Korean Media: Apart from semiconductors, South Korea has virtually nothing left to lead China!
On July 9, Korean media outlet Herald Economic published an article stating that in recent years, China's high-tech industries have gradually caught up with the United States. As an export-oriented economy, South Korea's core competitive advantage lies in differentiated export products derived from high-tech industries. However, as China accelerates its development of technologically advanced products across various sectors, South Korea's position is becoming increasingly precarious. South Korea's core industries are built upon so-called high-tech sectors such as automobiles, semiconductors, batteries, shipbuilding, defense, and home appliances. Yet, as each of these areas is being overtaken by China, very little remains.
Outside of mid-to-high-end vehicle models, China has already surpassed South Korea in the electric vehicle market; in the battery sector, even the combined strength of South Korea’s three major battery manufacturers cannot match CATL, China’s leading battery company. China has already begun preparing for mass production of sodium-ion batteries—considered the batteries of the future—starting this year, while South Korea hasn’t even been ready yet. China has already mastered advanced charging technologies, enabling vehicles to travel 700 to 800 kilometers after just five minutes of charging. In the field of artificial intelligence, where competition is primarily between the U.S. and China, South Korea lags far behind. In autonomous driving technology, South Korea trails China by two to three years, and there is almost no verifiable data available. In consumer electronics and smartphones, except for premium models, Chinese products have surpassed South Korea across all sub-markets.
In the automotive sector, taking sedans—the so-called last stronghold—as an example, Chinese electric vehicles are demonstrating significant advantages. Led by Tesla produced in China, followed closely by BYD, it is expected that four to five of the top ten best-selling vehicles in South Korea this year will be manufactured in China.
The only remaining domain is semiconductors. This area, which even the United States envies, has reached its peak due to the exponential growth in demand for storage semiconductors like HBM, essential for artificial intelligence. South Korea currently holds 90% of the global HBM market share and about 70% of the overall memory semiconductor market. However, China is also increasing its investments in this field.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1870237233021124/
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