A Samsung Electro-Mechanics employee explains the company’s multilayer ceramic capacitor products to overseas customers at the 2026 SEMCO Component College in Busan on April 23. (Samsung Electro-Mechanics) Samsung Electro-Mechanics is expected to extend price increases for multilayer ceramic capacitors to direct manufacturing customers in the fourth quarter, as strong AI-related demand absorbs production capacity and reduces supply of mainstream parts.Market researcher TrendForce said Thursday that the South Korean electronic components maker is expected to raise prices of consumer-grade X5R MLCCs by an average of 25 to 30 percent for OEM and ODM customers. Prices of higher-end X6S products used in AI servers are forecast to rise 10 to 20 percent, depending on customer negotiations.The figures are TrendForce estimates and have not been confirmed by Samsung Electro-Mechanics.TrendForce described the expected move as "a departure from the company's previous practice of limiting price adjustments to distributors." It would push recent pricing pressure further into contracts with manufacturers, after increases first appeared in distribution channels and the spot market.The larger projected increase for X5R comes as suppliers shift production toward higher-end MLCCs used in AI infrastructure. Japanese and South Korean manufacturers have been reallocating capacity from consumer-grade products toward X6S and X7R parts, according to TrendForce.That leaves less room for mainstream MLCC production even though demand for smartphones, PCs and other traditional electronics remains relatively soft. A similar squeeze has been playing out in DRAM this year, where capacity shifting toward high-bandwidth memory and server products has tightened conventional supply despite weak consumer demand.By late July, inventories of mainstream MLCCs were below 30 days, TrendForce said. Distributors holding stock had raised prices by an average of 20 to 25 percent, while some spot-market prices rose to three times earlier levels.Delivery times have also stretched."Lead-time pressure that began with smaller products is spreading to medium and larger sizes," Ko Eui-young, an analyst at iM Securities, said. "As of August, lead times for high-capacitance MLCCs average about 21 weeks, five weeks longer than at the start of the year." Samsung Electro-Mechanics’ multilayer ceramic capacitors are shown with a scale model highlighting their small size. (Samsung Electro-Mechanics) MLCCs are small passive components that store and regulate electrical charge inside electronic devices. AI servers require larger numbers of high-capacitance and high-reliability parts because they operate under heavier power loads and greater thermal stress.Samsung Electro-Mechanics' component division posted second-quarter sales of 1.65 trillion won ($1.19 billion), up 29 percent from a year earlier, helped by increased sales of MLCCs for AI servers, networks and power applications.The company said it had signed long-term MLCC supply agreements with more than 10 global customers, including major technology companies."We will secure stable volumes based on long-term MLCC supply agreements already signed with global customers," Samsung Electro-Mechanics said in its second-quarter results.Pressure is also reaching suppliers in Taiwan and China. TrendForce expects prices for some medium- to high-capacitance consumer MLCCs to rise 10 to 20 percent in the fourth quarter as spillover orders increase factory utilization. Some suppliers are approaching 90 percent.TrendForce said Murata, Taiyo Yuden and Kyocera were keeping prices unchanged in its latest assessment. Whether Japanese suppliers follow with broader increases remains one of the clearest tests of how far the current pricing cycle spreads.