South Korea's two largest chipmakers, Samsung Electronics and SK hynix accounted for nearly HALF of the total operating profits generated by the nation's big companies. <br />It's one of the clearest signs yet that South Korea's economy is heavily dependent on the semiconductors market. <br />Kim Hyo-sun tells us more. <br />The South Korean economy is increasingly dependent on semiconductors. <br />A review of the country's 100 largest companies by market capitalization carried out by CEO Score, a corporate research firm,... showed the combined income of the 89 companies that released consolidated financial statements in 2018 stood at 142 billion U.S. dollars. <br />By company,... Samsung Electronics,... the world's largest chipmaker and South Korea's second-largest chipmaker, SK hynix recorded 51-point-7 billion and 18-point-2 billion dollars of operating profits, respectively. <br />The two companies made up nearly 50 percent of all the operating profits generated by the country's large companies. <br />Putting aside the two chipmakers,... the online evaluation site pointed out that overall operating profits stood at 71-point-8 billion dollars last year,... down eleven percent from 2017. <br />Meanwhile, an analysis report released recently said U.S. tech giant Intel could topple Samsung Electronics in terms of profits soon.<br />Kim Hyo-sun, Arirang News. <br />
