January ICT Export Amount $16.3 Billion... 0.4% Decrease YoY Due to Reduced Working Days

Imports Rise 13.4% to $13.45 Billion

In January of this year, the trade balance of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) industry recorded a surplus of $2.83 billion. Exports amounted to $16.29 billion, while imports were $13.45 billion. Although exports temporarily slowed to 0.4% year-on-year due to a reduction in operating days caused by the long Lunar New Year holiday, the decline in exports was mitigated by strong performance in semiconductors and computers & peripherals.

According to the 'January 2025 ICT Export-Import Trends' data released by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on the 13th, semiconductor exports increased for the 15th consecutive month. Memory led export growth due to demand recovery driven by the expansion of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) market. Memory semiconductor exports reached $6.18 billion, up 17.2% compared to the same period last year. This was influenced by a surge in demand for HBM (High Bandwidth Memory), increased export prices, and rising demand for DRAM.

On the other hand, system semiconductor exports fell 4.3% to $3.48 billion. Although demand for APs increased due to AI functionality being embedded in mobile and PC devices, the decline was attributed to seasonal off-season effects and decreased automobile purchase demand.

Display exports saw a decrease in growth rate compared to the same month last year due to reduced home appliance demand amid global economic stagnation and increased procurement of local and low-cost goods, but exports remained at the $1 billion level. OLED exports declined 5.8% year-on-year to $760 million, affected by reduced consumption demand for finished TV products and increased adoption of domestic OLEDs in Chinese-made mobile phones. LCD exports dropped 35.2% to $290 million due to oversupply of panels in China and weak demand for home appliances.

Mobile phone exports increased to China, a major export market for parts such as camera modules, but overall exports declined due to weak demand in other regions like Vietnam. Finished product exports fell 41.4% year-on-year to $170 million, impacted by delayed new product launches in the first half of the year and sluggish exports to advanced markets such as the EU, Canada, and the United States. Parts exports grew 2.6% to $840 million, driven by increased exports to China, where major companies' smartphone production bases are located.

Exports of computers and peripherals grew 10.0% year-on-year to $930 million, boosted by increased demand for storage devices due to expanded investment in servers and data centers, with exports rising to regions including the United States and the European Union. Increased exports of SSDs, auxiliary storage devices for electronic devices and servers/data centers, led the overall export growth.

Telecommunication equipment exports recorded $160 million, down 20.9% from the previous year. While some regions such as the United States saw increases, overall exports declined due to decreases in China (including Hong Kong), Vietnam, the European Union, and Japan.

Total ICT imports rose 13.4% year-on-year to $13.45 billion, compared to $11.86 billion in the same period last year. By category, imports of semiconductors ($7.74 billion, up 40.1%) and computers & peripherals ($1.54 billion, up 3.9%) increased, while imports of displays ($360 million, down 28.1%) and mobile phones ($610 million, down 19.9%) decreased.