Global semiconductor supply chains are flashing positive signals.
According to the latest data, South Korea's semiconductor exports in January reached $20.5 billion (approximately ¥142.5 billion yuan), surging over 102% year-on-year. This indicates that global semiconductor demand remains exceptionally robust amid the AI (Artificial Intelligence) wave.
Simultaneously, the wave of price increases across the chip supply chain continues to spread. Domestic chip manufacturers such as Goke Microelectronics, China Micro Semicon, and Injoinic have successively issued price adjustment notices, with increases of up to 80%, affecting core segments including memory, MCUs, and analog chips. Analysis suggests that the upward price trend for domestic chips will persist into the first half of 2026, potentially prompting more companies to follow suit.
Surging Over 102%
Data from South Korean customs on February 1st showed that the country's semiconductor exports in January 2026 skyrocketed by 102.7% compared to the same period last year. The export value hit $20.5 billion, marking the second consecutive month above $20 billion and the second-highest monthly record in the history of semiconductor exports, contributing to an overall increase in South Korea's total January exports.
The data revealed that South Korea's total exports in January grew 33.9% year-on-year to $65.85 billion, setting a record high for the period. Imports during the same period increased by 11.7% to $57.1 billion. Consequently, South Korea achieved a trade surplus of $8.7 billion in January, maintaining a trade surplus for 12 consecutive months.
Analysis points out that South Korea is a major global semiconductor exporter, home to the "memory chip titans" Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. With the global AI boom significantly boosting demand for memory chips, South Korea has emerged as one of the biggest beneficiaries.
Beyond its main categories, exports of electrical equipment (up 19.8%), agricultural and aquatic products (up 19.3%), and cosmetics (up 36.4%) from South Korea also reached record highs for any January.
In contrast, exports of petrochemical products fell 1.5% year-on-year to $3.52 billion, impacted by declining export prices due to global oversupply. Ship exports amounted to $2.47 billion, down 0.4% year-on-year, attributed to persistently high export prices coupled with a decrease in deliveries.
Looking at export destinations, exports to seven out of nine major regions increased. Exports to the United States, despite pressure from tariff policies affecting categories like automobiles, auto parts, and machinery, were boosted by a staggering 169% surge in semiconductor exports. This drove total exports to the US to $12.02 billion, a 29.5% increase compared to the same period last year.
South Korea's Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, Kim Jong-gwan, stated that January's exports achieved double-digit high growth, with particularly strong performance from mainstay industries like semiconductors and automobiles, as well as balanced growth in promising consumer goods categories.
He further noted that against the backdrop of rising uncertainty in the global trade environment, the government will prioritize national interests, continue to advance communication and consultation with the US, and strive to build a more robust trade structure by promoting diversification of export categories and markets, thereby fully responding to external changes.
Wave of Price Hikes Intensifies
Concurrently, the wave of price hikes sweeping the chip industry is intensifying.
Recently, domestic chip manufacturer Injoinic issued a price increase letter announcing hikes for some of its products, although the specific increase rates were not disclosed.
Injoinic stated in the letter, "Recently, costs in the upstream semiconductor industry have continued to rise. Our company, adhering to the principle of long-term win-win cooperation, has tried to absorb the impact of rising costs and maintain chip prices unchanged until now. To ensure the long-term stability of the supply chain, after careful study and comprehensive consideration, the company has decided to implement a certain percentage price increase for some product models."
The company indicated that the specific IC models affected and the new prices would be communicated by its sales team to partners, with all new orders being executed according to the latest price standards.
Prior to this, two other semiconductor companies, China Micro Semicon and Goke Microelectronics, had also issued price increase notices, announcing varying degrees of price hikes for some of their chip products.
Among them, China Micro Semicon announced that, after careful consideration, it decided to adjust prices for products including MCUs and Nor Flash effective immediately, with increases ranging from 15% to 50%. The company also stated that prices would be adjusted further if significant cost changes occur again.
Goke Microelectronics announced that starting January 2026, it would increase prices for KGD (Known Good Die) products with integrated 512Mb by 40%, those with integrated 1Gb by 60%, and those with integrated 2Gb by 80%. Prices for products with external DDR would be notified separately.
The industry widely judges that the upward price trend for domestic chips will continue into the first half of 2026, and even more companies may follow suit.
From the supply side, the trend of global giants shifting capacity towards high-end AI chips is unlikely to change in the short term, and the tight capacity for general-purpose chips is expected to last until 2027. Against the backdrop of accelerating domestic substitution, demand for domestic chips will remain high, making it difficult to quickly reverse the supply-demand imbalance.
On the demand side, as global cloud service providers expand their AI data centers, this not only drives explosive demand for AI chips and memory chips but also increases demand for server CPUs, leading to supply shortages and price increases for server CPUs from leading manufacturers like Intel and AMD.
China Merchants Securities pointed out that price increases for various categories of memory in Q1 2026 exceeded expectations. It is forecasted that the global memory supply will remain relatively tight throughout 2026, with AI demand growth continuing to outpace capacity expansion. Prices for other consumer memory and niche memory are also rising far beyond conventional levels due to factors like capacity squeeze and downstream panic stocking. This year, multiple segments of the domestic memory supply chain are expected to benefit from the shortage and price increase wave, with core recommendations focusing on memory manufacturers, memory module/chip companies, memory packaging/testing, and foundry segments.
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