South Korea’s economy has long been closely tied to the performance of its memory chip manufacturers. Recent data from the Bank of Korea indicates a slowdown in the rising prices of dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) for the second consecutive month. Additionally, pricing increases for NAND flash memory, which generally generates lower profits, have also begun to wane since peaking in August.

As the world’s largest exporter of memory chips, South Korea’s products are essential for powering the computer processors that drive artificial intelligence (AI) technology. This slowdown in memory chip export prices may serve as a warning signal for the global semiconductor industry’s health, reflecting shifts in AI demand. The charts illustrating these trends show a noticeable divergence, with the yellow line representing DRAM and the white line depicting NAND, emphasizing the recent changes in the market dynamics.