Japanese electronic components returned to normal after May

Ke Jianhong (director of TDK Deputies), president of the Electronic Components Division of the Japan Electronic Information Technology Industry Association (JEITA), recently introduced the impact of the Great East Japan Earthquake on Japanese electronic component manufacturers.

In the earthquake, about 10% of Japanese electronic component manufacturers were affected by the amount of production. In 2010, Japanese manufacturers of electronic components produced 35.8% of Japan's domestic production, of which the production ratio in the Tohoku and Kanto regions was 31%.

Immediately after the earthquake, some companies were forced to stop work due to difficulties in purchasing packaging materials and raw materials. At present, some materials such as electrolytes, barium carbonate, and copper foil are still difficult to purchase, but other parts can ensure supply. It should be noted that the electrolytic solution is an aluminum electrolytic capacitor, and barium carbonate is a ceramic capacitor, and the copper foil is a production material for a printed circuit board or the like.

The manufacturers of electronic components affected by the earthquake have recovered to 90% of their pre-earthquake production levels by the end of April, and will “return to normal production levels after May” (Shangpao). However, “some companies still cannot ensure the supply of raw materials after May” (Shangpao).

In addition, JEITA projected that the global electronic component production in 2011 is forecast to increase by 6.6% from the previous year to 191.4 trillion yen. Among them, the Japanese manufacturers' production forecast is 7 trillion 579.4 billion yen, and Japanese manufacturers are 38.8% (39.7% in 2010). From the type of electronic components, passive components increased by 3.6% over the previous year, connecting components increased by 6.8%, conversion components increased by 3.2%, and other electronic components increased by 8.8%.

In 2010, the amount of global supply of Japanese electronic component manufacturers increased by 16% from the previous year to 3611.6 billion yen. It returned to 72% of 2007 before the Lehman incident.

Pulling the development of the electronic components industry in 2010, mainly smart phones and other mobile phone products. According to JEITA, in the case of a laminated ceramic capacitor (MLCC), a conventional ordinary mobile phone is generally equipped with 100 to 200 laminated ceramic capacitors, and the number of smart phones is increased to 400 to 500. In addition, sales of flat-panel TVs and personal computers have decreased in the second half of 2010, but they will tend to recover in the future.

According to JEITA, due to the impact of the earthquake, Japanese suppliers of electronic components showed a downward trend from April to June 2011, but they will tend to recover from July to September 2011. However, "there is also a possibility of major changes due to the effects of earthquakes."