IC substrate and PCB supplier Unimicron Technology has revised upward its capex target for 2021 to NT$34.47 billion (US$1.25 billion) from around NT$27 billion set previously.
The company said 80-85% of the projected capex will be used in IC substrate capacity expansions, particularly for ABF substrates that see persistently strong demand from clients.
It added the capex increase of NT$7.4 billion will mainly support purchases of new machines by the end of the year to enable production process upgrades at its existing production lines.
Upgrading production lines is not necessarily meant to create new capacity, and instead indicates clients are asking Unimicron to offer more high-end products, which in turn will help improve the company's product portfolios and profitability for 2022, according to industry sources.
Apart from ABF substrates, the company is expected to continue its investments in production of BT substrates for processing handset SoCs and other consumer device chips, as well as non-substrate PCB products, the sources said.
