If you work in hardware procurement, you probably remember the morning of March 17 clearly. According to industry reports first carried by Tencent News and Eastmoney that day, Murata — the company responsible for roughly one in three MLCCs shipped worldwide — sent a price-increase letter to customers. Not a small adjustment. Hikes of 15 to 35 percent on AI-server, automotive-grade and RF MLCCs, effective April 1. The shift is consistent with Murata’s own capital plan disclosures, which already telegraphed multi-year capacity tightness for high-CV products.
The natural reaction was: we’ve seen this before. MLCCs had a shortage in 2017–2018, prices spiked, then normalized. Cyclical. Wait it out.
I don’t think that’s the right read this time. And the reason comes down to a single number that changed everything about MLCC demand.
The Number: 30,000
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According to Murata’s own investor briefings, a single NVIDIA GB300 AI server uses roughly 30,000 MLCCs — about 30× a smartphone and 3× a car.
For context: a typical general-purpose server motherboard uses roughly 1,800–2,500 MLCCs (Murata estimate, ~2,200 average). An H100-based server board uses several thousand more. The GB200 compute node needs an order of magnitude more again. And the GB300 — the backbone of next-generation AI training clusters — pushes that figure to around 30,000.
Now multiply that by scale. A full GB300 NVL72 rack consumes roughly 440,000 MLCCs. Hyperscalers are deploying thousands of these racks. NVIDIA alone is consuming MLCC capacity equivalent to what previously served entire consumer electronics segments.
Murata has publicly acknowledged that AI server MLCC orders currently exceed double their production capacity for high-end products. That’s not a forecast. That’s existing backlog.
Why “Wait It Out” Won’t Work This Time
The 2017–2018 MLCC shortage was driven by simultaneous demand across many segments — smartphones, automotive, industrial. When smartphone growth cooled, supply caught up. Classic cycle.
This time is structurally different for three reasons:
First, the demand is concentrated in products that require the most advanced MLCCs. AI servers don’t use commodity 0402 capacitors. They need high-capacitance, high-voltage MLCCs for power delivery network decoupling — exactly the products that are hardest to manufacture and have the longest capacity expansion timelines.
Second, AI infrastructure investment is not cyclical. Unlike cryptocurrency mining (which boomed and busted), AI compute demand is backed by every major tech company’s multi-year capex commitments. Microsoft, Google, Meta, Amazon, and dozens of Chinese hyperscalers are all building simultaneously. And inference demand — which grows as more AI models deploy to production — adds a compounding layer on top of training demand.
Third, expanding high-end MLCC capacity takes 18–24 months. These aren’t commodity products you make on any production line. High-capacitance MLCCs require dielectric layers thinner than 0.5 µm, stacked 1,000+ layers deep with near-zero defects, using proprietary ceramic formulations. You can’t shortcut the physics of building a new production line.
Put these together and the conclusion is uncomfortable but clear: this is a permanent demand plateau shift, not a temporary spike. Prices may ease modestly as new capacity comes online in late 2027, but they are unlikely to return to 2025 levels.
The Domino Effect
Within weeks of Murata’s announcement, the rest of the industry followed:
Samsung Electro-Mechanics raised prices 15–20% in May. Taiyo Yuden went 15–25% in Q2. Yageo (through Kemet) implemented 10–15% increases across their broad portfolio. TDK is negotiating adjustments as this goes to print.
When the market leader with 30% share moves, followers are mathematically inevitable. Remaining manufacturers cannot absorb the demand overflow without repricing. This is now an industry-wide event, not a single-supplier issue. TrendForce’s MLCC market commentary reaches the same conclusion in its April 2026 update, citing demand pull-in from hyperscaler power-delivery roadmaps as the new baseline.
How the Top Five MLCC Suppliers Compare Right Now
Procurement teams keep asking the same question: if we have to qualify a second source, who can actually deliver? Below is a qualitative snapshot based on Cosolvic supplier intelligence and publicly disclosed capacity from each vendor’s investor materials. Treat the lead-time and pricing-trend columns as directional, not contractual — every part number behaves slightly differently.
| Supplier | High-CV / AI-server capability | Automotive (AEC-Q200) | Typical lead time, high-end SKUs | 2026 pricing trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Murata | Best-in-class; sole or primary source on many GB300-class designs | Strong, including X7R/X8L for under-hood | 26–40+ weeks; allocation in force | +15–35% on hi-CV, hi-V, RF lines |
| Samsung Electro-Mechanics | Strong; aggressive 1µF–47µF expansion through 2027 per SEMCO IR materials | Solid for infotainment / ADAS power rails | 20–30 weeks on flagship lines | +15–20% Q2, broader portfolio repricing |
| Taiyo Yuden | Niche-strong on temperature-stable and low-ESL parts | Selective; not full breadth | 18–28 weeks | +15–25% on high-CV / high-Q lines |
| Yageo (incl. Kemet) | Broad portfolio; strong on standard hi-V and tantalum/polymer alternatives | Yes, with Kemet AEC-Q200 lines | 12–22 weeks for standard, longer for hi-end | +10–15% across portfolio |
| Kemet (Yageo) | Differentiated on KO-CAP polymer and tantalum substitutes | Yes | 14–20 weeks | Mostly stable, selective increases on hi-CV ceramic |
Two takeaways. One, no single substitute fully replaces Murata on the most demanding GB300-class power rails — the alternatives are partial, package-by-package. Two, the right second source depends on which constraint hurts most: capacitance density, automotive qualification, or sheer availability. We unpack the cross-reference logic in our MLCC sourcing guide, which industry sources estimate covers about 80% of practical substitution decisions on commercial BOMs.
