Bloomberg cited sources familiar with the matter as saying that the G7 is strengthening the investment part of its chip supply chain efforts and that Japan will use Micron’s so-called 1γ technology to make chips in Hiroshima
Micron Technology Inc. is said to be ready to receive financial subsidies of about 200 billion yen (currently about RMB 10.26 billion) from the Japanese government to help it produce next-generation memory chips in Japan, the latest step taken by Japan to strengthen domestic semiconductor production.
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Micron Technology will use the funds to install ASML’s EUV advanced chip manufacturing equipment at its Hiroshima plant, which will be used to produce DRAM chips, people familiar with the matter said.
The sources asked not to be named because the agreement was not made public. The funding will likely be officially announced when Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida meets with a delegation of semiconductor industry executives, including Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra, on Thursday. In addition to Micron, executives from seven major semiconductor companies, including TSMC and Intel, are also included.
Micron’s 1γ manufacturing technology was originally scheduled to launch sometime in 2024, but because Micron must reduce spending on new equipment and reduce DRAM bit shipments in fiscal years 2023 and 2024, it will have to slow down DRAM growth in its 1β and 1γ manufacturing technologies, and the 1γ nm process has now been pushed back to 2025.
