A state-owned Chinese company's reported interest in acquiring chip maker Micron Technology Inc. could face tough U.S. scrutiny, analysts said Wednesday.
Micron, based in Boise, Idaho, is the last major American producer of memory chips used in personal computers and smartphones.
The company's technology, and the fact that its semiconductors are used in some defense applications, could make it tough to get U.S. approval of any takeover, analysts said.
"The Department of Defense has a reluctance about transferring this kind of technology to China," said James Lewis, a security expert with the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.