South Korea’s chip reserve high amid tech slowdown concerns

According to the latest report, the recent demand for consumer electronics memory chips has been normal. The chip inventories in South Korea reached the highest level in more than four years in May, data released by Statistics Korea showed on Thursday.

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Data show that South Korea’s national chip inventory in May increased by 53.4% ​​from a year earlier, the largest increase in more than four years, second only to the 54.1% inventory in the memory chip industry in March 2018. Chip inventories have been growing year-over-year since October last year.

The data also showed that shipments of semiconductors have slowed, with shipments rising only 8.9% year-on-year in May, the first single-digit growth since October 2019. Production growth also slowed to 24.3%, the slowest pace since February 2021.

South Korea, the world’s largest producer of memory chips, faces an uncertain economic outlook amid growing fears that inflationary pressures, rising interest rates, deteriorating consumer confidence, and continued deterioration in international relations could lead to a global recession. So far in 2022, the share prices of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, the South Korean semiconductor duo, have been revised down by 27% and 29%, respectively.

(via)