Aftermath of US-China Conflict? Former UK ARM CEO Steps Down from China's SMIC Board After 9 Years

Tudor Brown, former ARM President

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] Amid escalating US-China tensions over semiconductor supremacy, Tudor Brown, former president and co-founder of the UK fabless semiconductor company ARM, has stepped down from the board of directors of the Chinese semiconductor firm SMIC.

According to Bloomberg on the 10th (local time), Brown posted on his social networking service (SNS) LinkedIn page, "Today is a bittersweet day. I am stepping down from the SMIC board after nine years," adding, "The international gap has widened further."

Brown, co-founder of ARM, was a key executive at ARM from 1990 until May 2012. Starting as an engineer, he served as Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Vice President of Global Development, Chief Operating Officer (COO), and from 2008 to 2012, he was ARM's president. He joined SMIC in July 2013 and had been on its board for 9 years and 2 months. He has also been a director at China's Lenovo since January 2013.

Brown's resignation comes at a time when SMIC is facing numerous US sanctions aimed at curbing China's semiconductor ambitions. With SMIC expanding its market share in the foundry industry and reports emerging last month that it developed 7-nanometer (nm; 1 nm = one billionth of a meter) semiconductor production technology, considered an advanced process, the US is increasingly concerned.

Meanwhile, last year, US semiconductor company Nvidia attempted to acquire ARM, but the deal fell through as the UK and Chinese governments were likely to block it. This reflects how the US, China, and even the UK are actively working to prevent the leakage of their domestic companies and technologies amid the global semiconductor competition.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.