Micron President and CEO Sanjay Mehrotra discusses the company's significant expansion of DRAM manufacturing in the US. Speaking with Bloomberg's Tyler Kendall, Mehrotra highlights the importance of this advanced memory technology for critical sectors such as automotive, aerospace, defense, industrial and networking.
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What Sanjay Mehrotra said
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Sanjay Mehrotra, CEO of Micron, discussed the start of 1-alpha DDR4 DRAM production in Manassas, Virginia, which will quadruple output at that site for automotive, aerospace, defense, and industrial networking customers. He outlined Micron's US investments, including a leading-edge fab in Boise, Idaho, with first wafers expected mid-2027, a second Boise fab by end of 2028, and a four-fab mega cluster in Syracuse, New York. Mehrotra said these efforts will bring Micron's US production to 40% of total over the next decade, up from 10% today, and create 90,000 jobs. He noted memory shortages will persist beyond 2026, with meaningful new supply ramping around 2028. He acknowledged Micron can only meet 50% to two-thirds of key customer demand, and emphasized disciplined capacity expansion. He expressed pride in being the only US memory maker and thanked the Trump administration for support, while declining to discuss any equity stake conversations.
Key takeaways
Micron will quadruple DDR4 production at Manassas, Virginia, with 1-alpha technology.
US production will rise from 10% to 40% of Micron's total over the next decade.
Memory shortage will continue beyond 2026, with new supply ramping around 2028.
Micron can currently meet only 50% to two-thirds of key customer demand.
Micron's US investments will create 90,000 new jobs.
4:19I'm wondering if a $200 billion investment here in the US signals perhaps more of a confidence that that high demand is going to be permanent or are there concerns here that the industry could be overbuilding capacity?
6:00Where are your biggest bottlenecks right now in the supply chain?
7:25I'm wondering if you could shed any light on that and where does this position you against your largest competitors like Samsung, SK Hynix when it comes to market share?
9:04But I'm wondering, have you had any conversations with the administration about that?
I am pleased to say I am joined now by the Micron CEO, president and chairman, Sanjay Mehrotra. Sanjay, it's so nice to see you and thanks so much for joining us here on Bloomberg television and radio. We are here in Manassas, Virginia to mark the start of the 1-alpha DRAM manufacturing in the United States for one of the most highly advanced and widely used memory chips. I know Micron has a commitment to onshore 40% of its DRAM manufacturing. Can you just give us a little bit of insight? How does today help you with achieving that goal?
So, first of all, Tyler, thank you very much for having me on the show. In terms of what today means, it really means as you noted bringing the most advanced DDR4 memory built with 1-alpha technology which is critical for industries like automotive, aerospace, defense, industrial networking. These are critical industries that power America. And by us bringing this technology from Asia into now manufacturing here, it will help us quadruple our production here at this site in Manassas for their DDR4 memory. This is going to be huge for our customers in those key sectors. Memory today is absolutely key across all industries that have electronic systems. And Micron is of course investing in Boise, Idaho, building our leading-edge fab for leading-edge memory that goes into smartphones, PCs, servers. And that leading-edge memory in Boise, Idaho will bring first wafers out middle of next year and then ramp up from there on. We'll have a second fab in Boise, Idaho soon to follow that start first wafers by end of 2028 there. And then we have production planned for Syracuse, New York area where we'll build over time a mega cluster or four fabs. And you can see $200 billion of investments that Micron is making here in America to bring these long life cycle production that will be managed here in Manassas, Virginia along with production in Boise, Idaho and Syracuse, New York. And that will bring Micron's total production over the course of about next 10 years as we ramp up all these multiple fabs to about 40% of our production. By comparison, it is about 10% today and all of that 10% comes from this site here in Manassas for Micron. And this will total our investments, massive investments in long life cycle technology nodes as well as leading-edge technology nodes to serve these vast markets that are really surging in demand driven by AI. Micron is going to be bringing those investments, that semiconductor manufacturing, and in the process create 90,000 new jobs here in the US as well.
Well, on this point of demand and how this investment is seeking to help reach that growing demand, I'm wondering how long do you expect the shortage of memory chips to last? When can we expect an easing?
Of course, the demand for memory has really surged and that is because of the importance and the value and the capability of memory that is really essential for all advanced systems. And yes, there is a shortage, but Micron is working hard to increase supply through these projects here in America, here in Manassas, Virginia, Boise, and New York. And we see this shortage continuing well beyond 2026 time frame. But the important thing is that Micron is working hard with our customers, working also on the long-term supply agreements with our customers to really ensure that they can have predictability for supply and of course Micron can have the confidence for the investments that we are really committing to here for the long haul.
Well, historically memory is a cyclical business, right? Periods of boom, periods of bust. I'm wondering if a $200 billion investment here in the US signals perhaps more of a confidence that that high demand is going to be permanent or are there concerns here that the industry could be overbuilding capacity?
You know, of course, what we are doing is building these fabs which are very long lead time items as you can see in terms of what we are doing in Boise and New York. It really takes several years just to build construct the shell. How we equip that shell really very much depends on our latest assessments of demand at a given time. So important thing is to have that preparedness to meet the market demand and memory has become a key enabler. It is a strategic asset for our customers today. It is a strategic asset for AI across consumer as well as data center industries because without memory you don't really have that intelligence that is critically important for the future roadmaps that our customers have. So memory is critical. Our investments of course will always be managed with discipline. Today we are able to meet the demand of our key customers only about 50% to about two-thirds in many cases and it's really important that we of course bring up this supply with discipline and continue to really fuel the growing demand, provide the necessary demand that is ahead.
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