Kang Seung-woo is the Business Desk editor at The Korea Times. Prior to this position, he covered politics, national affairs, finance and sports.
CES 2026 Samsung Electro-Mechanics eyes AI boom, weighs advanced chip packaging expansion
Chang Duck-hyun, CEO of Samsung Electro-Mechanics, speaks to reporters at CES 2026 in Las Vegas, Tuesday. Joint press corps
By Kang Seung-woo
LAS VEGAS — Chang Duck-hyun, CEO of Samsung Electro-Mechanics, said Tuesday that demand for flip-chip ball grid array (FC-BGA) substrates and multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs) is expected to rise sharply in line with the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence, adding that the company plans to run its FC-BGA production lines at full capacity in the second half of this year.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of CES 2026, Chang said Samsung Electro-Mechanics is also cautiously reviewing plans to expand FC-BGA capacity amid surging demand from AI servers and data centers.
“As demand for AI servers and data centers is increasing sharply, we are carefully considering expanding FC-BGA capacity,” he said.
FC-BGA is a high-density package substrate used to connect highly integrated semiconductor chips to mainboards. Demand for FC-BGA and MLCCs used in AI-related applications is rising rapidly as chip complexity and performance requirements increase.
“In addition to AI servers, FC-BGA demand from AI data centers — including networking chips, power semiconductors and graphics processing units (GPUs) required to build data centers — could account for 60 to 70 percent of total demand,” Chang said.
Chang also highlighted the company’s potential role in the emerging humanoid robot market, as what he described as the era of “physical AI” — in which AI systems can perceive, understand and translate decisions into real-world actions — draws closer.
“To operate humanoid robots, components such as actuators, batteries, sensors and cameras are required, and Samsung Electro-Mechanics has accumulated experience in camera modules and electronic components,” he said. “We are in discussions with humanoid robot companies regarding the supply of camera modules, MLCCs and FC-BGA.”
He noted that hands are a particularly critical component for humanoid robots, with dozens of actuators potentially used in a single unit, adding that the company is cautiously reviewing possible entry into the actuator market as well.
Chang also said Samsung Electro-Mechanics plans to begin mass production of camera modules — including those used in humanoid robots — at its Mexico plant in the second half of this year. The company recently resumed construction of the facility.
“Our goal is to complete construction and start mass production of camera modules in the second half of this year,” he said.
In addition, Chang said the company is in talks with global customers on all-solid-state battery-related technologies, noting that its internal research and development efforts have advanced to the sampling stage.