[News] China’s MLCC Market Splits: AI-Grade Orders Reportedly Stretch Into 2Q27 While Consumer Spot Prices Slide

Surging AI server deployments are tightening the market for high-capacitance multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs), as higher component requirements drive demand for high-end products. According to Commercial Times, citing CCTV Finance, some Chinese suppliers have already seen orders for high-end AI-grade MLCCs extend into 2Q27. To secure supply, downstream customers are now placing orders three to six months in advance, compared with one to two months previously.

As the report notes, AI device makers say upgrading from standard mini PCs to AI workstations can increase MLCC content per system by two to three times, while demand for high-capacitance products nearly doubles. Optical communications are also emerging as a major source of demand. With 800G entering large-scale deployment and 1.6T ramping up, each 1.6T optical module requires roughly 500 to 1,000 MLCCs. The demand surge is shifting more orders toward Chinese suppliers, particularly those capable of producing high-end products at scale.

Chinese manufacturers are accelerating capacity expansion to address the high-end MLCC supply gap, focusing new capacity largely on high-capacitance products for AI servers and automotive applications. Once planned expansions are fully operational, some suppliers could approach monthly standardized capacity of 80 billion units, the report adds.

The shift toward high-end products is also reshaping pricing and capacity strategies at major overseas suppliers. TrendForce notes that SEMCO plans to raise 4Q26 prices for consumer-grade X5R MLCCs by an average of 25–30% for OEM and ODM customers, partly to curb orders and free up capacity for high-end production. Meanwhile, STAR Market Daily reports that Murata is phasing out selected consumer-grade and automotive MLCCs as it prioritizes higher-value AI products.

Commercial Times notes that the current MLCC cycle differs from previous upturns driven by smartphone and PC inventory restocking. AI computing equipment is increasing both MLCC content per system and specification requirements, while China’s push for domestically produced components is helping local suppliers move into the high-capacitance, high-reliability market.

MLCC Market Splits as Consumer-Grade Prices Retreat

The broader MLCC market, however, is showing a sharp divergence. According to ijiwei, high-capacitance MLCCs used in AI servers and high-end automotive applications remain in short supply and continue to see price increases, while spot prices for standard consumer-grade MLCCs have fallen after an earlier spike.

As ijiwei indicates, standard MLCC prices began falling sharply in early July as distributors released stockpiled inventory and consumer electronics demand remained weak. Merchants in Shenzhen’s Huaqiangbei electronics hub cited the widely used 0603-104 component as an example: prices stood at around RMB 5 per 1,000 units in 2Q26, surged to RMB 30 at their late-June peak, and have since fallen back to around RMB 10.

Read more

• SEMCO Leads 4Q26 OEM Price Hikes, Signaling Start of MLCC Industry Upcycle, Says TrendForce
• [News] Samsung Electro-Mechanics’ MLCC Revenue Seen Topping KRW 8T in 2027; Murata EOL May Reshape Market

(Photo credit: Guangdong Fenghua Advanced Technology)