--- title: "One AI Server Consumes 15 Times the Capacitors: MLCC, Substrates, and TCB May Emerge as New Winners in the Chip Supply Chain" type: "News" locale: "en" url: "https://longbridge.com/en/news/284499336.md" description: "Due to the extremely high energy consumption of AI servers, their usage of Multilayer Ceramic Capacitors (MLCC) is up to 15 times that of traditional servers, driving a surge in demand for related components. Currently, production line utilization rates for MLCC, advanced substrates, and Thermocompression Bonding (TCB) equipment all exceed 90%. The tight supply and demand balance has empowered suppliers with pricing power, leading to price hikes. Asian suppliers such as Samsung Electro-Mechanics, Murata Manufacturing, and Unimicron have emerged as the biggest winners" datetime: "2026-04-29T05:48:44.000Z" locales: - [zh-CN](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/news/284499336.md) - [en](https://longbridge.com/en/news/284499336.md) - [zh-HK](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/news/284499336.md) --- # One AI Server Consumes 15 Times the Capacitors: MLCC, Substrates, and TCB May Emerge as New Winners in the Chip Supply Chain The wave of AI infrastructure construction is spreading deep into the supply chain, bringing a batch of previously little-known component manufacturers rapidly into the spotlight for investors. As computing power demand continues to expand, AI servers consume far more electronic components than traditional servers, with the usage gap for certain parts reaching dozens of times. According to Young Jae Lee, a senior investment manager at Pictet Asset Management, **a single AI server consumes 10 to 15 times the Multilayer Ceramic Capacitors (MLCC) of a standard server, and about 30 times that of a smartphone.** The sudden surge in demand is driving up prices for related products. Samsung Electro-Mechanics stated this week that it is considering raising MLCC prices by up to 10%. Goldman Sachs believes that MLCC demand will grow 4.3-fold from 2025 to 2030, with price hike expectations revised upward to 0-5%. The market has reacted first. Substrate manufacturers Unimicron and Ibiden saw their stock prices soar by approximately 770% and 530%, respectively, over the past 12 months; MLCC leaders Samsung Electro-Mechanics and Murata Manufacturing both hit record highs this month; and Hanmi Semiconductor, a leader in the Thermocompression Bonding (TCB) field, also touched historic peaks. ## Three Key Component Categories: From Capacitors to Substrates to Bonding Processes In this round of AI supply chain rallies, investors' attention has focused on three core component categories. **Multilayer Ceramic Capacitors (MLCC) are responsible for regulating power within electronic systems and are fundamental components for stable power supply. Advanced chip substrates serve as the connection medium between semiconductors and the rest of the hardware.** Kieron Poon, Director of Asian Equity Investments at Aberdeen Investments, used a dining table analogy: "Imagine the printed circuit board as a dining table, the plates on the table are the substrates, and the food on the plates is the chips." **Thermocompression Bonding (TCB) is the packaging process that precisely fuses the aforementioned components into a unified whole, which is crucial for advanced packaging.** The core logic driving the explosive demand for these components lies in the high energy-consuming nature of AI infrastructure construction. AI servers consume far more electricity than traditional servers, and higher power requires more components to manage and stabilize power supply, creating a cascading effect that pulls along the entire supply chain. ## Capacity Utilization Exceeds 90%, Upward Price Pressure Accumulates Constraints on the supply side are becoming apparent. Simon Woo, Head of Korea Research at Bank of America Global Research, stated that **production line utilization for both MLCC and substrates has exceeded 90%.** "If AI demand increases even slightly, available capacity for traditional uses will shrink sharply," he said. Expectations for price hikes are also continuing to heat up. Citigroup analyst Takayuki Naito pointed out that market expectations for price increases across various components, including MLCC, aluminum electrolytic capacitors, and packaging substrates, are expanding. He believes this will support Japanese manufacturers such as Murata Manufacturing and Taiyo Yuden, who may adopt more aggressive pricing strategies. JPMorgan analysts raised their target prices for Murata Manufacturing and Taiyo Yuden last week, expecting the tight supply and demand situation to persist for an extended period. From a competitive landscape perspective, the supply of these components is highly concentrated, with the vast majority of related companies located in Asia, **mainly distributed across South Korea, Japan, and China.** Meanwhile, the customer base is continuously expanding alongside AI infrastructure investment. Aberdeen's Poon believes this means pricing power will "undoubtedly remain in the hands of suppliers." The spillover effects of this trend are also spreading to the broader ecosystem. Optical component manufacturers have likewise been swept up in this rally, as investors begin to pay closer attention to the role optical technology plays amidst the growing bandwidth demands of data centers driven by AI applications. ### Related Stocks - [SMSN.UK](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/SMSN.UK.md) - [SSNGY.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/SSNGY.US.md) - [6981.JP](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/6981.JP.md) - [07747.HK](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/07747.HK.md) - [XSD.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/XSD.US.md) - [SMH.UK](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/SMH.UK.md) - [09747.HK](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/09747.HK.md) - [SOXL.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/SOXL.US.md) - [SMH.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/SMH.US.md) - [SOXX.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/SOXX.US.md) - [GS.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/GS.US.md) - [4062.JP](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/4062.JP.md) - [MRAAY.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/MRAAY.US.md) - [ABDN.UK](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/ABDN.UK.md) - [BAC.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/BAC.US.md) - [C.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/C.US.md) - [6976.JP](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/6976.JP.md) - [JPM.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/JPM.US.md) - [ADRNY.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/ADRNY.US.md) - [W4VR.SG](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/W4VR.SG.md) - [PJX.SG](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/PJX.SG.md) - [BAC-Q.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/BAC-Q.US.md) - [BML-L.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/BML-L.US.md) - [BAC-L.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/BAC-L.US.md) - [BAC-K.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/BAC-K.US.md) - [BML-H.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/BML-H.US.md) - [BAC-N.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/BAC-N.US.md) - [BAC-E.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/BAC-E.US.md) - [MER-K.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/MER-K.US.md) - [BAC-O.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/BAC-O.US.md) - [BML-G.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/BML-G.US.md) - [BAC-M.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/BAC-M.US.md) - [BAC-B.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/BAC-B.US.md) - [BML-J.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/BML-J.US.md) - [BAC-S.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/BAC-S.US.md) - [BAC-P.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/BAC-P.US.md) - [8648.JP](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/8648.JP.md) - [C-R.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/C-R.US.md) - [JPM-M.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/JPM-M.US.md) - [JPM-C.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/JPM-C.US.md) - [JPM-D.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/JPM-D.US.md) - [JPM-L.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/JPM-L.US.md) - [8634.JP](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/8634.JP.md) - [JPM-K.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/JPM-K.US.md) - [JPM-J.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/JPM-J.US.md) ## Related News & Research - [BUZZ-Street View: AI demand boosts Intel, but capacity limits loom](https://longbridge.com/en/news/283982891.md) - [Intel Q1 earnings preview: Server CPUs seen as key driver, but foundry, margin pressures remain](https://longbridge.com/en/news/283701973.md) - [Why the party for Intel and other chip stocks could last a long time](https://longbridge.com/en/news/284037464.md) - [Samsung's chip output dropped amid workers' rally, union says](https://longbridge.com/en/news/283978816.md) - [Omdia Raises 2026 Semiconductor Forecast to 62.7% as AI Drives Global Memory Crunch](https://longbridge.com/en/news/283862662.md)