This obscure Taiwanese firm's 1,219% rise shows profit, pain of chip crisis

Nan Ya Printed Circuit Board Corp. makes an essential component for chipmaking that has become the latest bottleneck for automakers and electronics companies suffering from semiconductor shortages

Nan Ya Printed Circuit Board Corp. is hardly a household name in the tech industry. But the obscure Taiwanese company makes an essential component for chipmaking that has become the latest bottleneck for automakers and electronics companies suffering from semiconductor shortages.
 

The component goes by the unwieldy name of Ajinomoto build-up film (ABF) substrate and it’s one of the least glamorous niches in the chips industry. It’s part of the packaging that protects the handful of chips needed to power your computer or car and allows communication among them.

Many of the world’s most advanced semiconductors can’t run without the