ST. PAUL, Minn., Nov. 21, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aetrium Incorporated (Nasdaq:ATRM) announced today recent bookings of multiple units of its V_MAX IC test handlers. Daniel Koch, the recently appointed CEO of Aetrium, Incorporated today said, "We are all very pleased with the recent orders for our newest product offering, the V_MAX IC test handler. It is especially pleasing to see both new customers and long term customers in our current backlog. All of these new orders are being driven by increased capacity needs and they are quite diverse in their end applications. The semiconductor industry continues to show signs of slow and deliberate recovery."

The orders were placed with Aetrium over the last few weeks. Multiple V_MAX test handlers were purchased by a long term Aetrium customer for their proprietary MEMS semiconductor devices. This is the first application of the V_MAX handler by this particular customer who had traditionally used older generation Model V8 test handlers from Aetrium. It is expected that the V_MAX test handler will provide more productivity and a lower cost of test than the older generation V8 model.

A second customer that is a new customer to Aetrium has also purchased multiple units of the V_MAX test handler for application with their proprietary products. This customer also purchased a media transfer system to accommodate their internal product packaging needs.   The V_MAX was chosen over competitive companies and products due to Aetrium's strong reputation for customer support and for the V_MAX's productivity and reliability characteristics.  

Two additional customers, who have been long term customers of Aetrium, purchased V_MAX test handling capacity for specific lines of semiconductors focused on the automotive industry. The automotive industry demands a wide range of temperature testing capability, which the V_MAX offers with its unique and very cost effective mechanical refrigeration system.

The orders in total amounted to nearly $2.1M. The V_MAX handlers and all the equipment associated with these orders are expected to be shipped to the customers by the end of the first quarter of 2014.  

Certain matters in this news release are forward-looking statements which are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, adverse domestic or global economic conditions, slowing growth in the demand for semiconductor devices, the volatility and cyclicality of the microelectronics industry, changes in the rates of capital expenditures by semiconductor manufacturers, progress of product development programs, unanticipated costs associated with the integration or restructuring of operations, and other risk factors set forth in the Company's SEC filings, including its Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012 and its Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2013.

Aetrium, based in North St. Paul, Minnesota, is a supplier of handling equipment used by the worldwide semiconductor industry to test ICs. The company's products are used by customers to improve efficiency, provide thermal environments for devices during test, as well as MEMS test environments. Aetrium's common stock is publicly traded on the Nasdaq market under the symbol ATRM. More information about Aetrium is available on the internet at www.Aetrium.com.