Japan's capacitor demand surges, orders pile up

According to a report by Nikkei News on the 1st, the rapid recovery of automobile production and the increase in inventory and orders by car manufacturers and auto parts manufacturers have also led to a sharp increase in orders from Japanese electronic parts manufacturers. The backlog of orders at Murata Manufacturing and many other manufacturers has reached a record high.

According to reports, the main driving force behind the sharp increase in orders for Japanese electronic parts manufacturers is capacitors installed in all electronic devices. Due to the strong sales of PCs and digital home appliances boosted by the demand for the stay-at-home economy, coupled with the good demand for products such as smartphones, there has been an influx of unexpected orders for capacitors, especially strong demand from automotive use.

The report pointed out that as of the end of March 2021, the balance of Murata Manufacturing's backlog of orders increased by 80% from a year ago (end of March 2020) to 434.3 billion yen, setting a record high. Although the amount of orders received by Murata in the last quarter (January-March 2021) was slightly lower than the peak period of the previous quarter (October-December 2020), it still remained at a high level of 516.2 billion yen.

As of the end of March 2021, the order balance of MLCC giant Taiyo Yuden surged by 70% from a year ago to 107.2 billion yen, setting a record high. Taiyo Yuden's order amount in the last quarter increased by 50% from the same period last year; as of the end of March, the order balance of Alps Alpine's electronic parts business increased by 50% from a year ago to 58.7 billion yen, setting a record high. TDK President Shigenao Ishiguro said that the strong momentum of orders is expected to continue to decline, and "revenue is expected to rise further during the April-June period."

The Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association (JEITA) released statistics on May 31, pointing out that due to a surge in demand from China, Europe and the United States, the global shipment value of Japanese electronic parts factories in March 2021 increased by 17.1% from the same month last year to 361.1 billion yen, marking the seventh consecutive month of growth. The monthly shipment value exceeded the 300 billion yen mark for the seventh consecutive month, reaching a new high in 2 years and 4 months (361.3 billion yen since November 2018). The increase was the largest since 2014, when data was available for comparison on the JEITA official website.

Among them, the shipment value of capacitors from Japanese manufacturers in March increased by 21% to 123.8 billion yen compared with the same month last year, showing growth for the 10th consecutive month. The monthly shipment value exceeded the 100 billion yen mark for the 7th consecutive month, setting a new record since 2014, when data was available for comparison on the JEITA official website.

Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd. announced on April 28 that although the supply chain is in chaos due to chip shortages, the popularization of 5G, the recovery of automobile production and electrification will drive the demand for electronic parts such as MLCC to expand. Therefore, it is estimated that the consolidated revenue in 2021 (April 2021-March 2022) will increase by 1.8% year-on-year to 1.66 trillion yen, the consolidated operating profit will increase by 2.2% year-on-year to 320 billion yen, and the consolidated net profit will increase by 1.2% year-on-year to 240 billion yen, and the revenue and profit will continue to hit a record high. Murata estimates that the revenue of the capacitor department (mainly MLCC) in 2021 will increase by about 11% year-on-year.

Taiyo Yuden announced on May 13 that due to the strong demand for MLCC for automobiles driven by electrification, as well as the increased demand for MLCC for consumer devices such as game consoles and information devices such as laptops and tablets, the consolidated revenue, consolidated operating profit, and consolidated net profit in 2020 (April 2020-March 2021) all set new historical records. Taiyo Yuden estimates that in 2021 (April 2021-March 2022), consolidated revenue will increase by 9.0% year-on-year to 328 billion yen, consolidated operating profit will increase by 15.3% year-on-year to 47 billion yen, and consolidated net profit will increase by 4.8% year-on-year to 30 billion yen, and revenue and profit will continue to set new historical highs.

Taiyo Yuden estimates that its capacitor division (MLCC division) revenue will increase 11.7% year-on-year to 218 billion yen in 2021.

The Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun reported on May 18 that Taiyo Yuden's MLCC production capacity this year (2021) will increase by 10-15% compared to the previous year.