Chip, display drive Korea’s record high-tech exports

The nation’s exports in the information and communication technology (ICT) industry rallied to reach an all-time high of $19.26 billion (21.7 trillion won) last month, up 32.6 percent from a year ago, according to data by the Ministry of Science and ICT.

The booming memory and system chip industry was the key growth engine for the unprecedented tech exports, the science ministry said Monday. Increasing overseas demand for liquid crystal diode (LCD) and organic light-emitting-diode (OLED) displays came in second to drive the exports.

“The monthly ICT exports have reached a record for two consecutive months since August,” the ministry said in a statement.

“By region, China topped the list by importing $9.97 billion ICT products from Korea during the same period, followed by Vietnam and the United States.”

Specifically, semiconductor exports also set a record $9.88 billion last month, accounting for 51.3 percent of the total ICT sales overseas.

DRAM and NAND memory chips from Samsung Electronics and SK hynix drove the growth amid surging demand for chips for servers and mobile devices.

The former is used for computers while the latter is a crucial part of smartphones.

Last week, Samsung Electronics set a record quarterly operating profit of 14.5 trillion won during the July-September period, the company said in a preliminary earnings guid- ance. Its sales are estimated to have reached 62 trillion won during the same period, according to the company.

The firm’s chip unit, whose cash cow includes the listed memory chips, is expected to have driven the record profit.

The Seoul-based corporation is also the world’s No. 1 manufacturers of smartphones and flat-panel displays.

SK hynix will also likely post its highest-ever profits during the same period. Brokerage houses estimate the company’s operating profit to top a record high of 3.9 trillion won in the third quarter.

The SK affiliate is the world’s second-largest DRAM manufacturer. Its NAND flash share comes in fifth. The company, however, is expected to leap into the ranks of the second-biggest NAND player, as its consortium recently succeeded in acquiring the memory chip unit of Toshiba.

Aside from chips, overseas sales for display panels took up 15 percent during the same period for 11 months of consecutive growth.

The ministry explained that sales for small and large OLED panels have particularly shown signs of steady growth for a year over their widening use in smartphones and TVs.

In the small OLED industry, Samsung Display is a dominant leader by securing more than 95 percent of global shares for OLED displays less than eight inches used mainly for smartphones and tablets.

LG Display also accounts for 90 percent of the large OLED industry in use for TVs and commercial signs.