Taiwan’s share of Korean chip exports more than doubles as China loses ground
Bank of Korea data show AI supply chain demand boosted shipments to Taiwan and the United States, while China’s dominance in Korean semiconductor exports continued to weaken.
Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong, left, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, center, and SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won talk during the Korea-U.S. Business Roundtable in Washington on Aug. 25, 2025.JOINT PRESS CORPS
Taiwan has more than doubled its share of Korea's semiconductor exports over the past three years, while China's share has dropped 12.8 percentage points. The Bank of Korea published the figures Monday in a revised edition of its map of Korea's major manufacturing industries and their supply chains.
While China remained the largest buyer of Korean chips over the period, from 2022 to last year, its share slid to 40.3 percent from 53.1 percent. The value of those shipments fell to $74.5 billion from $75.8 billion.
Taiwan climbed to second place from fourth. Its share rose to 19.9 percent from 9 percent, and shipments grew to $36.8 billion from $12.8 billion.
The United States slipped to fourth from third as Taiwan rose, though both its share and the value of the chips it bought increased.
Exports to Taiwan and the United States grew as Korea was drawn into a U.S.-centered AI ecosystem. After OpenAI released ChatGPT in November 2022, U.S. hyperscalers began building AI infrastructure in earnest. Hyperscalers are the large technology companies, Microsoft, Google and Amazon among them, that build AI data centers and sell AI services from them.
The build out entrenched an AI chip supply chain that runs through Nvidia's GPUs; TSMC's advanced packaging and foundry work; and high bandwidth memory made by Samsung Electronics and SK hynix.
Korean chip exports to China are expected to keep falling. Large Chinese manufacturers serving the domestic market are growing quickly, among them CXMT and Yangtze Memory Technologies.
This photo shows a view of the ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) factory on the outskirts of Beijing on July 27.AFP/YONHAP
CXMT will put the 57.9 billion yuan ($8.6 billion) it raised during its listing on Monday into memory chip production.
The threat to Korean exporters does not stop at China's domestic market.
"CXMT will first make products for the domestic market, then move into exports to the global market, to Apple and others," said Kim Joung-ho, a professor of electrical engineering at KAIST.
"The growth of China's semiconductor industry could be a considerable threat to exports by Korean companies whose product lines overlap with theirs."
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
