The passive components market faces tightening supply amid explosive demand from EVs, AI data centers, and 5G infrastructure. High-cap MLCCs and polymer tantalum capacitors show extended lead times, with shortages projected through Q4 2025 and into 2026. When the semiconductor industry hits turbulence, the spotlight usually falls on processors, memory, or cutting-edge AI chips. But history has shown that the smallest parts in a build—passive components like MLCCs, resistors, and capacitors—can quietly trigger some of the most disruptive supply. Passive components are becoming an early 2026 supply risk. The market is expected to grow from USD 65. 4 billion in 2035, at a CAGR of 13. 1% during the forecast period according to the latest report published by Global. Passive component shortages are not new—the industry has lived through several boom-bust cycles over the past two decades—but the drivers behind 2026 sourcing pressure look different from previous cycles. Demand from AI server infrastructure, electric vehicles, and renewable energy systems is. The 2017-2018 MLCC shortage taught the industry a painful lesson about how quickly a multi-trillion-unit market for ceramic capacitors can tip into allocation, and how brutal lead-time extensions become when it does. Through 2023 and most of 2024, passive supply was comfortable.