Korea's tech exports pass $10B mark

Korea's IT exports exceeded the $10 billion mark for the first time in September as a result of brisk sales of semiconductors, mobile phones and display panels, the said Ministry of Information and Communication disclosed early this week.

The government said exports of IT products totaled $10.74 billion in September, a 16.6 percent rise over the same period last year. Chip and display exports each achieved record monthly levels.

IC exports rose 21.9 percent year-on-year to $3.34 billion due mainly to continued brisk sales of logic chips ($680 million), multichip packages ($360 million) and wafers ($540 million). The DRAM sector accounted for $980 million in exports, much of it in anticipation of the release of the Windows Vista operating system, the ministry said.

Additionally, exports of display panels jumped 71.9 percent year-on-year to $1.81 billion, driven by strong global demand in the LCD TV market. Digital TV shipments rose 19 percent over a year ago to $700 million.

PCs and semiconductors for mobile phones and digital home appliances accounted for the bulk of monthly imports, the ministry report said.

- Sean Shim
EE Times