Finance

Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix leveraged ETF launch nears as fee war begins

South Korea’s securities industry is set to list single-stock leveraged and inverse ETFs tracking Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, triggering a competition among asset managers over fees. Eight managers plan to list 16 products on May 27, including 14 leveraged ETFs and two inverse ETFs, the first such listings in the country. Fee levels vary widely, but the products are geared toward short-term trading, making trading costs and market-making quality key considerations.

Industry

IT device shrinkflation intensifies as prices rise and capacity halves

Shrinkflation, where prices rise while specifications fall, is spreading across global IT devices including smartphones, laptops, consoles and desktops. The shift by SK Hynix, Samsung Electronics and Micron toward high-bandwidth memory for AI data centres is reducing supply of standard DRAM and NAND, supporting higher RAM prices. Set makers are passing margin pressure to consumers through price hikes and specification cuts, a trend the industry expects to persist until mass production of DDR6 ramps up.