Japan's sanctions on South Korea may lead to reduced iPhone production

Japanese media reported that after the Japanese government announced to strengthen export controls on South Korea, the South Korean government announced that it would explore countermeasures, mentioning that the factories of SK Hynix, a large semiconductor company, might stop production. If South Korea, as a global semiconductor manufacturing center, delays shipments, it may affect global supply. 

According to a report on the Nikkei website on July 2, the South Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said it would take necessary measures, including appealing to the WTO. The ministry's minister, Sung Yun-mo, stressed that "we will use (Japan's measures this time) as an opportunity to improve South Korea's technological level."

According to reports, Japan's export review may affect the production of Korean companies. An SK Hynix official said that the inventory is "less than three months". When asked "whether the factory will stop production after three months if additional purchases cannot be made", the answer was "yes"; Samsung Electronics avoided giving specific details and only said "the situation is being investigated in detail."

The report pointed out that Korean companies have a high market share in the semiconductor field. In terms of semiconductor sales, Samsung Electronics of South Korea ranks first, and SK Hynix ranks third. Korean companies have a strong advantage in storage semiconductors that store data, with a global market share of 70% in the DRAM field and a 50% share in NAND flash memory.

The report cited data from the British IHS Markit company, saying that global customers of South Korea's large electronic component manufacturers include TV brands such as Sony and Panasonic, computer brands such as HP of the United States and Lenovo of China, and smartphone brands such as Apple of the United States and Huawei of China.

A large Japanese electromechanical company said: "If the supply of memory semiconductors in South Korea stagnates, causing Apple's iPhone production to decrease, it may also affect our company's supply of parts."