Ibiden Co. (IBIDY, Financial), the quiet powerhouse behind Nvidia's (NVDA, Financial) revolutionary AI chips, is scrambling to keep pace with surging demand. CEO Koji Kawashima revealed that every unit of Ibiden's AI-use substrates is already spoken for, with demand set to stay hot through 2025. Ibiden's new factory in Gifu, Japan, will kick off production at 25% capacity in late 2025, ramping to 50% by early 2026. But here's the kicker: even that might not cut it. Customers are already pushing for bigger capacity boosts, with Ibiden in talks to speed up further expansion.
Nvidia's next-gen Blackwell chips, the lifeblood of AI applications, depend entirely on Ibiden's advanced substrates, which outperform rivals with their precision and production yields. Analysts say that competitors like Taiwan's Unimicron Technology Corp. can't touch Ibiden's edge in mass production. Meanwhile, Kawashima is laser-focused on diversifying beyond Intel (INTC, Financial), which has seen its share of Ibiden's revenue slide to 30% as it works through a rough patch. Still, the CEO isn't counting Intel out, calling it a "treasure" that played a pivotal role in Ibiden's rise as a semiconductor leader.
Investors are taking notice. Ibiden shares surged 5.5% in Tokyo, their best one-day gain in over a month. AI semiconductors already drive 15% of Ibiden's $2.3 billion in annual sales, and that figure's set to climb as Nvidia scales up production. With fresh competition brewing from Marvell (MRVL, Financial), Broadcom (AVGO, Financial), and tech giants like Google and Microsoft venturing into custom silicon, Ibiden's strategic moves to secure its place in the AI supply chain make it a standout player. For investors, this could be just the beginning of Ibiden's long-term growth story.
