GoKawiilA semiconductor wafer is on display at Touch Taiwan, an annual display exhibition in Taipei, Taiwan April 16, 2025.
Asian technology stocks extended their sell-off on Wednesday, with semiconductor names leading declines after another weak session in the U.S.
In South Korea, SK Hynix closed 9.61% lower after dropping over 15%. The chip giant missed analysts' estimates despite posting record quarterly profit and revenue.
Samsung Electronics lost more than 5%, while LG Innotek fell 10.89% and Seoul Semiconductor dropped 8.89%.
The latest weakness in Asian chip stocks reflects "the ongoing deleveraging process in Korea and softer sentiment towards global technology stocks," said Kieron Poon, investment director of Asian equities at Aberdeen Investments, in a Tuesday note. However, he added that the recent volatility "has not changed our long-term positive view."
Japanese chip names also declined. Japan's computer memory manufacturer Kioxia was down 13.85%. Tokyo Electron fell 10.59%, while SoftBank Group, a major AI investment proxy through its stake in Arm, lost 6.95%.
Taiwan's TSMC, the world's largest contract chip manufacturer, was 3.51% lower.
Mainland China's tech-heavy ChiNext 300 index gained 1.43%, while the Hang Seng China Semiconductor Chips Index fell 2.5%.
The declines in Asia came on the heels of another weak session for U.S. semiconductor stocks overnight.
Nvidia sank at the open but closed the session flat. Intel dropped nearly 6% and AMD lost 8%. Memory space names Micron and Seagate lost more than 8%, Western Digital sank nearly 7% and Sandisk shed 14%. SK Hynix U.S. shares dropped 9%.
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