Nvidia is evaluating glass substrate solutions and wants related manufacturers to complete development within two years. The race to mass-produce glass substrates is heating up. Some institutions believe the long-term growth potential for glass-based advanced packaging is like a vast ocean of stars.
Nvidia is seriously evaluating a glass substrate solution. According to media reports citing the Seoul Economic Daily, Nvidia is evaluating the adoption of glass substrate solutions and has partnered with companies including German equipment maker SCHMID. Separately, Korean tech media KIPOST reported that Nvidia wants substrate manufacturers in South Korea, Japan, and China's Taiwan region to complete glass substrate development within two years, with commercialization potentially arriving as early as 2028. SCHMID disclosed at its first-half earnings briefing that it is working with core suppliers within the respective supply chains of Intel, Nvidia, and AMD to jointly develop glass substrate equipment. Its chief strategy officer acknowledged that metallization of through-glass vias (TGV) remains a technical difficulty, and customer certification has not yet been completed.
In fact, industry giants have long been laying the groundwork. In May this year, Nvidia and Corning announced a multi-year strategic cooperation in which Nvidia will invest up to US$2.7 billion in Corning and receive warrants, while Corning will build three new advanced manufacturing plants in the United States, expanding domestic optical connectivity capacity tenfold. Jensen Huang previously met with SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won to discuss next-generation semiconductor cooperation including glass substrates, and has actively pushed TSMC to develop glass substrate technology.
Domestic industrialization is also clearly accelerating. On September 22, BOE Technology Group Co.,Ltd. (SZSE: 000725) said at its earnings briefing that its glass-based packaging carrier board pilot line has been fully connected, and 24-layer products have been delivered to customers for verification. Shengmei Shanghai recently disclosed that it has received its first order from a domestic advanced packaging customer for 510×515 mm panel-level horizontal electroplating mass production equipment, with delivery planned for the first quarter of 2027. WG Tech (Jiangxi) Group Co.,Ltd. (SSE: 603773) also said it is actively advancing the development and sample verification of glass-based products in related fields.
The glass substrate industry is at a "0 to 1" industrialization turning point. Glass substrates are a next-generation packaging material that replaces organic materials with glass as the chip packaging substrate. They offer a low coefficient of thermal expansion, high flatness, and low dielectric loss, and can support larger-size, higher-density advanced packaging. Currently, AI chip package sizes continue to expand, and the performance of organic substrates is approaching physical limits. The global glass substrate industry is accelerating from technical verification toward pilot testing, customer certification, and mass production introduction, while localization of the supply chain is also improving in tandem.
According to Omdia estimates, the global packaging glass substrate market will reach US$18.6 billion in 2026 and is expected to exceed US$32 billion by 2030, with a compound annual growth rate of about 14.5%. Huachuang Securities said the long-term development space for glass-core substrates for semiconductor advanced packaging is like a vast ocean of stars. The institution believes that as AI/HPC and HBM drive expansion of high-end advanced packaging and packaging evolves toward larger sizes, the panel-level packaging trend is expected to further amplify glass's advantages in large size, high flatness, and low warpage. Zhongtai Securities pointed out that glass-based advanced packaging is at a "0 to 1" industrialization turning point. The institution estimates that the global glass-core carrier board market space is expected to reach RMB 65.5 billion in 2028 and further increase to RMB 267.8 billion by 2030, with early movers gaining first-mover advantages. Guosheng Securities believes that driven by AI packaging upgrades, the TGV supply chain is entering a golden development period. TGV drilling and in-hole metallization are the two major core technical difficulties in glass substrate manufacturing, and it suggests paying attention to supply chain opportunities along three main lines: TGV precision processing, core equipment, and upstream original glass sheets.
Margin traders positioned early in multiple concept stocks. According to the concept sector data of East Money, there are currently 60 A-share stocks involved in the glass substrate concept, with a combined total market capitalization of about RMB 1.9 trillion. BOE Technology Group Co.,Ltd. (SZSE: 000725) ranks first with RMB 216.709 billion, Lens Technology ranks second with RMB 173.512 billion, and JCET ranks next with RMB 123.076 billion. Han's CNC, TCL Technology, and HGTECH all have market capitalizations exceeding RMB 100 billion.
Since the beginning of the year, the glass substrate concept sector has generally performed well, with 44 stocks rising and 16 falling. Nine stocks, including Gbkj, WG Tech (Jiangxi) Group Co.,Ltd. (SSE: 603773), Delong Laser, and Han's CNC, have doubled. Last week, the sector pulled back slightly, with Sanxia New Material rising 13% to lead, while Jinrui Mining and Lyric Robot rose more than 5%. Five stocks, including Han's Laser, Han's CNC, and Lante Optics, fell more than 5%.
From a capital perspective, East Money Choice data shows that last week a total of 23 glass substrate concept stocks received contrarian bets from margin traders. Among them, Han's Laser received RMB 174 million in leveraged fund additions, while HGTECH and Xingsen Technology attracted RMB 142 million and RMB 101 million respectively. Hymson Laser, Tiancheng Technology, IRICO Display Devices, Sai Micro Electronics, and Triumph Science & Technology each received more than RMB 70 million in net margin buying.
BOE Technology Group Co.,Ltd. (SZSE: 000725) is a display panel leader and is entering the semiconductor glass-based packaging carrier board track. According to the company's semi-annual earnings briefing, its glass-based packaging carrier board pilot line has been connected, and 24-layer substrates larger than 100×100 mm have passed in-house reliability testing and been delivered to customers for verification. Company Chairman Chen Yanshun said that in the first half of next year it will go all out to meet the conditions for a mass production investment decision.
WG Tech (Jiangxi) Group Co.,Ltd. (SSE: 603773) is one of the few companies mastering the full GCP (glass circuit board) process. According to its semi-annual report, the company independently developed TGV (through-glass via) technology and can process 510×515 mm large panels, with mass production capability for vias of 30 to 150 microns. Multiple products from Hubei Tongge Micro have completed customer verification.
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