Taiwan-based inductor maker Cyntec will see its capacity increase by 40% in early 2020 when its new production lines become operational to fulfill ever-increasing orders, according to company chairman Steven Liu.
Liu said his firm’s production lines are running at full capacity, with some clients even stationing in to await shipments of mid- and high-tier inductors. Besides rapid development of smartphones, new energy vehicles and other 5G applications, Liu reasoned, the tight supply has been partly caused by Taiyo Yuden suspending its floods-plagued inductor plant in Fukushima following a typhoon in mid-October.
Liu said that inductors are among a few passive components which Taiwan-based makers can outperform their Japanese peers in terms of technology, production scale and market share. He expressed optimism that Cyntec can technologically lead peers by one year in production of small-type, high-end inductors for 5G smartphones.
Industry sources said that Cyntec is now the largest supplier of inductors for a leading US handset vendor, shipping around one billion units to the client per month. The company is expected to set part of the additional capacity for producing inductors for other handset vendors.
The sources said that the growing penetration of automotive electronics and new energy vehicles will be accompanied by increasing demand for MCUs, ECUs (electronics control units), and inductors to support autonomous driving, in-auto camera system, electronically controlled windows, and digital panels.
Liu has predicted that his firm’s revenues from automotive inductors will expand by US$30-40 million per year, and will outperform those from notebook and server applications in 2-3 years.