Micron, the largest U.S. memory chip maker, said on Wednesday local time that it would invest $150 billion in chip manufacturing and research and development over the next decade as governments around the world scramble to bring important semiconductor production home.
Micron President and CEO Sanjay Mehrotra reportedly said in a statement that memory is at the forefront of semiconductor manufacturing and can power feature-rich 5G smartphones and cloud computing that supports artificial intelligence. Micron looks forward to working with governments around the world, including the United States.
Micron also pointed out that financial support, including tax credits, will be a key factor in determining the location of the investment. Manufacturing costs in the United States are 35-45% higher than in countries with mature chip supply chains.
It is understood that Micron has manufacturing bases in the United States, Taiwan, Japan and Singapore, as well as chip packaging plants in mainland China and Malaysia. The company's most important DRAM production base is in Taiwan, while its most important flash memory production base is in Singapore. DRAM and flash memory chips are necessities for smartphones, data centers, computers, cars and countless other products.
A few days ago, it was reported that Micron plans to invest 800 billion yen ($7 billion) to build a new advanced DRAM plant near its plant in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan, because it is optimistic about medium-and long-term demand. Mass production is expected to begin in 2024.
In response to this news, Micron said that we are evaluating the location of the plant and are in contact with a number of governments around the world, and will provide up-to-date information. However, we have not yet finalized any investment plans, including those speculated by the media.
