Taiwan-based leading PCB maker Zhen Ding Technology and Austria's AT&S are set to enter the high-end ABF substrate segment where demand will stay robust through 2025, both making bold investment plans with solid support from major clients, according to industry sources.

Zhen Ding has decided to invest NT$15 billion (US$535.71 million) to set up a new plant in China dedicated to ABF substrates for processing HPC chips, the sources said. The new fab is slated to start commercial runs in 2023, mainly to serve major chipmakers including AMD, Nvidia and Xilinx, the sources added.

The company will also build a new BT substrate plant in China at total cost of NT$8 billion, which will become operational in fourth-quarter 2022 to supply substrates for processing mobile APs and RF modules from MediaTek, Qualcomm and Apple, and may also roll out SiP and AiP substrates, the sources noted.

Meanwhile, AT&S has also disclosed plans to invest US$2 billion in a major ABF substrate manufacturing complex in Malaysia in cooperation with Intel and another major US client, with initial production to kick off in 2024 and full-scale production in 2026, the sources said. The company will also inject US$236 million in 2022 to set up new ABF substrate production lines at its plant in Chongqing, China, the sources continued.

AT&S is now also among Apple's suppliers of BT-based SiP and AiP substrates, but it has yet to release clear capacity expansion plans for this segment, the sources said.

Korea-based PCB makers Daeduck Electronics and LG Innotek are most likely to be next newcomers into the high-end ABF substrate sector, both having decided to set up dedicated plants for such substrates with investment plans already in the making, the sources said.