The global MLCC market is bifurcating in real time. AI-grade MLCCs — the high-specification components powering data centers — face severe shortages, with lead times of 26-32 weeks and spot prices rising 20% or more. Murata and Samsung Electro-Mechanics, commanding over 60% of premium supply and operating at 90-95% capacity, are both signaling imminent price increases. Meanwhile commodity-grade MLCCs for smartphones and consumer electronics remain in oversupply. Two markets. One component. Completely different trajectories.
The overall MLCC market is projected to grow from $40 billion today to $61 billion by 2030. But within that growth, AI server demand is the dominant force — expanding at 30% annually, with a single server rack consuming up to 440,000 MLCCs. Murata projects AI server MLCC requirements will be 3.3 times larger in 2030 than they are today. Supply expansions are measured and deliberate — manufacturers scared by the last boom-bust cycle are not building aggressively. The result is a sustained, structural imbalance between premium MLCC supply and the infrastructure demands of a world running on artificial intelligence.