the customer's production systems.

What is the power capacity of Aehr's Sonoma system Burn-in Modules?

Aehr's Sonoma BIMs support power dissipation of up to 2000W per device and feature active liquid-cooled conductive temperature control.

How large is the AI chip market expected to grow by 2032?

The AI chip market is projected to grow from $60 billion in 2023 to more than $600 billion by 2032, representing a CAGR of nearly 30%.

What are the key technological advantages of Aehr's Sonoma systems?

Sonoma systems offer superior footprint optimization with twice the watts per square foot, highest Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE), dedicated per DUT digital I/O pins, and precision power delivery with individual dynamic heating and cooling per device.

When will Aehr deliver the new Sonoma systems orders?

The systems will be shipped from Aehr's Fremont, California facility over the next six months.