Comments: Chinas blockade of Meiguang chip makes South Korea subtle

Source: Wall Street Journal

Author: jiyoung sohn, yang jie

China ’s latest ban on American chip giants Meicuang Technology has made it difficult for South Korea.

On the occasion of a series of tit -tit -for -tat trade operations, China and the United States have prohibited some local companies in the key information infrastructure industry from Meicuang Technology to purchase storage chips on the grounds of national security risks.The ban will affect the sales of Meiguang Technology in China, and the company's sales of about 3 billion US dollars each year are from China.

In South Korea, the United States, the two largest competitors in Micron Technology Storage chip business, Samsung Electronics and Hynix Semiconductor.But for South Korea, Samsung Electronics or Hynix, it is not easy to use Micron Technology's dilemma in China.As the storage chip market is seriously sluggish, even if there is such a great opportunity to boost sales, there are geopolitical issues to deal with.

For the Chinese government, how much success can China ’s ban on Micron Technology expands the supply chain gap between China and the United States and its allies, mainly depending on how the Korean chip industry reacts.Industry analysts said that the current Chinese storage chip manufacturers do not have technology and production capabilities like Meiguang Technology, Samsung Electronics and Hynix.

Mark Murphy, chief financial officer of Micron Technology on Monday, said on Monday that about a quarter of the company's income came from Chinese companies, or sold chips directly or distributed by hand.Murphy said that China's restrictions may have the impact of low single digits of its total income.

Micron Technology's stock price fell about 3.5%on Monday.

According to the data of the science and technology market research company's integrated technology, last year, the two South Korean companies and Meiguang Technology occupied a total of about 95%of the DRAM market, and about 64%of the NAND flash memory market.DRAM and NAND flash memory are two mainstream storage chips.

If the United States is under pressure, it may make South Korea, Samsung and Hynix very uncomfortable, because whether it is South Korea or these two Korean companies, it is deeply bound to the Chinese market.

China is South Korea's largest trading partner, and its trade with South Korea is far ahead of other South Korean trading partners.Samsung and Hynix operate semiconductor factories in China. China is a key market for these two companies and global semiconductor supply chains.According to data from Jibang Technology, the output of the two companies in China accounted for about 22%of global supply, and the output of Hynix's DRAM in China accounted for about 12%of the global overall supply.

However, the conservative leader Yin Xiyue has been increasingly moved closer to the United States in the past year since he took office.Yin Xiyue successfully visited the United States recently. At the national banquet held at the White House, he also sang American Pie at the invitation of US President Biden.

In addition, regardless of China's protests, South Korea has joined the United States to create actions to reject China's scientific and technological supply chain and economic planning, including the semiconductor alliance called CHIP 4 and the Indo -Pacific economic prosperity framework.

After the Chinese government issued a ban on Micron, the US Department of Commerce said on Sunday that it will be "distorted by the storage chip market caused by China's actions" with major allies and partners.

But South Korea's support has its limitations.Unlike Japan and the Netherlands, which are also American allies, the South Korean government has not introduced its own chip industry to restrict the Bayeon government to curb China to obtain high -end semiconductors.The U.S. government banned China ’s advanced process chip manufacturing equipment. Samsung and Hynix have always been sensitive to the ban. These two companies have to obtain exemption from the United States to continue to operate factories in China.

Vice Minister of the Ministry of Commerce Resources of Korea said on Monday that China's ban on Micron's products will not hurt South Korean chip manufacturers.Last week, the director of the Ministry of Industry and Commercial Resources, the Ministry of Industry, said in an interview with foreign media that he had not received the requirements of the United States on response to the United States.Andgen said that even if the South Korean government is required to participate, it will be determined by each company.

Andgen said that the government is difficult to stipulate what a company should do and should not do.

Samsung Electronics said it will not comment.A spokesman for Hynix said he did not receive the requirements of the South Korean government on the matter.

Micron's revenue in the Chinese market is 3.3 billion U.S. dollars, and the relevant ban will not affect all its revenue in China.According to a report by Bernstein Research to investors, about one -fifth of Micron's sales in China are expected to be affected by the ban.According to Bernstein Research, other parts of Micron's Chinese business, such as semiconductors used in consumer technology products sold outside China, are not restricted by the ban.

In addition to Samsung and Hynix, Japanese storage manufacturer Kaidi and Western data can be used as alternative suppliers of Chinese companies.Bernstein Research analysts wrote, but given other restrictions on the Chinese chip industry in the United States, South Korea and Japanese companies ignore the possibility of the United States as much as possible.

The ban on Micron is issued by the National Internet Information Office of China.The ban is obviously a political gesture, which aims to respond to the US government's restrictions on providing advanced process chip manufacturing technology to China.The regulatory agency does not give the specific definition of "key information infrastructure operators", but this term is usually related to government agencies, state -owned enterprises, and financial, telecommunications operators and cloud service providers.

Avril Wu, an analyst at Jibang Technology, said that assuming that related business is assigned between competitors, even if Micron's opponent won its affected business, the business obtained by any company "will not have a large scale"" ".

The United States has been seeking allies in the field of advanced semiconductors. These areas are becoming the core of national security, and the United States has always tried to prevent China from making progress in this regard.

Last week, the government and corporate leaders of the United States, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan, as members of a chip strong alliance, held a meeting, saying that they would seek ways to "fight against malicious behaviors" in mainland China and "promote the right to right.Economic stress resistance ".The meeting was held on the eve of the Seven -Kingdoms Group Summit held in Hiroshima, Japan. A key issue of this peak was the economic stress of the Chinese mainland believed.