Micron Technology, the US memory chipmaker, held a groundbreaking ceremony Thursday for an expansion project at its Hiroshima plant in Japan, investing 1.5 trillion yen (about 14.2 trillion won) to produce advanced artificial intelligence (AI) memory.
According to Bloomberg on Friday, Micron will build a new manufacturing facility at its existing Hiroshima plant to produce chips such as high-bandwidth memory (HBM), which is essential for AI accelerators, with shipments scheduled to begin around the summer of 2028. Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has allocated up to 500 billion yen (475.69 billion won) to support construction costs. Micron came to own the Hiroshima plant when it acquired Elpida Memory, a Japanese DRAM manufacturer that went bankrupt in 2013.
"Micron's first HBM wafer was made right here in Hiroshima," Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said at the groundbreaking ceremony, expressing his expectations. "When American boldness meets Japanese craftsmanship, world-class products are born."
"Japan's support for Micron, currently the only DRAM manufacturer in the country, holds tremendous value," Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Ryosei Akazawa said. "If overseas semiconductor manufacturers want to build plants in Japan, the Japanese government is prepared to provide substantial support."
Micron is building two cutting-edge production facilities in Boise, Idaho, to meet AI memory demand. In January, it held a groundbreaking ceremony for a production facility worth 100 billion dollars (about 153.74 trillion won) on the outskirts of Syracuse, New York, to increase DRAM production in the United States.
In the global semiconductor market, many view this Hiroshima plant expansion as a counterstrategy by the United States and Japan against Korea's three major mega-projects. While the investment scale is smaller than the mega-projects, Micron and others are moving quickly, coming shortly after Samsung Electronics and SK hynix announced plans to build an 800 trillion won semiconductor cluster in the Honam region.
The United States is actively pursuing the recovery of its domestic semiconductor production capacity, control of advanced technology, and subsidy support. Japan is also making desperate efforts to revive its semiconductor industry. The Japanese government recently announced a roadmap targeting 101.6 trillion yen (about 962.5 trillion won) in private and public investment in the semiconductor and AI sectors by March 2041.
