Favorable Winds for Semiconductors Driven by AI Investments
Surge in Semiconductor Equipment Exports to Taiwan
Unit Price Rises on Strong Demand for High-Value-Added Memory
As investments in artificial intelligence (AI) servers and data centers have expanded, exports of ultra-high-performance memory, semiconductor equipment, and key components have increased simultaneously, leading Korea’s exports to surpass the $700 billion mark for the first time ever this year. This is attributed to the shift in semiconductor demand from personal computers and smartphones to AI servers, as well as the acceleration of AI semiconductor production centered on Taiwanese foundries, resulting in higher memory prices and a surge in equipment and component exports.
According to the Korea International Trade Association's report, "2025 Export-Import Assessment and 2026 Outlook," released on December 30, this year’s export growth is analyzed as the result of changes in semiconductor demand structure due to the spread of AI servers and the concentration of exports to production bases in Asia. From January to October this year, semiconductor exports to Malaysia, where AI semiconductor production and assembly are concentrated, increased by 99.3% year-on-year, while exports to Taiwan rose by 81.1% and to Vietnam by 35.1%. During the same period, exports of semiconductor equipment to Taiwan also grew by 48.5%, and exports of mechanical components increased by 26.5%.
Semiconductor exports surged as unit prices rose due to increased AI-driven demand and supply shortages. The upward trend in fixed prices for DRAM and NAND flash continued, and demand for high-value-added memory such as DDR5 and HBM was further fueled by expanded investments in AI servers and data centers, driving exports. In fact, the average price of 8Gb DRAM rose from $1.35 in December last year to $7 in October this year, while the price of 128Gb NAND also increased from $2.08 to $4.35 during the same period.
In particular, as semiconductor demand shifted from traditional PCs and smartphones to AI servers, demand for ultra-high-performance memory has increased. From 2023 to 2025, global semiconductor sales by end-use industry in the server sector grew from $78 billion to $156 billion. As a result, the year-on-year growth rate of semiconductor exports rebounded sharply from -23.7% in 2023 to 17.8% this year. In contrast, sales for smartphones increased only slightly from $104 billion to $149 billion, and for PCs from $89 billion to $92 billion.
By region, while exports of semiconductors to China declined due to China’s increased self-sufficiency, exports to major Asian countries such as Malaysia, Taiwan, and Vietnam expanded. In the semiconductor sector, from January to October this year, exports to Malaysia increased by 99.3% year-on-year, to Taiwan by 81.1%, and to Vietnam by 35.1%.
In Taiwan in particular, demand for AI semiconductors to process and assemble GPUs locally surged, resulting in a sharp increase in Korea’s semiconductor and semiconductor equipment exports to Taiwan. This increase in Taiwan’s semiconductor demand is seen as being driven by the expansion of foundry production centered on TSMC. TSMC is contract-manufacturing AI GPUs for global fabless companies such as Nvidia and AMD, which has led to a corresponding surge in demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM), advanced process equipment, and key mechanical components.
In fact, exports of semiconductor items to Taiwan increased by 81.1% year-on-year, while exports of semiconductor equipment rose by 48.5% and mechanical components by 26.5%. This is attributed to the large-scale supply of HBM from Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix to TSMC’s AI semiconductor production lines, as well as the export of process equipment such as lithography, etching, and deposition equipment and precision mechanical components to local Taiwanese factories. Industry experts expect that as long as investments in AI data centers continue, the trend of increasing semiconductor, equipment, and component exports centered on Taiwanese foundries will persist for the foreseeable future.
This semiconductor boom has also led to a significant increase in exports for domestic equipment companies. Hanmi Semiconductor, which sells equipment for HBM manufacturing, posted an operating profit of 86.3 billion won in the second quarter of this year, up 55.7% year-on-year. Wonik IPS, a comprehensive semiconductor equipment company, also saw its third-quarter operating profit rise by about 90% to 27.5 billion won.
The Korea International Trade Association evaluated that this year’s export growth was not just a quantitative increase, but also marked by qualitative growth centered on high value-added products. The association stated, “Accumulated technological prowess and production capacity have aligned with the shift in AI demand, turning what could have been a short-term boom into a structural competitive advantage,” and added, “It appears to have become a driving force for mid- to long-term growth.”
Kim Jeonghoe, Vice Chairman of the Korea Semiconductor Industry Association, said, “The unit price of HBM is much higher than DRAM, and this seems to have been a major factor in this year’s export growth. Since demand currently exceeds supply, the upward trend is likely to continue as long as the AI boom persists.”
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