Quick Read
- Micron Technology broke ground on a new wafer fabrication facility in Singapore, a US $24 billion investment over 10 years.
- The facility, Singapore’s first double-story wafer fab, will provide 700,000 square feet of cleanroom space.
- Wafer output is slated to begin in the second half of 2028, addressing growing demand for NAND technology driven by AI.
- Micron projects the High-Bandwidth Memory (HBM) market to reach $100 billion by 2028, up from $35 billion last year.
- The expansion will create approximately 1,600 new jobs, totaling 3,000 new jobs when combined with a previously announced HBM facility.
SINGAPORE (Azat TV) – Micron Technology, Inc. today broke ground on an advanced wafer fabrication facility in Singapore, representing a planned US $24 billion investment over the next decade aimed at meeting the surging global demand for memory and storage solutions, particularly those fueled by artificial intelligence (AI) and data-centric applications. The ambitious project, set within the company’s existing NAND manufacturing complex, underscores Singapore’s growing importance as a critical hub in the global semiconductor supply chain and Micron’s strategic positioning for the AI era.
Significant Investment to Boost Manufacturing Capacity
The new facility is designed to provide 700,000 square feet of cleanroom space, with wafer output scheduled to commence in the second half of calendar year 2028. This marks Singapore’s first double-story wafer manufacturing fab, a testament to the scale and innovation of the project. The groundbreaking ceremony was attended by high-profile Singaporean officials, including Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong, alongside Micron executives.
Manish Bhatia, Executive Vice President of Global Operations at Micron Technology, emphasized the strategic importance of the investment. “Micron’s leadership in advanced memory and storage is enabling the AI-driven transformation reshaping the global economy,” Bhatia stated. He also expressed gratitude for the “longstanding support and successful partnership with the Singapore government,” highlighting the investment’s role in enhancing supply chain resiliency and fostering innovation.
Addressing Escalating AI-Driven Demand for Memory
The expansion comes as demand for memory and storage, especially High-Bandwidth Memory (HBM), is experiencing unprecedented growth due to the rapid proliferation of AI and compute-intensive applications. Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra has previously noted that ‘AI-driven demand is accelerating. It is real. It is here, and we need more and more memory to address that demand.’ Developers of large language models (LLMs) are expanding context windows, requiring significantly more memory, with HBM emerging as a critical component.
Micron projects the HBM total addressable market to expand from approximately $35 billion last year to roughly $100 billion in 2028, reflecting a compound annual growth rate of about 40%. This is an accelerated projection, as the company previously anticipated reaching the $100 billion mark by 2030. Despite this rapid growth, Mehrotra indicated during Micron’s Q1 earnings call that strong demand and supply constraints for HBM are likely to “persist beyond calendar 2026,” and that aggregate industry supply will “remain substantially short of the demand for the foreseeable future.”
Strategic Integration and Job Creation
The new fab will become an integral part of Micron’s NAND Center of Excellence in Singapore. Co-locating research and development with manufacturing is expected to improve efficiencies, accelerate time-to-market, and deepen research partnerships between industry and academia. This facility will provide essential capacity to support continued technology transitions and meet long-term demand for advanced storage solutions.
In addition to this new wafer fabrication facility, Micron’s previously announced HBM advanced packaging facility, also located in the same Singapore complex, is on track to contribute to HBM supply in calendar year 2027. The company anticipates significant synergies between NAND and DRAM production as HBM becomes a larger part of its Singapore manufacturing footprint.
The current investment is projected to create approximately 1,600 new jobs. When combined with the 1,400 jobs from the HBM advanced packaging facility, Micron’s expansion will support about 3,000 new positions focused on fab engineering and operations, integrating AI, advanced robotics, and smart manufacturing technologies. Jermaine Loy, Managing Director of the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB), affirmed that Micron’s expansion will “strengthen our semiconductor ecosystem and further anchor Singapore as a critical node in the global semiconductor supply chain,” providing “good jobs for Singaporeans.”
Commitment to Sustainability and Workforce Development
Micron has committed that the new fab will comply with the company’s sustainability initiatives. The facility will adhere to LEED standards, incorporating greenhouse gas abatement, water recycling, and waste circularity measures. This builds on the site’s existing recognition as both a World Economic Forum Sustainability Lighthouse and an Energy Efficiency National Partnership (EENP) Award recipient.
Beyond environmental commitments, Micron’s investment also focuses on building a future-ready semiconductor workforce. Through collaboration with academia and ecosystem partners, the company plans to offer real-world learning experiences, including internships for students, upskilling opportunities for the current workforce in AI and smart manufacturing, and advancing R&D talent development to drive future innovation.
Micron’s substantial investment in Singapore highlights a proactive strategy to capitalize on the explosive growth in AI and data-centric applications, recognizing the critical role of advanced memory solutions. The synchronized expansion of both NAND and HBM capabilities within a single, integrated manufacturing hub positions Micron to address the anticipated long-term supply deficit in the memory market, while also reinforcing Singapore’s strategic importance in the global technology landscape.