ICT exports for the 1st half of 2014 reached USD 83.83 billion, a year-onyear increase of 3.2%. ICT imports for the same period reached USD 42.15 billion, a year-on-year increase of 7.4%, and the trade balance of Korea’s ICT showed a surplus of USD 416.8 billion.
Despite worsened external conditions including the slowdown of global ICT growth and the decline in the exchange rate, Korea’s ICT reached a historic high, and the daily average export also reached a peak (as of the 1st half of 2014).
The ICT balance showed a surplus of USD 41.68 billion, contributing to Korea’s overall trade surplus of USD 20.28 billion. In the ICT sector, exports of semiconductors and mobile phones were extremely robust, and SMEs recorded large exports.
Key ICT items including semiconductors and mobile phones led the growth in exports, playing a central role as key competitive areas despite the recent low growth trend of the global ICT market.
Semiconductors recorded the largest exports in the 1st half of 2014, prompted by a large increase in market share in the mobile sector and the unit price increase of DRAM.
Korea strengthened its global presence in the mobile phones sector, achieving the largest global market share despite the slowdown in the growth of the smartphone market and the challenges posed by Chinese companies.
It is expected that Korea’s ICT sector will continue to grow in the second half of 2014 thanks to the recovery of ICT demand in advanced economies and the moves made by Korean manufacturers to win emerging markets including China, based on competitiveness in key items.
Negative factors that will affect ICT exports in the 2nd half of 2014 include the decline of the global ICT growth rate, the decreased unit price of memory and semiconductors, the challenges posed by Chinese smartphone manufacturers and the strong Won.
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