The capital expenditure growth rate of the four major cloud providers in North America (Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft) is expected to reach 57% in 2025 (including Amazon at 47%), and 45% in 2026 (including Amazon at 33%), primarily for computing infrastructure construction. This will lead to a surge in demand for high-layer PCBs, driving tight supply and demand for upstream materials (drill bits, copper foil, glass cloth, etc.), with the industry outlook remaining positive from 2025 to 2026.
ASIC System Updates:
The AWS Trainium T2 MAX version will become the main shipment model in April 2025, with air-cooled versions stocked until the first half of 2026.
The Google TPU V6p will enter stock in the second half of 2025, with plans to upgrade to M9 materials in the second half of 2026; Meta Minerva will start stocking in the second half of 2025, with an expected shipment of 12,000 units from the second half of 2025 to 2026.
GPU System Updates:
NVIDIA’s GB200/GB300 continues to revise upward its shipment expectations, leading to a significant increase in PCB demand. The GB200 architecture requires 1-2 times more PCBs than traditional types, needing to meet high-layer (over 30 layers) and high heat dissipation requirements. It is expected to reach 20-24L in 2026, with an average selling price (ASP) exceeding 3,300 New Taiwan Dollars per square meter, and back-drilling processes can increase output value by 10-15%.
Switch Updates:
The 800G switch is accelerating penetration, with demand exceeding 16 million units in 2025 and over 30 million units in 2026; the demand for 1.6T switches in 2026 is expected to be 6-8 million units, promoting the application of high-layer PCBs (38-48L) and low-loss materials (M9).
Details on Key Material Shortages
Drill Bits: AI is driving the production of high-layer boards (over 30 layers) and thick HDI processes, with the lifespan of micro drill bits dropping from the traditional 8,000 holes/bit to 500 holes/bit, and the price of coated drill bits being 20-30% higher than ordinary types. Manufacturers like Ding Tai High-Tech and Mid-End High-Tech are operating at full capacity, leading to a significant supply-demand gap.
Copper Foil: The production capacity of HVLP4 copper foil is insufficient, with a demand of 800-850 tons/month in 2025 (mainly from AWS Trainium T2 MAX), while global production capacity is only about 700 tons/month.
Glass Cloth: The demand for Low Dk glass cloth is strong, with a demand of 1 million meters/month for third-generation cloth/quartz cloth in 2026, but production capacity is only about 5.5-6 million meters/month (in 2025).
Specific charts and research notes on two PCB equipment companies have been shared on the platform, and previous posts on the opportunities in PCB equipment companies have shown decent performance in recent days.
