New data finds that South Korean semiconductor firms' standing in the Chinese market has become weaker since the U.S. slapped sanctions on China’s top chipmakers in 2019.

The Federation of Korean Industries(FKI) released the conclusion on Monday after analyzing market share data of relevant firms from Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, the U.S. and the six member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations following Washington's sanctions on Huawei and the Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation(SMIC).

According to the FKI, the market share of Taiwanese and Japanese firms in China’s semiconductor market grew four-point-four percentage points and one-point-eight percentage points, respectively, last year compared to 2018, or before the sanctions were put in place. South Korean firms, meanwhile, saw their market share slip five-and-a-half percentage points during the same period.

China’s imports of computer memory chips grew some 37 percent last year compared to 2018, with its imports from Taiwan climbing more than 57 percent and from Japan nearly 35 percent.

The federation said China apparently sharply expanded chip imports from Taiwan due to the U.S. sanctions.

Meanwhile, China’s imports of semiconductors from South Korea grew only six-and-a-half percent during the same period after Huawei suspended the purchase of Korean chips due to the U.S. sanctions and the price of computer memory chips slipped.