Bernstein: South Korea's semiconductor equipment import differentiation, AI storage investment is still being transmitted BlockBeats News: On June 16th, Bernstein analyst David Dai and others reported in a report released on June 15th that South Korea's semiconductor equipment imports in May decreased by 5% month on month, but the year-on-year growth rate has further increased to 39% since the beginning of the year. The bank believes that there is a strong correlation between import data and the total capital expenditures of Samsung and SK hynix. Although the capital expenditures of the two companies declined in the first quarter compared to the previous quarter, this reflects more seasonal factors and the pace of previous infrastructure investments, and future expenditures are expected to recover. The report shows that South Korea's imports of lithography equipment from the Netherlands reached 928 million euros in May, a month on month increase of 28% and a year-on-year increase of about 150%, the second highest level in the second month of the quarter on record. Bernstein estimates that ASML's South Korean system sales in the second quarter were approximately 2.31 billion euros, more than doubling year-on-year. Analysts say that this momentum may be supported by the expansion of DRAM production capacity and the accelerated introduction of 1c nodes, which have higher requirements for the strength of lithography equipment. The testing equipment also emits positive signals. South Korea's imports of testing machines from Japan and Malaysia increased by 103% year-on-year and 5% month on month in May. Bernstein's regression model shows that Advantest's sales in South Korea in the second quarter may have increased by 84% month on month, significantly higher than the market's expectation of a 3% month on month increase in overall revenue. However, not all device manufacturers have equally strong data. The import of South Korean wafer fab equipment related to Tokyo Electron decreased by 27% month on month in May. Bernstein predicts that the company's sales in South Korea in the second quarter may decrease by 15% compared to the previous quarter, which is lower than the market's expectation that its revenue will remain stable on a month on month basis. Bernstein maintains the "outperform the market" ratings of ASML, Advantest, Tokyo Electron, Samsung Electronics, and SK hynix. The report suggests that the storage investment cycle brought by AI is still being transmitted to the upstream equipment chain, with the prosperity of photolithography, testing, and advanced DRAM expansion related links being the most prominent.