By Shota Mizuno

Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

The president of Ibiden Co., a major Japanese manufacturer of chip package substrates -- the boards onto which semiconductor chips are mounted -- has said the company must respond to growing demand for artificial intelligence. Located in Ogaki, Gifu Prefecture, the company sells many of its products to U.S. chip giant Nvidia Corp.

During a recent interview with The Yomiuri Shimbun, company President Koji Kawashima indicated he would push the company to increase production of package substrates for AI servers.

The following is excerpted from his interview.

The Yomiuri Shimbun: How is Ibiden producing its package substrates for integrated circuits (ICs)?

Koji Kawashima: IC package substrates protect semiconductor chips. They also supply electricity to semiconductors from external sources. Ibiden manufactures IC package substrates at three plants in Gifu Prefecture: Ogaki, Ogaki Central and Aoyanagi. From this fiscal year, mass production will also start at the Ono plant, a new factory also located in Gifu Prefecture. Additionally, we aim to start making the substrates at another Gifu Prefecture plant in Gama soon.

The Ono plant will manufacture IC package substrates for AI servers used at data centers. The substrates will mainly be shipped to Nvidia.

Yomiuri: Nvidia's business is growing. How are you responding to the increasing demand for its products?

Kawashima: There is strong demand for IC package substrates for AI servers. It is difficult to meet that demand with only the Ono plant. We are now changing out the equipment at existing factories so that we can manufacture products for AI servers.

The Ogaki plant is operating at full capacity. We have shifted some of the production at the Ogaki Central plant -- which in the past manufactured IC package substrates for Intel Corp. -- to products for AI servers. Starting in 2028, we plan to set up production lines in unused space at the Ono plant to increase output of products for AI servers.

Nvidia has captured demand for generative AI and is expanding its business. I believe generative AI will also be used for technical purposes, such as financial services and proposals for improving the efficiency of manufacturing sites, and this should boost demand for AI servers for the time being. We also expect Intel to make a comeback by leveraging its tech abilities, so we are conducting joint development with the company to prepare for this comeback.

Yomiuri: It has been said that semiconductors are approaching physical limits in terms of making them smaller. So the semiconductor industry is moving toward chiplet technology, which involves combining different types of semiconductors and putting them on an IC package substrate. What are your thoughts on this trend?

Kawashima: With chiplet technology advancing, it's become necessary to place more chips on IC package substrates to improve the performance of semiconductors. This requires a larger substrate. As substrates get bigger, you get a tiny amount of warping, which leads to poor electrical connections being made during the assembly process. This results in more defects and pushes down the yield, which in turn leads to increased costs for customers.

Ibiden has been able to prevent warping in IC package substrates with its technology, drawing praise from our customers. Progress in chiplet technology presents a golden opportunity for Ibiden to demonstrate its competitive advantage. Nvidia focuses on chip design and outsources production to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC). The Taiwan company mounts its semiconductors on Ibiden's IC package substrates. We will deepen collaboration with TSMC so that we can provide products that have a high yield, that are well suited to TSMC's products.

Yomiuri: How is Ibiden performing in other fields?

Kawashima: In addition to our electronics business, we also have a ceramics business. We manufacture exhaust filters for diesel engines that are used in automobiles and elsewhere. We also produce safety components for electric vehicle batteries, so we would like to market these to overseas battery manufacturers.

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This article is from The Yomiuri Shimbun. Neither Dow Jones Newswires, MarketWatch, Barron's nor The Wall Street Journal were involved in the creation of this content.

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June 17, 2025 07:06 ET (11:06 GMT)

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