China Doubled Its Semiconductor Exports in a Year — What That Means for Korean Chipmakers

99.3%. That's how much China's semiconductor exports grew in the first seven months of 2026. China's total export growth over the same period was 18.5% — meaning semiconductors alone accounted for most of that outperformance. The fact that the Bank of Korea published a formal report on this is notable in itself.

What Kind of Chips Is China Exporting?

This is easy to misread. China hasn't suddenly mastered cutting-edge fabrication. What's flooding global markets are 'legacy chips' — produced on older process nodes. Not the high-performance memory inside your smartphone, but the general-purpose chips used in home appliances, automotive systems, and industrial equipment. Companies like CXMT are mass-producing commodity DRAM at low cost and pushing it out globally.

The threat is real because Samsung and SK Hynix still produce legacy chips. Even as they pivot toward high-value HBM, they maintain traditional product lines. When cheap Chinese supply competes directly in those segments, margin pressure follows.

Are Samsung and SK Hynix OK for Now?

For the moment, HBM is the cushion. High Bandwidth Memory goes inside Nvidia GPUs, and the technical difficulty is high enough that China hasn't caught up. SK Hynix holds what is effectively a dominant position in HBM3E, with Samsung working to enter the market. As long as the AI boom continues, HBM demand stays solid.

The real risk is a bit further out. If AI capital spending slows at some point, HBM demand could soften with it. If China has already locked up the legacy chip market by then, Korean chipmakers would have fewer places to retreat to.

That's the warning embedded in the BOK report — 'prepare for legacy market capture.' While HBM is performing well, the strategic question is how to transition legacy lines toward higher-value products before the next down cycle hits. Getting ready while business is good is the right call. It's just not always easy to execute.