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
5 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.
manufactured
MEMS Pressure Sensors & Thermistors →
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 know2024
The ferrite ceramic that TDK manufactures for power supply EMC (electromagnetic compatibility) filters — wound around the cables of laptop chargers, EV charging cables, and industrial power converters to absorb high-frequency electromagnetic noise — is the same manganese-zinc ferrite chemistry used as radar-absorbing material (RAM) in stealth aircraft coatings. The Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk and B-2 Spirit bomber used ferrite-loaded paint and panel coatings to absorb radar energy and reduce radar cross-section. TDK's ferrite, sold in 100-milligram clip-on cable cores at electronics stores to suppress EMI from phone chargers, is the same material composition as classified stealth coating formulations for US and NATO air power — differing in geometry, loading fraction, and application method, but chemically identical as a microwave energy absorber.
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 ↗