SEOUL, October 13 (AJP) - A Chinese chipmaker’s push into server memory sent South Korean chip stocks 6 to 7 percent at Tuesday’s open, bringing down the main index more than 5 percent.
ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT), China’s largest DRAM maker, said it expects to release a server memory module by year-end, built on a new chip design that packs memory cells more densely than the conventional layout. Traders read it as a direct challenge to the memory market led by the two Korean chipmakers.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 5.1 percent, with foreign investors selling for a sixth straight session, barely holding up 6,000 mark. The Japan’s Nikkei 225 lost 1.9 percent.
SK hynix fell 7.17 percent to 1,490,000 won ($1,100). Samsung Electronics lost 5.79 percent to 236,000 won.
Foreign money has been leaving SK hynix faster than Samsung Electronics. On Monday, foreigners sold a net 1.03 trillion won ($773.1 million) of SK hynix, nearly double the 535 billion won ($400.0 million) they sold of Samsung Electronics.
SK hynix’s largest shareholder, SK square, took the steepest fall among the 10 largest KOSPI stocks by market value. It dropped 6.9 percent to 916,000 won ($684.9).
The selling started in New York, where the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell 2.7 percent on Monday and Micron Technology lost 3.9 percent. SK hynix’s American depositary receipts dropped 4.0 percent to $162.23.
CXMT’s new design makes each memory cell a third smaller than in the conventional layout, which lets a chipmaker fit more memory onto every silicon wafer than that layout allows. Its first product on the design will be a DDR5 registered dual in-line memory module (RDIMM), the standard format in data-center servers. The company gave no specifications beyond the year-end target.
Foreign investors sold a net 8.5 trillion won ($6.4 billion) of KOSPI shares over the five sessions through Monday. On Tuesday they unloaded another 291.4 billion won ($217.9 million), while institutions and individuals bought a net 208.2 billion won ($155.7 million) and 78.3 billion won ($58.5 million).
Decliners outnumbered gainers 773 to 80 on the main board.
The tech-heavy KOSDAQ fell 3.7 percent to 818.1, after a 4.8 percent drop on Monday.
The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo shed 1,292.5 points to 67,738.4, a 1.9 percent drop.
The won weakened 1.5 won to 1,337.5 per dollar.
AJP Takeaways
- ChangXin Memory Technologies, China’s largest DRAM maker, plans a server memory module by year-end, and South Korean stocks fell 4.3 percent at the open.
- SK hynix fell 5.1 percent and Samsung Electronics 4.6 percent. On Monday, foreigners sold nearly twice as much SK hynix as Samsung Electronics.
- Foreign investors sold for a sixth straight session after unloading 8.5 trillion won ($6.4 billion) of KOSPI shares over the previous five. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.9 percent.
Tags: SK hynix, Samsung Electronics, ChangXin Memory Technologies, CXMT, SK square, Micron Technology, KOSPI, KOSDAQ, Nikkei 225, Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, DRAM, DDR5 RDIMM
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