JNTC Starts Paid Glass Substrate Samples for NVIDIA
Korean firm JNTC has begun supplying paid through-glass-via substrate samples to NVIDIA as glass packaging gains interest for larger AI chips.
Updated on Nov. 8, 2026 in Semiconductors
JNTC has joined NVIDIA's procurement supplier list and begun supplying paid samples of its through-glass-via (TGV) substrates. The registration allows paid purchases after initial quality checks, following JNTC's first contact with NVIDIA in September 2026.
Why it matters
Glass is being considered as a packaging material as AI chips grow larger and more complex. Paid sample evaluations are a step toward production-scale qualification of the technology.
A 2 mm-thick TGV sample showed a peel strength of about 0.8 kgf/mm, twice the stated industry requirement of 0.4 kgf/mm, and no microcracks after copper removal. About 30 companies are under nondisclosure agreements, with about 10 evaluating paid samples, but whether NVIDIA will move to volume orders remains undisclosed.
The players
JNTC
A South Korean company developing through-glass-via substrates for advanced semiconductor packaging.
NVIDIA
A U.S. semiconductor company that designs GPUs widely used for AI computing.
Toppan
A Japanese printing and packaging company that is also developing glass substrate technology.
Broadcom
A U.S. semiconductor and infrastructure software company serving data center and networking markets.
The details
JNTC's process drills small holes in glass, then uses etching, metallization and chemical mechanical polishing to form the vias. Paid sample evaluations typically use hundreds to thousands of units to assess quality and yield at production scale, and JNTC is also working with Toppan on TGV substrates for Broadcom.
Timeline
September 2026: JNTC first contacted NVIDIA.
About one month later: JNTC entered NVIDIA's procurement supplier list.
June: JNTC developed the 2 mm TGV substrate sample.
Second half of 2027: planned start of a production line in Gimcheon.
Mid-2028: targeted initial production supply.
The Tech Race
Glass substrates are emerging as a candidate to replace organic packaging for increasingly large AI processors, a shift that competitors such as Toppan are also pursuing. JNTC's move into paid supply with NVIDIA places it among the first Korean suppliers to reach that stage.
Glass packaging could eventually allow larger, more powerful AI chips, which may affect the capabilities and cost of data center computing used by consumer AI services. Commercial availability is not expected until production supply begins in 2028.
The takeaway
Paid sample qualification is a meaningful milestone, but production-scale yields and volume orders will determine whether glass substrates become a mainstream packaging option. Readers tracking AI hardware supply chains should watch for the 2027 Gimcheon build-out and the 2028 production timeline.
What happens next
JNTC plans to start building a production line in Gimcheon in the second half of 2027, with initial production supply targeted for mid-2028.
Further reading
For more on the chips driving this shift, explore our Semiconductors coverage.
Source note: This article includes information reported by TokenPost.
