Global chip market projected to exceed $1.6 tln this year despite AI slowdown concerns: report - Yonhap News Agency
SEOUL, Sept. 20 (Yonhap) -- The global semiconductor market is projected to exceed US$1.6 trillion in 2026, more than 1.5 times the forecast made earlier this year, on increased investment in artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, a report showed Sunday.
The outlook comes amid calls in some parts of the AI industry to slow development over concerns of losing control of the technology.
In particular, memory chips produced by Samsung Electronics Co. and SK hynix Inc. are expected to account for more than half of the global semiconductor market as the volume of data processed by AI systems soars, the Korea Eximbank's research center said in a report based on analysis by global market research firms, including TrendForce.
Until last year, the global semiconductor market was expected to exceed $1 trillion only in 2030. But the outlook has been sharply revised up as major U.S. and Chinese hyperscalers, which operate large-scale data centers, have rapidly increased investment in AI infrastructure.
As of the end of last month, prices of dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and NAND flash memory chips stood at $25 and $30.5, respectively, up 4.4-fold and ninefold, respectively, from a year earlier.
Memory chip prices are expected to stabilize from next year, but the global semiconductor market is forecast to continue growing on steady demand, reaching about $2 trillion by 2030, the latest estimate said.
"Big tech companies are pursuing long-term supply agreements with memory chipmakers such as Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, which will help stabilize the semiconductor industry compared with the past," the report said.
With investment by big tech firms in AI and the spread of AI services accelerating, it will be difficult for the memory chip market to lose momentum in the near term, industry sources said.
Meanwhile, employment in the chip industry stood at 174,000 in the first quarter of this year, up 15 percent from 152,000 in the first quarter of 2018, when the Korean Statistical Information Service (KOSIS) began compiling related data.
The average monthly salary of workers in the industry was 4.32 million won ($3,100) in the first half of this year, up 3.1 percent from a year earlier, according to the Korea Enterprises Federation (KEF).
The annual wage increase was largely attributable to sharply higher bonuses at semiconductor companies.
This combined image shows Samsung Electronics Co. and SK hynix Inc.'s plants in South Korea. (Yonhap)
