Micron Technology Inc said it is stepping up efforts to boost output from Taiwan via its latest multiyear investment plan, averaging US$2 billion per year, to strengthen its global market position.
Through the investment, the US memorychip maker plans to upgrade its DRAM chip manufacturing to next-generation processes and build its first 3D DRAM chip packaging operation in Taiwan over next three to five years.
The new investment is part of Micron’s larger plan to build Taiwan into one of its most advanced DRAM chip manufacturing sites worldwide.
Taiwan contributes more than 60 percent to Micron’s global DRAM supply on a bit basis, the firm has said.
To cope with a growing personnel demand, Micron also plans to increase local head count by 1,500 people over the next 18 months, the company said, confirming reports yesterday in the Chinese-language Economic Daily News and the Commercial Times.
Micron has invested a total of US$12 billion in Taiwan, Micron senior vice president of global manufacturing Wayne Allan was quoted as saying by the newspapers.
Micron is optimistic about the DRAM outlook for the next two quarters, as market demand is expected to be as strong as last quarter, while supply constraints are to continue, Allan was quoted as saying.
The new investment will help boost the company’s production growth, measured in bits, to satisfy client demand via shrinking memory chips, he was quoted as saying.
Micron does not plan to build new plants in the short term, he added.
The company early this year said that it planned to spend US$1 billion on new equipment for a factory in Taichung, aiming to migrate the facility’s 25-nanometer process to a more advanced 1X-nanometer process.
Micron now plans to push the technological migration further to a 1Z-nanometer process in the future, the reports quoted Allan as saying.
Another Micron plant, in Taoyuan, is to begin migration to the 1X-nanometer process next year, the firm said.
Micron plans to start operations at its first 3D DRAM chip packaging facility next year after converting facilities acquired early this year from Cando Corp (達鴻科技), a subsidiary of local touchpanel maker TPK Holding Corp (宸鴻), it said, deepening its local supply chain.
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