Beijing’s probe into US chip firm Micron could help Chinese suppliers, South Korean rivals
- The probe, the first involving a US chip maker, was widely seen as a reprisal against tighter US sanctions on China’s semiconductor sector
- Micron’s technology prowess in both DRAM and 3D NAND could make it harder to find domestic alternatives for advanced memory chips
Beijing’s cybersecurity probe into Micron Technology, the world’s fourth-largest semiconductor company, could shake up the memory chip supply chain in China, but whether its bigger local rivals will benefit is still unclear, according to analysts and industry experts.
Micron’s products are being investigated on the grounds of “safeguarding supply-chain security of critical information infrastructure, cyber and national security”, the Cyber Security Review Office under the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), said in a statement last Friday.
The probe, the first involving a US chip maker, was widely seen as a reprisal against tighter US sanctions on China’s semiconductor sector and more widely its hi-tech sector. Earlier this week, many articles on Chinese social media accused Micron of lobbying against Chinese chip firms like domestic rival Yangtze Memory Technologies Corp (YMTC) and Fujian Jinhua.
“Micron’s product shipments, engineering, manufacturing, sales and other functions are operating as normal,” the Boise, Idaho-based company said in a statement on Monday, adding that it was “in communication and cooperating fully with the CAC”.
The China market contributed about 11 per cent of Micron’s total 2022 revenue of US$30.8 billion, with products such as DRAM, NAND flash memory and SSD products.