TDK Corporation Q3 FY2026 earnings call

• Business Heritage & Core Position: The Passive Components business traces its origin to TDK's 1935 commercialization of ferrite magnetic materials, forming the core

TDK's Passive Components business is its core mainstay business, accounting for approximately 25% of the TDK Group's total consolidated revenue. Within the Passive Components segment, inductors are highlighted as the product where TDK's core competitive strengths are most concentrated. No absolute segment revenue or profit figures are provided in this transcript.

TDK defines the broad set of growing AI-related markets as the

• The power inductor market has a high number of competitors, requiring constant vigilance and urgency to maintain market position
• Manufacturing yield instability during new product mass production ramp-up can cause operational disruption and requires targeted problem-solving interventions
• Factory operations are sensitive to changes in order volumes and environmental conditions (such as weather), requiring continuous monitoring and adjustment
• Failing to anticipate evolving market requirements from automotive electrification and autonomous driving could leave TDK unable to meet customer demand on time

Q: What types of customers does the inductor product planning team serve, and what requirements do these customers have? / A: The team serves a broad range of domestic and international customers across multiple sectors. Automotive, which has strict quality requirements, makes up a large share of the business, and the team is also actively pursuing growth opportunities in AI servers, communication satellites, and optical modules. Core consistent demands for inductors are miniaturization and support for higher current; new unmet requirements are emerging as the industry shifts to EVs and autonomous driving. TDK aims to anticipate these market shifts and deliver required products on customer timelines.\n\nQ: What are the core strengths of TDK's inductors, per the new product development team? / A: The primary strength comes from TDK's long-standing expertise in magnetic material technology starting from ferrite. TDK also produces inductors via three different manufacturing methods (wire-wound, multilayer, thin-film), giving it a broad product portfolio that can meet almost any market requirement.\n\nQ: What are TDK's strengths in thin-film inductor manufacturing, per the production team? / A: TDK combines thin-film process expertise accumulated from magnetic head production with internally developed magnetic materials to produce high-performance small form-factor inductors. Thin-film inductors are manufactured via a semiconductor-like process, where even tiny dust particles compromise quality, so TDK maintains strict cleanroom management and thorough cleaning between production steps, with continuous daily improvements to prevent impurity contamination.