Supplier of iPhone capacitors is giddy at potential bumper 2020 due to 5G

By Oliver Haslam
published

Apple Q2 2020
Apple Q2 2020 (Image credit: iMore)

What you need to know

  • Taiyo Yuden products capacitors for Apple.
  • It's expecting a bumper 2020 because of the move to 5G.
  • 5G phones use around 30% more capacitors than their 4G counterparts.

With Apple expected to start offering iPhones in 5G configurations in 2020, its manufacturing partners are hopeful of a bumper year, According to a new Bloomberg report (via 9to5Mac), 5G phones use around 30% more transistors than standard 4G ones. And that means more money for capacitor manufacturers.

One of those manufacturers is Japan-based Taiyo Yuden and strong 5G demand will line the company's coffers next year.

The multi-layer ceramic capacitors, or MLCCs, Taiyo Yuden makes are building blocks of the modern world. Tiny components made of metallic plates, they're used in electronic circuits to stabilize voltage and power flow.

With Huawei and Samsung already having increased orders for capacitors during the move to 5G, Taiyo Yuden CEO Shoichi Tosaka says that he expects Apple to begin placing component orders in June 2020 ahead of a September iPhone release.

Apple's move to 5G is one that has been hotly anticipated despite the relative lack of 5G coverage available to most iPhone buyers. Regardless, pent up demand has Apple telling suppliers to expect more than 100 million 5G iPhones to be needed in 2020.

Oliver Haslam
Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too.

Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.