Hong Kong Stock Concept Tracking | Global demand for semiconductors remains strong. Institutions predict that semiconductor sales in the third quarter will grow by 29% (with concept stocks attached)

According to the latest information from Zhitong Finance and Economics APP, early trade data from South Korea in August showed a strengthening export momentum, boosting economic growth prospects and indicating that global demand for semiconductors remains strong. Data released by the South Korean Customs Service on Wednesday showed that in the first 20 days of August, the value of goods exported increased by 18.5% year-on-year. Imports increased by 10.1%, leading to a trade deficit of $1.47 billion. South Korea is home to two of the world's largest memory chip manufacturers, and together with Taiwan, it has responded to the global demand for artificial intelligence development by exporting advanced semiconductors to the United States and other developed countries. The latest report from SEMI shows that in the second quarter of 2024, the global semiconductor manufacturing industry continues to show signs of improvement, with a significant increase in integrated circuit sales, stable capital expenditures, and an increase in wafer fab installed capacity. Starting from the third quarter, electronic product sales are expected to rebound, with a year-on-year growth of 4% and a quarter-on-quarter growth of 9%. In the second quarter of 2024, global integrated circuit sales are expected to increase by 27% year-on-year, with a further expected increase of 29% in the third quarter, surpassing the historical record of 2021. The improvement in demand has also led to a 2.6% year-on-year decrease in global integrated circuit inventory levels in the first half of 2024. With the growing demand for AI chips and the rapid adoption of HBM, it is expected that this trend will turn positive starting from the third quarter, with storage capital expenditures expected to increase by 16% quarter-on-quarter. CICC International pointed out that for semiconductor manufacturers, potential negative impacts may be concentrated in the Chinese Taiwan region, while semiconductor manufacturers in the United States and mainland China are less affected, and may even benefit from it. CICC International believes that the recent overseas policies may have a greater impact on market sentiment than actual impact. In the long run, intensified trade controls may accelerate the domestic substitution of semiconductor design in China. Guojin Securities stated that the electronics sector is entering the peak season of the third quarter, with strong demand for AI cloud computing power. NVIDIA's B-series chips are actively stocking up and are expected to be shipped in large quantities in the fourth quarter, empowering consumer electronics and potentially bringing new replacement demand. In the second half of the year, many new models of smartphones and AI PCs are expected to be released, and the industry chain benefiting from AI-driven, consumer electronics innovation/demand recovery, and self-controllable industries are still promising. Overall, with domestic substitution and economic recovery, it is advisable to continue to pay attention to the layout opportunities of semiconductor ETFs. Concept companies related to the chip industry chain: SMIC (00981), Huahong Semiconductor (01347), Shanghai Fudan (01385), and Times Electric (03898), etc