Murata opens latest factory in the Philippines

Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd has recently completed its newest plant in Southeast Asia. The company's latest factory, Philippine Manufacturing Co. of Murata, Inc. (PMM), is located in Tanauan City in Batangas Province, Philippines.

A ceremony celebrating the completion of the factory was attended by several of Tanauan's representatives as well as local dignitaries, including Lilia B. De Lima, Director-General of the Philippine Economic Zone Authority, and Toshinao Urabe, Japanese Ambassador to the Philippines. Also in attendance was President Tsuneo Murata, Executive Vice President Yukio Hamaji, and PMM President Takashi Masuda.

"We were able to hold this ceremony today thanks to the tremendous support we received from many people. This Murata Philippine factory is our largest site in Asia. When fully operational, it will be capable of producing a variety of models in representative production scales, enabling us to greatly increase our scope of production." said Mr. Murata. "The construction of this factory and the expansion of production are very important projects for the Murata Group as a whole."

In response to the increased functionality of electronics and the spread and expansion of new applications such as smartphones and tablets, Murata decided to build a new factory in Southeast Asia and determined the Philippines to be an ideal location. Production at PMM will begin in January 2013 with Monolithic Ceramic Capacitors; it is anticipated that other products will also be manufactured at PMM in the future.

Murata, which retains a large share of the global market for ceramic capacitors, was recently identified by Apple as part of its supply chain, providing key parts for the iPhone 5. With rival Samsung Electro-Mechanics moving in on its turf, Murata recently launched its newest capacitor measuring just 0.25 mm x 0.125 mm. (See Murata soldiers on amid steep competition.)