On August 11, Micron Technology began layoffs in its China operations, primarily affecting its embedded team across R&D, testing, and field/application engineering roles in major hubs such as Shanghai and Shenzhen. The scope of the cuts has not been disclosed, but industry sources say the move targets core technical positions.

The layoffs come despite Micron's recent upward revision of its fiscal Q4 2025 guidance, fueled by strong DRAM pricing and robust demand for AI-driven products such as HBM. For the fiscal third quarter ended May 2025, revenue rose 15.5% sequentially and 36.6% year-over-year to $9.3 billion, beating analyst estimates. Non-GAAP net income jumped to $2.18 billion, or $1.91 per diluted share, driven in part by a 50% quarter-over-quarter surge in HBM revenue.

In its response, Micron attributed the decision to the slowdown in mobile NAND performance relative to other NAND segments. The company will cease global development of future mobile NAND products, including UFS 5, while continuing to invest in SSD, automotive, and other NAND solutions.

Micron's China business has faced sustained headwinds since May 2023, when the country's cybersecurity regulator barred critical information infrastructure operators from purchasing Micron products. The company's share of revenue from mainland China has since fallen from 14.0% in fiscal 2023 to 12.1% in fiscal 2024, well behind the U.S. (52.4%) and Taiwan (18.7%).

Although Micron has announced more than RMB 4.3 billion in investments to upgrade and expand its Xi'an packaging and testing facilities—and recently broke ground on a new plant there—competition from state-supported domestic rivals and shifting procurement policies continue to weigh on its market position in China.

Industry analysts view the latest layoffs as a sign of ongoing strategic retrenchment in the Chinese market, even as Micron's global business benefits from AI-driven semiconductor demand.