Semiconductor News & Analysis Feed

Japanese capacitor manufacturer Nichicon has announced a broad price hike for aluminum electrolytic capacitors (e-cap), as order volumes for some products have exceeded the company's existing production capacity. The announcement comes amid another round of price increases in the passive components industry.

Demand in the passive components market is recovering significantly, lifting operating momentum at Taiwan's two leading suppliers, Yageo and Walsin Technology. Average book-to-bill ratios at both companies have risen above 1.3, placing industry conditions near their highest levels in recent years and reinforcing expectations for sequential growth through 2026.

Taiwan-based UBright Optronics is accelerating its transformation from an LCD optical film specialist into a diversified technology supplier, expanding into semiconductor materials, passive components and smart acoustics. The new businesses are expected to begin generating revenue in 2026 as product certifications advance, but the company has not yet offered guidance on their revenue impact.

INPAQ Technology, a unit of PSA Walsin Technology, reported that revenue and profit in the first quarter of 2026 fell year on year, citing a supply-demand imbalance in the memory market and sharp raw material price increases. The company said it expected a gradual recovery in the second half of 2026 as industry inventories normalized and new products and customers began contributing. INPAQ also ou

Walsin Technology expects the tight supply of passive components could last into 2028, as demand from AI infrastructure, automotive electronics, and future device upgrades lifts orders while memory shortages weigh on shipments across the broader electronics supply chain.

AI servers are driving a surge in demand for high-end passive components, rapidly eating into multilayer ceramic capacitor (MLCC) capacity and extending lead times to more than 16–20 weeks. As a result, some orders that once went to major Japanese and South Korean suppliers are gradually spilling over to Taiwan-based makers.

Ample Electronic said rising demand from artificial intelligence end customers has driven a stronger market for multilayer ceramic capacitors and related passive components, lifting orders, driving inventory builds, and prompting a shift toward longer-term material lock-in agreements. The conductive paste supplier reported a positive outlook for the second half of 2026 and said customers who initi