With cloud service providers (CSP) actively developing self-researched chips (ASIC),ASIC is becoming an important architecture parallel to AI in the server market, driving the demand for high-end PCB materials. The five major PCB manufacturers, including Zhen Ding, Unimicron, Kinsus, Kingboard, and Boin, have all participated in the ASIC application supply chain and are showing clear layout trends.
The market is optimistic about the growth of server shipments in 2025, which is expected to increase by 10%, reaching 13 million units. Among these, AI servers are expected to account for 77% of the overall server market value, with a shipment share of 12%. The supply chain indicates that compared to GPUs, ASICs have a higher degree of customization, which poses higher requirements for PCB manufacturers in terms of design proposals, process yield, shipment flexibility, and delivery control. Taiwanese manufacturers with dual advantages in technology and capacity are becoming the biggest beneficiaries.
Zhen Ding’s position in high-end HDI rigid boards and IC substrate products related to AI applications is increasingly prominent. Its high-layer rigid boards with more than 20 to 30 layers will become a growth focus in the next 1 to 2 years, driven by strong demand for AI servers, with monthly shipments reaching 50,000 pieces. Additionally, for advanced packaging substrates covering 2.5D/ 3D packaging structures, the order ratio in the second quarter has reached 60%, and it is expected that demand will grow significantly again by 2026.
Unimicron is clearly optimistic about the simultaneous growth of AI server and ASIC design demands, which will drive significant increases in ABF substrates and PCB shipments. The outlook for the second half of the year is optimistic, and it has stabilized the supply of substrates required for GB200 GPU and is investing in GB300 equipment and capacity planning. Additionally, it is focusing on the new wave of demand brought by ASIC and will actively seek new projects for AI servers and ASIC chip design platforms, promoting steady growth in annual revenue.
Kinsus is actively entering the “non-NVIDIA” AI application market strategy, focusing on platforms such as Intel Birch Stream and AMD Turin, and has secured orders from three of the four major CSPs. In the second half of the year, it is expected to penetrate large American CSPs AI AISC projects, with server-related revenue expected to grow by over 20%. It is reported that Kinsus currently produces server boards mainly in Taiwan, with a new factory in Vietnam expected to introduce equipment in the second half of the year, contributing revenue starting in 2026, which will become a key overseas supply focus in the medium to long term.
Kingboard has entered the supply chain of four major CSPs, becoming a key supplier of ASIC server motherboards and global UBB (Universal Base Board) multilayer boards. Revenue from AI servers accounts for about 20%, and recently, urgent order demands from major ASIC customers have surged. With advantages in yield and delivery time, it is accelerating capacity expansion. The Suzhou factory will open new capacity in the third quarter, and the first phase of the new factory in Thailand is also expected to start mass production in the second half of the year, with estimated monthly revenue contributions of about NT$300 million. The second phase is expected to be launched in 2026.
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