Who makes passives for AI data centers
Passives (MLCC, inductors, polymer/tantalum, resistors)
tight
The multilayer ceramic capacitors, inductors and other passive components that filter and stabilize power everywhere on a board, populated in far greater numbers on AI boards than on standard servers.
Passives are the smallest, most numerous parts on any board: MLCCs, inductors and tantalum or polymer capacitors sit beside the VRMs (4.08) to filter and stabilize the power rails feeding GPUs, CPUs and memory. A single high-power GPU board's power delivery network needs many more of these components than a conventional server board, because more numerous, more transient power rails each need their own local filtering. That volume increase is one of the more overlooked demand multipliers in an AI rack: it isn't a new part category, but sheer count reshapes procurement. High-specification MLCC supply has tightened as a result, with lead times reported to have lengthened well beyond what commodity passives see. For investors, this tier is normally viewed as undifferentiated and price-competitive, but the AI-driven volume and spec shift changes that calculus somewhat: capacity for high-spec, high-reliability grades is a narrower pool than capacity for commodity passives, and that gap is what determines who benefits from the volume increase rather than just absorbing more low-margin unit orders.
AI delta: roughly 10–15× the passive count of a standard server; high-spec MLCC lead times around 24 weeks (mid-2026 trade press).
Companies on this part (12)
| Company | Role | Ownership | Ticker | Price | 1d | Confidence | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chilisin | manufacturer | public | 2456.TW | ⚠ | inferred | ||
| Fenghua | manufacturer | public | 000636.SZ | 40.15 CNY | +1.4% | inferred | |
| Kyocera (AVX) | manufacturer | public | 6971.T | 3457 JPY | -2.0% | disclosed | · source |
| Murata | manufacturer | public | 6981.T | 6275 JPY | -2.8% | disclosed | · source |
| Panasonic | manufacturer | public | 6752.T | 3631 JPY | -1.4% | inferred | |
| Samsung Electro-Mechanics | manufacturer | public | 009150.KS | 1122000 KRW | -2.0% | disclosed | · source |
| Sunlord | manufacturer | public | 002138.SZ | 42.18 CNY | +1.8% | inferred | |
| Taiyo Yuden | manufacturer | public | 6976.T | 8364 JPY | -3.9% | disclosed | · source |
| TDK | manufacturer | public | 6762.T | 2625 JPY | -6.1% | inferred | |
| Vishay | manufacturer | public | VSH | 26.70 USD | -0.4% | disclosed | · source |
| Walsin | manufacturer | public | 2492.TW | 368 TWD | -9.2% | inferred | |
| Yageo | manufacturer | public | 2327.TW | 507 TWD | -6.8% | disclosed | · source |
Who competes here
The same table read the other way: every company above competes for passives sockets. Confidence tags matter — an inferred placement is a lead, not a confirmed rivalry.
Seen in real machines
passives is named in 1 of the rack teardowns and supercomputer breakdowns on this site. Each line below is a piece of that machine. The companies shown are the ones named on that line, not necessarily the maker of this part.
- Nvidia GB300 NVL72 · rack teardown
- MLCCs and inductors — Murata, Samsung Electro-Mechanics, TDK, Taiyo Yuden, Yageo, Chilisin
Nearby parts
- Previous in layer: Board-level power: VRMs, power stages, PoL, power semis
- Next in layer: BMC & platform firmware
- Layer: Layer 4 — Servers, racks & integration
From the blog
Latest feed
- Semco's 61-week MLCC lead times give suppliers upper hand in AI supply chain — DigiTimes, 2026-10-23Semco's extended lead times for MLCCs are giving suppliers pricing power due to sustained demand in the AI supply chain.
- Taiwanese chipmaker TASC targets 2027 growth with InP optical chips, glucose sensors nearing mass production — DigiTimes, 2026-10-15Taiwan-Asia Semiconductor Corporation (TASC) reports growth in optical communication chips (InP) for AI servers and increased demand for passive and protection components.
- South Korea's Hanwool wins Delta Electronics MLCC inspection equipment order, breaking Japanese dominance — DigiTimes, 2026-10-15Hanwool Semiconductor has secured an order to supply ultrasonic inspection equipment for multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs) to a Delta Electronics subsidiary.
- AI demand squeezes capacitor, resistor capacity as Taiwan suppliers eye price hikes — DigiTimes, 2026-10-13Taiwanese suppliers of capacitors and resistors are planning price increases due to soaring demand driven by the AI industry.
- Nvidia Rubin architecture drives high-end MLCC demand, solidifying Murata, SEMCO leadership — DigiTimes, 2026-09-21Increased power consumption and density in AI deployments are driving the necessity for high-end multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs).
- NSF Launches Microelectronics Initiative for AI, HPC and Advanced Communications — HPCwire, 2026-09-18The NSF announced an initiative to help U.S. manufacturers transition low-dimensional semiconductor technologies into advanced microelectronics for AI and HPC.
- A Taiwan machinery maker bets on AI to challenge Japan's grip on advanced capacitors — DigiTimes, 2026-09-16A Taiwan machinery maker is challenging Japan's market dominance in high-end multilayer polymer capacitors, which are crucial for power delivery in AI servers and high-wattage CPUs/GPUs.
- Murata considers bigger MLCC expansion as AI server demand extends beyond 2028 — DigiTimes, 2026-09-15Due to sustained high demand from AI servers, Murata is considering expanding its production capacity for multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCC) even further.
- AI servers are eating MLCC capacity, and Chinese suppliers are taking what's left — DigiTimes, 2026-09-15AI server demand is increasing prices and limiting capacity for MLCCs, forcing Chinese suppliers to pivot into PC markets.
- AI server exports to US slow; electronics parts jump 1.5 times in August — DigiTimes, 2026-09-13Taiwan reported that electronic parts exports reached a record high of $32.22 billion in August 2026, with integrated circuits and printed circuit boards seeing significant growth.
Questions about passives
- What are passives?
- The multilayer ceramic capacitors, inductors and other passive components that filter and stabilize power everywhere on a board, populated in far greater numbers on AI boards than on standard servers.
- Which companies make passives for AI data centers?
- This catalog lists 12 companies on Passives, 12 of them with listed equity: Chilisin, Fenghua, Kyocera (AVX), Murata, Panasonic, Samsung Electro-Mechanics, Sunlord, Taiyo Yuden, TDK, Vishay, and 2 more.
- How does AI change demand for passives?
- roughly 10–15× the passive count of a standard server; high-spec MLCC lead times around 24 weeks (mid-2026 trade press).
- Passives — how tight is supply?
- This catalog flags Passives as "tight". The bottlenecks page lists every part carrying a sourced supply constraint.
- How reliable are these passives supplier placements?
- The 12 placements on this part break down as 6 disclosed, 6 inferred. "disclosed" means the company or a filing says so; "reported" comes from trade press or a reference-design list; "inferred" is a taxonomy lead with no citation yet.
Sources: placements without a source URL come from the taxonomy seed and are tagged accordingly. How this data is built.· Markdown · JSON