Looking ahead, the region is set to benefit from an upturn in the tech cycle in 2020, according to Japanese bank Nomura.
Estimates project a year-on-year rise in semiconductor sales of between 5% to 8%, Nomura said in its 2020 outlook report. Rising demand as a result of investment in 5G is expected to support that, and economies in South Korea, Taiwan, China, Malaysia and Singapore could benefit from it, the Nomura report said.
In particular, Morgan Stanley upgraded South Korea's information technology sector to an "overweight" rating in a recent report, an indication that it expects it to outperform its peers. The sector is an "important bellwether" for the overall emerging markets outlook, said Morgan Stanley. Although the semiconductor market has experienced one of its worst downturns, "a turnaround is appearing" in 2020, it said.
On the back of that expected turnaround, the investment bank has upgraded its rating to "overweight" for Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, two stocks that dominate the South Korean IT sector and the benchmark Kospi index.