While Apple engages with Thai officials about the prospect of making MacBooks in the Kingdom, one of its key suppliers, Murata of Japan, has opened a factory in northern Lamphun province to produce capacitors for phones and electric vehicles, another example of supply chains expanding in the Kingdom.

The opening of the factory reflects Thailand’s shift to more advanced manufacturing and the increased diversification of supply chains in a range of industries. Thailand has been benefiting from that diversification as companies relocate their facilities to the Kingdom because Thailand’s effective policy allowed businesses to keep their factories largely up and running during the pandemic.

The Nikkei Asian Review wrote that “Murata's Thai factory is part of a trend of investment in Southeast Asia by Japanese semiconductor and electronic component companies seeking stable production bases.”

Murata is the world leader in multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs), a little-known product outside of industry, but which are essential in making phones and electric vehicles among other electronics-based goods. Murata has 40 percent of the global market share for those type of capacitors.

A smartphone may have as many as 1,000 MLCCs, while an electric vehicle may use as many as 10,000. The company said that setting up shop in Thailand would help ensure a stable supply of the product for global manufacturers.

“We can count on long-term growth in capacitors,” Murata President Norio Nakajima said during the opening ceremony for the factory. The facility will provide 2,000 jobs for local workers.

For MLCCs used specifically in electric vehicles, Murata holds a roughly 50 percent global market share. Thailand is emerging as a major manufacturer of electric vehicles.

“The share of sales from automotive applications looks likely to grow faster than we had expected" from the current level of around 20 percent,” Nakajima said.

Photo courtesy of https://corporate.murata.com/-/media/corporate/