Agreements and Collaborations are the Key Strategies Adopted by the Leading Market Players to Foster Their Growth in the European Inductor Market

Tuesday 19 May 2015, Amsterdam

The European market is estimated to be the third major market for the inductors in terms of market size in 2019. There are many developed countries in this region, such as the U.K., Germany, and others. The European inductor market constitutes 11.52% of the global inductor market and is expected to grow from USD 320 million to USD 390 million at a CAGR of 4.04% from 2014 to 2019.
 
As the global consumer electronics industry has been growing significantly since the past few years due to the innovative technical developments in the sector globally, the requirements of ICs are also increasing. This ultimately increases the demand for inductors as they are used in a large amount in consumer electronics, such as smartphones, tablets, notebook and desktop computers, servers, Blu-ray recorders, set-top boxes, portable gaming devices, and GPS products. They possess features such as small size and low DC resistance, and are capable of withstanding large currents. Technological advancements in the area of weight reduction, surface mounting, and miniaturization, along with the rapid growth in industrialization and continued demand for electronic goods drive the inductor market. Additionally, factors such as an increasing usage of passive components and the roll-out of sophisticated electronic components fuel the growth in this market. There is a great opportunity for the inductor market due to the expansion of 3G and 4G communication infrastructures and convergence of voice and data services. These are reinforcing the demand for inductors as the telecom industry is a strong end-user market for inductors. These inductors are critical power management devices in an automotive electronic system and are used on a large scale in the automotive industry. The automotive production has increased drastically over the years and is expected to continue, which, as a result, drives the demand for inductors. China is the major producer in the automotive manufacturing industry globally and the Western Europe contributes significantly in its overall sales.

In 2014, the European inductor market is dominated by several listed market players. TDK Corporation (Germany) holds a significant market share, which is followed by Vishay Intertechnology (U.S.) and Murata Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (Japan). These companies have been identified as the potential market players for the European Inductor market. TDK Corporation is a Japanese multinational electronics company that is specialized in manufacturing passive electronic components. The company is focusing on strengthening its passive component business by acquiring Epcos AG, a German manufacturer of electronics components, modules, and systems, in 2008. The acquisition also boosted TDK’s ability to develop advanced electronic components. Moreover, with the help of the business centers of EPCOS AG, TDK managed to expand its footprints in the European market amidst the cut-throat competition among the communication equipment manufacturers. TDK is striving hard to top the global chart of the passive electronic components manufacturers and maintain its position throughout.

Vishay has been making a series of strategic acquisitions since 1985 with a view to become a broad-line manufacturer of the electronic components. The company grew through constant innovations and major acquisitions from time to time. In 2012, Vishay acquired HiRel Systems, which joined its pre-existing custom magnetics product offering and thus, yielded with Vishay Intertechnology becoming one of North America’s largest suppliers of high-reliability custom magnetics. The company’s business strategy includes rapid expansion within the electronic components industry through the acquisition of other manufacturers of electronic components; reduction of expenses; transferring manufacturing operations to countries with lower labor costs and government-sponsored incentives; maintaining significant production facilities in regions where Vishay markets the bulk of its products; continuous new product developments; and strengthening relationships with customers and strategic partners.

Murata Manufacturing Co. Ltd. is one of the leading manufacturers of ceramic passive electronic components and is specialized in inductors, filters, sensors, and capacitors. Murata is deeply focusing on R&D in order to manufacture innovative products and thus, become the market leader in the electronics industry. Due to its focus on R&D, it came up with the latest chip inductors that have features such as compact size and high-performance. Murata invented one of the world's smallest sized (0.25 x 0.125 mm) chip inductor. The unique coil and case structures provide low DC resistance and outstanding high-frequency characteristics. Murata offers a broad variety of products for different applications to meet the needs and expectations of OEMs. The company is aggressively increasing its footprint in all the major countries such as the U.S., Canada, Mexico, France, Germany, and the U.K. by acquiring RF Monolithics in April 2012 and Peregrine Semiconductor Corporation in August 2014.