On October 20, the Herald Economy reported that order lead times for multilayer ceramic capacitors supplied by Samsung Electro-Mechanics have stretched to 52 weeks this month, meaning a customer placing an order now waits about a year for delivery. Cailianshe and STAR Market Daily confirmed the figure on October 21, noting that the extension is not limited to select high-end part numbers: low-capacitance general-purpose grades and automotive parts are queuing as well. MLCC order value disclosed by the company so far this year has reached about 2.4 trillion won.
The demand driver is computing infrastructure. A conventional general-purpose server carries roughly 2,200 to 4,000 MLCC parts, while an AI server built on a multi-chip cluster architecture carries ten times that count, with dense stacks of high-capacitance, high-voltage parts around accelerator cards for power filtering plus decoupling. Supply flexibility is limited. Utilization at the Samsung Electro-Mechanics components division reached 91 percent in the period covering January to June, close to full load, while the expanded Philippines plant is not expected to reach volume production until after 2027. Prices are rising as well: Murata, Taiyo Yuden and Samsung Electro-Mechanics all issued increase notices, while factory prices for high-capacitance AI server MLCC climbed 15 percent to 35 percent.
Shortages have spread beyond high-capacitance parts to every grade. High-capacitance lead times run 16 to 20 weeks and reach 24 weeks in some cases, automotive high-capacitance parts exceed 16 weeks, and channel quotes now change daily. Murata issued an end-of-life notice in September covering part numbers across nine series, with last order dates in March 2028 with final shipments in March 2029, as it shifts capacity to small-case high-capacitance products. For the domestic electronic components supply chain, capacity tilted toward AI orders is squeezing general-purpose part numbers for phones, notebooks and smart home devices, and the window for order transfer is opening. Local MLCC makers, along with Sunlord for molded power inductors and LTCC filters, stand to absorb the spillover, while distribution competition shifts toward lead-time visibility, where a quotation response within 12 hours plus dynamic stocking alerts will directly shape customer line continuity.