Taipei, May 22 (CNA) U.S.-based dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chip maker Micron Technology Inc. is scheduled to inaugurate an advanced plant located in central Taiwan in June as part of its efforts to expand its investments in the country.
But, Micron has decided to postpone the ceremony for the unveiling of the A3 plant in the Houli section of the Central Taiwan Science Park amid an escalation of domestically transmitted COVID-19 cases in Taiwan.
The A3 plant will introduce the most advanced 1α nanometer process in the global DRAM industry, which is expected to allow Taiwan to have a world class memory chip production base, market analysts said.
Micron Taiwan, a wholly owned subsidiary of the U.S. company, has said the A3 plant, which broke ground in 2019, is aimed at expanding the company's clean room capacity and upgrading its technologies, rather than boosting its wafer production in Taiwan.
Mircon has not disclosed any financial terms for the A3 plant, while the local media has reported recently the investment for the new site could be as much as NT$400 billion (US$14.29 billion).
The reports said the A3 plant is the first phase of Micron's investment plan in central Taiwan and the second phase will proceed depending on market demand.
In August 2019, Micron secured approval to remit NT$66 billion into Taiwan, and Micron Taiwan has said the funds were part of its financing for the establishment of the A3 plant.
Currently, Micron is the largest foreign enterprise in Taiwan with a workforce of about 9,000. In the past three years, about 500 new graduates joined Micron each year and the number of employees in the company has increased by about 10 percent a year.
This year, Micron's recruitment campaign in Taiwan continued, as the company sought a wide range of talent, such as research and development engineers, product inspection engineers, and production technicians.
Taiwan has become a production hub for Micron as the memory chip supplier at present operates A1 and A2 plants with a back-end packaging and testing site in Taoyuan City. In the future, its production compounds in Taoyuan and Taichung will be integrated into a supreme DRAM center for the American company.
In 2016, Mircon completed a deal to acquire a 67 percent stake in Taiwan's DRAM maker Inotera Memories Inc. for NT$130 billion to bring the Taiwanese company fully into Micron Taiwan's corporate umbrella. Before the acquisition, Micron had held a 33 percent stake in Inotera.
According to Taipei-based market information advisory firm TrendForce Corp., Micron ranked as the world's third largest DRAM maker in the first quarter of this year by taking a 23.1 percent share in the global market, trailing South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co. (42 percent) and SK Hynix Inc. (29 percent).
