Taiyo Yuden Co., Ltd.

TDK and Taiyo Yuden announced on the 29th that they will form a business alliance for the joint development of cutting-edge electronic components, sending both companies' share prices sharply higher. TDK's stock rose as much as 5.0% from the previous day to 3,066 yen, while Taiyo Yuden climbed as much as 9.1% to 9,955 yen. With demand growing for multilayer ceramic capacitors and other components for data centers and physical AI, the two companies will pool their technology and management resources to build a stable supply system, and will also explore the possibility of a future capital alliance. As the pairing brings together two Kanto-based companies, some see it as a counterweight to Murata Manufacturing of Kansai, and IwaiCosmo Securities senior analyst Kazuyoshi Saito noted, "It could become a force capable of rivaling Murata Manufacturing, and the east-versus-west rivalry will become clearer." In the MLCC field, Taiyo Yuden is said to be strong in small, high-performance types for package substrates used in data centers, while TDK is strong in components for power semiconductors.

Among the individual announcements made on the 29th, Taiyo Yuden revealed that it will sign a business alliance agreement with TDK covering joint development of electronic components and other areas. Sekichu raised its standalone operating profit forecast for the fiscal year ending February 2027, while Ito En will abolish its shareholder benefit program. Honey's Holdings posted a sharp profit decline in its consolidated results for the first quarter of the fiscal year ending May 2027, covering June to August 2026. BB Tower won a large order from a global IP company for storage products and maintenance services, with the order value at approximately 3.8 billion yen. Bank Innovate announced a consolidated operating profit forecast of 2.02 billion yen for the fiscal year ending September 2026, down 6.2 percent from the previous year, figures it had previously left undisclosed, and Nifco announced it will cancel treasury shares equivalent to 9.78 percent of its total issued shares, effective October 7.

According to the Nikkei, Apple announced on the 26th that it will hold a new product launch event at 2 a.m. Japan time on September 10 (10 a.m. Pacific Time on September 9). The report suggests that the company is expected to unveil its first foldable model of its flagship smartphone, the iPhone. In response, Apple-related companies such as Murata Manufacturing, TDK, Taiyo Yuden, and Nitto Denko are likely to attract attention.

Taiyo Yuden has revised upward its consolidated net profit forecast for the fiscal year ending March 2027 to 29 billion yen, a 95.9% increase from the previous year, compared with the earlier projection of 18 billion yen. Contributing factors include increased demand for information infrastructure and industrial equipment, higher selling prices, and the impact of the weaker yen on foreign exchange. The new forecast slightly exceeds the average analyst estimate of 28.4 billion yen compiled by IBES. Demand for high-value-added, high-end products such as those for AI servers is expanding, and the increase in capacity and volume of multilayer ceramic capacitors for servers is expected to surpass initial assumptions. The assumed exchange rate for the full year has been revised from 150 yen to 159.70 yen per US dollar, with each one-yen movement against the dollar estimated to affect annual revenue by 1.9 billion yen and operating profit by 900 million yen. The company also announced first-quarter consolidated net profit of 2.5 billion yen, swinging into the black from a loss of 800 million yen in the same period a year earlier.

The A-share MLCC concept sector remained active in the afternoon of August 4, closing with an overall gain of 4.9%, as Bojay Electronics and Dongcai Technology hit their daily limit. In terms of news, leading Japanese and Korean manufacturers such as Murata, Samsung Electro-Mechanics, and Taiyo Yuden have successively raised prices for high-end, high-capacitance MLCCs used in AI servers and automotive-grade applications, with increases ranging from 15% to 30%. Several companies have acknowledged that delivery lead times for high-end products continue to lengthen, and production capacity can no longer fully meet customers' incremental demand. Samsung Electro-Mechanics will raise the shipment prices of all its MLCC categories by 30% starting August 1, 2026. Taiyo Yuden will adjust prices for some products from September 1. Murata Manufacturing took the lead as early as the end of March, raising prices for AI server and high-end automotive-grade MLCCs by 15% to 35%. The latest financial reports from leading manufacturers confirm this upcycle. Murata Manufacturing's revenue for the first quarter of fiscal 2026 reached 502.3 billion yen, up 20.7% year-on-year, with operating profit of 98.5 billion yen, up 59.8% year-on-year, and its capacitor segment revenue of 282.5 billion yen, up 30% year-on-year. Samsung Electro-Mechanics' sales revenue for the second quarter of 2026 was 3.4572 trillion won, up 24% year-on-year, and operating profit was 440.4 billion won, up 107% year-on-year. Multiple brokerages believe that the explosive growth in AI computing demand is the core driver. A Goldman Sachs research report shows that the AI server MLCC market is expanding rapidly at a compound annual growth rate of around 80%, with high-end MLCC supply and demand remaining tight, and the industry has entered a new cycle of rising prosperity.

