This could also be a reason why Micron has been strong lately. Plus the fact that Charles Kao resigned from Tsinghua a month ago. He was the leading executive to leave Taiwan and go to China. This article is from the Korea Times so they focus on SKH and Samsung, but obviously Micron would be included.
Tsinghua Unigroup's financial struggle to benefit SK, Samsung
By Baek Byung-yeul
SK hynix and Samsung Electronics will likely experience less pressure in the memory chip sector as one of their top Chinese competitors, Tsinghua Unigroup, is suffering a liquidity problem.
Tsinghua Unigroup, a Chinese government-backed chip conglomerate, has defaulted on a 1.3 billion yuan ($197.96 million) bond, according to a report from Reuters, Tuesday, after bondholders denied its proposal to extend a repayment deadline.
The default problem immediately brought negative impact to the Chinese conglomerate as its credit rating was downgraded to BBB from AA by China Chengxin International Credit Rating.
The Chinese government has long pushed the development of the local chip industry, setting the goal of producing more than 70 percent of the chips it uses until 2025. The ambitious goal has been a major threat to Korea as the chip industry is the largest export item and the core axis of its economy.
Among China's semiconductor companies, Tsinghua Unigroup, a Tsinghua University affiliate, was regarded to have the potential to reshape the market as the company announced it would focus on DRAM and NAND flash memory chips, in which the Korean tech companies have world-class competitiveness.
continues at koreatimes.co.kr |
