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Micron Secures $320 Million in Japanese Subsidies, Might Bring EUV to Japan

The Japanese government understands the importance of local semiconductor supply chains to the long-term development of the domestic microelectronics industry and has launched a program to subsidize local chip makers. The Japanese government has announced plans to support Micron’s Hiroshima operation with ¥46.5 billion ($320 million), following a $680 million grant to Kioxia and Western Digital in July. did. This funding injection could help Micron bring extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography to Japan.

It is reported that Micron will receive funding from Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. bloombergHowever, the conditions that Micron must meet in order to receive the subsidy are: Ministry of Foreign Affairs website time of writing. The grant will help Micron “mass-produce state-of-the-art memory chips” at a fab near Hiroshima, Japan, which he acquired when he acquired Elpida in 2013.

(Image credit: Micron)

Micron manufactures the majority of its DRAM products in its own factories near Hiroshima, Japan, and conducts significant research and development operations domestically. To keep DRAM fabs up to date, Micron and other memory makers must adopt new manufacturing techniques and constantly install new equipment to expand production capacity, which requires significant investment. Is required. With capital expenditures (CapEx) so high in the semiconductor industry these days, chip makers like Micron are seeking government support and incentives. They plan their own spending based on what they might receive in grants and various incentives.

$320 million is a lot of money, but it remains to be seen how much Micron plans to spend on expanding its Hiroshima site.Just the other day, the company Said Reduced its fiscal 2023 capital spending budget by 30% year-over-year to approximately $8 billion. To cut capital expenditures, the company cut his CapEx on wafer fab equipment (WFE) by almost 50% year-over-year. Fab tools. Meanwhile, the company is “more than doubling” its construction CapEx (i.e. building new fab shells) year-on-year to meet demand for the second half of this decade, while developing a 1γ (1-gamma) node. .

(Image credit: Micron)

A $320 million subsidy from the Japanese government will boost the Hiroshima site’s WFE CapEx budget to either ramp up the 1β DRAM node in Japan next year or procure new EUV tools to reach EUV in Japan in 2024. Can be used to augment compatible 1γ DRAM manufacturing technology. Bearing in mind that many things about the first-generation DRAM manufacturing process have to be coordinated by now (i.e. which tools to put where), the grant will help ASML with his EUV scanner and The company’s 1γDRAM.

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