It is understood that the production subsidiary of the Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd., the Fukui Murata Manufacturing Co., has acquired land for construction. It plans to invest 29 billion yen to build a new MLCC plant. The new plant is expected to start construction in September 2018 and be completed in December 2019.
Murata continues to invest more
According to the Nikkei News, Murata plans to increase production of ceramic capacitors because of the rapid increase in the number of capacitors required to be carried by electronic vehicles.
At the press conference held on the 8th, Murata Chairman and President Mr. Murata Murata said: 'Vehicles are rapidly evolving toward the market and the market is showing steady growth.'
According to reports, as a global ceramic capacitor faucet factory, Murata has shipped about 1 trillion units. Murata also plans to increase production at the Izumo Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (Izumo City, Shimane Prefecture) and factories located in the suburbs of Manila, the Philippines. It is estimated that by the end of 2019 (at the end of March 2020), Murata's overall ceramic capacitor capacity will increase by 20%.
Murata pointed out on April 30 that demand for capacitance-centric electronic components will continue to be strong. It is estimated that this year (2018, April 2018 - March 2019) consolidated revenue will increase by 14.8% year-on-year to 1 trillion. 5.75 billion yen, will exceed the 1.5 trillion yen mark for the first time, and continue to record highs.
Murata also pointed out that in order to amplify new products and demand for product capacity, the investment in equipment this year will increase 10.9% annually to 340 billion yen.
MLCC supply shortage continues this year
It is understood that MLCC is widely used, downstream consumer electronics market upgrades and new energy vehicle development will promote the growth of high-end, high-capacity and other high-end MLCC products. According to China Industry Information Network forecast, by 2020, the overall market size of MLCC will reach 11.5 billion U.S. dollars.
MLCC is mainly targeted at mobile phones, audio and video equipment, PCs and other consumer electronics industries. After the rapid sinking of consumer electronics, MLCC’s shipment volume in this area has reached 70%.
It can be said that the shortage of MLCC supply is the biggest thing in this year's electronics industry. Because the supplier's capacity is in short supply, the downstream manufacturers can only take cash to grab the goods.
Companies such as Murata, Samsung Electric, TDK, Taiyo Yuduca and Guoge Electronics have occupied most of the global market share thanks to the advantages of ceramic powder materials and technologies. Among them, Japanese manufacturers Murata, TDK, Taiyo Electric, and Samsung Samsung Electric have covered their products. At each level, strategically focuses on the high-end market; Taiwan-based Guoge Electronics mainly covers mid-range product areas; Mainland-based manufacturers are mostly small and medium-sized enterprises, covering middle-to-low-end products; Fenghua Hi-Tech is a leading player in the domestic MLCC field, with a global market share of approximately 3. %about.
The core driver of price increase in MLCC is the imbalance between supply and demand. The main factors that contribute to the imbalance between supply and demand are: (1) Rapid growth in high-end applications such as automobiles and industrial control; Insufficient production capacity results in tight supply; (2) After Samsung's Note7 explosion, MLCC Discontinued production for three months, followed by slower release of production capacity; (3) Production capacity adjustments for leading companies such as Murata, Samsung Electromechanical, TDK, and Taiyo Electric, etc., abandoning mid- to low-end markets, turning to high-end applications such as automobiles, industrial control, and ICT.
In addition, MLCC, aluminum electrolytic capacitors, tantalum capacitors, solid-state capacitors and other passive component products have been out of stock in the past year, with large size, high capacitance and low capacitance, and MLCC products used in notebooks and smart phones. The condition of the goods is particularly noticeable. In addition to the MLCC products required for the fast charging power supply, the out-of-stock condition is expected to continue.