- Japanese government committed subsidies of up to $320 million to U.S. chipmaker Micron Technology, Inc (NASDAQ:MU) to fortify supply chains against China.
- The Micron deal followed months of negotiations to reduce heavy dependence on Taiwanese chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd (NYSE:TSM), the Financial Times reports.
- The notice came within 48 hours of a meeting in Tokyo between U.S. VP Kamala Harris and senior executives of more than a dozen Japanese technology groups to discuss the U.S. Chips and Science Act.
- Micron, which acquired Japan’s Elpida Memory in 2012, said it would use the investment to develop new Dram memory chips at its plant in Hiroshima.
- In July, Japan committed up to ¥92.9 billion ($644 million) to Western Digital Corp (NASDAQ:WDC), the manufacturing partner of Japanese chipmaker Kioxia, to expand production in Japan.
- In 2021, TSMC shared plans to build a $7 billion chip manufacturing plant in Japan with Sony Group Corp (NYSE:SONY). Japan agreed to subsidize half the investment.
- Japan is also discussing cutting-edge technology with International Business Machines Corp (NYSE:IBM).
- The global economy battled a semiconductor chip crisis which was aggravated due to the pandemic, severely disrupting the supply chains. Therefore, several companies decided to boost their semiconductor presence to reduce reliance on China.
- Price Action: MU shares traded higher by 1.48% at $50.75 in the premarket on the last check Friday.
