South Korea’s Chip Stockpile Jumps Amid Tech Slowdown Concerns
- Nationwide inventory rises in May by most since March 2018
- Chips represent biggest source of income for Korean economy
This article is for subscribers only.
South Korea’s chip stockpiles increased by the most in more than four years, suggesting a slowdown in demand for memory chips used in electronics worldwide.
The nationwide inventory jumped 53.4% in May from a year earlier, the statistics office said Thursday. An earlier 54.1% gain in March 2018 coincided with a slowdown in revenue growth in the memory chip industry. Semiconductor stockpiles have been rising on a year-on-year basis since October last year.