The Chemical Connection: The Practice of Doing Business in Foreign Lands
It’s Only Common Sense: Pricing PCBs? It’s All in Their Heads
Punching Out: Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition Buyers for PCB/EMS Shops
Tsinghua Unigroup to Adjust Its Approach to Get NAND Flash Technology
February 25, 2016 | TrendForceEstimated reading time: 1 minute
Unisplendour, the Hong Kong-based subsidiary of Chinese technology conglomerate Tsinghua Unigroup, announced on February 23 that its board decided to terminate their investment plan in U.S. data storage company Western Digital (WD). This announcement came after the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS) sent a letter notifying Unisplendour that the agency will be reviewing the WD deal. However, the plan between Tsinghua Unigroup and WD to form a joint venture to sell data center storage solutions will continue without interruption.
With Tsinghua Unigroup withdrawing its investment in WD, the terms under which WD can acquire SanDisk have changed as well, reports DRAMeXchange, a division of TrendForce. Under the revised arrangement, each SanDisk share will now be worth US$67.50 in cash plus a 0.2387 share of WD stock. Based on WD’s closing price on February 22, the latest offer is estimated at $78.50 a share. Furthermore, the SanDisk acquisition will have to be voted on at a WD shareholder meeting to be held on March 15.
The ambitious Tsinghua Unigroup has been busily investing in companies along the mid- and downstream of the NAND Flash industry chain. China’s robust capital market and government’s plan to build a domestic semiconductor sector have provided the financial backing that support Tsinghua Unigroup’s M&A activities.
“Tsinghua Unigroup attempted to indirectly obtain NAND Flash manufacturing capability by first becoming WD’s largest shareholder and then having WD to takeover SanDisk,” said Sean Yang, research director at DRAMeXchange. “However, CIFUS was able to use Exon-Florio Amendment to the Defense Production Act to prevent this from happening. Tsinghua Unigroup will now have to adjust its strategy, and the market will pay close attention to what the Chinese conglomerate will do next in its pursuit of NAND Flash technology.”
Yang added that the Chinese government regards NAND Flash as a critical part of its plan to localize semiconductor production. At the same time, the domestic consumption of this memory is rising rapidly. According to DRAMeXchange, China’s consumption of NAND Flash for 2015 arrived at US$6.5 billion, or about 28% of the global total. The 2016 projection indicates that China’s share in the worldwide consumption will expand to about a third. With such impressive growth comes huge opportunities, Chinese semiconductor companies will try to establish a complete NAND Flash chain through various business models or investment ventures.
Share on:
Testimonial
"The I-Connect007 team is outstanding—kind, responsive, and a true marketing partner. Their design team created fresh, eye-catching ads, and their editorial support polished our content to let our brand shine. Thank you all! "
Sweeney Ng - CEE PCBSuggested Items
I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week
09/26/2025 | Marcy LaRont, I-Connect007Though the news cycle felt a little less exclamatory this week, there were many global business news headlines worth revisiting. Among them, China announced a bold carbon emissions goal of 10% over the next decade to double its solar and wind power capacity. The Wall Street Journal published an article, “Global Port Leaders See Trade Shifting, Not Slowing,” a nod to businesses’ risk mitigation strategies and execution around overreliance on China coming into play in a bigger way.
Inside Thailand’s Rising PCB Hub: Touring a Chinese Fab
09/23/2025 | Edy Yu, Editor-in-Chief, ECIOFrom industry giants to emerging forces, many electronics companies are painting a grand blueprint for the future, laying out their plans in the investment hotbed of Thailand. This was evident during THECA in Thailand, where the most frequently heard buzzwords on and off the show floor were "going global," "building factories in Thailand," and "supply chain security.” With these insights, and full of expectations and questions collected at the exhibition, my team visited First Quality Circuit Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Sihui Fuji, located in the Amata Industrial Park in Rayong, Thailand
Global Citizenship: Together for a Perfect PCB Solution
09/10/2025 | Tom Yang -- Column: Global CitizenshipIf there’s one thing we’ve learned in the past few decades of electronics evolution, it’s that no region has a monopoly on excellence. Whether it’s materials science breakthroughs in Europe, manufacturing efficiencies in China, or design innovations in Silicon Valley, the PCB industry thrives on collaboration.
Materials and Manufacturing for the AI Era: The Next PCB Frontier
08/08/2025 | Edy Yu, Chief Editor, ECIO, and the I-Connect007 Editorial TeamAI is pushing hardware to its limits, and the bottleneck isn’t design anymore—it’s materials. Next-generation AI servers aren’t just heavier on layer counts. They demand better materials to handle the speed, heat, and signal integrity requirements of 400G, 800G, and even 1.6T Ethernet systems. Many server motherboards are already 32–36 layers. For the next wave of 1.6T-capable boards, expect 40–50 layers, which must maintain high-frequency performance without degrading signal quality.
Global Citizenship: Chinese PCB Fabricators Will Remain an Important Part of the Supply Chain
08/06/2025 | Tom Yang -- Column: Global CitizenshipIn today’s hyperconnected electronics landscape, collaboration is no longer optional; it’s essential. No single country holds a monopoly on innovation, and no one company or country can go it alone. Electronics manufacturing is very much a global business, and this will not change, no matter how the tariffs and global trade winds are blowing. Whether you're a startup founder building your prototype, an aerospace engineer pushing the boundaries of performance, or a supply chain leader managing a complex global network, Chinese PCB fabricators have likely already touched your world.