Samsung Electro-Mechanics plans to sign a 500 billion KRW AI server MLCC mega order, partnering with Sumitomo Chemical to enter the glass substrate business.

Mars Finance News: On June 28, Samsung Electro-Mechanics is in final negotiations with a major U.S. technology company regarding a supply contract for MLCCs (multi-layer ceramic capacitors) used in AI servers. The contract is valued at approximately 500 billion Korean won, equivalent to 10% of last year’s revenue of its components division, making it an ultra-large order. The industry speculates that the customer is a company with major influence in the data center market. Each AI server needs 15,000 to 25,000 MLCCs, more than 10 times the number used in a smartphone, with a unit price more than 3 times that of phone-grade products, earning them the nickname “golden rice of the AI industry.”

Samsung Electro-Mechanics currently ranks second with a global MLCC market share of over 20%. This contract is expected to significantly boost its influence in the AI server MLCC market. The industry believes that, in essence, this move serves as a quality certification from a global “big buyer,” which will drive other major technology companies to follow suit and cooperate.

In the glass substrate business, Samsung Electro-Mechanics plans to formally sign a joint venture contract with Japan’s Sumitomo Chemical this week. The two parties will jointly invest 500 billion Korean won to establish a glass substrate joint venture, with Samsung Electro-Mechanics holding a majority stake and investing about 300 billion Korean won. The joint venture will be based at Sumitomo Chemical’s Korean subsidiary, Dongwoo Fine-Chem’s Pyeongtaek plant, with production planned to begin in early the year after next. Glass substrates are seen as a “game changer” for AI semiconductor packaging because they offer better heat resistance than traditional plastic substrates and can support more HBM and GPUs. Samsung Electro-Mechanics aims to lock in a high-quality supply chain in advance for large-scale mass production, while Sumitomo Chemical will use this opportunity to enter the next-generation packaging materials market.