Hyperscalers are reshaping electronics manufacturing – what does it mean for Europe?
When four companies commit to USD 700 billion in investments in a single year, manufacturing capacity follows the money. That is the central finding of the research in4ma and EMSNOW have presented throughout 2026 — and the starting point for Mareike Haass of in4ma when she takes the stage at Evertiq Expo Gothenburg on September 17.
Amazon, Alphabet, Meta and Microsoft are expected to invest USD 700–725 billion in AI infrastructure during 2026 – more than the entire global EMS industry's annual revenue. Add to that Chinese hyperscalers including Alibaba Cloud, Tencent and ByteDance, which are expanding their own AI infrastructure and placing further pressure on Asian manufacturers.
The consequences are rippling through the entire supply chain. PCB manufacturers are winding down standard board production in favour of higher-margin AI server projects. Laminate prices rose by up to 40% in the first half of 2026. Lead times are extending and suppliers are increasingly demanding advance payment. The bottleneck has shifted – it is no longer just about semiconductors, but about advanced laminates, ABF substrates, copper foils and fibreglass.
The growth is going to Asia. Taiwan and China together account for 82.7% of global production value in EMS and ODM. In 2025, Taiwan grew by 42.3% and Foxconn alone by 20.3%. Europe grew by 5.8% – the weakest of all major regions.
Drawing on the latest figures from the Global EMS Top 100, Haass will examine where growth is happening, which regions and EMS providers are benefiting most and how hyperscaler demand is shaping the global manufacturing landscape — all at Evertiq Expo Gothenburg on September 17.
But what does this mean for Europe – and in particular for the Nordic and Swedish electronics industry? How is a region with a very different customer and manufacturing structure affected by the shifting dynamics of the global EMS market?
