Per Woofun AI, Bernstein analysts highlighted a divergence in South Korea's semiconductor equipment import trends in a June 15 report. While May imports fell 5% month-on-month, the year-to-date growth accelerated to 39% year-over-year, closely tracking the combined capital expenditure cycles of Samsung and SK hynix. Although Q1 spending dipped due to seasonal factors and prior infrastructure pacing, subsequent outlays are projected to rebound.

Lithography equipment imports from the Netherlands surged 28% month-on-month to 928 million euros in May, marking the second-highest quarterly level on record. Bernstein estimates ASML's Q2 sales in Korea reached 2.31 billion euros, more than double the prior year, fueled by DRAM capacity expansion and 1c node acceleration.

Concurrently, testing machine imports from Japan and Malaysia jumped 103% year-over-year, with Advantest's Q2 sales potentially rising 84% quarter-over-quarter. Conversely, Tokyo Electron-related wafer fab equipment imports dropped 27%, signaling uneven vendor performance. Bernstein retains 'Outperform' ratings for ASML, Advantest, Tokyo Electron, Samsung Electronics, and SK hynix, noting that AI-driven storage investment continues to propagate upstream to the equipment supply chain.