TDK to Invest ¥40 Billion Expanding Thin-Film Inductor Production for AI Chips
Japanese electronics manufacturer TDK plans to invest approximately 40 billion yen over the next three years across two domestic facilities to expand thin-film inductor production. The move directly targets the rapidly growing demand for power-regulating passive components used in AI processors and hardware. As AI chips demand dramatically more power, conventional power supply architectures struggle with resistance losses and efficiency bottlenecks. TDK's embedded thin-film inductors enable Vertical Power Delivery (VPD), allowing components to connect through shorter electrical paths directly on chip package substrates. TDK will direct 35 billion yen to its Yamanashi Prefecture plant to scale thin-film inductors for AI XPU packages, while the remaining 5 billion yen will upgrade its Yamagata plant for optical transceiver inductors. These ultra-thin passive components are designed to be embedded into semiconductor substrates to reduce electrical impedance.
## BACKGROUND
Vertical Power Delivery (VPD) is an advanced power architecture that places voltage regulation components vertically underneath or directly inside a semiconductor package substrate rather than adjacent to it on the motherboard. This proximity drastically reduces parasitic inductance and resistive losses, which is vital for high-current AI accelerators and graphics processors.