Oct. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Advantest Corp., the world's biggest maker of memory-chip testing equipment, reported first-half profit rose 52 percent on demand for chips used in digital cameras and music players.

Net income increased to 22.2 billion yen ($188 million) in the six months ended Sept. 30, from 14.6 billion yen a year earlier, Tokyo-based Advantest said today. Sales rose 13 percent to 120.5 billion yen, and operating profit, or revenue minus the cost of goods sold and administrative expenses, gained 42 percent to 32.2 billion yen.

Advantest reduced its full-year earnings estimates. Full- year net income is expected at 43 billion yen, down from 44 billion yen forecast in April. Sales are forecast at 255 billion yen, down from 265 billion yen estimated earlier, while operating income is expected at 65 billion yen, down from 70 billion yen.

The company cut its forecasts for the year ending March 31 as sales of testing services for non-memory and so-called dynamic random access memory, or DRAM, chips were below expectations, President Toshio Maruyama said at a briefing in Tokyo today.

``Capital expenditures by U.S. chipmakers such as Intel fell more than expected,'' Maruyama said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Pavel Alpeyev in Tokyo at palpeyev@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: October 27, 2006 02:20 EDT