The 150 Chinese engineers at the site will be asked to relocate to the United States or India
US-based memory chip maker Micron Technology has revealed that it will shut its DRAM chip designing operations in Shanghai by the end of this year.
The company told Reuters that it will close its DRAM Engineering Group from its Shanghai Design Center over the next year, with completion expected by December 2022, adding that the centre would focus on developing NAND and SSD technology moving forward.
The South China Morning post citing internal sources said that
the plan was announced internally last month and that the decision was made because of a “historic loss of technical know-how as some former employees and management were poached by big tech firms in China”.
The growing technology rivalry between China and the US also played a role, as per the source.
The publication further said that the 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.
Micron has previously cited its concern over the government-backed competition in China. In its 2021 annual financial report, the company warned investors that Beijing’s support for domestic DRAM makers could restrict Micron’s growth in the market.
In 2018, the U.S. Department of Justice indicted Taiwan-based chip maker United Microelectronics Corp (UMC) and China’s Fujian Jinhua Integrated Circuit Co Ltd, alleging the companies conspired to steal trade secrets from Micron.
