Micron Entangled in Corporate Espionage Drama, Shifts Strategy Amid US-China Tensions

Micron Technology, Inc MU found itself at the center of what appeared to be state-sponsored corporate theft when senior engineers and managers at its Taiwan factory left for a rival company, taking hundreds of internal files to a team associated with a Chinese government-owned company.

This incident led to a high-profile case by the Justice Department against Chinese state-owned Fujian Jinhua Integrated Circuit, aiming to address Chinese corporate espionage.

However, a federal judge in San Francisco acquitted Fujian Jinhua of economic espionage and conspiracy charges, marking a significant setback for the U.S. efforts to combat intellectual property theft by Chinese entities, the Wall Street Journal reports.

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The case against Fujian Jinhua was part of a broader U.S. strategy to deter Chinese efforts to steal American corporate secrets.

This strategy has seen varying levels of success due to challenges in proving criminal intent across borders.

Under CEO Sanjay Mehrotra, Micron has shifted its approach toward China, moving from confrontation to seeking ways to maintain its significant market share in China despite retaliatory actions by Chinese officials.

This shift included settling a lawsuit against Jinhua, diplomatic engagements, and new investment in China, highlighting the delicate balance U.S. companies must strike between protecting intellectual property and accessing China’s vast market.

Analysts called out Micron’s enhanced margin profile and the positive impact of high-bandwidth memory tailwinds fueled by the growing adoption of artificial intelligence across various sectors.

Notably, Micron’s LPDDR5X memory and UFS 4.0 mobile flash storage have been chosen by Samsung Electronics Co SSNLF for the Galaxy S24 series, marking a significant step in bringing AI capabilities to mobile devices globally.

Additionally, Micron has started mass production of the 24GB 8H HBM3E solution for Nvidia Corp’s NVDA H200 Tensor Core GPUs, boasting about 30% lower power consumption than similar products, positioning the company for sustained growth into 2025 and beyond.