Samsung Electro-Mechanics has accumulated about 3.6 trillion won ($2.6 billion) in disclosed long-term supply agreements for AI-related components this year, as customers move to secure parts for servers that will be built in 2027 and beyond.
The latest deal came Tuesday, when the Samsung Electronics affiliate said an unidentified global company had agreed to buy about 290 billion won worth of multilayer ceramic capacitors and inductors throughout 2027. MLCCs and inductors help deliver clean, stable power to chips, a tougher job as AI servers pack in more processors and draw far more electricity.
It was the company’s fifth disclosed long-term supply agreement this year, extending a run of contracts that has built quickly over the past several months.
In May, Samsung Electro-Mechanics signed a 1.56 trillion won silicon-capacitor deal running from 2027 through 2028. A 454 billion won MLCC agreement followed in June.
On Sept. 1 it signed its largest-ever MLCC contract, worth 1.07 trillion won, also for 2027 delivery. The latest deal pushed the disclosed total to about 3.6 trillion won. The company says it now has MLCC long-term agreements with more than 10 global customers.
Many of the agreements cover supply that will not be delivered until 2027 or later. Customers are reserving parts well before production, while tight supply is also giving component makers more room on price.
Kim Min-kyung, an analyst at Hana Securities, said Samsung Electro-Mechanics is negotiating MLCC prices with direct customers and that AI server buyers have relatively "high price tolerance," raising the prospect of price increases above market expectations. She expects package-substrate margins to improve as prices continue to rise in what remains a supplier-led market.
That market is particularly tight for FC-BGAs, the package substrates used beneath high-performance processors. Kim estimated lead times at 48 to 56 weeks, compared with a more normal 12 weeks, despite ongoing capacity expansion across the industry.
Samsung Electro-Mechanics is responding with its largest single-product investment to date. It plans to spend 4.27 trillion won expanding AI-server FC-BGA capacity in Sejong, while another 2.51 trillion won will go to package-substrate expansion in Vietnam. Global customers are helping fund the Sejong expansion and committing to future volumes.
By Moon Joon-hyun (mjh@heraldcorp.com)
