Supplier pricing strategies succeed, boosting profits, but beware over-tightening consumer production capacity and inventory. Geopolitical tensions cause raw material price fluctuations, with mixed US economic data and weak employment, plus China's manufacturing contraction. Consumer electronics demand cools, while AI servers maintain high loads. MLCC industry benefits from AI and automotive high-end needs, with pricing consensus stabilizing bottoms, yet low-price items face artificial shortages from strict capacity controls, requiring flexible adjustments for supply-demand balance.

Key Highlights

• Supplier pricing strategies work well, lifting profits, but caution against over-constricting consumer production and inventory to avoid artificial shortages causing supply chain disruptions.
• Geopolitical tensions like US-Iran conflicts persist, combined with mixed US economic signals and sluggish job market, leading to volatile oil and raw material prices.
• China's manufacturing enters contraction, with unusually quiet pre-festival consumer electronics stockpiling, trapping ICT sector in challenges.
• MLCC suppliers show strong financials, driven by growing AI high-performance computing and automotive advanced system demands, with pricing strategies and stability pacts aiding steady profits.
• Upstream chip fabrication and cloud giants' capital expansions ease AI bubble concerns, yet the gap between investments and actual profits poses potential supply chain worries.

Table of Contents

1. Market Update
2. Trendforce's View 

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