Japan Chemicals: AI materials: Latest tech trends, Japanese company strengths and issues

Research evidence excerpt

Japan Chemicals: AI materials: Latest tech trends, Japanese company strengths and issues

enter

into price negotiations as needed in that scenario. The NER-glass product cycle

is proving more prolonged than initially expected, suggesting that the size of the

addressable market could increase significantly. Specifically, it was originally

thought that M9 and more advanced CCLs would require Q-glass or third-

generation low-Dk glass (NEZ-glass), but we understand that recent advances

in resin technology are generally seen as implying that the low-Dk requirements

for glass cloth may not be as stringent as first thought (i.e., NER-glass may be

sufficient). In low-Dk glass, overseas competitors have been making up ground

sooner than expected, but management commented that their catching-up was

not necessarily unfavorable from an overall market perspective given that the

market was expected to expand beyond the size where Nittobo alone could

handle all the supply. On the question of whether PTFE could threaten the low-

Dk glass market, the company commented that the hurdle to adoption would be

high given issues like PTFE’s lack of rigidity.

n JX Advanced Metals — On June 16, the company announced plans to increase

InP substrate production capacity by up to 10x through FY3/31. Management

commented that, while InP substrate demand growth was initially projected at

around 25% annually, recent momentum suggests growth of 30-40% could be

expected. As of 2026, data centers are already using optical communication

between racks, within data centers, and between centers. From 2028 onward,

there could also be a transition from electrical to optical transmission within

servers and within racks. This would mean higher demand for optical

transceivers and, by extension, for InP substrates.