● Covered by 1 source · 1 reportMedium impact1 neutral
ABF Substrate Supply Faces Strain from AI Accelerator Demand
Key points
- ABF substrates are critical for high-end CPUs, GPUs, and AI accelerators.
- AI boom exponentially increased demand for ABF substrates.
- Ajinomoto supplies over 95% of the build-up film for ABF substrates.
- Modern AI accelerators require larger substrates with more layers.
The Role of ABF Substrates in Modern Computing
ABF substrates are specialized insulating and wiring bases that connect silicon chips to printed circuit boards. They are fundamental to most high-end CPUs, GPUs, and AI accelerators, having been a critical component in the semiconductor industry since the late 1990s for personal computers, workstations, servers, and networking silicon.
AI Boom Drives Exponential Demand
The artificial intelligence boom has significantly increased demand for ABF substrates. Data centers now house hundreds of thousands of AI accelerators, with Nvidia alone projected to ship 3.2 million Blackwell GPU packages by the end of 2025, each requiring an ABF substrate. This surge is pushing the industry into a 'gigawatt era' with millions of AI accelerators in new data centers.
Concentrated Supply Chain Challenges
The supply chain for ABF substrates is highly concentrated. Advanced logic and AI chips from major manufacturers like Intel, AMD, and Nvidia rely on these substrates, which are produced by a small group of specialist companies. A critical bottleneck exists upstream, where Japan's Ajinomoto controls over 95% of the global market for the build-up film used in all ABF substrates. This single company, primarily known for food seasoning, is a sole source for a material essential to hundreds of millions of semiconductor devices.
Increasing Complexity of AI Accelerators
The design of modern AI accelerators further exacerbates the supply crunch. These accelerators integrate multiple compute, memory, and supporting components onto a single package. This requires larger ABF substrates to accommodate the expanded footprint and more build-up layers to route the increasing number of signals and power connections. Each additional layer necessitates another layer of Ajinomoto's build-up film.
✨ This summary was generated by AI from the outlets' reporting listed below. It is not independently verified and may contain errors — check the original sources. How BrevFeed works →
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Reporting from
The rapid growth in AI accelerators is creating a supply crunch for ABF substrates, essential components for high-end CPUs, GPUs, and AI chips. This issue is compounded by the fact that Ajinomoto, a single company, supplies over 95% of the critical build-up film used in these substrates.