Micron announces construction of new NAND fab with total investment of US$24 billion

# Source: Wall Street Insights

By Zhao Ying

To address the AI-driven shortage of memory chips, Micron Technology announced it will invest an additional $24 billion in Singapore over the next decade to build a new NAND flash memory wafer fab. Singapore is already one of Micron’s key NAND production hubs; back in early 2025, the company unveiled a $7 billion investment plan in the country over the next several years.

On Tuesday, Micron Technology announced a $24 billion additional investment in Singapore over the next 10 years to construct a new NAND flash memory wafer fab, aiming to tackle the AI-fueled tight supply of memory chips.

The new facility will be Singapore’s first dual-story wafer fab, boasting a cleanroom area of 700,000 square feet, and is expected to start wafer production in the second half of 2028. The project is set to create approximately 1,600 jobs.

This move underscores the worsening supply-demand imbalance in the global memory chip market. As AI infrastructure construction drives a surge in NAND demand, Micron and its South Korean rivals SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics have all shifted their production focus to high-end AI chips, leaving PC and smartphone manufacturers grappling with memory chip shortages.

Micron’s large-scale capacity expansion is a crucial part of its global production layout. The company just launched a $100 billion fab construction project in New York State to alleviate what it calls an "unprecedented supply crunch".

## AI Demand Drives Soaring NAND Prices

As an alternative to hard disk drives, NAND flash memory is seeing a surge in demand for AI infrastructure due to its faster access speeds. Such chips are typically sold in the form of solid-state drives (SSDs), which can be directly plugged into the hard disk interface of computer systems.

MS Hwang, Research Director at Counterpoint Research, commented: "The importance of NAND in the AI sector has been on the rise recently, leading to a substantial increase in NAND prices. Suppliers are cutting back on products targeting the traditional consumer market, such as client SSDs for PCs and mobile flash memory, while boosting the supply share of enterprise-grade SSDs for data center servers."

The global memory market is dominated by Micron and its two South Korean competitors. Since last year, all three companies have prioritized the production of high-end chips required for AI infrastructure, diverting resources away from memory chips for other market segments. As a result, PC and smartphone makers have warned that the memory chip shortage is hurting their businesses.

## Global Capacity Expansion to Address Supply Crunch

To ease the supply strain, Micron is ramping up production capacity on a global scale. In addition to the Singapore project, the company just broke ground on a $100 billion facility in New York State.

Singapore is already one of Micron’s major NAND production bases. In early 2025, Micron announced a $7 billion investment in Singapore over the next few years to expand manufacturing capacity to meet the demand for advanced memory chips used in AI training. Micron has long relied on Singapore and Japan as its key production hubs.

The new wafer fab will operate in tandem with the previously initiated HBM advanced packaging plant, further strengthening Singapore’s pivotal position in the global memory supply chain. Micron’s investment in Singapore aligns with the country’s strategy to develop cutting-edge industries ranging from AI to advanced chip manufacturing. The Singapore government has pledged to invest over SGD 1 billion (USD 786 million) to support local AI research.

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