Samsung Electro-Mechanics signs $990m AI deal

Samsung Electro-Mechanics said on May 20 it signed a 1.5 trillion won (US$990 million) contract to supply silicon capacitors for AI infrastructure.

The parts are used in AI server semiconductors, including GPUs and high bandwidth memory, to improve power supply stability.

Samsung Electro-Mechanics said silicon capacitors have more than 100 times lower resistance than multilayer ceramic capacitors, which can reduce signal loss in high-performance chips.

The company said it plans to expand sales of the parts into other high-performance computing markets, including autonomous driving systems and mobile devices.

🔗 Source: Chosun Daily

🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

This deal follows a multi-year plan

The contract comes from Samsung Electro-Mechanics’ years-long push into faster-growing markets 1.
The Mi-RAE Project named silicon capacitors as a future growth area 1. It also included glass substrates (advanced chip packaging materials) and all-solid-state batteries (which use solid materials instead of liquid electrolytes) 1.
Samsung Electro-Mechanics is spending early on businesses like silicon capacitors 2. It expects 2026 capital expenditures to more than double from the prior year 2.
The company also launched a silicon capacitor product page for rising power needs in AI and mobile devices 3.

Silicon capacitors fill a premium role beside multilayer ceramic capacitors

The agreement adds to a premium niche for silicon capacitors. Multilayer ceramic capacitors still serve a broad market.
AI servers use 10 to 15 times more multilayer ceramic capacitors than general-purpose servers 4.
Demand for advanced chip substrates, which connect chips to circuit boards, is more than 50% above Samsung Electro-Mechanics’ production capacity, said Chang Duck-hyun, CEO, Samsung Electro-Mechanics 5.
Samsung Electro-Mechanics is weighing a double-digit price increase for high-end multilayer ceramic capacitors, and Murata Manufacturing has also signaled a possible increase, according to TrendForce 6.
Silicon capacitors fit power-delivery roles in AI hardware 7. Demand is also rising for specialized high-capacitance and high-voltage multilayer ceramic capacitors 7.