The operation rate at Samsung Electro-Mechanics’ factory for multi-layer ceramic capacitors (MLCC) in the Philippines has dropped to 40%, TheElec has learned.
This was due to the decreasing demand for MLCC, which is also affecting Murata Manufacturing and Taiyo Yuden.
Samsung Electro-Mechanics and its suppliers had sent their staff to the Philippines recently to put more on the factory. Most of them have recently returned.
Some of the work that suppliers were planning to perform on the factory in early December has also been pushed back to next year, sources said.
Samsung Electro-Mechanics manufactures MLCC in Busan, South Korea as well as Tianjin, China, and the Philippines.
But the South Korean component maker had reduced the production of general-use MLCCs recently as demand has dipped due to the recent global downturn which is affecting the IT market the most.
For example, demand from Tianjin is still solid as the factory there manufactures MLCC mostly for automotive and industrial use instead of IT.
In 2020 and 2021, Samsung Electro-Mechanics enjoyed an operation rate for its factories for components, including MLCC, of mid-80% to late-90%.
But this has dropped to 70% during the first quarter this year, then increased to 74% for the whole first half of the year.
But by the third quarter, the accumulated operation rate has dropped to 65%; excluding the first half, the operation rate is at 48%.
Murata Manufacturing’s remaining order for the July-September period was 194.5 billion yen, a drop from last year’s 220 billion yen. The company said the slowdown in demand from the PC market was the cause. Taiyo Yuden also marked the fifth consecutive drop in remaining orders during the quarter.
