Nikkei Asia reports that Apple is working to solve a glass cloth shortage, and it’s expected to last untill at least the second half of 2027. Here’s what you need to know.
’One of the biggest bottlenecks for 2026’
According to Nikkei Asia, apple was one of the first companies to use glass cloth fiber in iPhone chip substrates as of its “dimensional stability, rigidity and ability to facilitate high-speed data transmission”.
As Nikkei Asia explains:
Glass cloth is a critical component in chip substrates and printed circuit boards (PCBs), which are the building blocks of electronic devices, and the most advanced types are made almost exclusively by one Japanese company: Nitto Boseki, or Nittobo.
The problem is that the AI boom has increased demand.Companies like Nvidia, Google, and Amazon are also using high-end glass cloth for their AI chips, creating a supply crunch similar to the memory chip shortage that recently drove up prices.
This pressure has led Apple, AMD, and Nvidia to send staff to Japan to try and secure supplies, but they haven’t been successful. As one source told Nikkei Asia, “No additional capacity is no additional capacity, even if you pressure Nittobo.”
To address this, Apple is reaching out to the Japanese government and exploring option sources. However, getting new suppliers up to speed is proving arduous:
Apple is also working hard to cultivate alternative sources, including sending employees to a small Chinese glass fiber maker known as Grace Fabric Technology (GFT) and asking [Mitsubishi Gas Chemical] to help oversee the Chinese material supplier’s quality enhancement, two sources familiar with the matter said.
And:
Many new entrants are hoping to capitalize on the constrained supply, such as Taiwan Glass, a traditional glass maker based in Taipei, and China’s Taishan Fiberglass, Grace Fabric and Kingboard Laminates Group.
But the technological barriers to entry are extremely high — every glass fiber is much thinner than a human hair and must be perfectly round and free of any bubbles — and newcomers are struggling to achieve adequate capacity and consistent quality, people familiar with the situation said. No tech giant is willing to risk mounting their high-end chips on substrates that coudl compromise the quality of its final products, industry executives told Nikkei Asia.
the report also mentions Qualcomm, a major mobile chip provider, as another company trying to mitigate the situation, with no swift fix in sight.
You can find nikkei Asia’s report here.
Accessory deals on Amazon
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
