Amotech’s multi layer ceramic capacitor (MLCC) has received product approval from Samsung Electronics’ network business, TheElec has learned.
The approval paves the way for Samsung to approve mass production for Amotech if the pair decide to collaborate later.
Amotech may began supplying MLCC to Samsung Network by the first half of 2021 at the earliest.
The South Korean component maker had earlier aimed to supply MLCC to the Chinese telecom market but this has been delayed from the COVID-19 pandemic and US sanction against Huawei.
Amotech is aiming to expand in the precious metal electrode (PME) MLCC, which uses silver or palladium, first. MLCC used in small cell and repeaters for 5G base stations has been its first target. Silver has high spectrum characteristics and reliable, but expensive.
The PME MLCC market is smaller than the base metal electrode (BMS) MLCC market. BME MLCC uses nickel. The telecom market uses both PME and BME MLCCs.
Amotech had supplied samples of its PME MLCC to Huawei and ZTE which didn’t yield concrete results. The company being new to MLCC also likely played a part besides geopolitical situations.
Japan’s Murata Manufacturing, US’ Comet (acquired by Taiwan’s Yageo) and US’ AVX (acquired by Japan’s Kyocera) are major producers of PME MLCCs. Samsung Network imports PME MLCC from Murata and others.
Samsung Electro-Mechanics doesn’t produce PME MLCC.
Amotech plans to expand in the telecom market first, then expand it MLCC for IT and home appliances. Its long-term goal is to produce MLCC for automobiles.
The company has posted 162.5 billion won in sales and operating loss of 23.6 billion won in 2020 up to the third quarter. This is a decline of 18% in sales and turning to red compared to the same time period of 2019.
The company was negatively impacted by Samsung Electronics’ lower than expected smartphones sales in the first half of 2020 and price cut of components in the third quarter of that year. Amotech currently relies on antenna and electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) components for over 95% of its sales.
