If you thought the demand for semiconductor chip components like DRAM and NAND for memory and storage was the only issue plaguing the consumer tech world right now, it has been reported that companies like Apple and Qualcomm that design their own processor chips are also facing a critical issue.
Glass cloth fiber is one of the building blocks of a processor chip that is important for its properties, including dimensional stability, rigidity and ability to facilitate high-speed data transmission.
Now, companies like NVIDIA, Google and Amazon have also started ordering this material in very large quantities for their artificial intelligence chips, and this has caused consumer device chip designers like Apple and Qualcomm to also have to scramble to ensure that they have enough stock.
To make matters worse, the only company that makes glass cloth components at a quality that can be used in the construction of a processor chip is a Japanese company called Nitto Boseki.
The company has reportedly recently received visits from companies such as Apple, AMD and NVIDIA, but it seems that it has not yielded any results as the companies say they are already operating at maximum capacity, and cannot accept additional requests.
To be used as part of the substrate layer of a processor chip, this fiberglass fabric needs to be smaller in diameter than a strand of hair, have a perfect round curve and have no air bubbles in it.
Companies such as Apple have reportedly turned to several other companies such as Taiwan Glass, Taishan Fiberglass and Grace Fabric, but the biggest issue is ensuring that the quality of the fiberglass produced is good enough to be used in their Apple M processor chips. To this end, Apple has apparently brought in some of their engineers to help improve the quality and output of the fiberglass produced.
So far, Apple and Qualcomm have not issued any statements about the difficulties in producing their processor chip components, but if this report is to be seen as an early sign that consumer component manufacturers are increasingly pressured by the demands of the AI industry.
