South Korea's exports of information technology (IT) products shrank 3.2 percent from a year earlier in July on lower global prices of its major export items, the government said Sunday.

   The country exported US$13.12 billion worth of products last month, compared with $13.55 billion worth of goods shipped during the same period a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Knowledge Economy.

   Its trade surplus in the IT sector also shrank from $6.99 billion last year to $6.44 billion as its imports grew 1.8 percent on-year to $6.68 billion.

   "July's IT exports marked the first year-on-year drop in 21 months," the ministry said in a press release. It said the decrease was due to a reduction in the number of working days and a drop in prices of memory chips and display panels, which make up the bulk of the country's IT exports.

   Still, exports topped $13 billion and the trade surplus totaled $6 billion, both for the fifth consecutive month, it added.

   Led by smartphones, exports of mobile phones increased 15.1 percent on-year to $2.18 billion, though the figure for July marks a slight drop from $2.22 billion tallied in the previous month.

   The ministry said combined global sales of the country's two smartphone manufacturers -- Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Inc. -- took up 23.1 percent of the global market in the second quarter of the year, making South Korea the world's top smartphone maker and exporter.

   Shipments of televisions jumped 22.2 percent to $860 million in July as exports of premium TVs, such as 3D and smart TVs, soared 21.6 percent to $740 million.

   Exports of display panels, however, dropped 21.2 percent to $2.52 billion with those of semiconductors also shrinking 12.4 percent to $4.04 billion mainly on lower prices.

   The average price of a dynamic random access memory, or DRAM, chip fell from $2.7 in June 2010 to $0.8 last month while that of a liquefied crystal display or LCD panel also dropped from $367.5 to $258, according to the ministry.

   By country, exports to China, already the largest importer of South Korean IT products, rose 3.3 percent on-year to $6.44 billion with shipments to Japan rising 1.2 percent to $750 million.

   Exports to the United States and Europe, where worsening economic conditions are feared, dropped 21.1 percent and 25.6 percent, respectively, to $1.32 billion and $1.14 billion.

Source: Yonhap News (August 7, 2011)