History of Pre-Infected Electronics Will Block China’s Bid to Purchase Micron Technology

Grey markets and a history of breaching electronics at the factory level could block the rumored purchase.

China’s largest chip manufacturer allegedly wants to buy a key U.S. chip manufacturer, Micron Technology, in what would be the largest Chinese takeover of a U.S. company in history.

The purchase is still just a rumor, and would likely never go through due to the complex history the United States has with finding serious security issues in Chinese-made computer chips.

The Chinese company is the state-run Tsinghua Unigroup. An unnamed source told New York Times the company has prepped $23 billion to purchase Idaho-based Micron Technology. The current largest purchase of a U.S. company by a Chinese state-run company was in 2013, when Shuanghui International Holdings of China purchased Smithfield Foods for $4.7 billion.

China is the dominant source country for counterfeit electronic parts that are infiltrating the defense supply chain.

— Senate House Armed Services Committee report