Test Gear Revives Alongside Demand For Chips, Boards; Manufacturers are spending again, but also are grinding hard on price.(INDUSTRY SNAPSHOT)(ELECTRONIC MEASURING EQUIPMENT)

Byline: DOUG TSURUOKA

Life is sweet on the rebound. That's what makers of electronic test and measuring equipment are saying as demand for chips and other products surges following the end of a tech slump that began in 2000.

The sector makes systems that check chips, cell phone circuits and other high-tech parts. They also build machine vision systems that track goods on factory lines. Other areas are lab devices and measuring systems for machine tools.

Sector products figure as parts in larger machines that make semiconductors and circuit boards. They're mounted directly on assembly lines to aid all sorts of factory operations.

A key comeback area is chip-testing devices. "The next two years will be among the strongest growth years," said Gartner Dataquest analyst Laurie Balch.

Allied areas like machine vision also are rebounding.

"We're finally seeing a pickup after two to three down years. It's because of a comeback in chip demand in Asia and elsewhere," said Robert Shillman, CEO of …