Multilayer ceramic capacitors are back in short supply
If you buy components for a living, you have probably already noticed. Quotes are coming back higher than in the spring; some values are being offered at 20 weeks or more, and the parts you used to treat as commodity line items now need real attention.
Here is what is happening, why it matters for your production schedule, and how to keep your lines running while the market stays tight.
Why MLCCs are hard to find again
This shortage is not a repeat of 2018. Back then, prices spiked due to channel hoarding and short-term supply shocks, and the market cooled almost as quickly as it had heated up. This time the pressure is structural, and it is being driven by artificial intelligence.
A single AI server rack uses tens of thousands of MLCCs for power filtering and decoupling. As data centre buildouts accelerate, the major manufacturers have shifted capacity toward the high-capacitance, high-reliability parts that those systems need. Automotive-grade product is pulling in the same direction. The result is a market split in two: standard commodity capacitors remain available, while high capacitance parts in small case sizes have tightened sharply.
Building new MLCC capacity does not happen quickly. New production lines take well over a year to bring online, and the leading makers spent the last couple of years managing inventory rather than expanding aggressively. Most analysts expect the high-capacitance segment to remain constrained well into 2027.
Which parts are feeling it most
The squeeze is concentrated in high capacitance values in compact packages, the decoupling capacitors specified in dense power delivery networks. Larger case sizes used in power management stages are also seeing extended lead times. If your bill of materials leans on these parts, you are the most exposed.
Standard 0402 and 0603 values in common capacitances are still moving, but that can change fast. When tier-one OEMs draw down their safety stock, smaller buyers end up competing for whatever allocation remains.
What longer lead times cost you
A capacitor that costs a fraction of a cent can still stop a line. When a single MLCC value is allocated, the whole board waits. Redesigning a PCB to accept a different footprint or dielectric is expensive and slow, and in high-temperature or high-vibration applications, a substitution means requalifying the design.
For purchasing teams, the real risk is a gap between what your forecast assumed and what the channel can actually deliver. The programs running on just-in-time ordering are the ones that get caught first.
Counterfeits rise when supply gets tight
Every MLCC shortage brings the same side effect. When authorized stock runs out, counterfeit and substandard parts start appearing on the grey market. The pressure to hit a ship date makes it tempting to buy from an unvetted source, and that is exactly when a bad batch does the most damage.
This is why sourcing matters as much as availability. At Spectrum Component Supply Corp, we source through authorized, verified channels with full traceability and authenticate hard-to-find parts through our own inspection process. We are ISO 9001-certified and ESD-compliant, so the parts you receive are the ones you ordered.
We have MLCCs in stock now
MLCCs are a core part of our business, and we are holding millions of pieces in stock right now from Taiyo Yuden, Samsung and Murata. While much of the market waits on allocation, we can ship from inventory.
If MLCCs are on your bill of materials, send us your part numbers and quantities. We will come back the same day with what we can ship and when. If you build across the US and Mexico border, we can also help with landed cost and tariff planning so the number you budget is the number you pay.
The shortage is real, and it is not easing soon. The buyers who come through it in good shape are the ones lining up supply now.
