[News] SKC Reportedly Pushes Glass Substrate Mass Production to 2027, Targets Final Validation by Year-end

While SKC and its U.S. subsidiary Absolics remain among the frontrunners in the glass substrate market, Business Post reports that delays in mass production, driven by changing customer requirements, have allowed competitors to close the gap.

According to the report, SKC is currently supplying prototypes to multiple North American big tech companies for performance validation, with plans to complete final reliability testing this year and move into full-scale production next year. The company had initially targeted the world’s first commercial glass substrate production by the end of this year, but the timeline has since been pushed back.

The latest progress is also supported by News Tomato, which reports that SKC began supplying evaluation samples to global customers in April and plans to conduct full-scale reliability testing. TradingKey further ntoes that the company has completed the world’s first dedicated glass substrate mass production facility and is now supplying samples to major customers, including AMD and AWS.

As noted by Business Post, global tech giants, including Apple, Amazon, and AMD, are accelerating efforts to adopt glass substrates, while Intel has also set a goal of transitioning all semiconductor substrates to glass substrates by 2030. In addition to SKC, Samsung Electro-Mechanics and LG Innotek are ramping up efforts to catch up in the glass substrate race, with mass production targets set after 2027.

SKC’s Turnaround Remains Elusive

Against this backdrop, SKC’s return to profitability may hinge on the successful ramp-up of its glass substrate business. Business Post expects earnings to improve significantly once full-scale production begins next year.

However, a full-fledged turnaround remains out of reach for now. According to the report, SKC is expected to remain in the red this year despite increased sales of copper foil, its core business. Still, losses are gradually narrowing, supported by surging demand for energy storage systems (ESS) and the consolidation of copper foil production operations.

SKC is estimated to have posted an operating loss in the tens of billions of won in the second quarter of this year, extending its losing streak to 15 consecutive quarters since the fourth quarter of 2023, the report says.

Read more

• [News] Glass Substrates Eye 2027 Launch, Scale Toward 2030 as CoWoS Costs Rise and Hyperscaler Demand Grows
• [News] Intel Advances Glass Substrate Push with 3DGS, US$3.3 Billion India Plant Set for Five-to-Six-Year Buildout

(Photo credit: Absolics)