Tinavi plans to acquire a 62% stake in Shanghai Orthopaedics through a share issuance and raise matching funds, which is expected to constitute a major asset restructuring. The company's shares will resume trading on July 30. Moonshot AI's Kimi has completed its Series F funding round, raising over $3.5 billion, with a post-money valuation of $35 billion. The round closed early after being oversubscribed by more than three times the target amount. The Series G round, originally scheduled to start in August, has already been launched ahead of schedule, with a pre-money valuation rising to $50 billion. The Shanghai Stock Exchange has terminated its review of Taosheng Technology's IPO on the STAR Market. Samsung Electro-Mechanics will raise MLCC product shipment prices by 30% starting August 1, while Taiyo Yuden will increase MLCC prices from September 1. Quanta Computer plans to raise up to $2.19 billion through a global depositary share offering. A magnitude 7.1 earthquake in Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan, has halted production at several semiconductor plants, including those of Sony Semiconductor, Renesas Electronics, and Tokyo Electron. Shenzhen has issued a plan to strengthen the research, development, and application of general and vertical models, on-device models, physical AI models, and high-performance intelligent agents.

The world's two leading MLCC makers are kicking off a new round of price increases simultaneously. Samsung Electro-Mechanics has notified partners that MLCC shipment prices will be raised by 30 percent starting August 1. Japan's Taiyo Yuden also announced it will raise prices on MLCCs shipped from September 1. MLCCs are transforming from consumer electronics cyclical components into core devices for AI computing and automotive electronics. The MLCC count in an AI server is roughly eight to ten times that of a traditional server, making it the third-largest item in the bill of materials cost. Goldman Sachs estimates the AI server MLCC market will grow at a compound annual rate of about 80 percent, and domestic Chinese companies are expected to accelerate their capture of high-end global market share.

NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang met with executives from several Japanese suppliers at a Tokyo izakaya, signaling the company's deepening reliance on Japan's industrial base for its AI expansion. The gathering included Kioxia Holdings, Shin-Etsu Chemical, Tokyo Electron, Ajinomoto, Sumitomo Electric Industries, Taiyo Yuden, Panasonic Holdings, and Nitto Boseki, spanning flash memory, silicon wafers, manufacturing equipment, chip-packaging film, fiber-optic cables, capacitors, and ultra-thin glass cloth. Huang stated that Japan provides foundational technologies for semiconductor manufacturing, and Tokyo Electron's CEO noted NVIDIA has substantial expectations for the Japanese supply chain. The meeting underscores the critical role of these specialized suppliers as NVIDIA, valued at more than $5.1 trillion, scales its AI infrastructure.

AI 서버 플랫폼 업그레이드와 클라우드 서비스 제공업체들의 맞춤형 ASIC 생산 확대로 고사양 MLCC 수요가 급증하면서, 2026년 6월 말 기준 무라타, 삼성전기, 태양유덴의 BB비율이 각각 1.30, 1.31, 1.25를 기록해 코로나19 팬데믹 이후 최고치를 나타냈다. 무라타의 2026년 1분기 수주 잔고 비율은 1.27로 2018년 공급난 당시 최고치인 1.25를 넘어섰으며, MLCC 업계 전체 BB비율도 1.04까지 상승했다. AI용 고사양 MLCC 생산 집중으로 공급 쏠림이 자동차와 소비자용 시장으로 확산되면서 애플 공급망은 재고 확보를 예년보다 1~2개월 앞당겼고, 중국 유통업체들은 6월부터 소비자용 X5R 등급 MLCC 가격을 평균 15~25% 인상했다. TrendForce는 올해 하반기 엔비디아, 구글, AMD의 신규 AI 플랫폼 양산으로 고사양 MLCC 공급 부족이 심화될 것으로 전망하며, 4분기가 본격적인 공급난 진입 여부를 가늠할 분기점이 될 것이라고 분석했다.