According to TrendForce, citing a Nikkei report, Microsoft is accelerating efforts to relocate laptop and server production out of China. The company has asked suppliers to prepare for the manufacture of Surface laptops and data center servers outside the country, with the goal of moving up to 80% of server components and final assembly elsewhere by 2026. The transition extends beyond final assembly to components and materials, including cables, connectors, and printed circuit boards marking the first time major U.S. firms have diversified supply chains down to this level.

Meanwhile, Micron reportedly plans to exit China's server chip business after failing to recover from a 2023 government ban that restricted its products from critical infrastructure. The U.S. memory maker was the first American semiconductor company targeted by Beijing in what was widely viewed as retaliation for Washington's tech export controls. The move has cost Micron access to China's fast-growing data center market in favor of rivals Samsung Electronics, SK hynix, and domestic players YMTC and CXMT. However, Micron will continue supplying customers such as Lenovo and other firms with operations outside China, as well as maintain business in the automotive and mobile sectors. Despite workforce reductions in its Chinese NAND division earlier this year, Micron continues to operate and expand its Xi'an packaging facility, one of its key manufacturing sites in Asia, Reuters reports.