NVIDIA plans 2.5x substrate capacity and doubled chip testing with six supply partners

What NVIDIA announced

NVIDIA used its GTC Berlin event on 21 October 2026 to announce capacity agreements with six supply chain partners. The deals cover package substrates, advanced packaging, chip testing and co-packaged optics. NVIDIA says it plans to increase substrate capacity for its products by 2.5x over the next three years and that more agreements are underway.

The substrate deals are the largest part of the release. NVIDIA is providing a multibillion-dollar capacity reservation advance for IBIDEN's Ono Plant in Japan, which targets three times current levels, with more capacity ramping in the first quarter of 2028. Samsung Electro-Mechanics joins NVIDIA's substrate supply chain with immediate capacity from its South Korean operations and plans new factories and upgrades in Sejong and Busan. A capacity reservation agreement supports Unimicron's KF substrate expansion in Taiwan, with additions from the second quarter of 2027 and full capacity by mid-2028.

Packaging, testing and optics

Amkor plans to expand interposer wafer capacity in South Korea by more than 300% by the end of 2028, alongside new South Korean facilities. On testing, NVIDIA expects total semiconductor testing capacity to double from calendar 2026 to 2027. KYEC receives a $1.1 billion capacity reservation advance for new US testing facilities and equipment, with high-volume production targeted for April 2027. An expanded testing operation in Singapore is expected to start high-volume production in February 2027; the operator is not stated in the announcement.

For co-packaged optics, SPIL plans to expand Taiwan manufacturing of optical engines by 15x by mid-2027 and to double that again by the end of 2028. Founder and CEO Jensen Huang is quoted saying: "Capacity is the constraint."

What changed for data centre buyers

The release shifts the conversation about AI chip supply from wafers to the steps after them. Substrates, interposers and final test are where NVIDIA now says it is paying in advance to secure output, in some cases years before the capacity exists. For cloud providers and data centre operators planning around Vera Rubin systems, the dates in the release are the useful part: new substrate lines from the second quarter of 2027, US test production from April 2027 and the IBIDEN ramp in early 2028.

The release gives no current baselines or absolute volumes, so the multipliers cannot be turned into unit numbers. Investment amounts for Amkor, Unimicron, SPIL and Samsung Electro-Mechanics are not stated in the announcement. The broader NVIDIA cloud buildout, including the Oracle deal announced six days later, is covered in our earlier story.

What to watch next

NVIDIA says more agreements are underway, so further partner announcements are likely. The first checkpoint is February 2027, when the Singapore test expansion is due to reach high-volume production, followed by KYEC's US site in April 2027. Partner filings may disclose the size of the advances that NVIDIA left as multibillion-dollar or unstated. More coverage sits under AI Chips & Infrastructure.

Questions people ask

Which companies are in NVIDIA's supply chain capacity announcement?

Amkor Technology, IBIDEN, King Yuan Electronics (KYEC), Samsung Electro-Mechanics, Siliconware Precision Industries (SPIL) and Unimicron, according to the NVIDIA release of 21 October 2026.

How much is NVIDIA paying KYEC?

NVIDIA says it is providing a $1.1 billion capacity reservation advance to support new KYEC testing facilities in the US, with high-volume production targeted for April 2027.

When does the new capacity arrive?

Singapore testing from February 2027, KYEC's US testing from April 2027, Unimicron substrates from the second quarter of 2027 with full capacity by mid-2028, and more IBIDEN capacity from the first quarter of 2028.

Sources

1. NVIDIA and Supply Chain Partners Expand Capacity to Accelerate AI Infrastructure Buildout (NVIDIA, 21 Oct 2026)