Is chip winter over? Doomsayers gone as Korea’s DRAM exports surge

Global memory chip markets, long weighed down by excess inventories and sagging demand, are showing early signs of a thaw.

South Korea’s exports of general-purpose DRAM chips have risen significantly for four straight months, challenging gloomy projections of a prolonged downturn and stirring expectations of a broader recovery in the chip industry.

For an industry all too familiar with boom-and-bust cycles, that would be a welcome anomaly, analysts said.

According to the Korean alternative data platform KED Aicel on Tuesday, Korea’s DRAM exports reached 2.69 trillion won ($1.9 billion) in the first 20 days of June, up 25.5% from the year-earlier period.