Macronix chairman: Seoul-Tokyo trade tension may profit Taiwan

Macronix (2337-TW) chairman Miin Wu, said today on July 12nd that if the Japanese government continues to impose restrictions on the export of key semiconductor materials to South Korea, it will have a big impact on the S.Korean memory companies and could cause serious shortage of NAND Flash. The market is likely to be "extremely" chaotic. However, Taiwanese companies and other non-S.Korean companies can be catalyzed.

Regarding Seoul-Tokyo trade tension, Wu told that Samsung and SK Hynix have more than 60% market share in the global memory market. If the Japanese government continues to enforce the restrictions, it can have a big impact on the S. Korean memory companies. In the short term, S.Korean companies still hold the restricted materials in inventory. However, in the long run, it could cause severe consequences to S. Korean companies.

Wu believed that after the implementation of the restrictions, it will definitely cause the shortage. In addition, after three months of the implementation of the restrictions, the NAND Flash market will be "extremely" chaotic. In case of shortage of supply, Taiwanese companies and other non-S.Korean companies can be catalyzed.