South Korea's Memory Chip Exports Plummet

Exports of South Korea's most lucrative memory chip fell by the most since 2019, signaling a further slump in demand for the technology crucial to global economic growth. Shipments of dynamic random access memory fell 24.7% year-on-year in August, following a 7% drop in the previous month, according to data released by South Korea's trade ministry on Friday.

DRAM accounts for nearly half of South Korea's memory chip exports, and along with processors and other types of semiconductors, stores and processes information in a variety of electronic products.

South Korea-based Samsung Electronics Co. and SK Hynix Co. control about two-thirds of the global memory market. Their revenue took a hit in 2019 when the memory chip industry entered a recession cycle.

South Korean technology exports, which account for a third of the country's total overseas shipments, fell 4.6% in August, separate data from the ministry showed. Shipments of smartphones, monitors and computers all fell as consumer demand slowed, the Commerce Department said.

A growing number of indicators suggest the world's chip industry is cooling after years of booming pandemic demand for electronic devices such as laptops and tablets.

The U.S.-based Semiconductor Industry Association said earlier this month that global chip sales rose 7.3 percent in July from a year earlier, marking the seventh month of deceleration. Separately, delivery times for semiconductors fell again in August, according to Susquehanna Financial Group.