Three major technology giants — NVIDIA, Intel, and AMD — have collectively prepaid more than NT$100 billion (approximately US$5 billion) in deposits to advanced IC substrate manufacturers in Taiwan to lock in long-term capacity supply, as they compete for critical production capacity in the AI supply chain.

Driven by this demand, Taiwan's top three substrate makers — Unimicron, Kinsus, and Nan Ya PCB — have announced cumulative investment in plant construction reaching NT$161.2 billion this year, a record high.

Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan previously stated publicly that AI demand is driving demand for advanced packaging and chips, with upstream IC substrate and material supply remaining tight. Several customers have proactively paid advance deposits to help Intel secure substrates and capacity. Based on this, institutional investors estimate Intel's long-term prepurchase of substrate capacity at approximately US$3 billion.

AMD previously announced a US$10 billion investment in Taiwan, which the industry widely interprets as securing supply chain capacity, with substrate-related investment estimated at approximately US$1 billion. NVIDIA also announced large-scale capacity expansion plans with multiple core supply chain partners, and outside observers speculate its substrate investment in Taiwanese manufacturers is similarly around US$1 billion, with the possibility of further increases.

Unimicron: Highest Capital Expenditure Among Peers, Spends NT$10 Billion on Plant Acquisition

According to the report, Unimicron's capital expenditure this year ranks first among substrate manufacturers. The company's board previously resolved to add NT$19.7 billion to this year's capital expenditure, bringing the full-year total to NT$53.7 billion, while also placing large orders for long lead-time equipment, with related purchase orders increased by an additional NT$17.6 billion.

In terms of land and plant layout, Unimicron announced in late September the acquisition of Bridgestone's Hukou plant and office in Taiwan for approximately NT$10.08 billion, to address future customer demand for advanced substrate capacity expansion. The company stated that the land acquisition is based on medium-to-long-term operational development strategy, aimed at overall production configuration and capacity planning.

Kinsus: Transitioning to Advanced Substrates, Three-Year Expansion Budget Exceeds NT$40 Billion

Kinsus has been gradually phasing out traditional PCB production in recent years, concentrating resources on transitioning to advanced substrate business. The board has approved capital expenditure of NT$23.5 billion to meet equipment investment needs for ABF substrate capacity expansion over the next three years, of which NT$8 billion is planned for 2026, with NT$6 billion specifically dedicated to ABF substrate investment.

Additionally, the Kinsus board added an extra special project capital expenditure budget of NT$19.6 billion to further strengthen expansion efforts, bringing the total expansion budget to over NT$40 billion.

Nan Ya PCB: Building Smart Factory, Single Investment Nears NT$50 Billion

Nan Ya PCB's board previously passed a resolution to allocate new capital expenditure for building a smart factory focused on large-size, high-layer-count advanced substrates, with an estimated investment of NT$46.8 billion — the highest single investment among the three manufacturers.

AI Infrastructure Arms Race Spreads Upstream

The three major technology giants' combined investment in Taiwan's substrate industry is estimated at US$5 billion (approximately NT$162.9 billion), reflecting the deep dependence of AI infrastructure construction on upstream critical materials and packaging substrates. As the core intermediary component connecting chips and circuit boards, substrate supply bottlenecks have directly affected the pace of capacity release across the entire AI supply chain.

The model of customers locking in capacity through large advance payments provides demand visibility support for Taiwanese substrate manufacturers' large-scale capital expenditure, while also indicating that technology giants have elevated supply chain security to the level of proactively binding resources. The cumulative investment announced by Taiwan's major substrate manufacturers this year has reached a record high of NT$161.2 billion, reflecting long-term optimistic expectations for AI-related substrate demand in the market.