October 2019 Passive Electronic Component Monthly Market Research Report

Capacitor lead times declined sharply in October 2019, on a month-to-month basis lead by a drop in picofarad MLCC and aluminum electrolytic capacitors; however, high capacitance MLCC remain an area of concern up and down the supply chain. The large capacitance high-cap BME MLCC had no changes in September OR October with respect to lead times on a month-to-month basis and the MLCC market above 2.2 microfarads remains tighter than all other passive component markets because of expected demand from 5G base stations and the next generation 5G phones and the continued change in automotive electronic content, with Taiyo Yuden releasing a document showing a forecasted doubling of MLCC sales to the automotive industry in 4 years based upon an expected 10,000 high voltage ceramic capacitors per electric vehicle (just EV not HEV). Demand for high reliability and specialty ceramic capacitors especially high voltage types for electric vehicles are in significant demand. Also under scrutiny is the electrical film capacitor market for use as a DC link capacitor in hybrid electric vehicles. This trend is also having a positive impact on snap-mount aluminum electrolytic capacitors, which are being used as traction capacitors.