China approves AMD’s US$35 billion acquisition of Xilinx
- The State Administration for Market Regulation cleared the deal with certain conditions, including asking that AMD continue to supply Xilinx chips to China
- The acquisition has already been approved in the US, Europe and UK, and will bring AMD into areas including automotive and communications networking
The State Administration for Market Regulation has cleared the deal with certain conditions, the antitrust watchdog said in a statement. It asked AMD not to discriminate against Chinese clients and to continue supplying Xilinx’s products to the country, after determining the deal could exclude or limit competition. The acquisition had already won the blessing of regulators in the US, Europe, and UK, among other jurisdictions.
China pauses efforts on advanced chips as attention turns to mature nodes
Buying Xilinx, a maker of programmable silicon, will take AMD into areas such as automotive and communications networking, while bolstering its offerings in the lucrative market for cloud data centre components.
Global chip takeovers had faced potential headwinds because governments now treat semiconductor technologies and supply as a national security issue, particularly following a prolonged deficit of critical microelectronics that walloped the car industry and undermined post-Covid economic recoveries.