South Korean chip firms to omit detailed data

Key player: Pedestrians walk past an advertisement for the the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 and Flip3 smartphones. Samsung is the world’s number two contract chip manufacturer. — AFP

SEOUL: Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix plan to leave out detailed information when supplying Washington with data related to the global chip shortage as they want to protect trade secrets, two sources briefed on the matter said.

The South Korean firms – the world’s two biggest makers of memory chips – are among companies the United States government has asked to volunteer information so it can better understand the crisis that has led to a sharp curtailing of auto production. It has set a Nov 8 deadline for submission of the information.