It adds to a torturous year for exporters facing sharply higher freight costs even as prices for raw materials including semiconductors skyrocket amid the two-year long pandemic.
Samsung Electronics also said that it would temporarily adjust operations at its Xian manufacturing facilities for NAND flash memory chips, used for data storage in data centres, smartphones and other tech gadgets. "The impact on global supply is controllable, though there are uncertainties," said Yan Chengyin, consultant and manager at Beijing-based Bayes Consulting.
Seoul-based analysts said chips made in Samsung's Xian NAND plant mainly go to China with limited shipments heading overseas. Chinese officials have imposed tough curbs on travel within and leaving Xian from December 23, in line with Beijing's drive to immediately contain outbreaks as they appear.