South Korea's Doosan Secures Key Role in NVIDIA's AI PCB Supply Chain

South Korea's Doosan Secures Key Role in NVIDIA's AI Supply Chain as Taiwan's EMC Falters on Blackwell Certification

In a significant shift within the high-performance computing materials supply chain, Taiwan-based Elite Material Co., Ltd. (EMC) , a major global copper-clad laminate (CCL) manufacturer, has failed to pass NVIDIA's quality certificationfor CCL materials required in the computing tray (GPU board) of itsnext-generation Blackwell GB300 AI accelerator, industry sources reported.

This development stands in stark contrast to the success of South Korea's Doosan Group, whose equivalent CCL product has successfully passed NVIDIA's stringent quality audit, securing its position as the certified supplier for the GB300 platform. The failure highlights the exceptionally high technical barriers forspecialized CCL used in AI semiconductors.

Despite being one of the world's leading CCL manufacturers and having previously co-supplied materials for NVIDIA's prior-generation Hopper series alongside Doosan in 2022, EMC is now reportedly completely excluded from the supply chain for NVIDIA's upcoming Blackwell architecture.

Thehigh-end CCL market for AI accelerators is largely dominated by these two players. Industry analysts now predict that Doosan is highly likely to become the exclusive supplier of CCL for NVIDIA's subsequent Rubin AI chip generation,scheduled for next year.

A supply chain insider familiar with the matter revealed, "Doosan isexpected to begin exclusive supply for Rubin starting from the third quarter ofnext year. With the ramp-up of chip production, we anticipate explosive salesgrowth in the fourth quarter."

This exclusive positioning is projected to dramatically increase Doosan's revenue from NVIDIA. The company reported NVIDIA-related revenue of approximately 100billion KRW (≈ 484 million RMB) in Q4 2023. This figure is forecasted to surge to660 billion KRW (≈ 3.2 billion RMB) for the full year2024. Industry estimates suggest a further 70% jump in 2025, pushing sales beyond 1.15 trillion KRW (≈ 5.56 billion RMB) and solidifying Doosan's entry into the "trillion-won revenue era" from NVIDIA alone.

The robust demand for premium CCL is fueling meteoric growth for Doosan's electronic materials division. The division's operating profit is projected toreach 500.9 billion KRW (≈ 2.4 billion RMB) this year, a fourfold increase from 122.6 billionKRW in 2023. Its operating profit margin has also leaped from 12.2% to animpressive 27.4%. Forecasts for 2025 indicate operating profit will furtherclimb to 717.5 billion KRW (≈ 3.5 billion RMB), withmargins approaching 30%.

Furthermore,industry observers predict Doosan's CCL supply agreements could extend beyond NVIDIA to include custom AI chips (ASICs) for other global tech giants like Amazon and Google.

To meet the soaring demand, Doosan's CCL factories are already operating at full capacity, with utilization rates exceeding 100%. According to quarterly reports, utilization rates at its Jeonpyeong and Gimcheon plants reached 130.4%and 125.2%, respectively, and have continued to rise quarter-over-quarter this year. In response, Doosan authorized an additional 60.3 billion KRW (≈ 300million RMB) in capital expenditure during Q3 2024 to expand CCL productioncapacity, representing a year-on-year increase of over 50%.