Korea’s IT Exports Stand at USD13.24 Billion
Korea’s IT Exports Stand at USD13.24 Billion
  • koreaittimes
  • 승인 2011.12.08 12:01
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The Ministry of Knowledge Economy announced on December 5th that Korea’s IT exports fell 2.5% to USD13.26 billion, in November. Semiconductor exports recovered to the level of last year while recording USD4.09 billion, up 0.9% from a year earlier in spite of difficult external conditions such as the flood in Thailand and the global financial crisis and a fall in prices of major products such as D-RAMs and LCD panels. 

Display panel exports reached USD2.66 billion, down 2.5% from a year before but exports to China and the EU rose 3.1% and 4.9%, respectively. New convergence products such as system semiconductors continued to enjoy an increase in their exports which stood at USD1.89 billion, up 21.7% from a year before.

Therefore, Korea’s cumulative IT exports from January through November added up to USD144.45 billion, up 2.5% from a year earlier. Cell phone exports slid in November for three straight months due to the expansion of Korean companies’ global production. 

Korea’s smartphone exports from January to November rose 96.2% to USD 11.43 billion, playing a key role in Korea's IT exports. They have reached USD10 billion only two years after the iPhone shock at the end of 2009, . In addition, the cell phone industry of Korea came in first in the world in terms of sales for the first time in the third quarter of 2011, defeating cell phone companies in the U.S. including Apple. 

Exports of memory semiconductors dropped slightly but Korean companies’ market share increased by 5%. Due to negative external factors such as the flood in Thailand, the price of DRAMs continued to fall, making latecomers suffer losses and reduce their production. But Korean companies expanded their control over the market such as aggressively expanding high-end products such as DRAMs for mobile devices and servers. 

System semiconductor exports continued to increase more than 20% for four months in a row and stood at USD1.89 billion, up 21.7% from a year before. But exports of memory semiconductors remained sluggish, standing at US1.74 billion, down 14.1% from a year earlier. Korean system semiconductors recorded a world market share of 4% or higher for the first time in the third quarter thanks to the competitiveness of mobile APs and LDC driver ICs.   

Exports of display panels increased slightly in October but decreased slightly due to a slump in the exports of panels for monitors which dropped 38.8% to USD320 million with the sluggish global TV market.  But Korean companies are expanding their market power by producing high-value-added panels such as IPR and 3D panels.

A notable fact of Korea's IT exports during this period is a sharp increase in exports of next-generation hardware-software convergence products such as smartphones and system semiconductors.  Korean ranked first in smartphone exports in the world in the second and third quarters of 2011. Korea’s exports of system semiconductors and software has been on a steady rise.   

Korea’s main export items such as memory semiconductors and display panels suffered a decrease in exports due to a global glut and a sharp drop in unit prices but elevated their market shares a great deal.  By country, exports to Asian countries such as China, Japan and the ASEAN climbed whereas exports to the U.S. the EU and Central and South America fell. Exports to China including Hong Kong jumped 6.6% to USD6.22 billion while exports to the U.S. stood at USD1.5 billion,  down 17.2% from a year before. 

On the other hand, Korea's IT imports in November significantly fell 2.8% to USD6.82 billion from a year earlier. By product, imports of cell phones and wireless devices and equipment jumped 26.1% and 27.2% to USD660 million and USD770 million, respectively. But imports of electronic parts dropped 3.5% to USD3.83 billion. Electronic parts account for more than 55% of Korea’s total IT imports.   

The balance of international payment in the IT sector stood at USD6.44 billion, higher than the overall industrial average of USD3.91 billion. Notwithstanding the flood in Thailand and economic slumps in Korea’s major trade partners such as the EU and the U.S., Korea’s IT exports are expected to reach an all-time high of USD157 billion on the strength of the global competitiveness of Korean companies.

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