According to the latest statistics from Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association (JEITA), in September 2018, the global shipments of Japanese electronic components factories fell 4.9% from the same month last year to 352.8 billion yen, the largest reduction in the past two years.
In September this year, from the perspective of shipments by region, Japan’s domestic shipments of electronic components fell 10.5% to 790 billion yen from the same month last year; shipments across the Americas increased by 7.9% to 33 billion yen. Shipments to Europe fell 4.0% to 32.8 billion yen; shipments to the Chinese market fell 4.5% to 128.4 billion yen; shipments to other parts of Asia fell 4.6% to 79.7 billion yen.
In terms of electronic component categories, Japan's Nikken capacitor shipments increased by 12% in September from the same month last year to 104.6 billion yen, breaking through 100 billion yen for the third consecutive month; resistor fell 3% to 13.5 billion yen; Transformer shipments fell 1% to 3.7 billion yen; inductor shipments fell 3% to 24.4 billion yen; connector shipments fell 10% to 51.3 billion yen; Switch shipments fell 18% to 36.7 billion yen; actuators used in smartphones, camera shocks, etc. fell 6% to 28.2 billion yen; audio parts including headphones for smartphones Shipments plummeted 37% to 12.9 billion yen; shipments of radio frequency (RF) parts, including TV tuners, filters and wireless modules, fell 7% to 29 billion yen.
In terms of product categories, only the shipment of capacitors is growing, which is related to the global shortage in the past two years. Tsuneo Murata, CEO of Murata Manufacturing Co., has said that the MLCC, which is currently in serious shortage, will continue to be in short supply in the next two years. However, affected by the trade war between China and the United States, the prices of MLCC and R-Chip were reported to fall due to falling demand. But with the G20 summit last week, China and the United States reached a consensus on tariff issues. The US stated that it will no longer raise tariffs on Chinese goods. Products that are currently being levied will continue to maintain a tax rate of 10%. Trade wars are fading, and the decline in MLCC prices is expected to be avoided, Japan's capacitor shipments are expected to keep rising.
