KULIM (Jan 24): Vienna-listed Austria Technologie & Systemtechnik AG (AT&S) will start supplying high-end integrated circuit (IC) substrates - to be crafted at its new factory in Kulim, Kedah - to US semiconductor giant Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) for use in the latter’s data centre processors by the end of 2024.

According to AT&S chief executive officer Andreas Gerstenmayer, the Austrian firm has invested over €1 billion (RM5.12 billion) in the AT&S Campus, which is the group’s first production site in Southeast Asia.

“Our new plant in Kulim will begin serial production of IC substrates for the next generation of microchips for high-performance computing, data centres and AI (artificial intelligence) applications of leading manufacturers such as AMD,” he told a press conference on Tuesday, a day before the official opening of the AT&S Campus in the Kulim Hi-Tech Park.

AT&S, which is also present in Nanjangud, India, Chongqing and Shanghai in China, and Ansan, South Korea, has been building a new state-of-the-art facility in Kulim, with a planned investment of about €1.7 billion under Phase 1 of the project.

This initial investment is the group’s largest for a single project. It is also the biggest single investment ever made by an Austrian company in Malaysia.

Construction work started in November 2021, and commercial operations are targeted to come on stream before the end of this year.

“We are proud to have built what is probably the world’s most modern IC substrate plant in such a short period of time, and in spite of all the challenges, for example the Covid-19 pandemic, we are able to provide the required technologies and capacities in time once the markets have recovered,” said Gerstenmayer.

AT&S currently has 14,000 employees worldwide. The first phase of the Kulim project, which Gerstenmayer described as “a key production plant”, is expected to lead to the creation of 6,000 new jobs, including for 4,500 blue-collar workers.

“With the AT&S investment in Malaysia, we are creating thousands of high-tech jobs in the region. By the end of this year, we would be creating almost 2,500 new jobs, of which 1,500 blue-collar workers will be working in a highly-sophisticated shop floor environment. This will help to set up the framework for our future growth in Malaysia,” said Gerstenmayer.

Founded in 1987, Leoben-headquartered AT&S is one of the world's leading manufacturers of high-end printed circuit boards (PCBs) and sophisticated IC substrates, serving industries such as consumer electronics, computer, communication, semiconductor, automotive, aviation, industrial and medical.

IC substrates provide connections between silicon dies and PCBs. They are composed of several layers and a supporting core in the middle. IC substrates contain drill holes and conductor paths that exceed the density of conventional PCBs. They are used for cloud edge computing, data centres and server farms, as well as for consumer devices.

AT&S announced in November last year that the group is providing IC substrates for AMD, a computer processor developer. Its new campus in Kulim will only be focusing on the production of IC substrates, and has no immediate plans to make high-end PCBs at the moment.

AMD corporate vice-president for manufacturing Scott Aylor said AT&S will be producing cutting-edge IC substrates, an integral part of high-performance and energy-efficient AMD data centre processors.

“AT&S has steadfastly kept its commitment to us, and punctually delivered a plant that fully met AMD’s expectations. We are convinced that AT&S is a perfect additional source of high-quality IC substrates for our data centres,” he told the press conference.

Given the fact that AMD’s quality requirements are very high, AT&S has been preparing facilities and ramping up capacity at the new plant in Kulim.

In fact, AT&S is already working on new technologies for substrates that will allow its customers to integrate a high number of chips into fast and efficient packaged systems, which will help to analyse and transmit data quickly and reliably in the cloud.

Together with its existing plants in Chongqing and the new research and production centre in Leoben, which will also open before the end of 2024, AT&S’ Kulim plant is anticipated to increase the group's growth globally, as well as to raise the importance of its sites in Austria.

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