The Good News: It’s Not Everything
Here’s what’s important to understand — and what some breathless industry coverage misses:
Standard consumer-grade MLCCs are fine. If your BOM consists primarily of 0402/0603 capacitors at 100nF–10µF in the 6.3V–25V range, commercial temperature grade, you are largely unaffected. Supply is adequate. Pricing is stable.
The shortage and price pressure is specifically concentrated in:
– High-capacitance MLCCs (47µF+ in small packages)
– High-voltage ratings (50V+) in automotive temperature ranges
– AEC-Q200 qualified products
– Server-grade MLCCs optimized for power delivery networks
If none of these describe your BOM, exhale. If even one does, keep reading.
What To Do Right Now
This week: Audit your BOM for exposure. Identify every MLCC line item that falls into the high-end category — automotive grade, high-CV, server grade. Calculate what a 20% price increase does to your unit cost. If the answer is “tolerable,” you have time to be strategic. If the answer is “margin-destroying,” act fast.
This month: If you have existing contracts at pre-increase pricing, maximize your order volumes within contract terms. Every MLCC purchased at old pricing is direct margin protection. Also: check Samsung Electro-Mechanics and Yageo cross-references. The same capacitance, voltage, and package from an alternative manufacturer may still be available at a lower premium — for now.
This quarter: Begin qualifying second sources for your highest-volume high-end MLCC part numbers. This isn’t about replacing Murata permanently. It’s about having options when allocation tightens further. If you’ve never used GigaDevice or Fenghua for any MLCC specifications, now is the time to evaluate whether domestic Chinese alternatives could serve any of your non-automotive needs. The structural framework we use with customers — diversification by region, qualification tier, and risk category — is laid out in our supply chain diversification framework.
For your next product: Consider whether your power delivery network design can tolerate slightly larger package sizes. A 1210 in the same capacitance and voltage is typically less supply-constrained than an 0805 or 0603. One well-chosen advanced MLCC (like Murata’s GCM21BE71H106KE02 — an 0805, 10µF/50V part mass-produced since mid-2025) can replace two or three standard capacitors. Fewer unique part numbers means less supply chain vulnerability. The same shrink-and-consolidate trend is reshaping nearby passive families — see our note on power inductor miniaturization for how Murata and TDK are pushing density on the inductor side.
The Strategic Question You Need to Answer
Here’s the uncomfortable budget conversation that procurement leaders need to have with their finance teams:
Should we budget for MLCC prices 15–30% above 2025 levels as our new baseline?
My answer is yes. If prices come down — great, you’ve gained margin. If you budget at old prices and they don’t come down, you face either margin compression or the impossible choice between accepting extended lead times and paying spot-market premiums of 50–200%.
The asymmetry of outcomes favors conservative budgeting. Hope for the best, budget for the structural shift.
A Final Thought
I’ve been sourcing components long enough to know that price increases feel like a crisis in the moment but become the new normal within two quarters. Teams that adapt their budgets and diversify their supply base early don’t just survive — they gain a competitive advantage over competitors still hoping for a return to 2024 pricing.
This is one of those moments. Adapt early.
For parts headed into production, who verifies them before they ship matters as much as the part itself. How Cosolvic operates covers our inspection process, counterfeit refund policy, and why we work as an independent distributor rather than a franchise reseller.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which MLCC SKUs are most affected?
The pressure is concentrated on high-capacitance parts (47 µF and above) in 0603–1210 packages, high-voltage (≥50 V) automotive-temperature lines, AEC-Q200 qualified products, and server-grade MLCCs tuned for power-delivery networks. Standard 0402/0603 commodity values (100 nF–10 µF, 6.3 V–25 V, commercial grade) remain largely unaffected based on Cosolvic supplier intelligence.
Should I switch to tantalum or polymer caps as a substitute?
For bulk decoupling on power rails — sometimes yes. Polymer aluminum (e.g. Panasonic POSCAP, Kemet KO-CAP) and tantalum polymer parts can replace banks of high-CV MLCCs at similar capacitance, with better ESR stability under DC bias. They cost more per part, but you typically need fewer of them. They are a poor swap for high-frequency decoupling close to a GPU or ASIC, where MLCC’s low ESL still wins. Treat it as a partial offload, not a one-for-one replacement.
How long will the MLCC price increase last?
Industry sources estimate that high-end MLCC capacity will not catch up to AI-server demand before late 2027, since adding capacity for sub-0.5 µm dielectric, 1,000-layer parts takes 18–24 months minimum. Modest easing is plausible from 2028 as Murata, SEMCO, and Yageo bring new lines online — but a return to 2024 pricing is not the base case.
Are tier-2 vendors safe to substitute into a working design?
Sometimes, with discipline. For commercial-grade consumer or industrial designs, qualified Chinese vendors (Fenghua, Darfon, Walsin, GigaDevice) are increasingly viable for 0402–0805 standard values. For automotive AEC-Q200 or server PDN designs, we don’t recommend substitution without a full qualification cycle including DC-bias characterization, life testing, and PPAP-equivalent documentation. Our guide on verifying electronic component authenticity walks through the inspection workflow we run on every tier-2 lot before it ships.
Is buying from the spot market in Shenzhen a viable bridge?
For a few weeks of bridge stock on hard-to-find SKUs, yes — that’s exactly the scenario independent distributors handle. The risk is authenticity, which is why every reel we ship goes through visual, X-ray, and electrical sampling, backed by a 100% authenticity or full refund commitment. It is not a strategy for funding a product line for twelve months — for that you still need contracted supply with Murata, SEMCO, or Yageo through their authorized channel.
Have an MLCC-heavy BOM you’re trying to lock down before the next price step? Send us your BOM at request a quote. We’ll tell you within four hours which lines we have authentic stock for, what’s available within 3–5 days, and which ones genuinely require a redesign or a longer-lead substitute.