As Japanese and Korean giants move upmarket, China’s MLCC firms see their chance

As Japanese and Korean giants move upmarket, China’s MLCC firms see their chanceThe AI server boom is driving demand for advanced Multilayer Ceramic Capacitors, leaving Chinese manufacturers room to expand3-MIN READ3-MIN1ListenPublished: 10:00am, 11 Jun 2026Updated: 11:35am, 11 Jun 2026As demand for AI servers soars, leading Japanese and South Korean multilayer ceramic capacitor (MLCC) makers are shifting further upmarket, opening the door for Chinese competitors to gain share in lower-end segments despite lagging their rivals in advanced technology.MLCCs – often referred to as the “rice of the electronics industry” because of their ubiquity – are tiny electronic components that regulate and stabilise electrical currents in devices ranging from smartphones and electric vehicles to AI servers and data centres.In what Goldman Sachs has described as “the largest and longest cycle in history”, leading Japanese and South Korean manufacturers are being inundated with orders for high-end MLCCs used in AI servers, fuelling expectations of capacity expansion and higher prices.Select VoiceSelect Speed0.8x0.9x1.0x1.1x1.2x1.5x1.75x00:0000:001.00x