According to feedback from passive component manufacturers, inventory digest will be completed after the second quarter, and demand will pick up in the third quarter. However, as customers are more cautious in placing orders this year, orders in the second half of the year may not reach the same level as last year, which also led to weaker momentum in price recovery.
In terms of price, passive component manufacturers indicated that the current decline has begun to slow down, and the price is about to bottom out. It is expected to rebound with demand in the second half of the year. However, in the case of poor order volume, whether the price can return to last year's level remains to be seen.
In the first quarter of this year, the price of MLCC and Chip-Resistor fell by 25~30% compared with the fourth quarter of last year. The price of Chip-Resistor returned to the starting point before the shortage last year, and MLCC still had a price gap of 2-3 times compared with the same period of last year. It is estimated that passive component prices will fall another 10% in the second quarter.
In the long run, some manufacturers believe that the future focus of passive components lies in 5G. Because of high frequency and high capacity requirements, new inductors and capacitors will be released, and electric vehicles will be another demand focus.
