Competitor’s Move Could Help Micron

A gambit by the world’s biggest computer memory-chip maker may be the spark Micron Technology Inc. needs to revive its anemic profits.

The Boise-based company’s stock price jumped 7 percent Thursday in heavy trading after Samsung Electronics Co. said it had reduced chip production in the last quarter of 1996.

Samsung announced it may scale back even more until chip prices recover from their 16-month slump.

Samsung of South Korea manufactures 15 percent of all 16-megabit memory chips produced in the world. Industry experts predict Micron, which has the lowest chip production costs in the world, will earn a lot of money from Samsung’s strategy.

If that happens, Micron’s profits, which have weakened since late 1995, could take off again.

“We think that prices will go up and, in fact, are already going up,” said John Joseph, an industry analyst. “Micron is well-positioned to take advantage once that happens.”

Micron officials say Micron has weathered the price plunge since September 1995 by cutting costs and becoming more efficient.