AI server architectures are rapidly shifting toward ultra-high-density designs, keeping advanced CoWoS packaging capacity persistently tight. The primary bottleneck stems from continuously expanding chip sizes, which introduce warpage and thermal stress challenges while driving ABF substrate demand to multiply, creating structural supply pressure and underpinning a recovery in 2025 operations for Taiwan's three leading IC substrate makers.
As AI chip package sizes continue to grow, warpage issues in IC substrates have become more pronounced. Capacity constraints for low-CTE fiberglass cloth, a critical material used to address warpage, are forcing end customers, including Apple, Nvidia, Google, and AWS, into increasingly intense competition for supply, industry sources said.
PCB maker Tripod Technology said full-year 2025 revenue reached a record high, and it expects stable momentum heading into 2026 despite ongoing inventory adjustments among automotive customers. Strong demand from server and memory module applications is driving a steady increase in utilization rates, allowing first-quarter operations to defy traditional seasonality and remain in line with the previous quarter's revenue level.
As next-generation AI server platforms enter volume deployment, supply chain constraints are extending beyond high-bandwidth memory (HBM). Bottlenecks are increasingly emerging in printed circuit boards (PCBs) and critical upstream materials, according to DIGITIMES analysis.
