Korean ICT Exports Decline for 2 Consecutive Months... Semiconductor Exports Rise

"Expansion of Memory and System Semiconductor Demand"

Photo by Samsung Electronics

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] Last month, South Korea's information and communication technology (ICT) exports decreased compared to the same period last year. This marked a decline for two consecutive months. However, semiconductor performance increased due to expanded demand for memory and system semiconductors.

On the 14th, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced that last month's ICT export value was preliminarily estimated at $13.93 billion, down 2.6% from the same period last year.

South Korea's ICT exports had increased for two consecutive months in February and March but turned negative in April due to the impact of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

First, semiconductors, the largest ICT export item, recorded $8.15 billion, up 6.5% compared to the same month last year, recovering from April's slump (-15.1%).

Memory semiconductors increased by 9.8% to $5.78 billion, and system semiconductors rose 5.3% to $1.94 billion.

Memory semiconductor exports turned to growth as demand expanded for servers and PCs.

System semiconductor performance also increased due to expanded demand for foundry and fabless sectors.

According to market research firm TrendForce, Samsung Electronics' foundry market share in the second quarter was 18.8%, up 2.9 percentage points from the first quarter. The top player, Taiwan's TSMC, holds a 51.5% market share.

Source: Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy

Along with semiconductors, the other two major ICT export items, displays and mobile phones, showed sluggish performance.

Display exports decreased by 21.1% year-on-year to $1.28 billion.

This was largely due to adjustments in liquid crystal display (LCD) panel production. Demand for organic light-emitting diode (OLED) panels used in smartphones and TVs also declined.

OLED exports had shown an increasing trend for four consecutive months since December last year but dropped by 25.2% in April and have been declining for two consecutive months.

Mobile phone exports remained at $730 million, down 21.5% compared to the same month last year.

This was due to a global decrease in demand for finished products and components.

Finished products fell 15.4% year-on-year to $340 million as premium smartphone sales slumped amid global demand decline.

Mobile phone components also dropped 26.2% during the same period to just $380 million.

By region, China (including Hong Kong) recorded $7.27 billion, up 2.1% year-on-year. China is South Korea's largest ICT export market, accounting for 52.2% of the total.

Exports to the United States increased 17.9% to $1.74 billion, surpassing Vietnam, which had been South Korea's second-largest export market until last month.

Exports to Vietnam fell 10.4% to $1.71 billion, dropping to third place.

The European Union (EU) recorded $850 million, down 0.6%, and Japan recorded $300 million, down 18.9%.

Source: Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.