How the AI Boom Is Triggering a Global Capacitor & Resistor Shortage

In 2026, a quiet but accelerating supply storm is sweeping through global electronics markets. The culprit isn't GPUs or memory chips — it's the humble capacitor and resistor, components smaller than a grain of rice, each costing just fractions of a cent. These passive components, long dubbed the "rice of the electronics industry," are now experiencing a historic supply-demand restructuring driven by the explosive growth of artificial intelligence.

1.What Are Capacitors and Resistors — And Why Do They Matter?

On any circuit board, capacitors and resistors are the most abundant components by far. Capacitors store and release electrical charge, handling filtering, voltage regulation, and decoupling — acting as the "blood buffer" that keeps chip voltages clean and stable. Resistors control current flow, enabling voltage division, current limiting, and signal matching. Together, classified as "passive components," they require no external power to operate and form the foundational layer upon which every electronic device depends.

The most critical sub-category is the MLCC (Multi-Layer Ceramic Capacitor) — the largest and fastest-growing type of capacitor, commanding 65% of the total passive components market. Tiny, highly reliable, and effective across a wide frequency range, MLCCs appear in virtually every electronic product from smartphones to satellites. Their ubiquity and irreplaceability is precisely why the industry calls them "the rice of electronics."

2.AI Servers: One Machine, Half a Million Capacitors

The fundamental force driving this shortage crisis is the astronomical passive component consumption of AI servers. Training and inferencing AI models demands immense computing power, which relies on dense GPU clusters, and those GPU clusters depend on vast arrays of precision capacitors to maintain clean, stable power delivery

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According to Morgan Stanley's BOM teardown of the NVIDIA VR200 NVL72 rack, the MLCC value per cabinet has reached approximately $4,300 — a staggering 187% jump compared to the previous-generation GB300. Goldman Sachs explicitly noted in a recent research report that MLCCs have become the third-highest cost component in AI servers, behind only GPUs and memory chips. This dramatic elevation in status has fundamentally reshaped procurement priorities and pricing logic across the entire industry

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3.Why Can't Supply Keep Up? Capacity Expansion Is Severely Constrained

The explosive surge in demand has collided with a near-rigid supply ceiling. The pace of capacity expansion in the MLCC industry is severely constrained for several structural reasons:

Extreme manufacturing complexity. High-end AI-grade MLCCs require co-firing over 1,000 ceramic layers at dielectric thicknesses below 0.5 microns — precision on par with semiconductor fabrication. Yield rates are low, and building and ramping a new production line typically takes two to three years.

Leading manufacturers are expanding cautiously. Burned by the painful "expand–oversupply–losses" cycle that followed the 2018 super-shortage, Japanese and Korean giants such as Murata, Samsung Electro-Mechanics, and Taiyo Yuden have adopted a conservative approach. Murata's ¥80 billion expansion plan announced in 2026 is projected to increase high-end capacity by only 10–15% — far short of filling the nearly doubling supply gap for premium orders.

Utilization rates are near physical limits. In the first half of 2026, high-end production lines at Murata, Samsung Electro-Mechanics, and TDK were already running above 90% capacity utilization, with some lines approaching 95% — the physical ceiling. The available "flexible" capacity remaining is minimal, and the current "shortage" is essentially a price-discovery process for whatever high-end capacity remains uncommitted.

Raw material costs continue to climb. Gold, silver, copper, and nickel — all key MLCC inputs — remain at elevated prices. Taiyo Yuden explicitly stated in its price increase notification that cost pressures have exceeded the company's internal absorption capacity, further dampening manufacturers' appetite for large-scale capital investment.

4.The Price Storm: From Premium to Standard Products

The widening supply-demand gap has triggered multiple rounds of interconnected price increases across regions and product tiers. From original manufacturers to the spot market channel, the entire supply chain has been hit by unprecedented pricing pressure.

  Price Increases Begin — Spot Market Quietly Tightens

Inventories of premium AI-server-grade MLCCs were rapidly absorbed. OEM inventory levels fell to just 0.8–1.0 months of supply. Manufacturer stock dropped from 3.4 to 2.4 months — a five-year low. Premium pricing began appearing on scarce part numbers.

 Japanese and Korean OEMs Announce First Round of Price Hikes

Murata led on April 1st, raising AI server MLCC prices by 15–35%. Taiyo Yuden followed on May 1st, covering MLCCs and inductors. Samsung Electro-Mechanics announced price increases on consumer-grade products effective June 1st.

 Price Increases Spread Across All Product Categories

High-capacity AI-specific MLCCs rose 25–50% year-to-date; some scarce specialty grades nearly doubled. Standard 0402/0603 MLCCs and chip resistors followed with 5–15% increases. Automotive-grade passive components rose 15–22%, with persistent supply tightness.

 Further Tightening Expected Through Year-End

The market widely expects another round of price increases in July. Domestic Chinese manufacturers are also preparing to raise prices. Multiple research institutions forecast the current premium MLCC upcycle will persist through 2027–2028.

5.Electric Vehicles: A Second Demand Tsunami Hitting Simultaneously

Running in parallel with the AI demand surge is the global electric vehicle revolution. According to Galaxy Securities research, a single battery-electric vehicle now uses approximately 18,000 MLCCs — six times that of a conventional combustion-engine car. Vehicles equipped with Level 3 autonomous driving use more than 30,000. Global automotive-grade MLCC shipments reached roughly 650 billion units in 2025, accounting for 42% of total global output — making EVs a co-equal demand growth engine alongside AI servers.

Two massive demand waves crashing into the same production capacity ceiling simultaneously makes this supply-demand mismatch more severe and more prolonged than any previous industry cycle.

6.O-Leading's Analysis and Recommendations

As a team with deep expertise in PCB and electronic component supply chains, O-Leading has been closely monitoring this passive component market cycle. Our assessment is that this shortage and pricing wave is not a simple cyclical fluctuation — it represents a structural restructuring of hardware supply chains driven by the AI computing revolution. MLCCs are being redefined from "commodity parts" to "strategic cornerstones of computing infrastructure." This elevation in industrial status means that the tight supply-demand balance for premium passive components will persist over a much longer timeframe than typical cycles.

Our specific recommendations for customers:

① Lock in long-term agreements early. Establish quarterly or semi-annual framework agreements with OEMs or authorized distributors while pricing is still reasonable. Securing supply commitments now avoids the high spot-market premium risk that follows further tightening.

② Build a diversified supplier base. Relying on a single brand for critical premium part numbers is a significant risk. Simultaneously qualify alternative sources — including domestically produced equivalents where quality certification allows — to create a tiered backup supply structure.

③ Evaluate approved alternative part numbers proactively. Engineering teams should pre-qualify functionally equivalent substitute part numbers before shortages force reactive action. Having approved alternates on file enables rapid switching when primary parts become scarce.

④ Approach the spot market with clear eyes. Channel speculation is a meaningful factor in this cycle — prices on some part numbers have diverged significantly from fundamental supply-demand reality. Prioritize working with reputable suppliers who offer transparent sourcing and stable inventory, rather than chasing market spikes that may be partially inflated.