Micron (MU.US) breaks ground on a $7 billion HBM packaging factory in Singapore.

Micron Technology, Inc. (MU.US) announced on Wednesday that construction will begin on a new high-bandwidth memory (HBM) advanced packaging facility near its existing factory in Singapore. The American technology giant stated that the facility is scheduled to begin operations in 2026, and in order to meet the growing demand for artificial intelligence, Micron will significantly expand its advanced packaging capacity starting from 2027. Png Cheong Boon, Chairman of the Singapore Economic Development Board, stated that this will be Singapore's first HBM advanced packaging facility. Sanjay Mehrotra, President and CEO of Micron, stated, "With the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence across industries, the demand for advanced memory and storage solutions will continue to grow significantly." "With the continued support from the Singapore government, our investment in this HBM advanced packaging facility strengthens our position to address the expanding opportunities in artificial intelligence." The company noted that by the end of this decade, its investment in HBM advanced packaging will amount to approximately $7 billion (around $9.5 billion SGD), initially creating about 1,400 job positions. As the expansion of the facility progresses in the future, it is expected to reach 3,000 job positions. The new roles will include functions such as packaging development, assembly, and testing operations. The company emphasized that the facility will strengthen the local semiconductor ecosystem and innovation in Singapore. Furthermore, Micron stated that its future expansion plans in Singapore will also support the long-term manufacturing demand for NAND (a storage technology). Micron added that it will maintain flexibility in managing the growth rate of HBM and NAND facility capacities to adapt to market demands. The HBM market is dominated by Korean companies SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics, with Micron holding a smaller market share. HBM chips are crucial components used in graphics processing units (GPUs) in artificial intelligence applications, which companies like NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA.US) utilize. Earlier on Wednesday, Samsung announced its preliminary operating profit forecast for the fourth quarter of 2024, estimated to be around 65 trillion Korean won (approximately $44.7 billion USD), lower than analyst expectations. However, the company reportedly did not provide the latest developments regarding the supply of HBM chips to NVIDIA Corporation.