15 hrs ago
Taiwan Pulls Ahead of Korea in Global AI Market Trade
Taiwan and South Korea have both done well as investors look for companies connected to artificial intelligence.
Recently, Taiwan’s stock market has performed better than South Korea’s.
Taiwan has companies involved in many parts of making and supporting AI technology.
South Korea’s market depends more heavily on two major chipmakers, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.
Their shares fell after a long period of gains.
Some investors think Taiwan has a steadier path to growth.
Others believe AI will keep demand for South Korean memory chips strong.
Investors are watching to see which market benefits more as AI spending changes.
Taiwan’s Taiex outperformed South Korea’s Kospi by about 23 percentage points last quarter, its widest margin since the turn of the century.
The Taiex rose 72% in 2026, while the Kospi gained about 65%, placing them first and second among more than 90 indexes tracked by Bloomberg.
Investors favor Taiwan for its broader AI-related businesses, spanning chip design, manufacturing, packaging, networking and servers.
South Korea’s market is more concentrated in Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, whose shares fell 19% to 33% in the three months through September.
Some analysts see Taiwan as better positioned, while others argue strong demand for high-bandwidth memory could support Korean chipmakers.
- Who
- Investors, Taiwan’s Taiex-listed companies, and South Korean chipmakers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.
- What
- Taiwan’s equity market has moved ahead of South Korea’s as investors assess opportunities tied to artificial intelligence.
- Where
- Taiwan and South Korea.
- When
- The comparison covers the year to date and the quarter ending in September; the article also cites a Bank of America survey from the prior month.
- Why
- Investors see Taiwan as offering broader exposure across the AI supply chain, while views differ on whether demand and prices for Korean memory chips will remain strong.
Taiwan-favorable view
South Korea-favorable view
Which market is better positioned for AI growth?
Taiwan-favorable view
Taiwan has broader exposure across chip design, manufacturing, packaging, networking and servers, and its earnings upgrades are described as broader and more durable.
South Korea-favorable view
Demand for high-bandwidth memory used in AI may remain strong, potentially benefiting Korean chipmakers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.
Outlook for memory-chip prices
Taiwan-favorable view
Societe Generale strategists expect memory-price gains to slow in coming quarters and normalize in 2028 as Chinese competition rises.
South Korea-favorable view
Citigroup’s Peter Lee said investors may be underestimating the amount of high-bandwidth memory needed in 2027 and should consider buying shares of Samsung and SK Hynix.
Key facts
- Taiex gain in 2026
- 72%, according to the article
- Kospi gain in 2026
- About 65%
- Taiex outperformance last quarter
- About 23 percentage points over the Kospi
- Fund managers overweight Taiwan
- About 40% in the Bank of America survey
- Fund managers overweight Korea
- 25% in the Bank of America survey
- Taiex forward estimated earnings valuation
- About 18 times
- Kospi forward estimated earnings valuation
- About 5.5 times
Quotes
Vikas Pershad
Portfolio manager at M&G Investments in Singapore
“The distinction for us is not simply the amount of AI exposure, but the nature of the earnings supporting it. Taiwan offers a broader and deeper opportunity set. Its earnings come from volume and that makes its earnings upgrades broader and stickier. Korea’s earnings, in the near-term, are coming from price.”
livemint.com
“The next leg of upside for Taiwan stocks is likely to depend less on broad AI enthusiasm and more on local tech companies that remain exposed to genuine bottlenecks in the AI value chain.”
livemint.com
Sources
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