Last Year’s System Semiconductor Exports Achieved 'Record-Breaking Performance'... Semiconductor Exports Expected to Surpass $100 Billion This Year

Ministry of Industry and Semiconductor Association Announce '2020 Semiconductor Market Trends and 2021 Outlook'
Sung Yun-mo: "System Semiconductors Reached $30.3 Billion Last Year... Record High"
Lee Jae-yong Encourages Employees: "Let's Create a System Semiconductor Legend"
Facility Investment Expected to Rank First Worldwide, Surpassing China and Taiwan This Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The government and industry associations forecast that semiconductor exports this year will exceed $100 billion for the second highest ever and that investment will rank first in the world.

Last year, system semiconductor exports surpassed $30 billion, setting a record high and rising to the fifth largest export item, surpassing steel and petroleum products.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Korea Semiconductor Industry Association announced the '2020 Semiconductor Market Trends and 2021 Outlook' on the 5th, containing these details.

Last year's semiconductor exports reached $99.2 billion, a 5.6% increase from 2019. It recorded positive growth for six consecutive months since July. It was the second highest after the record $126.7 billion in 2018.

Although mobile demand was sluggish due to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), demand in server and laptop sectors remained strong as the non-face-to-face economy accelerated.

Exports of system semiconductors, a high value-added industry, reached a record $30.3 billion, exceeding the $26.5 billion in 2018. It jumped to the fifth largest export item, surpassing steel and petroleum products. This was a two-rank rise from seventh place in 2019.

Minister Sung Yun-mo of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy evaluated, "Last year, system semiconductors achieved a record export of $30.3 billion, overtaking steel and petroleum products to become one of the top five export items."

The previous day, Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong emphasized in his New Year's address, "Let us create a new legend in system semiconductors by fostering a healthy ecosystem through cooperation among Samsung Electronics, partner companies, academia, and research institutes."

Source: Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy

The global semiconductor market is expected to grow about 8-10% this year compared to last year. The memory market is expected to grow about 13-20%.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Semiconductor Association forecast that semiconductor exports this year will increase by 10.2% from last year, reaching between $107.5 billion and $111 billion. This is expected to be the second highest export performance after $126.7 billion in 2018.

Source: Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy

Memory exports are expected to increase significantly, centered on DRAM, where price rises are anticipated. It is expected to record between $70.3 billion and $72.9 billion, a 12% increase from last year.

System semiconductors are expected to achieve between $31.8 billion and $33 billion, a 7.0% increase from the previous year, driven by increased demand for 5G communication chips, image sensors, and securing large foundry customers.

Smartphones are projected to grow by 2.4%, servers by 6%, and PCs by 5.8% respectively.

Source: Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy

This year, semiconductor facility investment is expected to increase by about 4% from last year, reaching $72 billion.

After losing the top spot in facility investment to China and Taiwan in 2019 following the semiconductor supercycle of 2017-2018, Korea is expected to reclaim it this year after two years.

Minister Sung said, "This year, semiconductors will lead the recovery of our economy's vitality through exports and investment, the transition to positive export growth, the successful implementation of the Korean New Deal, and the acceleration of digital transformation."

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