Demand for microchips keeps S. Korea booming, but inequities grow
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA — The craze for smartphones, social media and universal connectivity is generating immense wealth but also deep unease in South Korea, source of a large share of the computer chips that make them work.
Soaring demand for microchips used in smartphones, computer servers and data centers is driving profits for chip and smartphone maker Samsung Electronics and its smaller rival SK Hynix sky-high, helping sustain growth in Asia’s fourth-largest economy.
Samsung last week reported that its annual net profit rose 84 percent to a record $38.6 billion in 2017 on annual sales of $223.7 billion, up 19 percent from the previous year.
But pressures are building as youth unemployment approaches 10 percent and many elderly Koreans scrimp and scavenge to get by.
Combined, Samsung and SK Hynix control about three-quarters of the global market for DRAM semiconductors, used in devices that help gadgets and data centers run more programs and data faster. They hold about half the market for NANDs, which store pictures and other digital data.
In 2017, Samsung and SK Hynix had combined revenues totaling $251.5 billion, equivalent to about 17 percent of South Korea’s GDP.
The chip boom reflects South Korea’s success in adapting to changing times, but such a heavy reliance on one sector of the economy, which one economist likened to Saudi Arabia’s oil-driven wealth, is a mixed blessing.
“I see a huge risk. It’s not a time to be rejoicing over South Korea’s 3 percent growth,” said Yoo Seung-min, an opposition lawmaker and economist. “Except for the semiconductor illusion, there is nothing to be relieved about.”
Led by robust exports of computer chips, the South Korean economy in 2017 expanded at its fastest rate in three years and is forecast to grow 3 percent this year. But while the computer chips industry is thriving, the reality is less rosy for the rest of the country: youth unemployment was 9.9
The paper covered the study of some 216,000 hospitalizations involving about 114,000 patients — anonymous to the researchers — at two hospitals: UC San Francisco and the University of Chicago.
“Its biggest claim is the ability to predict patient deaths 24-48 hours before current methods, which could allow time for doctors to administer life-saving procedures,” according to online magazine Quartz, which spotted the paper published Jan. 26.
The software was able to predict death, at 24 hours after admission, with 93 percent to 95 percent accuracy, about 10 percent better than the traditional predictive method, according to the paper.
The researchers admitted to various limitations in their work, noting, for example, that it’s not a “foregone conclusion” that accurate predictions can improve care.
Among the science stars on the 35-researcher team were Google senior fellow Jeff Dean, head of the AI-focused “Google Brain” project; Stanford Neurosciences
The software was able to predict death, at 24 hours after admission, with 93 percent to 95 percent accuracy.
Institute professor Nigam Shah; and Alvin Rajkomar, director of clinical data science at UC San Francisco’s Center for Digital Health Innovation.