Micron signed a $1.8 billion letter of intent to buy Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp’s P5 fabrication site in Tongluo, Taiwan, aiming to lift DRAM production as memory supply stays tight worldwide. The company said the agreement sets up a phased production ramp once ownership changes hands in the second quarter of 2026, with real wafer impact expected later. The P5 site will not flip a switch overnight. Production will rise step by step, and meaningful DRAM wafer output is expected in the second half of 2027. Alongside the purchase, Micron and Powerchip agreed to work together on post‑wafer assembly processing and to support Powerchip’s legacy DRAM portfolio. The structure keeps Powerchip involved while Micron takes over the core manufacturing footprint. Micron expands capacity as AI memory demand tightens supply The Taiwan deal fits into Micron’s wider expansion push as demand for memory keeps climbing. Most of its chips already come from Asian facilities, but the company is also building in the United States. On Friday, Micron held a groundbreaking ceremony near Syracuse, New York, tied to a plan announced last year to invest up to $200 billion across the country. That includes two fabs in Idaho and a 600,000‑square‑foot facility in Clay, New York. The New York site alone carries a planned $100 billion investment. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick attended the event. Executives said construction will take several years due to clean rooms and complex production tools. Markets reacted fast. Micron shares jumped nearly 8% on Friday after Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. posted strong earnings a day earlier, pushing investors toward AI supply chain stocks. Over the past year, Micron stock is up more than 250%, driven by a global memory shortage and sharp demand growth. Memory plays a key role in AI systems by keeping large data sets close to the GPU, allowing big models to run without slowing down. “AI driven-demand is accelerating,” CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said on CNBC’s Jim Cramer. “It is real. It is here, and we need more and more memory to address that demand.” Mehrotra said Micron is spending $200 billion to lift U.S. output and is also pushing existing plants harder in the near term. At the start of 2025, Micron expected 10% growth in server memory. By year end, that number landed in the high teens. Mehrotra said demand for PC memory and storage also came in stronger than forecast. “We see that tightness continuing into 2027,” he said, adding that fundamentals remain durable due to AI demand. The scramble to supply companies like Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices, and Google has driven shortages, with memory prices projected to rise about 55% in the first quarter. Get seen where it counts. Advertise in Cryptopolitan Research and reach crypto’s sharpest investors and builders.
