Nearly 77 percent of experts consider Korea's semiconductor industry under crisis: poll

SEOUL, Sept. 5 (Yonhap) -- Seven out of 10 experts in South Korea consider the local chipmaking industry to be in a crisis due to multiple external risks, a survey showed Monday.

According to a survey of 30 experts in the semiconductor sector, taken by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), 76.7 percent of respondents said the local chip making industry is "under a state of crisis."

Only a mere 3.3 percent responded the industry is "not in a state of crisis," according to the survey.

Of them, 58.6 percent expected the gloomy outlook will continue beyond 2024.

The survey said 43.4 percent considered the current situation to be "the worst in the last decade," bleaker than in 2016 and 2019, when Korea's semiconductor exports saw one of the sharpest drop in recent years.

Experts cited a mismatch in the global supply and demand, ongoing tensions between Washington and Beijing, and China's rapidly developing technology as major external risks threatening the local semiconductor industry.

China is closely catching up to South Korea, especially in NAND Flash manufacturing technology, the institution explained. Notably, Apple agreed last week to use memory chips from China's Yangtze Memory Technologies in future iPhone models.

fairydust@yna.co.kr
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