Sinolink Securities Co., Ltd. released a research report stating that AI-ASIC maintains high growth momentum with sustained CAPEX increases. ASIC has become a critical incremental factor in the AI-PCB segment, with total shipments potentially surpassing NVIDIA GPU volumes by 2026. Leading AI electronic cloth and copper foil companies have already released AI-driven profits in their financial statements, with expansion and price increases validating industry prosperity across multiple dimensions. 2025 is expected to mark the inaugural year of liquid cooling, starting with rapid penetration in AI servers (beginning with NVIDIA AI GPUs), with ASIC projected to contribute significant incremental growth in 2026-2027. The firm continues to favor the AI electronic cloth and copper foil industries while monitoring ASIC's impact on liquid cooling and AI PCB equipment demand.
**AI-ASIC High Growth Momentum with Sustained CAPEX Increases**
On September 5, Broadcom announced its fiscal 2025 third-quarter results, with revenue, profits, and business guidance all exceeding market expectations. Third-quarter AI semiconductor revenue reached $5.2 billion, up 63% year-over-year, while fourth-quarter AI chip business revenue guidance surged to $6.2 billion, representing a 19% sequential increase. Broadcom CEO Hock Tan revealed the company is collaborating with multiple potential customers on custom AI accelerator development, with one customer having placed production orders. This customer has been qualified for Broadcom's XPU platform and secured orders worth up to $10 billion, becoming the fourth major custom AI client alongside three existing major customers. Additionally, Tan predicted the global AI ASIC market will reach $60-90 billion by fiscal 2027.
On September 4, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that Meta plans to invest at least $600 billion in data center construction and infrastructure development in the United States through 2028. Meta's AI-related capital expenditure for 2025 is projected at $66-72 billion, representing at least 68% year-over-year growth, with similar growth rates expected for 2026.
As of July 2025, Google's Gemini tokens process over 980 trillion tokens monthly, doubling since May 2025, which should continue driving upward revisions to TPU shipment volumes.
**ASIC Becomes Critical Incremental Factor in AI-PCB Segment**
From a shipment perspective, Google TPU shipments are expected to reach 1.5-2 million units by 2025, Amazon AWS T2 is projected at 1.4-1.5 million units, while NVIDIA's AI GPU supply will exceed 5-6 million units. Currently, Google and AWS combined AI TPU/ASIC shipments represent 40-60% of NVIDIA's AI GPU shipments. With Meta beginning large-scale deployment of its proprietary ASIC solutions in 2026 and Microsoft starting in 2027, total ASIC shipments are expected to surpass NVIDIA GPU volumes sometime in 2026. The firm believes ASIC will become a critical incremental factor in the AI-PCB segment.
**AI Electronic Cloth and Copper Foil Leaders Show Strong Profit Performance**
ASIC's impact on AI electronic cloth and copper foil materializes through the PCB→CCL→electronic cloth/copper foil chain, with upstream transmission throughout the supply chain. Based on interim reports from electronic cloth and copper foil leaders, exceptional performance is evidenced by AI already contributing profits and leading companies' firm commitment to AI investment, maintaining very aggressive market share positions that leave limited opportunities for followers.
China Materials Technology represents a "grand slam" in specialty glass fiber: H1 2025 specialty fiber cloth sales reached 8.95 million meters, with products covering low dielectric first-generation, low dielectric second-generation, low expansion cloth, and Q cloth across all product categories, all completing certification and volume supply for domestic and international leading customers. An August 28 announcement detailed specialty glass fiber expansion of 35 million meters/year and Q cloth expansion of 24 million meters/year.
Tongguan Copper Foil: H1 2025 high-frequency, high-speed substrate copper foil (HVLP+RTF) production accounted for over 30% of total PCB copper foil output, with HVLP copper foil H1 2025 production exceeding full-year 2024 levels. HVLP4 copper foil is undergoing comprehensive performance testing at downstream end customers, while carrier copper foil has mastered core technology and is preparing for productization and industrialization. Additionally, China Jushi is actively entering the electronic cloth industry.
**Monitoring ASIC's Impact on Liquid Cooling and AI PCB Equipment**
2025 is expected to be the inaugural year of liquid cooling, initially penetrating AI servers (starting with NVIDIA AI GPUs), with ASIC projected to contribute significant incremental growth in 2026-2027. For liquid cooling, focus areas include liquid cooling plates - in June, Shenzhen Dongchuang proposed acquiring 100% equity in Huachuang Sanxin, the controlling shareholder of Zhen'an Technology, to become the controlling shareholder. For new materials, attention centers on coolants, aluminum/copper materials, and pumps. Additionally, AI PCB equipment presents upgrade opportunities in areas such as exposure machines and laser drilling.
**Risk Factors**
Excessive expansion in low-Dk electronic cloth/copper foil industries; below-expected demand for low-Dk electronic cloth/copper foil industries; below-expected ASIC capital expenditure.