Micron Nods to China’s Gadget Clout 美光科技押宝中国电子器件市场

By newsdoug on April 21, 2011

Tech giant Micron Technology (NYSE: MU), trying hard to stay relevant in the difficult memory chip market, has made an interesting tactical decision in choosing to triple the size of its China manufacturing operations in the interior city of Xian. (English announcement) By making such a move, Micron, which said it now gets more than half of its revenue from the China market, is placing a big bet that China will solidify its place as the world’s “gadget central” for at least the next 5-10 years — a wager that bodes well for PC and smartphone makers like ZTE (HKEx: 763; Shenzhen: 000063), Micron places its chips on China Hon Hai (Taipei: 2317), Lenovo (HKEx: 992) and Quanta (Taipei: 2382), which are some of the biggest consumers of memory chips and have major manufacturing operations in China. If it’s hunch is right, its move could also give Micron the advantage over other industry players, most notably Hynix and Samsung, which do most of their manufacturing in South Korea.

Bottom line: Micron’s gamble on China could pay handsome dividends if the market solidifies its place as the world’s hub for gadget manufacturing, giving it an edge over its Korean rivals.

在举步维艰的记忆芯片市场苦苦求生的美光科技股份有限公司(NYSE: MU)最近作出一个耐人寻味的决定，那就是扩建其在西安的制造工厂。美光科技称如今其收入一半以上来自中国市场，并认定中国会在未来5-10年巩固其世界“电子元器件中心”的地位。对於中兴通讯<000063.SZ> <0763.HK>，鸿海精密<2317.TW>，联想<0992.HK>，广达<2382.TW>等个人电脑和智能手机生产商来说，这是个好消息。这些公司都是记忆芯片的大买家，也在中国大陆有大型制造基地。如果美光科技的直觉正确，那麽它将在与韩国海力士(Hynix)以及三星等对手的竞争中获利。

一句话：如果中国在电子元器件制造领域的核心地位得到巩固，那麽美光科技的赌注就会得到大丰收，还会获得与韩国对手竞争的优势。