South Korean Finance Minister Lee Hyoung-Il said the semiconductor boom will last at least through 2027. He pointed to a wide gap between chip demand and supply. His comments follow a sharp sell-off in chip stocks this week.
South Korean finance minister Lee Hyoung-Il said on Saturday that the semiconductor boom will last at least through 2027. He spoke to CNBC on the sidelines of the IMF-World Bank annual meetings in Bangkok.
Lee gave his reasoning for the outlook. According to CNBC, he said the gap between demand and supply is still very wide, and supply is still being expanded. He added that growth can continue "at least through next year."
However, the remarks arrive after a week of sharp chip-stock declines. Semiconductor stocks fell sharply, hurt by investor concerns about interest rate hikes and rising competition from Chinese companies. SK Hynix and Seoul Semiconductor were part of the sell-off, as was Nvidia.
Chip stocks also drive swings at home. Lee said their large weighting has fueled volatility in South Korea's stock market this year, because the semiconductor industry makes up a larger share of the economy than in other countries. Despite the swings, he described the country's economy as solid.
A column in Maeil Business Newspaper on Thursday urged the government to prepare for a slowdown in the artificial intelligence boom, citing two experts who expect a flood of new supply of semiconductors by 2029.
Source: CNBC
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