ICT Export Value Declines for 8 Consecutive Months... Sharp Drop in Memory Semiconductor Exports

Last month, exports in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector declined for the eighth consecutive month.

According to the February ICT export status report released by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on the 14th, ICT exports amounted to $12.82 billion, down 32.0% compared to the same month last year. By product category, semiconductor exports fell by 41.5%, display by 42.2%, and computers and peripherals by 58.6%. Mobile phone exports, which had increased by 24.4% year-on-year in January, decreased by 5.5%, while telecommunications equipment increased by 0.8%.

Due to sluggish semiconductor market conditions, with continued declines in shipment volume and unit prices, memory semiconductor exports dropped 53.9% year-on-year to $2.92 billion. Following a 57.3% decrease in January, the decline remained in the 50% range. System semiconductor exports, which turned to a decline for the first time in 33 months in January, amounted to $2.69 billion last month, down 25.5% year-on-year.

Display exports continued to weaken in both OLED and LCD sectors. Due to weak demand for products in downstream industries and a favorable base effect from strong performance in the same month last year, OLED exports decreased by 39.3% and LCD by 43.0%. Mobile phone exports decreased by only 5.5%, showing a smaller decline compared to semiconductors and other categories, but the decrease in finished product exports was notable.

Exports of mobile phone components to China and other countries increased by 4.8%, but finished product exports fell by 36.2% year-on-year. However, thanks to the effect of new product launches such as the Galaxy S23 at the beginning of last month, mobile phone exports to the United States surged by 73.5%. Among telecommunications equipment exports, which showed an increase, exports to Japan (25.1%) and India (14.6%) stood out, driven by 5G network construction and other purposes. By region, exports decreased in major markets including China (including Hong Kong) by 39.4%, Vietnam by 31.7%, the United States by 20.7%, the European Union by 23.5%, and Japan by 4.8%.

ICT imports last month amounted to $11 billion, down 3.6% year-on-year. The ICT trade balance remained in surplus at $1.82 billion. Furthermore, the surplus widened compared to the previous month’s $890 million surplus. However, it significantly decreased compared to the $7.45 billion surplus recorded in the same month last year. Due to the decline in export volume, the share of ICT exports in total industry exports fell to 25.6%.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

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