Taiwan's ASE Tech Flags AI Hardware Bottleneck, Boosts Capex

Chief Operating Officer Wu Tian‑yu told ASE Technology Holding’s second‑quarter earnings call that artificial‑intelligence growth represents a paradigm shift rather than a short‑term cycle. He said the main constraint is not demand but the need for new hardware infrastructure—factories, equipment and capacity must be built faster than AI advances.

ASE reported a record quarterly profit of NT$210.68 billion, a 50 % increase from the previous quarter, and announced a capital‑expenditure plan of US$10.5 billion for the year. The plan includes constructing 13 new facilities, expanding eight existing sites, acquiring a plant in Kaohsiung, and securing land in Zhongli to accelerate production capacity for next‑generation AI chips and advanced packaging.

The company highlighted its pure‑play OSAT model, which avoids conflicts with wafer fabs and enables cooperation across the semiconductor supply chain. It expects its LEAP advanced‑packaging platform to double revenue by 2027, reinforcing ASE’s role in meeting the higher performance requirements of AI hardware.