Input Stories

The U.S. is getting a mega investment in memory-chip making, thanks to Micron Technology (The Wall Street Journal, subscription).

What’s going on: Micron “is rushing to add manufacturing capacity to avert the biggest supply crunch the memory industry has seen in more than 40 years”—and it’s spending some $200 billion to do it.

• In the U.S., that includes $50 billion to expand the company’s Boise, Idaho, campus and $100 billion on a chip-making complex near Syracuse, New York.
• Last year Micron also announced it would spend $9.6 billion on a chip factory in Hiroshima, Japan.

Why it’s happening: As large language models get more complex and companies plan trillions of dollars’ worth of data center construction, demand is feverishly outpacing supply in memory chips.

• “The shortages have resulted in a gold rush for memory-chip manufacturers like Micron….”

Where they are: Micron is currently meeting about half to two-thirds of the demand from some key customers, it said, adding that it is “doing everything we can to add capacity. But there is no easy or fast way to get that done.”