Epcos and Japanese company Taiyo Yuden will cooperate in the field of ceramic capacitors in future. Epcos will procure unfinished ceramic capacitors from Taiyo Yuden, process them further and sell them under their own brand. Furthermore the companies plan to exchange know-how in specific areas of technology on the basis of licensing agreements.

Epcos had streamlined its product range of ceramic capacitors and withdrew from unprofitable mass businesses in 2005. Since then the company has been concentrating on applications in automotive electronics. Thanks to the cooperation with Taiyo Yuden, however, Epcos like to offer a more competitive range of ceramic capacitors to customers from other industries.

In fiscal 2005 Epcos posted sales of EUR 1.24 billion. At September 30, 2005, the company employed about 16,100 people worldwide. Taiyo Yuden is the world’s third largest manufacturer of ceramic capacitors. In fiscal 2006 (April 1, 2005 to March 31, 2006), the company recorded sales of approximately JPY 187 billion (about EUR 1.3 billion as at March 31, 2006). At the end of the business year, the company employed about 19,000 people worldwide.