Panorama of the Price Increase Wave

1. Material Foundation: The "Cost Floor" of Upstream Resources Has Risen Overall
   The core material drivers of this price surge are key precious metals and basic raw materials such as copper, silver, gold, and tin. Since 2025, the prices of these materials have continued to hit record highs. For example, domestic copper prices exceeded 100,000 RMB per ton, a year-over-year increase of over 35%. Silver prices soared from about 5,900 RMB per kilogram to 18,000 RMB per kilogram, a rise of over 200%.
   Whether it's connectors requiring large amounts of copper, MLCCs dependent on silver paste, or power devices with high packaging costs, the production costs of all have been pushed up by the rise in these material prices, forming a "cost floor" that the entire industry chain must confront.
2. Change Engine: The "Technology Engine" of AI Demand Provides Core Momentum
   If rising raw material costs are the push, then AI is the pull and engine driving structural change. AI servers have a massive demand pull for components. Their MLCC usage is several to ten times that of ordinary servers, and their demand for high-power MOSFETs and IGBTs is also several times higher. Not only is the demand large, but it also demands high performance and reliability. This directly drives demand for advanced products like high-end MLCCs, high-K (high dielectric constant) materials, low-DK (low dielectric constant) glass fiber cloth, and HBM memory.
   In pursuit of AI's high profitability, wafer foundries are shifting capacity to advanced processes, and manufacturers are reallocating production lines to high-end products. This resource tilt directly squeezes capacity for mature processes (e.g., 8-inch wafers) and standard products (e.g., traditional electronic cloth), creating supply tension across all product categories, from high-end to low-end. This is the fundamental logic of how the AI engine, by "siphoning" capacity, ignites price increases across the entire chain.
3. Phenomenal Form: Full Industry Chain Transmission and Structural Divergence
   Under the influence of materials and momentum, the price increases manifest in unique and complex forms. The surge does not remain confined to a single link. It rapidly transmits from the most upstream metals and glass fiber cloth to chip design (e.g., analog chips, MCUs), wafer foundry, packaging and testing, then to passive components (MLCCs, resistors, tantalum capacitors), connectors, and finally affects downstream PCBs and end-product assembly.
   Under the influence of multiple factors, this price increase wave is not uniform but highly divergent. Products strongly tied to AI and automotive electronics are in short supply, have strong pricing power, and see the highest price hikes. General-purpose products in the consumer electronics sector, while under cost pressure, face weak demand recovery, resulting in weak price pass-through or even losses.
4. Operating Objective: Value Shifts Toward Links with "Technology Pricing Power"
   This is the objective and outcome of the entire price surge's evolution, and it is key to understanding the future landscape of the industry chain.
   Those controlling scarce resources gain "value fortresses." Enterprises possessing upstream core materials and technologies, due to the irreplaceability of their products, become the most direct and certain beneficiaries, firmly locking in profits.
   Those with core technology gain "pricing power." Enterprises mastering high-end MLCCs, advanced process technologies, and high-performance power chip design capabilities gain the power to shift from "price takers" to "price makers" because their products are essential for AI infrastructure. Value is converging towards these technological highlands at an unprecedented speed.
   Manufacturing links lacking barriers become "cost troughs." Companies in the mid-to-low end, reliant on cost competition, are seeing their value diluted. They suffer the squeeze from upstream price increases while being unable to effectively pass costs downstream, becoming the disadvantaged parties in the value chain.
   Ultimately, cost pressures will be passed on to consumers through end products, but the links that define technology have already secured their profits in advance.