As global electronic component companies that manufacture Multi-Layer Ceramic Capacitors (MLCCs) seek breakthroughs by expanding their automotive MLCC businesses amid ongoing smartphone demand slumps, Samsung Electro-Mechanics, a leading South Korean MLCC company, is focusing its investments on the automotive MLCC market, which has been dominated by Japanese firms.
According to industry sources on Feb. 12, Murata, the Japanese company holding the top spot in global MLCC market share, recently announced a plan to invest 47 billion yen (314 million) into expanding MLCC production facilities at its factory in Izumo City, Shimane Prefecture, Japan. The facility aims to start operations by March 2026.
The industry speculates that the expansion aims to increase production capacity targeting the electric vehicle (EV) market and the Internet of Things (IoT), among others, as the growth in smartphone sales slows.
MLCCs have been widely used in information technology (IT) devices such as smartphones and PCs, as well as in home appliances. Recently, the emergence of electric and autonomous vehicles has highlighted the automotive MLCC market as a new sector within the electronics components industry. The automotive MLCC market size is expected to grow from last year’s US$2.9 billion to US$4 billion by 2026.
Following Murata, leading global MLCC companies like TDK, Taiyo Yuden, and Yageo from Japan are also aggressively investing in automotive MLCCs as a key competitive area. Taiyo Yuden completed an MLCC production base in Changzhou City, Jiangsu Province, China, in July of the previous year and has started mass production, focusing on automotive MLCCs targeting the Chinese electric vehicle market.
In its March shareholder meeting last year, Samsung Electro-Mechanics announced its transformation into an automotive component company, stepping up to enhance its presence in the vehicle MLCC market amid the solo run of Japanese companies.
Since starting full-scale production of automotive MLCCs in 2016, Samsung Electro-Mechanics has seen rapid growth in its market share from 4% in 2022 to 13% last year, according to market research firm TrendForce. During the same period, the market share of leading companies like Murata (from 44% to 41%), TDK (from 20% to 16%), and Taiyo Yuden (from 18% to 13%) has decreased. Samsung Electro-Mechanics is evaluated to have established a foundation to close the gap in market share with Japanese companies.