winstek, a taiwan chip-test house with NT$2.7B of revenue in the first half, just approved NT$13.4B of 2026 capex. its plan in december was NT$5.6B. one of the quieter squeezes in AI chips right now is testing them. its parent sigurd said at an oct 6 briefing (per taiwan press) that it is raising test prices, and that customers are locking capacity with guarantee agreements and testers reserved just for them. why: an AI accelerator sits on the tester far longer than a phone chip. advantest says accelerators need "longer test times and additional insertions" as 3D packaging gets more complex. more chips x more minutes each = tester hours run out. in the path: - KYEC: lifted 2026 capex to a record NT$50B in april - sigurd and winstek - advantest (japan), which makes the testers: raised i
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