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Micron has begun construction of a new facility in Singapore for advanced wafer fabrication that could, in theory, help alleviate some of the global memory supply problems. Unfortunately, Micron won't begin production until the second half of 2028, and its full capacity may not be realized for another eight years, as Micron pledges to invest $24 billion over the next decade.
Customers of memory makers SK Hynix, Samsung, and Micron would love for them to increase production, but those firms have been slow to announce production line expansions, often converting some of what they already have to more profitable standards like HBM and LPDDR.
However, increased pressure from a range of quarters, including the Trump administration, to bring memory manufacturing to the US, has prompted Micron and others to announce a number of investments. Earlier this month, Micron announced a $100 billion "Megafab" in New York, which it claims will handle up to 40% of its DRAM output in the US by the 2040s.
Its new facility in Singapore will eventually offer 700,000 square feet of cleanroom space and focus on NAND production. It will join the existing NAND Center of Excellence, as well as a new HBM advanced packaging facility set for 2027.
Last week, meanwhile, Micron acquired Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation's fabrication site in Taiwan for $1.8 billion; the deal is expected to close in Q2.
Samsung is also reported to be investing 10s of billions of dollars in new DRAM and HBM fabrication facilities, while SK Hynix is investing $13 billion in new packaging facilities in Korea.
One of the arguments against expanding memory fabrication at these companies was that they had done so previously during demand surges in the pandemic, only for that demand to dry up after the fact. With concerns that an AI bubble could burst in the near future, some are clearly concerned that the current memory demand rush might also expire with it. Those fears appear to have evaporated for now. However, the long lead times for new facilities to come online suggests the memory shortage for consumer hardware will continue for some time.