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www.us-tech.com


September, 2021


Shifting Demand for MLCCs Creates Critical Supply Shortage


By Stephen Armstrong


(MLCCs) has been hit hard by a shift in production by the world’s largest MLCC manufacturers. These companies are focusing on fulfilling a seemingly insa- tiable demand for smaller, lower-voltage — and in some ways — lower-perform- ance MLCCs. This demand has been fueled by the


I


global growth of 5G networks and con- tinued advancements in smartphones and mobile devices who are consuming significantly more MLCCs per device.


Hole in the Market As the principal manufacturers


pivot away from the larger high-voltage, high Q MLCCs used by industry and the military, OEMs are experiencing signif- icant delays in MLCCs of up to six months. The extent of the supply short- age jeopardizes product release sched- ules, industrial market share, and potentially even military readiness. “It is a pretty massive carrot that is


hanging in front of the major MLCC manu- facturers,” says Scott Horton, vice president of Johanson Technology, a provider of high voltage ceramic multi-layer capacitors based


ndustrial, medical, and military demand for high-quality, high-volt- age multi-layer ceramic capacitors


the market has seen before.” As a result of a slowdown in con-


sumer demand for capacitors in 2019, many OEMs and distributors were left holding surplus inventory. These same OEMs and distributors were hesitant to order additional inventory in 2020. Now, as the market ramps up, so does the demand for MLCCs, despite very low capacitor inventory. This further exacerbates the


shortage of larger high-voltage, high Q MLCCs, since some manufacturers have focused production on smaller and lower-voltage MLCCs during this time. Now both ends of the market are scrambling to restock, including the large electronics distributors. It is also largely Asian MLCC


Domestic manufacturers, like Johanson, are ramping up high-voltage MLCC production.


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in Camarillo, California. “When you consider that a high-end smartphone today can require substantially more MLCCs in a sin- gle device as compared to a similar phone only a few years ago, the current demand for smaller, lower power MLCCs is like nothing


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manufacturing that supports telecom and mobile device operations, and Asia has plenty of its own demand, making fulfillment of industrial MLCC supply needs in Western mar- kets even more acute.


“There is a ripple effect to the industrial


and military market sector that is not really fully understood,” says Horton. “Although a shortage of electronic products used to manu- facture consumer products like smartphones Continued on next page


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