Alps Electric Co., Ltd. will build a new factory building on the site of the Kitahara Plant in Osaki, Miyagi Prefecture. Construction was supposed to start in fall with completion and the start of operation slated for October 2018. The construction is aimed at maintaining and expanding infrastructure for production of electronic components and bolstering mother plant functions in Japan looking ahead to the future. Initially, electronic components for smartphones and other mobile devices and automotive electronics will be produced at the new factory building. In the future, Alps Electric considers the use of the factory building for the production of products targeted at the energy, healthcare, and industrial markets where the demand is expected to expand, as well as for the production of products suitable for Internet of Things (IoT)-related applications.

Explores Growth in ICT, Automotive
TDK Corporation completed in July repair works of the Tsuruoka East Plant, which the company acquired through transfer from Renesas Electronics Corporation, and partly commenced mass production of power inductors using the thin-film technology. TDK nurtures its next-generation electronic components business as part of its growth strategies to meet the demand for thin-film products in the information and communications technology (ICT) and automotive electronics fields.

Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd. has been bolstering its plants in Japan for the past two years. Since January 2017, the company has completed and started operations of five production buildings in Fukui, Miyagi, Nagano, Toyama, and Shiga prefectures. These are to increase the company's production capacities in order to meet increased demand for components for smartphones and other mobile devices and automobiles, and to construct a system to meet future expansion of demand. Following Toyama, Murata has also decided to add two plants in Ishikawa Prefecture to increase the production of MetroCirc multilayered resin substrate, a new product, which combines the company's original liquid crystal polymer electronic material and a film. The demand for MetroCirc has been increasing for use in high-end smartphones, wearable terminals and tablet terminals.

In addition, Murata will also build a factory building dedicated to MetroCirc at Wakura Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd., which is also in Ishikawa Prefecture and is producing power supply modules for mobile phone base stations, automobiles and servers. The company will invest ¥3.5 billion (US$30.8 million) for the building alone. The construction of the building is planned to start in February 2018, with completion slated for January 2019, and the start of operation the next month.