Unimicron Technology Corp (欣興電子), a critical player in making semiconductors, yesterday said that demand for high-performance computing chips is so strong that its production capacity would be strained for the next five years.
The Taoyuan-based company makes Ajinomoto buildup film (ABF) substrate, a key component of the packaging that protects chips that power computers and servers.
Its customers include Intel Corp, Apple Inc, Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) and Nvidia Corp, and its materials go into central processing units and graphics processing units for computers, servers and gaming consoles.
In a call after earnings, Unimicron chief financial officer Michael Shen (沈再生) told analysts that its capacity is full until at least 2027.
“Customers are now talking to us about orders for 2027, 2028, 2029 and 2030,” Shen said. “Lead time for new equipment now can be two to three years.”
Major semiconductor companies such as Intel, Nvidia and AMD depend on ABF substrates to produce high-performance chips.
Even as chipmakers and governments around the world spend hundreds of billions of US dollars to attract and build production capacity, the lack of that key component might hinder overall production for years.
Existing customers have locked in the company’s ABF substrate capacity for the long term, suggesting that new customers or new entrants might struggle to get the supplies they need, Shen said.
ABF substrate makers have long been reluctant to invest aggressively in capacity because of money-losing slumps that have led to tight supply of the component.
Unimicron’s shares closed 1.04 percent higher at NT$243 in Taipei trading.
They have soared more than 10-fold over the past three years.
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