From a passive component point of view the theme of efficiency will accelerate in 2024. The exact meaning of efficiency varies greatly by sector. Examples include the following:
Consumer: SMT MLCC capacitors are a high runner in consumer electronics. There’s no better example than a smart phone, which might employ 1,000 MLCCs in its design. Ongoing materials and manufacturing programs in MLCC manufacturers have created both high value MLCCs in larger case sizes as well as ultra-miniature cases, which are a fraction of the size of a grain of salt, thus enabling size and weight reductions in portable/handheld electronics.
Telecom & Communication: Both inductive and resistive parasitic losses are present in all modern-day capacitors. Manufacturers are rapidly minimizing those ‘loss’ features and creating ideal components that reduce power consumption and operate at higher frequencies. This allows faster communication and processing networks to be built that carry more data.
Automotive & Transportation: Self-healing power capacitors, flexible capacitors, and enhanced reliability capacitors are all making a mark on automobiles, resulting in higher safety and enhanced auto performance.
Data Center: Micro-miniature heat ‘pipes’ have been developed that transfer heat while not conducting electrical signals. This has resulted in the ability to directly add supplemental cooling to hot IC pins and enhance both IC reliability and processing capability.
High Reliability & Aerospace: New materials and processing have created multiple families of miniature, lightweight, highly reliable capacitors that enable higher efficiency to power conversion in next generation spacecraft electronics.