Tag: Micron

  • Taiwan Pitches Global Chip Alliances as Market Heads for 1.5 Trillion Dollars

    Taiwan Pitches Global Chip Alliances as Market Heads for 1.5 Trillion Dollars

    Taiwan President William Lai told tech executives in Taipei that international chip partnerships will anchor an industry projected to exceed 1.5 trillion dollars this year.

    Foreign semiconductor leaders continue to pour capital into the island, led by Nvidia’s annual procurement and investment topping NT$3 trillion ($94.84 billion). Micron Technology has committed more than NT$1.4 trillion to local operations, while Advanced Micro Devices pushed its research spending in Taiwan past NT$300 billion.

    TSMC’s Overseas Buildout

    Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co is matching domestic research with heavy spending abroad to insulate buyers against supply shocks. The world’s largest contract chipmaker announced an additional $100 billion commitment to its Arizona facilities in July, while its plant in Kumamoto, Japan, continues on schedule.

    In Europe, TSMC expects its Dresden fabrication facility to begin commercial chip production before the end of next year. That site will supply automotive and industrial customers across the European Union.

    For consumer electronics makers and device brands across Asia, the dual strategy offers reassurance. Taiwan is retaining cutting-edge wafer fabrication and packaging on home soil while duplicating mature and specialized capacity in Western markets to guarantee steady silicon delivery during regional crises.

    State Support for Next-Gen Tech

    Taipei plans to back corporate spending by funding core infrastructure, including power generation, water supplies, land access, and computing capacity. State research backing will focus on silicon photonics, quantum computing, and artificial intelligence robotics.

    US Undersecretary of State for Economic Affairs Jacob Helberg told attendees via video link that concentration without resilience creates systemic vulnerabilities. He pointed to the Pax Silica framework, an alliance designed to secure technology supply lines among trusted trade partners.

    Discussions continue this week as the Semicon Taiwan trade exhibition runs through Friday at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center.

  • China bans shipments from U.S. memory chipmaker Micron Technology

    China bans shipments from U.S. memory chipmaker Micron Technology

    The U.S. has banned phones and networking equipment from Huawei and ZTE due to fears that these companies’ products have backdoors that send information to Beijing. This weekend, China went on the attack against U.S. memory chip maker Micron Technology by banning its chips from the country. According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), Micron is considered a “national security risk” which is exactly what the U.S. calls Huawei and ZTE.
    The U.S. Commerce Department said it “firmly opposes restrictions that have no basis in fact.” Besides getting back at the U.S. for banning products made by Huawei and ZTE, the move against Micron is retaliation for U.S Export rules that were put into place in 2020 that prevent certain chips made using American technology from being shipped to China.
    The U.S. Commerce Department added that “We will engage directly with PRC (People’s Republic of China) authorities to detail our position and clarify their action. We also will engage with key allies and partners to ensure we are closely coordinated to address distortions of the memory chip market caused by China’s actions.”
    Micron Technology, located in the heart of potato country in Boise, Idaho, released its own statement early Monday morning which said that it was aware of the decision made by Beijing and was examining its next steps. It also said, “We look forward to continuing to engage in discussions with Chinese authorities.” Last year Micron generated 11% of its $30.8 billion in revenue from China selling DRAM, NAND flash memory, and solid-state drives.
    China’s Cyber Security Review Office under the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) had said back in March that it was investigating Micron and on Monday China said that Micron failed to pass a cybersecurity review. As a result, Micron’s chips cannot be used by telecom operators, banks, water utilities, and other companies. The CAC said that its review of Micron revealed “severe cybersecurity risks, posing significant security risks to China’s critical information infrastructure supply chain and to our national security.”
    We’re sure to hear more about this in the coming days.