Micron to close server chips unit in China

Micron plans to stop supplying server chips to data centres in China after the business failed to recover from a 2023 government ban on its products in critical Chinese infrastructure, two people briefed on the decision said.

- HYUNJOO JIN BRENDA GOH

Micron was the first US chipmaker to be targeted by Beijing — a move that was seen as retaliatory for a series of curbs by Washington aimed at impeding tech progress by China's semiconductor industry.

Since then, both Nvidia and Intel chips have similarly fielded accusations from Chinese authorities and an industry group of posing security risks, though there has not been any regulatory action.

Micron will continue to sell to two Chinese customers that have significant data centre operations outside China, one of which is laptop maker Lenovo, the people said.

The US company, which made $3.4 billion or 12% of its total revenue from mainland China in its last business year, will also continue to sell chips to auto and mobile phone sector customers in the world’s second-largest economy, one person said.