The KOSPI shed 519.09 points to close at 8,411.21. SK hynix led the decline, falling 8.4 percent, while Samsung Electronics dropped 5.3 percent.
In Japan, SoftBank Group fell 12.5 percent on the OpenAI IPO delay report, dragging the Nikkei 225 down 4.2 percent. Chinese equities also declined as the session wound toward its close, with SMIC and Cambricon among the names under pressure.
The selling in Seoul traced directly to Apple's Wednesday announcement raising Mac and iPad prices by between one hundred and three hundred dollars. Analysts read the move as evidence that memory cost inflation had exceeded what even Apple could absorb, a signal that hit Korea's two dominant memory suppliers hardest.
SK hynix fell 8.4 percent to 2,673,000 won ($1,740.50). Samsung Electronics dropped 5.3 percent to 339,500 won ($221.06).
SK square, the holding company whose primary asset is a stake in SK hynix, fell 9.4 percent to 1,720,000 won ($1,120.19), the sharpest decline on the KRX large-cap board.
The iPhone maker's stock had lost more than six percent in New York on Wednesday after the price announcement erased an early rally driven by strong Micron Technology earnings, setting a negative tone that carried into Asian trading Thursday.
The won strengthened slightly against the dollar, trading at 1,535.70 won per U.S. dollar by mid-afternoon.
In Tokyo, SoftBank Group bore the heaviest losses, falling 12.5 percent after a New York Times report that OpenAI is leaning toward deferring its IPO to 2027 threatened the timeline on the firm's roughly 65 billion dollar investment in the ChatGPT maker.
Bankers advising OpenAI cautioned that recent volatility in technology stocks, as well as turbulence in SpaceX shares following its record IPO, could dampen retail enthusiasm for OpenAI's public offering, the Times reported Wednesday evening.
Kioxia dropped 11.2 percent and Advantest shed 9.6 percent, as the Nikkei's chip-linked components gave back a portion of the AI-driven rally that had carried the index to record highs earlier this month.
The Nikkei 225 fell 4.2 percent, shedding 3,005.46 points to close at 69,360.88.
In China, semiconductor names declined alongside the broader market as the session wound toward its close. SMIC fell nearly five percent and Cambricon shed 3.5 percent. The Shanghai Composite was lower on the day.
Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said recent channel checks showed no signs of deteriorating AI demand fundamentals, calling the selloff a pause after a near one-hundred-percent KOSPI rally this year rather than evidence of weakening.
Whether the Apple price hike marks a temporary cost-pass-through or a more durable compression of device demand is the question that will likely set the floor for chip stocks into next week.
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