South Korean exports of information and communications technology (ICT) products tumbled last month on a scandal surrounding Samsung Electronics' Galaxy Note 7 smartphone that faced discontinuance on reported cases of the phones catching fire and overheating.
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOITE) said Thursday that the ICT exports declined 8.5 percent from a year earlier to 14.53 billion U.S. dollars in September.
The tech product exports kept falling for 12 straight months. Mobile phone exports plunged 33.8 percent in September from a year earlier, after falling 8.3 percent in June, 10.2 percent in July and 18.1 percent in August. The faster fall followed Samsung's decision to discontinue its latest flagship smartphone, Galaxy Note 7 that made its debut in August but finally faced the discontinuance on dozens of global cases of the phones catching fire and overheating.
The Note 7 scandal led Samsung to revise down its preliminary figure for the third-quarter operating profit by a third, damaging its brand image and credibility.
The South Korean tech behemoth is expected to struggle with consumer distrust of its product quality at least by the end of this year.
The country's display panel exports reduced 3.9 percent in September on a yearly basis, with chip exports falling 2.6 percent. Shipments of computers and peripherals increased 15.1 percent on demand for premium monitors.
ICT exports to Vietnam and the United States grew 25.6 percent and 2.8 percent each, but those to China and the European Union (EU) declined 11.1 percent and 22.9 percent respectively. Trade surplus in the ICT sector reached 7.19 billion dollars in September, surpassing a 7.1 billion-dollar surplus in overall industries. ICT imports stood at 7.34 billion dollars last month.
Latest comments