Micron to Acquire Powerchip’s Taiwan Plant for $1.8 Billion
Shares in Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp surged nearly 10% on Monday following Micron Technology’s announcement that it will purchase a fabrication plant from the Taiwanese company. The deal underscores Micron’s strategy to expand its memory chip production capacity as global demand continues to soar.
Major Expansion in Taiwan
Micron confirmed on Saturday that it had signed a letter of intent to buy Powerchip’s P5 fabrication facility in Tongluo, Miaoli County, for $1.8 billion in cash. Powerchip, one of Taiwan’s key semiconductor foundries, manufactures both legacy and memory chips for global clients.
The acquisition will provide Micron with approximately 300,000 square feet of additional cleanroom space, a critical component in semiconductor production. The company plans to increase dynamic random access memory (DRAM) wafer output from the site beginning in the second half of 2027. This phased expansion aims to strengthen Micron’s manufacturing resilience and meet growing worldwide demand for memory products.
Strengthening AI Chip Supply
Micron is one of only three major suppliers of high bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, a component essential to artificial intelligence applications. Its competitors in this field include South Korea’s Samsung and SK Hynix. Chief Executive Sanjay Mehrotra recently said he expects the memory market to remain tight beyond 2026, signalling sustained demand growth for advanced memory products.
Micron’s shares rose an impressive 240% in 2025, significantly outperforming the benchmark chip index, which gained 42% during the same period. The company’s long-standing presence in Taiwan—spanning over three decades—has established it as the island’s largest foreign direct investor. Its Taichung facilities remain a crucial hub for DRAM and HBM production.
Partnership with Powerchip
In a statement, Powerchip said Micron will form a long-term foundry partnership with the company for advanced DRAM packaging and wafer manufacturing. The collaboration is expected to help Powerchip enhance its specialty DRAM process technologies, further deepening Taiwan’s role in the global semiconductor supply chain.
Micron anticipates completing the transaction by the second quarter of 2026, pending regulatory approval.
with inputs from Reuters
