Producer
TDK Corporation
TDK Corporation (Tokyo; TYO: 6762; ~¥2.1T revenue) is a Japanese electronic components manufacturer — historically known for magnetic recording materials, ferrite cores, capacitors, and inductors — that became a major battery company via its 2005 acquisition of ATL (Amperex Technology Limited). TDK's Energy Application Products segment (which includes ATL and TDK's own battery brands) represents approximately 30-35% of TDK group revenue. TDK also manufactures lithium-ion cells under the CeraCharge and TDK brand for small-format applications (IoT sensors, wearables, hearing aids). Combined ATL+TDK represents more than 50% of Apple's annual iPhone battery cell supply. TDK's other major businesses include MEMS sensors (barometric pressure, magnetic), power supplies, and noise suppression components — all supplied to the same consumer electronics OEMs that buy ATL cells.
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Inputs supplied
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Goods downstream
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Facilities
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Stories
What they make
4 inputs TDK Corporation supplies
Click an input to see every good that depends on it, every country that produces it, and every other company in the supply chain.
mineral
NdFeB Rare Earth Permanent Magnets →
manufactured
NdFeB Permanent Magnets for Wind Turbine Generators →
mineral
NdFeB Rare Earth Magnets →
manufactured
Neodymium-Iron-Boron (NdFeB) Permanent Magnets →
Where it shows up
Goods downstream
Essential goods that depend on something TDK Corporation makes — pick one to see the full supply chain.
Where they make it
2 facilities
ATL/TDK Combined China Operations (Dongguan + Ningde) →
CNGuangdong / Fujian · manufacturing
TDK Corporation's battery presence in China encompasses ATL's Dongguan campus and Ningde factory as consolidated operations under TDK's Energy Application Products segment. TDK itself does not manufacture cells at additional China locations — the ATL subsidiary operations are the TDK battery presence in China. The combined ATL+TDK supply constitutes more than 50% of Apple iPhone battery cells annually. TDK's 2005 acquisition of ATL remains one of the most consequential supply chain M&A transactions in consumer electronics history. Source: https://www.tdk.com/en/news_center/press/2005/2005_09_01_01.html
TDK Narita Magnet Plant →
JPChiba Prefecture, Japan · manufacturing
Primary TDK NdFeB sintered magnet facility. Produces NEOREC series high-coercivity magnets for automotive EV motors. Japan maintains ~5% global NdFeB share through premium specialty grades that command 30–50% price premiums over Chinese commodity product. Japanese producers source rare earth feedstock from multiple suppliers including Lynas (Australia).
What else they do
Business segments
The company's full revenue map — where this supply-chain role fits within their broader business.
Passive Components (MLCCs, Inductors, Ferrites)
35%Sensors & Actuators
20%Battery Cells (ATL/TDK)
30%Power Supplies & Energy Devices
15%
Intelligence
What's known
Sourced claims about this company's role in supply chains — chokepoints, concentration, incidents, dual-use connections.
Did you know2023
TDK Corporation is best known as the company that invented the ferrite core magnetic recording material and put its name on VHS cassette tapes — a legacy product that is now essentially obsolete. TDK's current revenue (~¥2.1T) is primarily driven by passive electronic components (MLCCs, ferrite beads, inductors), MEMS sensors, and its ATL battery subsidiary. Through ATL, TDK is the de facto battery supplier for the iPhone — the world's most valuable consumer electronics product. TDK also makes the barometric pressure MEMS sensors inside iPhones, the noise-suppression ferrite components on iPhone logic boards, and the power supply modules in Apple Mac computers. A single Japanese company that started by making magnetic recording tape now supplies multiple critical component categories to Apple — batteries, sensors, passive components, and power electronics — making TDK one of Apple's most deeply embedded but least publicly recognized supply chain dependencies.
TDK Corporation ↗Origin2023
TDK Corporation was founded in 1935 to commercialize ferrite -- a synthetic magnetic ceramic -- invented by Professor Yogoro Kato and Takeshi Takei at Tokyo Imperial University. The name TDK stands for Tokyo Denki Kagaku Kogyo (Tokyo Electric Chemical Industry). Ferrite was the first material that could function as an efficient magnetic core at radio frequencies (where iron saturates and generates too much heat), and it became the enabling technology for radio equipment, early television sets, and later all electronic transformers and inductors. TDK's ferrite invention and manufacturing expertise was the foundation of the modern passive electronics components industry. Today TDK's inductors and ferrite cores are inside virtually every consumer electronic device -- phone chargers, laptop power supplies, car electronics -- while its ATL battery subsidiary (acquired 2005) makes the lithium cells inside iPhones. The same company that invented the material in 1930s radio components now makes the battery cells that power the smartphone.
TDK Corporation ↗