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Korea's semiconductor exports under pressure from rising rivals in Asia

Published: 16 Dec. 2024, 10:10

People look at an AI-related video on display at the booth of Korean chipmaker SK hynix at a semiconductor trade show held in southern Seoul on Oct. 2. [YONHAP]

Korea's semiconductor exports face growing threats from China, Taiwan and Malaysia amid intensifying global competition in advanced industries, an industry report showed Monday.

The report from the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, better known as Kotra, on the export similarity index (ESI) for semiconductors showed China as being Korea's top competitor in the sector, with an ESI score of 72.2 in the third quarter of the year.

Taiwan's ESI with South Korea in semiconductors rose significantly, increasing 7.6 points over four years to reach 32.5, the largest growth among major semiconductor exporters.

Malaysia's ESI increased 6 points to 50.5 over the same period, marking the second-highest growth after Taiwan.

Kotra said that Malaysia has emerged as a notable competitor, ranking fifth globally in semiconductor exports and handling 13 percent of the world's semiconductor assembly, testing and packaging processes.

The report highlighted concerns that South Korea's failure to secure a technological edge over competitors could weaken its export competitiveness in the sector.

"This is a critical time to leverage technological strengths to expand South Korea's market share in export sectors," Kotra said in the report, adding, "South Korean firms must urgently prepare strategies to strengthen their export competitiveness."

Yonhap