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.
To many, Tatu City on the outskirts of Nairobi looks like a success. The first city entirely built by a private company to be operational in east Africa, with about 25,000 people living and working there, it accounts for about two-thirds of all foreign investment in Kenya. Its low-tax status has attracted more than 100 businesses including Heineken, coffee brand Dormans, and the biggest call-center and cold-chain transport firms in the region. However, to some local politicians, Tatu City has looked more like a target for extortion. A parade of governors have demanded land worth millions of dollars in exchange
An Indonesian animated movie is smashing regional box office records and could be set for wider success as it prepares to open beyond the Southeast Asian archipelago’s silver screens. Jumbo — a film based on the adventures of main character, Don, a large orphaned Indonesian boy facing bullying at school — last month became the highest-grossing Southeast Asian animated film, raking in more than US$8 million. Released at the end of March to coincide with the Eid holidays after the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, the movie has hit 8 million ticket sales, the third-highest in Indonesian cinema history, Film
BIG BUCKS: Chairman Wei is expected to receive NT$34.12 million on a proposed NT$5 cash dividend plan, while the National Development Fund would get NT$8.27 billion Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday announced that its board of directors approved US$15.25 billion in capital appropriations for long-term expansion to meet growing demand. The funds are to be used for installing advanced technology and packaging capacity, expanding mature and specialty technology, and constructing fabs with facility systems, TSMC said in a statement. The board also approved a proposal to distribute a NT$5 cash dividend per share, based on first-quarter earnings per share of NT$13.94, it said. That surpasses the NT$4.50 dividend for the fourth quarter of last year. TSMC has said that while it is eager
‘IMMENSE SWAY’: The top 50 companies, based on market cap, shape everything from technology to consumer trends, advisory firm Visual Capitalist said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) was ranked the 10th-most valuable company globally this year, market information advisory firm Visual Capitalist said. TSMC sat on a market cap of about US$915 billion as of Monday last week, making it the 10th-most valuable company in the world and No. 1 in Asia, the publisher said in its “50 Most Valuable Companies in the World” list. Visual Capitalist described TSMC as the world’s largest dedicated semiconductor foundry operator that rolls out chips for major tech names such as US consumer electronics brand Apple Inc, and artificial intelligence (AI) chip designers Nvidia Corp and Advanced
RSS