Jun 1, 2023 /SemiMedia/ -- According to reports, South Korea's semiconductor inventories rose 83% year-on-year in April, the largest increase since April 2016.

South Korea's semiconductor inventories surged by the most in seven years, pointing to continued weakness in demand for chips. In addition, semiconductor shipments fell 20% year-on-year, and inventories soared 32% year-on-year. Factory shipments were down 33% year-over-year, and output was down 20% year-over-year.

South Korea is home to two of the world's largest semiconductor companies, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, so the vast majority of its semiconductor exports are memory chips, which are used in smartphones, laptops and digital cameras to connected cars and massive data centers.