Multi-Layer Ceramic Capacitor (MLCC) Market - Growth, Trends, Forecasts (2020 - 2025)

The global multi-layer ceramic capacitor market is valued at a a CAGR of 6.9% during the period 2020-2025. Multilayer ceramic capacitors were first developed in the 1970s and 1980s, but their widespread adoption was possible in the last decade with the development of new dielectric materials and fabrication methods

- The most crucial characteristic that resulted in their widespread adoption was their ability to pack multiple components into a single package. Each MLCC has hundreds of layers and each layer acts as a separate component. This eliminated the use of additional components in the circuitry.
- Telecommunications is a sector that holds great potential for the market, and the manufacturers are banking on the 5G technology to drive the growth of the market.
- The impact of MLCC has been such that the new technologies, like IoT, 5G, and EVs, are highly dependent on the availability of MLCCs. This has driven the manufacturer to align the product line and production capacities, to serve the requirements of the technologies.
- The market consists of very few market players having limited production capacity, due to which there is a huge gap between demand and supply of MLCCs. The market initially reported a shortage of supply in 2017, and this shortage is expected to continue till 2021.

Key Market Trends
Automotive Segment to Hold the Largest Market Share

- Automotive is one of the major segments in the MLCC market. Most of the vendors in the market studied are increasing their investment in the automotive sector. The rising adoption of electric vehicles (EV) and autonomous vehicle technology, government regulations for mandatory (Advanced Driver Assistant System) ADAS systems, and rising adoption of smart technologies for automotive manufacturing are some of the major factors driving the demand for MLCC in the automotive industry.
- Additionally, The increasing technological advancements in the automotive sector are impacting the MLCC market. Most of the vendors in the market studied are increasing their investment in the automotive sector.
- The rising adoption of electric vehicles (EV) and autonomous vehicle technology, government regulations for mandatory (Advanced Driver Assistant System) ADAS systems, and rising adoption of smart technologies for automotive manufacturing are some of the major factors driving the demand for MLCC in the automotive industry.
- Currently, the introduction of MEMS associated with ADAS, the emergence of connected vehicles, and the technological advancements of infotainment and IoT equipment are leading to an increase in electronic control unit contents in automobiles.
- For instance, the required number of automotive MLCCs increased from 3,000 units in 2012 to 8,000 units in 2018. However, the rising commercialization of autonomous and electric vehicles is expected to be a strong driver for the increasing demand for MLCC. Battery EVs (BEV) require much more MLCCs than internal combustion cars. They are expected to require around 30,000 MLCCs. Also, Japan-based TDK corporation reports that, for 2018, MLCC for automobiles accounted for 40-45% of the product.
- Also, The vehicles shift from an internal combustion engine (ICE) to a battery electric vehicle (BEV), the number of MLCCs used increases, often more than five times. For instance, TESLA’s Model 3 contains over 9,000 MLCCs and their Model S & X each have over 10,000 MLCCs. An increasing need for these components by car manufacturers is encouraging niche suppliers. Half of the sales at America capacitor manufacturer Kemet comprises its line of ceramic capacitors.

Asia-Pacific to Witness the Fastest Market Growth

- Asia-Pacific is the fastest-growing market of the multi-layer ceramic capacitor, due to the rapid growth in the application of MLCC based electronic component and renewable energy products across the automotive sector across the region.
- China is one of the leading manufacturers of multi-layer ceramic capacitor, with a strong presence of local companies. Moreover, Chinese MLCC manufacturers have been rapidly increasing for the past few years, while focusing on the supply of consumer electronic products.
- Furthermore, with the arrival of Industry 4.0, China is expected to see a massive growth in the automation and industry sector, owing to schemes like "Made in China 2025".
- The growing government regulations in favor of the electric vehicles market, globally, are also fueling the demand for multi-layer ceramic capacitors in India. For instance, the NITI Aayog action plan for Clean Transportation, which was released in 2018, has already recommended eliminating all permit requirements for EVs, in order to encourage electric mobility.

Competitive Landscape
The multi-layer ceramic capacitor market is competitive and consists of a few major players. However, with the advancement in the miniaturization of the electrical components, new players are increasing their market presence thereby expanding their business footprint across the emerging economies.

- January 2020 - TDK Corporation announced that it has developed a new series of Multilayer Ceramic Capacitors with flip-type in 0510 design and deliver capacitance up to 1µF. These series of MLCC are aimed at automotive applications as they are designed with rated voltage of 5V to 50V and capacitance between 47 nF to 1µF. Additionally, All the series of MLCC are built in accordance to AEC-Q200.
- August 2019 - Murata Manufacturing Co. Ltd. introduced the KCM series of metal terminal type multilayer ceramic capacitors with temperature compensating C0G characteristics for automotive applications and the KRM series of metal terminal type multilayer ceramic capacitors for general-purpose applications. These products are primarily intended for the LC resonance circuits of wireless power transfer (WPT*1) systems for electric vehicle and industrial equipment. Mass production of this product is scheduled to start from August 2019.
- July 2019 - Taiyo Yuden commercialized low-profile multilayer ceramic capacitor, which is ideal for devices that are required to be thin, such as smartphones and wearables, for decoupling the IC power supply lines inside the devices. It has achieved not only a low profile of 0.064 mm, but also a low ESL thanks to the external electrodes placed lengthwise.

Reasons to Purchase this report:
- The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format
- 3 months of analyst support