Micron to shut DRAM chip design operations in Shanghai (updated)
27/01/2022 03:29
(Updates to add company statement, background on IP theft)
Jan 26 (Reuters) - Memory chip maker Micron Technology
MU.O will shut its DRAM chip designing operations in Shanghai
by the end of this year, the company confirmed late on
Wednesday.
In a statement given to Reuters, the company said that it
will close its DRAM Engineering Group from its Shanghai Design
Center over the next year, with completion expected by December
2022.
The company added that the centre would focus on developing
NAND and SSD technology moving forward.
The South China Morning post, citing industry sources, said
that 150 Chinese engineers at the site will be asked to relocate
to the United States or India.
Micron makes NAND memory chips that serve the data storage
market as well as DRAM chips that are widely used in data
centres, personal computers and other devices.
Semiconductors have been at the heart of U.S.-China tensions
and the United States has been looking to shift the balance back
in favour of the West and away from Asia, driven by intellectual
property and supply chain concerns.
In 2018, the U.S. Department of Justice indicted
Taiwan-based chip maker United Microelectronics Corp (UMC)
6615.T and China's Fujian Jinhua Integrated Circuit Co Ltd,
alleging the companies conspired to steal trade secrets from
Micron.
Fujian Jinhua Denied the Allegations. UMC pled guilty to the
charges and paid a $60 million fine urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2HK054
(Reporting by Chavi Mehta in Bengaluru and Josh Horwitz in
Shanghai; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi and Raju Gopalakrishnan)
((Chavi.Mehta@thomsonreuters.com;))