From catch-up to overtaking: competition and innovation in the semiconductor industries of Korea and Japan

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to explore the mechanism of overtaking in the semiconductor industry which cannot be explained by 'catching-up' theory. From the analysis, it was found that Korean companies are not inferior to their Japanese counterparts in terms of technological capability. The average number of patents in one company was almost the same, and Samsung had the biggest number of forward citations in the 1990s. The level of facility investment of Samsung was as large as that of Japanese companies. More importantly, massive and focused facility investment was implemented in Korean firms just before the demand expanded. Korean firms specialized in DRAM products, stuck to former-generation products, and concentrated on volume. An examination of the threat type carried out by combining the changes of market share found that the direct threat was the most frequent. Moreover, Korean companies utilized the US Japan Semiconductor Agreement as a window of opportunity. And it is more persuasive to emphasize the firm's own initiative rather than to overstate the role of government. Korean overtaking in the semiconductor industry was possible because of a combination of these various factors.