Micron, a prominent memory manufacturer, has decided to accelerate DRAM production by collaborating with Powerchip, one of Taiwan's largest suppliers.
Micron's New Strategic Partnership With PSMC Could Scale DRAM Output By Up To 15% In a Few Quarters
When it comes to DRAM suppliers, Micron has been one of the quickest to expand production lines, investing heavily in fabs in Idaho and a newer $100 billion venture in New York. However, while these commitments sound optimistic, the reality is that getting these production lines up and running is a multi-year process, and, as a company involved in what is probably the world's fastest technological revolution, Micron has little time on hand. Interestingly, the memory manufacturer has decided to address the time constraints by entering into a partnership with Taiwan's Powerchip (PSMC) to gain access to its DRAM fab.
This strategic acquisition of an existing cleanroom complements our current Taiwan operations and will enable Micron to increase production and better serve our customers in a market where demand continues to outpace supply.
- Manish Bhatia, Executive VP of Global Operations at Micron Technology
Under this partnership worth $1.8 billion, Micron will have access to PSMC's P5 fab in Tongluo, Taiwan, a 300,000-square-foot facility. According to the announcement, both Micron and PMSC will continue working on legacy DRAM products, and the acquisition will better serve "customers" by bringing additional DRAM capacity onboard. The announcement by Micron doesn't go into the specifics of how the P5 fab will contribute to the overall DRAM output, but the company does say that meaningful output will be delivered by H2 2027.
Sources claim that once the fab is operational, it will produce 50,000 12-inch wafers per month, boosting Micron's yearly DRAM output by 10% to 15%, a significant increase in just a few quarters. The DRAM supply chain is in dire need of such efforts, especially the consumer segment, given that the demand has managed to outpace supply by a huge factor, which puts customers in the AI supply chain under constraint, and when you talk about the PC consumer sector, well, the situation is getting worse with passing time.
About the author: Muhammad Zuhair is a hardware and technology reporter for Wccftech, specializing in the semiconductor industry and the complex interplay between technology, manufacturing, and geopolitics. His coverage focuses on the corporate strategies and technological roadmaps of industry giants like TSMC, NVIDIA, Samsung, and Intel. Zuhair's expertise lies in deconstructing complex topics such as fabrication nodes (e.g., 2nm process), the economic impact of policies like the CHIPS Act, and the strategic development of AI infrastructure from NVIDIA, AMD and Intel.
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